Korean J Parasitol.
2015 Jun;53(3):299-305. 10.3347/kjp.2015.53.3.299.
Human Infections with Spirometra decipiens Plerocercoids Identified by Morphologic and Genetic Analyses in Korea
- Affiliations
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- 1Department of Parasitology, Medical Research Institute and Parasite Resource Bank, Chungbuk National University School of Medicine, Cheongju 362-763, Korea. kseom@chungbuk.ac.kr
- 2Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, Cheongju 361-709, Korea.
- 3Department of Parasitology, College of Medicine, Hallym University, Chuncheon 200-702, Korea.
- 4Department of Parasitology and Tropical Medicine, Institute of Health Sciences, Gyeongsang National University College of Medicine, Chinju 660-751, Korea.
- 5Department of Parasitology and Tropical Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul 110-799, Korea.
- KMID: 2381833
- DOI: http://doi.org/10.3347/kjp.2015.53.3.299
Abstract
- Tapeworms of the genus Spirometra are pseudophyllidean cestodes endemic in Korea. At present, it is unclear which Spirometra species are responsible for causing human infections, and little information is available on the epidemiological profiles of Spirometra species infecting humans in Korea. Between 1979 and 2009, a total of 50 spargana from human patients and 2 adult specimens obtained from experimentally infected carnivorous animals were analyzed according to genetic and taxonomic criteria and classified as Spirometra erinaceieuropaei or Spirometra decipiens depending on the morphology. Morphologically, S. erinaceieuropaei and S. decipiens are different in that the spirally coiled uterus in S. erinaceieuropaei has 5-7 complete coils, while in S. decipiens it has only 4.5 coils. In addition, there is a 9.3% (146/1,566) sequence different between S. erinaceieuropaei and S. decipiens in the cox1 gene. Partial cox1 sequences (390 bp) from 35 Korean isolates showed 99.4% (388/390) similarity with the reference sequence of S. erinaceieuropaei from Korea (G1724; GenBank KJ599680) and an additional 15 Korean isolates revealed 99.2% (387/390) similarity with the reference sequences of S. decipiens from Korea (G1657; GenBank KJ599679). Based on morphologic and molecular databases, the estimated population ratio of S. erinaceieuropaei to S. decipiens was 35: 15. Our results indicate that both S. erinaceieuropaei and S. decipiens found in Korea infect humans, with S. erinaceieuropaei being 2 times more prevalent than S. decipiens. This study is the first to report human sparganosis caused by S. decipiens in humans in Korea.
Keyword
MeSH Terms
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Adult
Aged
Animals
Cat Diseases/parasitology
Cats
Dog Diseases/parasitology
Dogs
Electron Transport Complex IV/genetics
Female
Helminth Proteins/genetics
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Molecular Sequence Data
Phylogeny
Republic of Korea/epidemiology
Sparganosis/diagnosis/*parasitology
Spirometra/anatomy & histology/classification/*genetics/*isolation & purification
Young Adult
Electron Transport Complex IV
Helminth Proteins
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