Korean J Parasitol.  2014 Feb;52(1):79-83. 10.3347/kjp.2014.52.1.79.

Four Cases of Taenia saginata Infection with an Analysis of COX1 Gene

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Parasitology and Tropical Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul 110-799, Korea. cjy@snu.ac.kr
  • 2Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul 110-799, Korea.
  • 3Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Thaksin University, Phatthalung 93110, Thailand.
  • 4Department of Parasitology, Medical Research Institute and Parasite Resource Bank, Chungbuk National University School of Medicine, Cheongju 361-763, Korea.
  • 5Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam 463-707, Korea.

Abstract

Human taeniases had been not uncommon in the Republic of Korea (=Korea) until the 1980s. The prevalence decreased and a national survey in 2004 revealed no Taenia egg positive cases. However, a subsequent national survey in 2012 showed 0.04% (10 cases) prevalence of Taenia spp. eggs suggesting its resurgence in Korea. We recently encountered 4 cases of Taenia saginata infection who had symptoms of taeniasis that included discharge of proglottids. We obtained several proglottids from each case. Because the morphological features of T. saginata are almost indistinguishable from those of Taenia asiatica, molecular analyses using the PCR-RFLP and DNA sequencing of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (cox1) were performed to identify the species. The PCR-RFLP patterns of all of the 4 specimens were consistent with T. saginata, and the cox1 gene sequence showed 99.8-100% identity with that of T. saginata reported previously from Korea, Japan, China, and Cambodia. All of the 4 patients had the history of travel abroad but its relation with contracting taeniasis was unclear. Our findings may suggest resurgence of T. saginata infection among people in Korea.

Keyword

Taenia saginata; case report; molecular diagnosis; cox1; PCR-RFLP; sequence divergence

MeSH Terms

Adult
Animals
Cluster Analysis
DNA Fingerprinting
Electron Transport Complex IV/*genetics
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Phylogeny
Polymerase Chain Reaction
Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length
Republic of Korea
Sequence Analysis, DNA
Sequence Homology
Taenia saginata/*classification/genetics/*isolation & purification
Taeniasis/*diagnosis/*parasitology
Travel
Electron Transport Complex IV
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