Hostname: page-component-74656f9884-rdgjk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-11-07T05:07:29.709Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Molecular determination of the origin of acephalic cysticercus

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 November 2004

J.-Y. CHUNG
Affiliation:
Department of Parasitology, College of Medicine and Department of Malariology, Paik Institute for Clinical Research, Inje University, Busan 614-735, Korea
W.-G. KHO
Affiliation:
Department of Parasitology, College of Medicine and Department of Malariology, Paik Institute for Clinical Research, Inje University, Busan 614-735, Korea
S.-Y. HWANG
Affiliation:
Department of Parasitology, College of Medicine and Department of Malariology, Paik Institute for Clinical Research, Inje University, Busan 614-735, Korea
E.-Y. JE
Affiliation:
Department of Molecular Parasitology and Center for Molecular Medicine, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine and Samsung Biomedical Research Institute, Suwon, 440-746, Korea
Y.-T. CHUNG
Affiliation:
Department of Neurosurgery, Inje University College of Medicine, Busan 614-735, Korea
T.-S. KIM
Affiliation:
Department of Tropical and Endemic Parasitic Diseases, National Institute of Health, Seoul 122-701, Korea
K.-S. EOM
Affiliation:
Department of Parasitology, Chungbuk National University College of Medicine, Chongju 360-763, Korea
W.-M. SOHN
Affiliation:
Department of Parasitology and Institute of Health Sciences, Gyeongsang National University College of Medicine, Jinju 660-751, Korea
S.-Y. CHO
Affiliation:
Department of Molecular Parasitology and Center for Molecular Medicine, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine and Samsung Biomedical Research Institute, Suwon, 440-746, Korea
Y. KONG
Affiliation:
Department of Molecular Parasitology and Center for Molecular Medicine, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine and Samsung Biomedical Research Institute, Suwon, 440-746, Korea
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Acephalic cysticercus (Ac), a rarely developed multilobulated and nonencysted form of larval Taenia, causes hydrocephalus or adhesive arachnoiditis in the ventricles and subarachnoidal space that often lead to fatal outcome in affected patients. Ac has been proposed to originate from T. solium on the basis of morphological features, while no molecular data supporting the presumption have been available. In the present study, we investigated the immunological properties as well as molecular characteristics of Ac that was obtained surgically from 6 patients. Immunoblotting of the cyst fluid from Ac samples demonstrated the constitutive expression of a T. solium metacestode (TsM) 10 kDa protein. Specific antibodies against the truncated 10 kDa protein, which appears to be species specific for TsM cysticercosis, were detected in both serum and cerebrospinal fluid samples of Ac patients. Nucleotide sequences of mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 1 (ND1) genes of Ac were almost identical to those of T. solium but differed substantially from those of the other Taenia species. In phylogenetic analysis, Ac clustered with T. solium in a well-supported clade. Our results strongly suggest that Ac may have originated from T. solium.

Information

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2005 Cambridge University Press
Figure 0

Table 1. Summary of clinical information of the 6 patients with acephalic neurocysticercosis

Figure 1

Fig. 1. Photograph of acephalic cysticercus (Ac) used in this study. (A) Ac case no. 5 in Table 1. (a) Hydrocephalus, noticed on computed tomographic scan. (b) Huge cystic mass observed on another view. (c) Multi-branched, multiple viable and partially degenerated cysts isolated from the 4th ventricle. (d) Microscopic examination revealed typical external cuticular layer of papillary like budding warts, middle cellular layer in which contained lymphocyte-like elements and innermost reticular layer with calcareous corpuscles. (B) Another Ac specimen extracted from the spinal cord (Ac case no. 6). (a) Magnetic resonance imaging scan showed 2 cystic masses (arrows) on the extramedullary leptomeningeal space on T2-L2 levels. (b) Huge cystic mass seen in operative field (arrow). (c) Three viable worms extracted from the lesions.

Figure 2

Fig. 2. Immunoblot analysis of the CF proteins from Ac samples and of antibody responses in patients with Ac. (A) Blot containing CF proteins was probed with a monospecific antibody against the TsM 10 kDa protein. Specific reaction was observed for the 10 kDa protein (). Albumin (66 kDa; [bull ]) and the heavy (50 kDa; ) and light chains (23 kDa; ) of IgG also exhibited weak positive reactions, which were non-specifically bound to anti-human IgG antibody. (B) Strips containing the recombinant TsM 10 kDa protein (upper panel) and truncated protein that expressing amino acids 30–85 (lower panel) were simultaneously incubated with serum (A) and (B) CSF samples from the Ac cases. Specific antibody reactions against both proteins were observed.

Figure 3

Table 2. Percentage nucleotide sequence differences in the COI and ND1 genes

Figure 4

Fig. 3. Phylogenetic trees constructed by unrooted neighbour-joining method using the nucleotide sequences of the COI and ND1 genes from 2 Ac samples and 6 Taenia spp. including T. solium (Tso), T. saginata (Tsa), T. asiatica (Tas), T. multiceps (Tmu, AJ239104 for ND1), T. hydatigena (Thy, AB33410 for COI and AJ277408 for ND1) and T. crassiceps (Tcr, AB033411 for COI and AF216699 for ND1, respectively). The nucleotide sequence of Tmu COI has not been deposited at GenBank, but has been published (Bowles & McManus, 1994). The scale bar represents the estimated number of nucleotide substitutions per nucleotide site. The bootstrap values based on the 1000 bootstrap replicates are indicated on each node.