Displaying publications 41 - 60 of 108 in total

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  1. Abe N, Matsubara K, Tamukai K, Miwa Y, Takami K
    Parasitol Res, 2015 Aug;114(8):3175-9.
    PMID: 26044884 DOI: 10.1007/s00436-015-4564-2
    Sarcocystis nesbitti, using snakes as the definitive host, is a causative agent of acute human muscular sarcocystosis in Malaysia. Therefore, it is important to explore the distribution and prevalence of S. nesbitti in snakes. Nevertheless, epizootiological information of S. nesbitti in snakes remains insufficient because few surveys have assessed Sarcocystis infection in snakes in endemic countries. In Japan, snakes are popular exotic pet animals that are imported from overseas, but the degree of Sarcocystis infection in them remains unclear. The possibility exists that muscular sarcocystosis by S. nesbitti occurs in contact with captive snakes in non-endemic countries. For a total of 125 snake faecal samples from 67 snake species collected at animal hospitals, pet shops and a zoo, this study investigated the presence of Sarcocystis using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the 18S ribosomal RNA gene (18S rDNA). Four (3.2%) faecal samples were positive by PCR. Phylogenetic analysis of the 18S rDNA sequences obtained from four amplification products revealed one isolate from a beauty snake (Elaphe taeniura), Sarcocystis zuoi, which uses rat snakes as the definitive host. The isolate from a Macklot's python (Liasis mackloti) was closely related with unidentified Sarcocystis sp. from reticulated pythons in Malaysia. The remaining two isolates from tree boas (Corallus spp.) were closely related with Sarcocystis lacertae, Sarcocystis gallotiae and unidentified Sarcocystis sp. from smooth snakes, Tenerife lizards and European shrews, respectively. This report is the first of a study examining the distribution of Sarcocystis species in captive snakes in Japan.
  2. Ragavan ND, Govind SK, Chye TT, Mahadeva S
    Parasitol Res, 2015 Aug;114(8):2999-3005.
    PMID: 25982571 DOI: 10.1007/s00436-015-4502-3
    Blastocystis is one of the most common gut parasites found in the intestinal tract of humans and animals. We have previously reported the irregular shedding of Blastocystis cysts in stools from infected patients. In the present study, we assess the factors influencing shedding patterns from a Blastocystis ST3-infected IBS patient. The stools samples were voluntarily submitted for examination for a period of 30 days from Blastocystis ST3-infected IBS patient. A questionnaire on the factors that could influence the shedding pattern of the cysts was designed to assess the following information: (a) the frequency of frequenting the toilet in a day, (b) the timing of frequenting the toilet, (c) the stool forms, (d) the type of mood the patient was in when frequenting the toilet and (e) food intake. A total of 79 stool samples were collected for 30 days. The highest number of cysts recorded when the patient visited the toilet three times a day was 22.2 × 10(6) cysts/g. Frequenting the toilet between 6 a.m. to 11.59 a.m. showed the highest number of cysts, i.e. 21.7 × 10(6) cysts/g. Semi-solid forms showed the highest cyst count, i.e. 2.00 × 10(6) cysts/g. Irregular shedding of cysts was seen in 10 out of 30 days where the widest range recorded on day 17 was between 0 to 1.2 × 10(6) cysts/g. The average daily cyst count on days of emotional fluctuations was from 0 to 5.13 × 10(6) cysts/g. In conclusion, the study confirms that there are factors influencing shedding patterns of Blastocystis, and these have important implications when it comes to diagnosis and transmission of the parasite.
  3. Murugan K, Samidoss CM, Panneerselvam C, Higuchi A, Roni M, Suresh U, et al.
    Parasitol Res, 2015 Nov;114(11):4087-97.
    PMID: 26227141 DOI: 10.1007/s00436-015-4638-1
    Malaria, the most widespread mosquito-borne disease, affects 350-500 million people each year. Eco-friendly control tools against malaria vectors are urgently needed. This research proposed a novel method of plant-mediated synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNP) using a cheap seaweed extract of Ulva lactuca, acting as a reducing and capping agent. AgNP were characterized by UV-vis spectrophotometry, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The U. lactuca extract and the green-synthesized AgNP were tested against larvae and pupae of the malaria vector Anopheles stephensi. In mosquitocidal assays, LC50 values of U. lactuca extract against A. stephensi larvae and pupae were 18.365 ppm (I instar), 23.948 ppm (II), 29.701 ppm (III), 37.517 ppm (IV), and 43.012 ppm (pupae). LC50 values of AgNP against A. stephensi were 2.111 ppm (I), 3.090 ppm (II), 4.629 ppm (III), 5.261 ppm (IV), and 6.860 ppm (pupae). Smoke toxicity experiments conducted against mosquito adults showed that U. lactuca coils evoked mortality rates comparable to the permethrin-based positive control (66, 51, and 41%, respectively). Furthermore, the antiplasmodial activity of U. lactuca extract and U. lactuca-synthesized AgNP was evaluated against CQ-resistant (CQ-r) and CQ-sensitive (CQ-s) strains of Plasmodium falciparum. Fifty percent inhibitory concentration (IC50) values of U. lactuca were 57.26 μg/ml (CQ-s) and 66.36 μg/ml (CQ-r); U. lactuca-synthesized AgNP IC50 values were 76.33 μg/ml (CQ-s) and 79.13 μg/ml (CQ-r). Overall, our results highlighted out that U. lactuca-synthesized AgNP may be employed to develop newer and safer agents for malaria control.
