Early developmental stages of Ascaris lumbricoides featured by high-resolution mass spectrometry

Abstract

Ascaris lumbricoides is responsible for a highly disseminated helminth parasitic disease, ascariosis, a relevant parasitosis that responds for great financial burden on the public health system of developing countries. In this work, metabolic fingerprinting using high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) was employed to identify marker molecules from A. lumbricoides in different development stages. We have identified nine biomarkers, such as pheromones and steroidal prohormones in early stages, among other molecules in late development stages, making up four molecules for fertilized eggs, four marker molecules for first larvae (L1) and one marker molecule for third larvae (L3). Therefore, our findings indicate that this approach is suitable for biochemical characterization of A. lumbricoides development stages. Moreover, the straightforward analytical method employed, with almost no sample preparation from a complex matrix (feces) using high-resolution mass spectrometry, suggests that it is possible to seek for an easier and faster way to study animal molding processes.

Serum Metabolic Alterations upon Zika Infection

“…For all these reasons, better understanding the pathophysiological mechanism of diseases is critical for delivering improved patient care. Recent advances in analytical approaches and metabolomics studies have been growing in the last few years and expanded the knowledge physiological and pathological alterations in living organisms (Dunn et al, 2013 ; Junot et al, 2014 ; Melo et al, 2016b ). In line with this trend, this contribution focuses in understanding metabolomic alterations caused by ZIKV infection in serum samples from patients infected with ZIKV.…”

Biological role of excretory–secretory proteins in endemic parasites of Latin America and the Caribbean

“…On the other hand, ascariasis is the most frequent intestinal parasitosis in humans; it affects about 800 million people, with children the most heavily affected group (Prieto-Perez et al ., 2016). Ascariasis is one of the most prevalent parasitic diseases in the world (Beyhan et al ., 2016; Melo et al ., 2016; Shalaby & Shalaby, 2016); it has been estimated that 514 million people in LAC live in a risk zone for ascariasis, and the disease shows a prevalence of 16% in the open population. In this region, 28 million cases have been reported in persons younger than 15 years, while 56 million people older than 15 years are infected with Ascaris lumbricoide s (De Silva et al ., 2003).…”

Areas of Metabolomic Exploration for Helminth Infections

“…Studies to identify biomarkers in urine from individuals infected with Onchocerca volvulus and biomarkers of liver disease caused by Opisthorchis felineus are also included. Comprehensive reviews on parasite metabolomics have been published by Preidis and Hotez; 12 Zheng et al; 15 Melo et al; 16 Wangchuk et al 17…”