A case of breast sparganosis was confirmed by surgical excision of a worm (fragmented into 5 pieces) in a 59-year-old Korean woman suffering from a palpable mass in the left breast. Mammography and ultrasonography characteristically revealed the presence of several well-defined, isodense and hypoechoic tubular masses, in the upper quadrant of the left breast, each mass consisting of a continuou...

Cerebral sparganosis is a rare parasitic disease of the central nervous system that is caused by sparganum. Cerebral sparganosis occurs worldwide, but it is found more frequently in China, Japan, and Southeastern Asia (12). Sparganum, the second-stage larva of Spirometra mansoni, can produce chronic active inflammation through slow migration in the brain (1). They can also parasitize other site...

Sparganosis is a rare parasitic disease caused by migrating plerocercoid tapeworm larva of the genus Spirometra. Infection in humans is mainly caused by the ingestion of raw or inadequately cooked flesh of infected frogs, snakes, and chickens. Here, we report a rare case of a 45-year-old man who was admitted to our hospital with left lower chest pain. The chest radiograph and computed tomograph...

Sparganosis is a parasitic infestation that is caused by the sparganum, a plerocercoid larva of the tapeworm belonging to the genus Spirometra. While a carnivorous mammal such as a dog or cat is the final host, humans are an intermediate host. Humans accidentally acquire the sparganum either by drinking contaminated water with infected cyclops or by eating raw frogs and snakes (1). The sparganu...

In order to identify early specific diagnostic antigens of Spirometra erinaceieuropaei (syn. S. erinacei or S. mansoni) sparganum, soluble proteins were analyzed by two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) and western blotting probed with immune sera from infected mice at 14 days post-infection. From a total of approximately 462 proteins spots mainly distributed in pI range of 5-6.6 and with mole...

A highly specific antigenic protein of 31 kDa from plerocercoid of Spirometra mansoni (sparganum) was obtained by gelatin affinity and Mono Q anion-exchange column chromatography. The purified 31 kDa protein was subjected to N-glycan enzymatic digestion for structural analysis. The relative electrophoretic mobility was analyzed by SDS-PAGE, before and after digestion. On SDS-PAGE after enzymati...

Serine proteases form one of the most important families of enzymes and perform significant functions in a broad range of biological processes, such as intra- and extracellular protein metabolism, digestion, blood coagulation, regulation of development, and fertilization. A number of serine proteases have been identified in parasitic helminths that have putative roles in parasite development an...

Gangweon-do is known to be highly endemic area of sparganosis more than other provinces in Korea. A seroepidmiologic examination for the detection of anti-Spirometra erinacei plerocercoid IgG in serum was carried out in normal inhabitants in Hongcheon-gun, Gangweon-do. Sere were tested by enzyme-linked immunosrobent assay (ELISA) for the anti-sparganum antibodies. Positive rate for anti-spargan...

caused by the larval form of an animal tapeworm of the genus Spirometra (1). The definite host is a carnivorous mammal, such as a dog or cat and intermediate hosts are a wide spectrum of vertebrates that include amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals (2). Humans are usually a paratenic host (3). The route of infection is ingestion of raw meat of snakes or frogs, or drinking contaminated water ...