  4. Sim TS, Loke P, Lee MA, Singh M, Flotow H
    Parasitol Res, 2001 Sep;87(9):683-6.
    PMID: 11570549
    In this study, the genome of the Plasmodium falciparum Gombak A strain was examined for the presence of a gene encoding falcipain-2, a cysteine protease, using homology-based polymerase chain reaction cloning. The nucleotide sequence obtained from the gene cloned (designated pFG1) is approximately 99% homologous to other falcipain-2 genes from different strains. Comparatively, it is 69% homologous to falcipain-3 genes. Direct cloning of the falcipain-2 gene and its resemblance to the reported corresponding mRNA transcript suggests the absence of introns in this gene. Sequence alignment and comparison revealed four amino acid differences at positions 15, 51, 59 and 414 in the falcipain-2 from P. falciparum Gombak A as compared to other falcipain-2 proteins from different strains.
  5. Pirehma M, Suresh K, Sivanandam S, Anuar AK, Ramakrishnan K, Kumar GS
    Parasitol Res, 1999 Oct;85(10):791-3.
    PMID: 10494803
    Acanthamoeba sp. is a free-living amoeba known to cause chronic central nervous system infection or eye infection in humans. Many cases remain undetected for want of a good detection system. We report for the first time a rapid staining method to facilitate the identification of Acanthamoeba sp. using the modified Field's staining technique. A. castellanii, which was used in the present experiment, is maintained in our laboratory in mycological peptone medium (Gibco). The cultures were pooled together and smears were made on glass slides for staining purposes. Different types of stains such as Field's stain, modified Field's stain, Wright's stain, Giemsa stain, Ziehl-Neelsen stain, and trichrome stain were used to determine the best stain for the identification of this amoeba. The concentration of various stains and the duration of staining were varied to provide the best color and contrast for each stain. Acanthamoeba was also obtained from the brain of experimentally infected mice and was stained with various stains as mentioned above to determine the best stain for use in identifying the presence of this parasite in experimentally infected animals. The modified Field's stain gives a very good color contrast as compared with other stains. Furthermore, it takes only 20 s to be carried out using the least number of reagents, making it suitable for both laboratory and field use.
  6. Rajah Salim H, Suresh Kumar G, Vellayan S, Mak JW, Khairul Anuar A, Init I, et al.
    Parasitol Res, 1999 Dec;85(12):1032-3.
    PMID: 10599928
    The present study investigated whether people working closely with animals were at higher risk of getting infected with Blastocystis hominis. The prevalence of the parasite was determined in two population groups, i.e., animal handlers and normal healthy individuals who did not work with animals. In all, 105 stool samples were collected from animal handlers from 2 local research institutions, a local zoo, and a local abattoir and 163 stool samples were collected from normal healthy individuals residing in high-rise flats in the city. The in vitro culture method used in the study detected that 41% of 105 animal handlers and 17% of 163 flat-dwellers in the city were positive for Blastocystis. This statistically significant finding (P = 0.0000313) shows that people who work closely with animals do stand at risk of acquiring Blastocystis infection.
  7. Kamis AB, Ahmad RA, Badrul-Munir MZ
    Parasitol Res, 1992;78(5):388-91.
    PMID: 1495916
    Gonadectomized male albino rats aged 7 weeks were given 1.5 mg/kg testosterone propionate daily and inoculated with 50 third-stage larvae of Angiostrongylus malaysiensis. The treatment significantly increased the number of larvae and adult worms recovered from the brain and pulmonary arteries, respectively, and the rats exhibited smaller thymus glands. The total numbers of leukocytes, monocytes, neutrophils, and especially eosinophils increased significantly post-infection, but the counts were higher in the untreated infected controls. Presumably, immunosuppressive effects of testosterone may at least partly be responsible for the higher loads of A. malaysiensis worms found in male rats as compared with females in the field.
