Interaction between Wolbachia and the fibrinolytic system as a possible pathological mechanism in cardiopulmonary dirofilariosis.

Dirofilaria immitis is a mosquito-borne parasite that produces an inflammatory process in the wall of the blood vessels of its definitive host during cardiopulmonary dirofilariosis, known as proliferative endarteritis. Parasite antigens participate in the appearance of this inflammatory event, among other mechanisms through the over-activation of the host fibrinolytic system. Since Wolbachia, endosymbiont bacteria of filarial nematodes, is released into the vertebrate host when worms die, the aim of this work was to analyse the interaction between this bacteria and the host fibrinolytic system to complete the study of this part of the host-parasite relationships.

The Complexity of Zoonotic Filariasis Episystem and Its Consequences: A Multidisciplinary View.

Vector-borne transmitted helminthic zoonosis affects the health and economy of both developing and developed countries. The concept of episystem includes the set of biological, environmental, and epidemiological elements of these diseases in defined geographic and temporal scales. Dirofilariasis caused by different species of the genus is a disease affecting domestic and wild canines and felines and man, transmitted by different species of culicid mosquitoes.