Pathogenesis of cerebral toxocariasis and neurodegenerative diseases

Fan, Chia Kwung

doi:10.1016/bs.apar.2020.01.008

Cited by 15 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 88 publications

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“…Associations between mental disorders, including bipolar disorders or schizophrenia, and neurotropic parasitic infections including toxocariasis have been documented [ 19 ]. CNS involvement can lead to neuropsychiatric symptoms, encephalopathy, seizures, mental retardation, epilepsy, and neurodegeneration [ 20 , 21 ]. Human neurotoxocariasis is relatively rare, yet it is not unreasonable to assume that the cause of mental retardation in some of our subjects in the present study is neurotoxocariasis, as myelitis, cerebellar vasculitis, space-occupying lesion, and mental retardation are accounted for the manifestation of human neurotoxocariasis [ 22 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High Seroprevalence of Toxocara Infection among Mentally Retarded Patients in Hormozgan Province, Southern Iran

Omidian

Diyaleh

Pouryousef

et al. 2021

Journal of Tropical Medicine

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Mentally retarded individuals are more likely to become infected with soil-transmitted infections including toxocariasis. The current study aimed to determine the serostatus of toxocariasis among institutionalized mentally retarded individuals in Hormozgan Province, in the south of Iran. Subjects of the study were 117 mentally disabled individuals, including children and adults, maintained in a charity-based institution. Three millilitres of venous blood was taken from each subject. While sampling, demographic features of the subject were documented in a questionnaire. An ELISA system based on Toxocara larvae excretory-secretory antigens (TES) was utilized to detect anti-Toxocara IgG antibodies in the sera of the patients. The mean age of the subject was 27.6 (±12.31) years and consisted of 55 (47%) males and 62 (53%) females. Out of 117 cases, 33 (28.2%) were seropositive for toxocariasis. The seroprevalence was higher in females (37.1%) than males (18.2%), and the difference was statistically significant ( p < 0.05). Out of 117 subjects, 76 (64.9%) had severe and 41 (35.1%) had profound mental retardation. Anti-Toxocara antibodies were detected in 18 (23.7%) patients with severe and 15 (35.6%) patients with profound mental retardation. The highest seroprevalence rate of toxocariasis (44.4%) was observed in the age group of ≤10 years followed by 21–30 years old (36.7%). No statistically significant association was seen between the age and also the duration of residency in the care center and seropositivity of toxocariasis ( p > 0.05). The current study represents the high prevalence of toxocariasis in mentally retarded patients in Hormozgan Province, southern Iran. The elevated seroprevalence rate of toxocariasis in the current study indicates that these subjects constitute a high-risk group for Toxocara infection, which may be attributed to their behavioral patterns.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High Seroprevalence of Toxocara Infection among Mentally Retarded Patients in Hormozgan Province, Southern Iran

Omidian

Diyaleh

Pouryousef

et al. 2021

Journal of Tropical Medicine

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“…Toxocariasis can lead to a number of different clinical manifestations in humans, including allergic, ophthalmic and neurological disorders (Ma et al, 2018). Recent epidemiological studies and meta-analyses on cognitive impairment, psychosis and epilepsy have associated Toxocara infection with these debilitating neurological diseases (Walsh and Haseeb, 2012;Luna et al, 2018;Taghipour et al, 2021), and a potential link to the development of degenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's disease has been hypothesized (Fan, 2020). Despite recognition of its clinical impact, toxocariasis remains a neglected disease and major gaps in our understanding of the epidemiology of this parasite remain.…”

Section: Toxocariasis and Food Safetymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In contrast, identification of Toxocara spp. eggs in the feces of infected cats, dogs and foxes is more suggestive of a patent infection, with adult worms residing within the intestine of these definitive hosts (Fan, 2020). The risk of a false-positive diagnosis due to the ingestion of faeces containing Toxocara spp.…”