  8. Azuma H, Okamoto M, Oku Y, Kamiya M
    Parasitol Res, 1995;81(2):103-8.
    PMID: 7731915
    The intraspecific variation of four laboratory-reared isolates of Taenia taeniaformis the SRN and KRN isolates from Norway rats, Rattus norvegicus, captured in Japan and Malaysia, respectively; the BMM isolated from a house mouse, Mus musculus, captured in Belgium; and the ACR isolate from a gray red-backed vole, Clethrionomys rufocanus bedfordiae, captured in Japan was examined by various criteria. Eggs of each of the four isolates were orally inoculated into several species of intermediate host. They were most infective to the rodent species from which the original metacestode of each isolate had been isolated in the field, and only the ACR isolate was infective to the gray red-backed vole. Although little difference was found between the SRN, KRN, and BMM isolates by the other criteria, including the morphology of rostellar hooks, the protein composition of the metacestode, and restriction endonuclease analysis of DNA, the ACR isolate was clearly different from the others. It was considered that the ACR isolate was independent as a strain distinct from the other three isolates.
  9. Wong KT, Clarke G, Pathmanathan R, Hamilton PW
    Parasitol Res, 1994;80(2):138-40.
    PMID: 8202453
    Established criteria for morphological typing of sarcocysts was applied to a large series of cases of human skeletal muscle sarcocystosis in Malaysia to determine the type of sarcocyst present. We also wanted to test the general usefulness of this classification and to determine if there are any new cyst types. Three-dimensional (3-D) reconstruction was done to see if the sarcocyst has a distinct 3-D morphology. A total of 66 sarcocysts from 21 cases of human muscle sarcocystosis obtained from a previous prevalence study were examined. Tissue sections (5 microns thick) were stained with haematoxylin and eosin and studied under the light microscope. For 3-D reconstruction, an image analyser was used to align and reconstruct the sarcocyst after microscopic images had been captured with a charge-coupled device (CCD) camera. All the cysts best fit into the type 4 category. This classification is generally useful, although cyst wall characteristics and zoite size appear to be the most reliable criteria for classification. The cyst width averaged 77 microns (range, 30-137.5 microns). Cyst walls were smooth, had no cytophaneres and were less than 1 micron thick. No secondary cyst wall or surrounding inflammation was evident. Numerous cyst merozoites with diameters averaging 1 micron filled the cyst lumen. Although septa were not apparent, in many cysts, zoites were arranged in a unique, curvilinear fashion that suggested their presence. 3-D reconstruction showed the sarcocyst to be a long, tortuous "cylinder" with no branching or other distinguishing feature.
  10. Hashimoto K, Watanobe T, Liu CX, Init I, Blair D, Ohnishi S, et al.
    Parasitol Res, 1997;83(3):220-5.
    PMID: 9089716
    For elucidation of the taxonomic status of the Japanese Fasciola species, whole mitochondrial DNA of Fasciola hepatica from Australia, F. gigantica from Malaysia, and Fasciola sp. from Japan was digested with three four-base-cutting endonucleases: HinfI, MspI, and RsaI. The resulting digestion patterns showed that for each enzyme there were some bands specific for each geographical isolate and that the Japanese Fasciola sp. shared more bands with F. gigantica than with F. hepatica. Nucleotide sequences of two regions, the second internal transcribed spacer (ITS2) of the nuclear ribosomal RNA cluster and mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI), were also compared among them. The ITS2 sequence was highly conserved among the three isolates. F. gigantica and the Japanese Fasciola sp. were identical, but they differed from the Australian F. hepatica at six sites, one of which was a deletion. The COI sequence was less conserved but implied a similar relationship between the isolates. There seems no reason to regard the Japanese Fasciola sp. as anything other than a strain of F. gigantica.
  11. Suresh K, Mak JW, Chuong LS, Ragunathan T, Init I
    Parasitol Res, 1997;83(6):523-5.
    PMID: 9211501
  12. Suresh K, Init I, Reuel PA, Rajah S, Lokman H, Khairul Anuar A
    Parasitol Res, 1998;84(4):321-2.
    PMID: 9569099
  13. Kamis AB, Ahmad RA, Chang JS, Ambu S
    Parasitol Res, 1994;80(1):87-8.
    PMID: 8153134
    Daily intramuscular injection with thyroxine (T4) at a dose of 2.5 micrograms/100 g body weight decreased the larvae and adult worm burden of Parastrongylus malaysiensis in the brain and pulmonary arteries of male Sprague-Dawley albino rats. In contrast, rats treated with propyl thiouracil (PTU), an antithyroid drug, at a dose of 3.75 mg/100 g body weight retained greater numbers of larvae and adult worms. The results may reflect the contrasting immunomodulatory effects of T4 and PTU that influence the susceptibility of the host.
