About two years ago our laboratory received for identification a sparganum of Spirometra sp. (about 10 cm long) removed from a nodule in the knee of a Tanzanian negro by Doctor Knut Saug. About the same time we received for identification two tetrathyridia of Mesocestoides sp. (about 8 cm long) found in the peritoneum of a Norwegian cat. The latter was the first record of tetrathyridia found in...

Novel neutral glycosphingolipids isolated from the plerocercoids of a tapeworm, Spirometra erinacei, may be expected to be involved in host-parasite interactions. We have synthesized this glycosphingolipid analogue containing 2-branched fatty alkyl residue in place of ceramide. Glycosylation of nonreducing-end trisaccharide derivative 15 with the reducing-end disaccharide derivative 17 in the p...

Sparganosis is a parasitic infection caused by the plerocercoid tapeworm larva of the genus Spirometra. Although the destination of the larva is often a tissue or muscle in the chest, abdominal wall, extremities, eyes, brain, urinary tract, spinal canal, and scrotum, intramuscular sparganosis is uncommon and therefore is difficult to distinguish from a soft tissue tumor. We report a case of int...

Cestodes Since 1993 (1) several cases of sparganosis caused probably by Spirometra sp. have been observed. (5,6 and Samarasinghe S, personal communication). Bertiella studeri, an anoplocephalid tapeworm, is now recognised as a parasite acquired in areas where monkey reservoir hosts abound (7). As summarised by the present author (8) this cestode (Weerasooriya MV, Edirisinghe JS, personal commun...

Parasitic diseases reflect the health and balance of ecosystems, affecting not only individuals but also entire populations or communities. The aim of this study was to report on the diversity of parasitic helminths detected in the feces of a wild feline in southern Brazil. Parasites were obtained from fecal samples, and four techniques were used for parasitological examination: direct examinat...

After infection of male mice with the plerocercoids (spargana) of Spirometra mansoni, serum levels of estrogen and testicular weight were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and weighing machine, respectively. The serum level of estrogen increased progressively in infected mice compared with normal controls, whereas the testicular weight of infected mice decreased significantl...