Section: Contamination Of Toxocara Eggs On Farmsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Brain food: rethinking food-borne toxocariasis

et al. 2021

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Human toxocariasis is a neglected tropical disease, which is actually global in distribution and has a significant impact on global public health. The infection can lead to several serious conditions in humans, including allergic, ophthalmic and neurological disorders such as epilepsy. It is caused by the common roundworm species Toxocara canis and Toxocara cati, with humans becoming accidentally infected via the ingestion of eggs or larvae. Toxocara eggs are deposited on the ground when infected dogs, cats and foxes defecate, with the eggs contaminating crops, grazing pastures, and subsequently food animals. However, transmission of Toxocara to humans via food consumption has received relatively little attention in the literature. To establish the risks that contaminated food poses to the public, a renewed research focus is required. This review discusses what is currently known about food-borne Toxocara transmission, highlighting the gaps in our understanding that require further attention, and outlining some potential preventative strategies which could be employed to safeguard consumer health.

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“…Nagy et al showed increase of protective pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6 and IL-13) and anti-inflammatory IL-10 in Toxocara-seropositive children with chronic cough (8). Fan CK revealed significantly elevated levels of IL-4 and IL-5 in the cerebrum of T. canis-induced cerebral toxocariasis in mice (9). To the best of our knowledge, no previous study examined the cytokine expression pattern associated with OT.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cytokine Profile in Aqueous Humor of Patients With Ocular Toxocariasis

et al. 2022

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PurposeOcular toxocariasis (OT) is a vision-threatening disease with a largely unknown intraocular pathogenesis. Herein, we determined the cytokine expression profile in aqueous humor (AH) of patients with OT.MethodsThis is a retrospective case-control study of cytokine levels in AH of patients with OT and uveitis and control subjects. Thirty samples from eyes with OT, 23 from eyes with non-OT uveitis, and 25 from eyes with age-related cataract were analyzed using a multiplexed magnetic bead immunoassay. Thirty-one cytokines were detected and classified into 5 categories: T-helper type 1 (Th1) -associated cytokines, Th2-associated cytokines, Th17 cytokine, proinflammatory mediators, and growth factors.ResultsIn the 31 cytokines, 9 cytokines were undetectable, including IL-1a, IL-1b, IL-2, IL-3, IL-12p70, IL-17A, TGF-a, TNF-β, and IFN-g. From the 22 cytokines, 13 exhibited significantly increased expression in the OT group than in the control group, including TNF-a, IFN-a2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-9, IL-10, IL-13, sCD40L, PDGF-AA, PDGF-AB/BB, FLT3l, and EGF. There were 5 cytokines exhibited significantly increased expression in the OT group than in non-OT group, including IL-5, IL-9, IL-10, IL-13, and PDGF-AA. There was no significantly decreased expression in any cytokines in the OT group when compared with control or non-OT groups. To the 5 cytokines that showed significant difference in OT group alone, IL-10 and IL-13 exhibited more than 13-fold increase, and IL-5 showed the most obvious as 27-fold increase in OT patients, when compared with that in control group.ConclusionThe cytokine profile expression in aqueous humor from patients with ocular toxocariasis was investigated, and our findings suggest that Th1 and Th17 cytokine responses are not enhanced, whereas the cytokine status was polarized toward a Th2 response. Our findings also suggest the involvement of IL-5, IL-10, and IL-13 in the immunopathogenesis of ocular toxocariasis.

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Pathogenesis of cerebral toxocariasis and neurodegenerative diseases

Cited by 15 publications

References 88 publications

High Seroprevalence of Toxocara Infection among Mentally Retarded Patients in Hormozgan Province, Southern Iran

High Seroprevalence of Toxocara Infection among Mentally Retarded Patients in Hormozgan Province, Southern Iran

Brain food: rethinking food-borne toxocariasis

Cytokine Profile in Aqueous Humor of Patients With Ocular Toxocariasis

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