  14. Kamis AB, Ahmad RA, Badrul-Munir MZ
    Parasitol Res, 1994;80(1):74-7.
    PMID: 8153130
    Gonadectomized male laboratory rats were given 0.06 mg/kg estradiol benzoate daily for 14 days before being inoculated with 50 third-stage larvae of Parastrongylus malaysiensis. Hormone treatment was continued until the rats were killed. The numbers of larvae in the brain and of adult worms in the pulmonary area of the rats were determined every 7 days after the inoculation. It was found that the rats treated daily with estradiol benzoate had significantly and consistently higher numbers of larvae and adult worms as compared with the controls. The number of total leukocytes increased significantly after the rats were infected. The results show that estradiol-treated rats become susceptible to P. malaysiensis infection, which may indicate that the immunosuppressive effects of testosterone observed in earlier studies may partly be caused by estradiol that was peripherally aromatized from testosterone.
  15. Vennila GD, Suresh Kumar G, Khairul Anuar A, Rajah S, Saminathan R, Sivanandan S, et al.
    Parasitol Res, 1999 Feb;85(2):162-4.
    PMID: 9934969
    The shedding pattern of the protozoan parasite, Blastocystis hominis, is investigated in man and in experimental animal infections. The shedding pattern of the vacuolar and cystic forms of Blastocystis hominis in infected individuals have been shown in the present study to be irregular. The study shows that there is marked fluctuation in the shedding of the parasite from day to day, varying from as high as 17 to 0 per x40 microscopic field. The cystic stages when estimated in 8 Blastocystis-infected individuals ranged from as high as 7.4x10(5) cysts per gram of stool to 0. The shedding of cystic and vacuolar forms observed over a period of 20 days in experimentally-infected Wistar rats were not only shown to be irregular but the amount varied from host to host. The study has important diagnostic implications in that the stool samples must be collected more than once from patients showing clinical signs and symptoms to eliminate the cause of it to Blastocystis. The study also shows that there are asymptomatic individuals who pass a large amount of cysts as such individuals should be treated to prevent transmission to others.
  16. Init I, Mak JW, Lokman Hakim S, Yong HS
    Parasitol Res, 1999 Feb;85(2):131-4.
    PMID: 9934962
    A total of 20 isolates of Blastocystis were characterized using a single set of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primers. The amplification product revealed five types of pattern. All four isolates from Singapore yielded PCR products quite different from those of the local isolates. However, most of the local isolates showed a major product at either 280 or 500 bp, or both. We also suspected that the amplification product detected at 280 bp might be an indicator of the pathogenicity of this parasite. One isolate (M12) obtained from a monkey showed patterns similar to those of human isolates (10203 and KP1) and probably belongs to the same strain. The results indicate that the intraspecific or interstrain variations in these 20 Blastocystis isolates belong to 5 different patterns. The differences among isolates of the same strain revealed by the presence or absence of certain amplification products showed further intrastrain variations in this parasite.
  17. Herbert BW, Shaharom FM
    Parasitol Res, 1995;81(4):349-54.
    PMID: 7624295
    A new sanguinicolid blood fluke, Parasanguinicola vastispina, is described from sea bass Lates calcarifer cultured in Malaysia. It is distinguished by its massive armature and widely spaced genital pores, the female pore being pre-ovarian. P. vastispina inhabits the branchial arteries, dorsal aorta, mesenteric venules and renal artery of its host. No pathological effect was observed in infected fish.
  18. Mak JW, Lam PL, Rain AN, Suresh K
    Parasitol Res, 1988;74(4):383-5.
    PMID: 3387410
    Ivermectin at single doses of 0.2-1.0 mg/kg body weight reduced the microfilarial counts of subperiodic Brugia malayi in Presbytis cristata by 59.9%-89.6% of initial counts, 4 weeks after treatment. Adult filaricidal activity was poor, live adult worms being recovered from all animals at autopsy. There was no serious side effect at these doses.
  19. Kamis AB, Ibrahim JB
    Parasitol Res, 1989;75(8):611-3.
    PMID: 2671986
    Gonadectomized male mice aged 5 weeks were given 5 mg testosterone propionate daily for 14 days. The treatment significantly decreased the number of blood leukocytes. The number of all individual types of leukocytes except basophils in vehicle-treated gonadectomized mice was increased. Testosterone-treated mice consistently had a lower number of leukocytes after being infected with Plasmodium berghei than did vehicle-treated mice. The results suggest that testosterone suppresses the production of leukocytes and that testosterone-treated mice become more susceptible to parasite infection.
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