A case of sparganosis was presented. The patient was a 43-year-old Korean male who had a history of having eaten raw flesh of snake and frog in Keoje Island during 1950 to 1952 for the purpose of treatment of arthritis by the oriental custom. In the summer, l959, he had slight itching sensation in the left lower scrotal area. A few months later, he noticed the appearance of a peanut-sized mass in that area. However, the mass enlarged gradually to a hen's egg size during two years. On surgical exploration, the mass was found to be a fibro-connective tissue capsule(3 to 4 cm in diameter) in the lower left scrotal area. From the capsule three larvae(l9 to 28 cm by 2 to 6 mm) were freed by dissection without much difficulty. The sources of infection of some formerly reported sparganosis in Korea were discussed. It is most probable that human sparganosis is acquired by ingestion of raw flesh of snake and frog in this country.
parasitology-helminth-cestoda-sparagnum ; sparganosis ; case report

The migration and distribution pattern of spargana in mouse body was observed after experimental infection through mouth. The spargana were obtained from the snake, Natrix tigrina lateralis, caught in Hoengseong-gun, Kangwon-do. A total of 28 male mice (ICR strain), 21-25g in body weight, were fed each with 5 scolices (and necks) of spargana and killed after 10 minutes to 14 days. Systemic autopsy was performed on each mouse to recover the spargana. The results are as follows: The spargana were found to penetrate into the stomach or duodenal wall of mice as early as 10 minutes after infection. They completed the penetration within 30 minutes and appeared in abdominal cavity. It was observed that spargana did not migrate tangentially along the gut wall but directly perforated the wall. After 1 hour to 1 day the majority of spargana distributed in abdominal cavity of mice except few which migrated to muscles or subcutaneous tissues. It was within 7 days that nearly all of the spargana migrated to subcutaneous tissues. Out of total 28 in number found from subcutaneous tissues, 13 distributed around neck region, 12 around trunk and other 3 on head of mice and the most common sites were submandibular and subscapular areas. There was nearly no host tissue reaction to migrating spargana. The initial length of spargana given was 4 mm in average but it increased to 12 mm after 7 days and to 35 mm after 14 days. The results suggest that spargana orally given to mice penetrate the gut wall within 30 minutes followed by escaping into abdominal cavity, and after passing through thoracic cavity or abdominal wall they finally localize in subcutaneous tissues chiefly around neck region within 7 days.
parasitology-helminth-cestoda ; sparganosis ; sparganum ; mouse ; migration

Distribution of Sparganum mansoni in 7 species of terrestrial snakes in Wonju City was surveyed. All kinds of snakes were found to be served as intermediate hosts of this larval worm except Elaphe schrenkii which has already been recorded as important host. Authors believe that Zamenis spinalis was firstly recorded as intermediate host of Sparganum mansoni in Korea. Some aspects of infection status, host-parasite relations and sources of human infection were briefly discussed.
parasitology-helminth-cestoda-Spirometra sp. ; sparganum ; sparganosis ; human infection

To observed whether the specific IgG antibody test using ELISA was useful in diagnosis of presently ill patients of paragonimiasis, a total of 95 sera were tested. The sera were collected from 21 egg positive cases, 8 from positive reactors of intradermal test, 7 from Clonorchis infected, 9 from other parasitic diseases and 50 from apparently non-infected cases. By the result, the sensitivity of the test was 86% and the specificity was 100%. There were no cross reactions between Paragonimus antigen and other parastic infections. Specific IgG antibody test by micro-ELISA was concluded to be useful for mass screening of the presently ill paragonimiasis in the field.
parasitology-helminth-cestoda ; Spirometra sp. ; sparganum ; sparganosis ; immunology ; diagnosis ; ELISA

Animals ; Brain Diseases ; parasitology ; Child ; Female ; Humans ; Sparganosis ; Sparganum

After infection of male mice with the plerocercoids (spargana) of Spirometra mansoni, serum levels of estrogen and testicular weight were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and weighing machine, respectively. The serum level of estrogen increased progressively in infected mice compared with normal controls, whereas the testicular weight of infected mice decreased significantly (P < 0.05). These results suggest that certain substances from spargana change the steroid hormone metabolisms in the host by unknown pathways, and chronic infection may contribute to change of the function of steroid hormone target organ, i.e., testis, in male mice.
Time Factors ; Testis/*parasitology/pathology ; Sparganosis/*complications ; Organ Size ; Mice ; Male ; Feminization/*parasitology ; Estrogens/blood ; Animals

