Gnathostoma spinigerum third stage larvae antigen is necessary for Western blot analysis in the diagnosis of Gnathostomiasis. Acid pepsin solution is required for digestion of eel's liver( Fluta alba ) to yield the larvae for antigen preparation. Here, he reported the feasibility of using orange juice as an alternative to enzyme pepsin in harvesting Gnathostoma spinigerum third stage larvae. Fr...

PURPOSE To describe a patient with isolated monocular optic neuritis caused by an identified Gnathostoma spinigerum infestation. CASE REPORT A 21-year-old man developed a swollen eyelid and painful monocular visual loss of his left eye which did not improve after treatment by intravenous steroid and albendazole. A remarkable eosinophilia in his peripheral blood count was demonstrated. The pat...

From July 2008 to June 2009, livers of the swamp eels (Monopterus alba) were investigated for advanced third-stage larvae (AL3) of Gnathostoma spinigerum. Results revealed that 10.2% (106/1,037) and 20.4% (78/383) of farmed eels from Aranyaprathet District, Sa Kaeo Province and those of wild-caught eels obtained from a market in Min Buri District of Bangkok, Thailand were infected, respectively...

A total of 1,788 livers from swamp eels (Fluta alba), purchased at a market in Bangkok, Thailand, from April to July 2002, were studied for the prevalence and intensity of Gnasthostoma third stage larvae (L3s). Of all livers, 466 were infected with Gnasthostoma L3s (infection rate = 26%). The larvae recovered averaged 0.43 +/- 0.51 larvae/liver. All larvae were identified as Gnasthostoma spinig...

In this study, we reported the feasibility of using papaya skin extract (Carica papaya L.) as an alternative to enzyme pepsin in harvesting Gnathostoma spinigerum third-stage larvae. From experimental digestion, we found that the different numbers of recovered larvae between papaya skin extract and pepsin were not statistically significant (p >0.05). When the derived larvae from pepsin and papa...

Gnathostomiasis is a helminthic disease most frequently occurring in Thailand. Human infections are usually found to be caused by Gnathostoma spinigerum, although five species of the genus Gnathostoma exist in Thailand, and three of these are capable of infecting man. In Thailand, 47 species of vertebrates--fish (19), frogs (2), reptiles (11), birds (11) and mammals (4)--have been reported to s...

We report the molecular-phylogenetic identification of larvae of the nematode genus Gnathostoma Owen, 1836 collected from a snake, Ptyas koros Schlegel, in Laos and adult worms from the stomach of a dog in Thailand. DNA was extracted and amplified targeting the partial cox1 gene and the ITS-2 region of ribosomal DNA. Phylogenetic analyses indicated that all five advanced thirdstage larvae and s...

Aquatic snails, Pila ampullacea and Pomacea canaliculata were experimentally found to be suitable paratenic hosts for advanced third-stage larvae (L3) of the nematode Gnathostoma spinigerum, the causative parasite of gnathostomiasis in humans. G. spinigerum (L3) were found to be encapsulated in the tissue of the snail's foot and its internal organs. The infection, intensity and survival of thir...

Human gnathostomiasis is an emerging food-borne parasitic disease caused by nematodes in the genus Gnathostoma. In spite of their significance as pathogens, these parasites remain poorly understood at the molecular level. In the present study, we sequenced the mitochondrial (mt) genome of G. spinigerum, which infects a range of definitive hosts including dogs, cats, tigers, leopards and humans....

The genus Gnathostoma contains at least twelve distinctive species. Among these, 6 species, namely G. spinigerum, G. hispidum, G. doloresi, G. vietnamicum, G. malaysiae and G. nipponicum, are found in wild animals in Asia. Related to human gnathostomiasis, G. spinigerum has long been believed as the only causative species. Until the early 1980s, all gnathostomiasis cases found in major endemic ...