China
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The Challenge of Parasite Control
Published in Eric S. Loker, Bruce V. Hofkin, Parasitology, 2023
Eric S. Loker, Bruce V. Hofkin
In more developed parts of the world, strategies used to reduce contact between parasites and their human hosts have essentially eliminated many parasitic diseases. Mosquito control, for instance, has lifted the scourge of malaria in Europe and North America. Adequate sanitation in tandem with clean food and water supplies has made food and waterborne disease uncommon. Yet in less developed regions, poor infrastructure, a lack of will on the part of governments and extreme poverty often collude to make even basic sanitation nothing more than a distant dream (Figure 9.1). Additionally, although certain diseases such as malaria attract considerable attention and research funding, many parasitic diseases tend to receive relatively low priority in the public health community. Many of these diseases, often collectively called neglected tropical diseases (Table 9.1), are at least in theory preventable, if only the underlying socioeconomic factors could be appropriately addressed.
The Parasitic Protozoa and Helminth Worms
Published in Julius P. Kreier, Infection, Resistance, and Immunity, 2022
Parasitic protozoa and helminth worms are major causes of mortality and morbidity worldwide although their effects are greatest in the tropics and subtropics where they affect over half the world′s population. In addition, some also pose an increasing threat to those suffering from HIV infections anywhere in the world. Parasites cause some of the most important human diseases such as malaria and schistosomiasis, which together afflict over 500 million people in the tropics, and ascariasis that affects some 900 million people worldwide. Parasitic diseases are difficult to control because they often cause long and debilitating infections, largely as a result of the inability of the immune system to keep them in check.
Pathobiology of Amebiasis
Published in Roberto R. Kretschmer, Amebiasis: Infection and Disease by Entamoeba histolytica, 2020
Ruy Pérez-Tamayo, Ingeborg Becker, Irmgard Montfort, Ruy Pérez-Montfort
In this selective and freely speculative review we have focused on some of the current problems in amebiasis in which we have had personal experience. There are, of course, other aspects of this disease that are being actively investigated by many other groups, some of them well represented in other chapters of this book. They were not mentioned because our knowledge of them is both superficial and second hand, not because they were considered unimportant. In addition, we knew beforehand that several of those important problems in the pathobiology of amebiasis would be treated more authoritatively elsewhere in this volume. On the other hand, however, we included in our discussion some topics of the pathobiology of this parasitic disease that are seldom (if ever) treated by other authors. That such topics are not unreal we unhappily still have almost daily opportunity to confirm. Finally, in the very limited areas covered in this chapter, we reviewed our knowledge but also emphasized our ignorance, since we believe that what we still do not know has always been much more interesting than what we have already conquered.
Sulphonamide inhibition studies of the β-carbonic anhydrase GsaCAβ present in the salmon platyhelminth parasite Gyrodactylus salaris
Published in Journal of Enzyme Inhibition and Medicinal Chemistry, 2023
Ashok Aspatwar, Alessandro Bonardi, Heidi Aisala, Ksenia Zueva, Craig R Primmer, Jaakko Lumme, Seppo Parkkila, Claudiu T. Supuran
We have recently reported the cloning and characterisation of a β-class carbonic anhydrase (CA, EC 4.2.1.1) encoded in the genome of Gyrodactylus salaris, GsaCAβ1, a platyhelminth (flatworm) parasite attacking various fish species2,3. The Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) is particularly sensitive to this parasite, which produced catastrophic losses in fish farms in Scandinavian countries and elsewhere, starting with the 1970s3–5. By releasing proteolytic enzymes, the parasite attaches on the fish gills, fins or skin inducing the formation of wounds, which favour the emergence of infections, with debilitation and eventual death of the infected animals5,6. There are no effective drugs for the treatment of this parasitic disease, although a variety of inorganic salts, synthetic compounds/drugs (e.g., praziquantel, levamisole, mebendazole and toltrazuril) and other approaches (manual removal of the worms) have been investigated, with rather unsuccessful results7. Furthermore, many of these compounds/drugs induce serious host toxicity, raising thus significant human health concerns if such fish is to be consumed7. Thus, as for other platyhelminth parasites producing infection in vertebrates including humans, such as Schistosoma haematobium8 or Schistosoma mansoni9–11 there is a stringent need of alternative drug targets and efficient compounds to treat these infections.
Characteristics of participants and decliners from a randomized controlled trial on physical activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a retrospective register-based cross-sectional study
Published in Scandinavian Journal of Rheumatology, 2023
T Thomsen, BA Esbensen, ML Hetland, M Aadahl
In Denmark, all hospital contacts, including administrative information, are registered in the Danish NPR by type and contact date. The NPR records primary and secondary diagnoses and treatment procedures using the ICD-10. We extracted information on morbidity as primary and secondary diagnoses. However, as we initially had identified our target population of patients with RA through DANBIO, we excluded the ICD-10 classification codes for RA (M05_0, M05_9, M06_0, M06_9) from 2003 up to 2013, which was the year for commencement of the JR-SB study recruitment. We were interested in the presence of specific diseases in the RA population as suggested by previous research about morbidity in patients with RA (23). Therefore, comorbidity was classified into seven major ICD-10 classification groups of disease: (i) cancer; (ii) endocrine, nutritional, and metabolic diseases; (iii) mental and behavioural disorders; (iv) diseases of the circulatory system; (v) diseases of the respiratory system; (vi) diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue; and (vii) infectious and parasitic diseases. From the NPR, we also extracted information on the number of days of hospital admission from 2003 to 2013 in all patients with RA.
Signal peptide peptidase: a potential therapeutic target for parasitic and viral infections
Published in Expert Opinion on Therapeutic Targets, 2022
Christopher Schwake, Michael Hyon, Athar H. Chishti
The SPP gene has been shown to be essential for malaria parasite growth and its homologues in other parasites thus demonstrating critical and broad essentiality of these proteases as therapeutic targets. Future investigations will likely lead to the development of a repertoire of highly selective and potent inhibitors of parasite and viral SPPs in pre-clinical models including rodents and non-human primates. Current standards of treatment for many neglected parasitic diseases rely on decades old drugs that encounter multiple challenges as outlined in this review. The future of small-molecule inhibitors against parasitic diseases as well as viral targets will be guided by highly selective and potent inhibitors of essential pathogen-derived enzymes including SPP. In the next 5–10 years, the expectation is that novel drug screening strategies will lead the development of several new and safe SPP inhibitors that either alone or in combination will emerge as standard of therapy for multiple parasitic and viral infections.