The life-span of the sparganum in humans is not exactly known, but it may survive longer than 5 years in some patients. We experienced a case infected with a sparganum that is presumed to have lived for 20 years in a patient's leg. The patient was a 60-year-old woman, and she was admitted to a hospital due to ankle pain that was aggravated on dorsiflexion. She had noticed a mass on her knee some 20 years ago, but she received no medical management for it. The mass moved into the ankle joint 3 months before the current admission, and then the aforementioned symptoms appeared. A living sparganum was recovered by surgery, and the calcified tract near the knee was proved to be the pathway along which the larva had passed.
Animals ; Female ; Histocytochemistry ; Humans ; Leg/parasitology/pathology/radiography/surgery ; Microscopy ; Middle Aged ; Sparganosis/*diagnosis/parasitology/surgery ; Sparganum/*isolation & purification

In May 1974, authors encountered a 37 year old Korean male who was suffering from very serious condition of acute abdomen. On exploratory laparotomy, a ruptured granulomatous mass in the proximal portion of the ileum showing extensive inflammatory and gangrenous changes was found and about 4 ft. long of the bowel was resected. From the honey-combed fibrous capsules in the mass, four plerocercoid larvae, spargana, measuring about 3 to 7 cm in lengths were extirpated. The patient had a past history of having eaten the raw flesh of a snake as a tonic about 7 months prior to admission. Four cases of intra-abdominal sparganosis reported previously in Korea and the present case were discussed briefly. Snakes and frogs in Korea are very important second intermediate hosts for the 1arva, Sparganum stage. It is most preferable that the habitual ingestion of the raw fleshes of them should be avoided in this country.
parasitology-helminth-nematoda ; Spirometra sp. ; sparganum ; sparganosis ; laparatomy ; intestine ; perforation ; case report

Seven cases of surgically proven sparganosis were serologically tested by means of micro ELISA for their specific IgG antibody levels. For that purpose, crude saline extract of spargana from snake, Natrix tigrina lateralis was prepared and used as antigen. The sparganosis sera were also tested with Paragonimus and Cysticercus antigens to observe the cross reactivity. A total of 71 sera from normal control, ectopic and pulmonary paragonimiasis, clonorchiasis, cysticercosis and Taenia saginata cases were also included. Except for one case of old calcified infection, all of 6 human sparganosis showed higher serum levels of specific IgG antibody when the differential point of positive reaction was set at the absorbance value of 0.25 (the sensitivity being 85.7%). In control and other helminthic infections, all except 3 cases of T. saginata infection showed negative reaction to sparganum antigen (the specificity being 95.7%). None of sparganosis cases showed cross reactivity to Paragonimus and Cysticercus antigens. Undiluted cerebrospinal fluid also showed high levels of antibody when central nervous system was invaded. The serologic diagnosis by means of micro-ELISA could be a useful tool in epidemiological study of human sparganosis in susceptible population, as well as in individual diagnosis.
parasitology-helminth-cestoda ; sparganosis ; sparganum ; Paragonimus ; Cysticercus ; ELISA ; immunology ; serology ; human

To observe the antigenic protein fractions in saline extract of Spirometra mansoni plerocercoid (sparganum), the crude extract was separated in reducing conditions of sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis(SDS-PAGE). The proteins, transferred by electrophoresis to nitrocellulose paper, were reacted with sera from 15 surgically confirmed sparganosis and 24 cysticercosis patients for immunoblotting. Out of 30 identified protein bands in the extract, bands of 29 and 36 kilodaltons (kDa) were the strongest and the most frequently reacting with specific antibody (IgG) in sparganosis sera. Bands of higher molecular weight also reacted with the sera but their frequency of reactions was lower. Sera of cysticercosis reacted with different protein bands in saline extract of sparganum, but the cross reactions were observed in strong antigenic bands of 29 and 36 kDa.
parasitology-helminth-cestoda ; Spirometra mansoni ; plerocercoid ; sparganum ; antigen ; proteins ; sparganosis ; immunoblot ; immunology ; protein