Scanning electron microscopical (SEM) studies on the tegument of the bovid schistosomes, Schistosoma margrebowiei and Schistosoma mattheei have yielded conflicting results; certain authors observed the tubercles on the tegument of these species to be spined, while others reported that they are spineless. The present study indicates that the protrusion of tubercular spines is subject to phenotyp...

Schistosomiasis is a peculiar worm disease found in different parts of the world (1). In this respect, migration plays an important part, e.g., an Ethiopian woman living in Lebanon (2) and those patients from Puerto Rico, “where the parasite is endemic,” but were treated in USA (3). Incidentally, the available single cases of intestinal infestation by schistosomes were recorded in terms of “pol...

Schistosoma hippopotami were collected from the right heart chambers and pulmonary arteries of Hippopotamus amphibius culled in the Kruger National Park. The schistosomes were subjected to scanning electron microscopy as well as optical microscopy. The results indicate that S. hippopotami is not conspecific to S. mansoni as suggested in the literature. On account of the morphology of certain te...

Recently we developed the genus-specific markers of the avian schistosomes of the genus Trichobilharzia, the causative agents of human cercarial dermatitis. The 7 novel genome sequences of T. franki, T. regenti, and T. szidati revealed similarity with genome repeat region of African schistosome Schistosoma mansoni. In the present work we analyzed the 37 new T. szidati sequences to study intrage...

Schistosomes are parasitic platyhelminths that currently infect over 200 million people globally. The parasites can live for years in a putatively hostile environment - the blood of vertebrates. We have hypothesized that the unusual schistosome tegument (outer-covering) plays a role in protecting parasites in the blood; by impeding host immunological signaling pathways we suggest that tegumenta...

The Zn(2+)-chelating metalloprotease inhibitor 1,10-phenanthroline (phenanthroline, 5-150 microM) elicited dose-dependent contraction of the longitudinal and circular (transverse) musculature of adult male schistosomes. At the same concentrations, phenanthroline did not cause contraction of dispersed individual muscle fibres. The phenanthroline-induced contractions were reduced by the inclusion...

Dendritic cells (DC) are uniquely specialised for both antigen acquisition and presentation, linking innate and adaptive immunity. Their central role in the activation of naïve T cells gives DC a strategic position in the control of immune responses. While the mechanisms by which viral, bacterial or protozoal pathogens interact with and activate DC are increasingly understood, much less is know...

Volunteers living in an area where schistosomiasis mansoni is endemic were subjected to ultrasound examination and classified into groups according to the levels of fibrosis diagnosed, namely, absence of indications of fibrosis (group 0), incipient fibrosis (group 1), and moderate/severe fibrosis (group 2). Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) collected from the volunteers were stimulated ...

The dual function of eosinophils has been evidenced in protective immunity against parasites as well as in pathological manifestations during allergic disorders. We have demonstrated that a new class of IgE receptors, Fc epsilon RII/CD23, was involved in the functional duality of eosinophils and other proinflammatory cells. More recently, we have shown that Fc epsilon RI, the high affinity IgE ...

Parasitic helminths (worms belonging to several metazoan phyla) cause considerable morbidity and mortality in humans. They are an important veterinary problem, and they result in significant economic losses in animal grazing and agriculture. Experimental studies on parasitic helminths have been limited by a lack of parasite cell lines and methods for molecular genetic analyses. We evaluated par...