OBJECTIVES To study the fasciocidal properties of artesunate and artemether in the rat model and in vitro. METHODS Adult Fasciola hepatica were exposed in vitro to 1, 10 and 100 microg/mL of artesunate, artemether and dihydroartemisinin for 72 h. Female Wistar rats were administered a single oral dose of artesunate and artemether (100-400 mg/kg) commencing 3 or 10-14 weeks post-infection and ...

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are key regulators of gene expression at the post-transcription level. The present study specifically explored and compared the miRNA expression profiles of F. gigantica and F. hepatica using an integrated sequencing and bioinformatics platform and quantitative real-time PCR. Nineteen and 16 miRNA candidates were identified from F. gigantica and F. hepatica, respectively. The...

Natural infection of Lymnaea glabra and Lymnaea truncatula by Fasciola hepatica and/or Paramphistomum daubneyi was studied at two periods of risk (June-July and September-October) in 11 French farms known for their high prevalences of F. hepatica infection in ruminants. A total of 1,778 L. truncatula and 2,396 L. glabra measuring 6 mm or more in height were collected to determine the prevalence...

Fasciola hepatica is one of the most common parasites in China that infects ruminants, especially cattle, sheep and goats, and causes considerable morbidity and economic losses in the animal husbandry. The climate in wide areas of China is suitable for the development of F. hepatica and its intermediate snail hosts. However, human infection with the fluke is not common. Up to now, 38 hospital p...

Systhematized septal fibrosis of the liver can be induced in rats either by repeated intraperitoneal injections of pig-serum or by Capillaria hepatica infection. The relationship between these two etiological factors, as far as hepatic fibrosis is concerned, is not known, and present investigation attempts to investigate it. C. hepatica-induced septal fibrosis of the liver was considerably inhi...

Cathepsin L1 (CatL1) is one of the major molecules in the excretory-secretory products of Fasciola hepatica and is secreted by all stages of the developing parasite; it is involved in tissue penetration, immune evasion, feeding and pathogenesis. Our aim in this study was to clone and characterise the F. hepatica CatL1 gene from a Turkish isolate. This is the first report of cDNA encoding CatL1 ...

Experimental infections of Lymnaea truncatula with a digenean species (Fasciola gigantica, F. hepatica, or Paramphistomum daubneyi) were performed under laboratory conditions to study the effect of four sources of food (microalgae, romaine lettuce, wheat germs, or modified Boray diet) on cercarial production. The mean number of F. hepatica, F. gigantica, or P. daubneyi cercariae was significant...

BACKGROUND F. hepatica infection is rare and mostly subclinical. Migration of juvenile forms of F. hepatica into the host's liver is accompanied by an inflammatory reaction followed by fibrosis and cirrhosis. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to evaluate oxidative status by using a novel automated method in patients with Fasciola hepatica. METHODS Twenty two patients with a diagnosis of F...

Water fungi and fungus-like organisms as a biological factor of ecological water systems have significant influence on the environment and its modification. They decompose necrosis substrates found in water bodies. Fungi also can act as facultative parasites and then frequently occur on their hosts. The main aim of the present study is to investigate which of the fungi and straminipiles can gro...

Crude and excretory/secretory (E/S) antigens of Fasciola hepatica were subjected to SDS-PAGE and Western blot analysis in order to identify protein bands that would enable the specific and sensitive immunodiagnosis of sheep. Sera from 20 sheep with natural infections of F. hepatica, Dicrocoelium dendriticum, Cyst hydatid, Cysticercus tenuicollis, Trichostrongylidae, Paramphistomum spp., and Tri...