The relationship between the intestinal histopathology and number and position of intraepithelial lymphocytes (IEL) was observed chronologically in the small intestine of rats experimentally infected with Metagonimus yokogawai. Fifteen Sprague-Dawley rats were orally infected each with 3,000 metacecariae, and 3 were kept uninfected for controls. Three rats each were sacrificed on the day 5, 10, 15, 24 and 70 post-infection (PI) and samples of the small intestine, 5 cm, 10 cm, 20 cm and 70 cm posterior to the pylorus were taken. The samples were processed routinely and stained with Giemsa. The intestinal histopathology was severe during the day 5-15 PI and characterized by villous atrophy, crypt hyperplasia, and decrease of villus/crypt height ratio. After the day 24 PI, the intestinal lesions showed some tendency of recovery. The number of IEL increased at the early stage of infection, but decreased thereafter to a lower level than that of controls, with progression of the pathological changes. Then, the IEL number began to increase again after the day 24 PI. In control rats, the great majority of the IEL were located at the basal region of the epithelium. During the early stage of infection, however, a considerable proportion of IEL was found to have moved to the intermediate or apical region of the epithelium. From the above results, it is suggested that the change of IEL number and position during the course of M. yokogawai infection should be closely related to the progression and recovery of the intestinal histopathology.
English-Abstract ; Epithelium-pathology ; Rats- ; Rats,-Sprague-Dawley ; Time-Factors ; *Heterophyidae- ; *Intestinal-Diseases,-Parasitic-pathology ; *Intestines-pathology ; *Lymphocytes-pathology ; *Trematode-Infections-pathology

Fetal bilateral renal agenesis is a lethal congenitlal anomaly. An early and prenatal diagnosis is extremely important, because it may offer options for pregnancy termination as early as possible. The criteria for the ultrasonographic diagnosis of bilateral renal agenesis are severe oligohydramnios, nonvisualization of the bladder, and the empty renal fossae. However, severe oligohydramnios makes it difficult to diagnose the disease because of poor sonographic resolution. We present a case of fetal bilateral renal agenesis diagnosed by ultrasonography at 21 weeks gestation.
Diagnosis ; Female ; Oligohydramnios ; Pregnancy ; Prenatal Diagnosis ; Ultrasonography ; Ultrasonography, Prenatal* ; Urinary Bladder

This study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of intestinal parasites among students from Goseong-gun, Gangwon-do and Hadong-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do as typical low and high endemic counties. From May to July 2017, a total of 2,033 fecal samples were collected at 27 elementary, 10 junior high, and 8 high schools from 2 counties and examined by the Kato-Katz technique for egg-positive surveys (Collection rate: 37.02% [2,033/5,492]). Of the participants examined, 13 (0.64%) were found to harbor eggs of 3 parasitic species, Trichuris trichiura, Clonorchis sinensis and Metagonimus yokogawai. Based on the regional distribution, the egg-positive rate in Goseong-gun was 0% (0/550) and that in Hadong-gun was 0.88% (13/1,483). The positive rates for C. sinensis, M. yokogawai, and T. trichiura in Hadong-gun were 0.20% (3/1,483), 0.61% (9/1,483), and 0.07% (1/1,483), respectively. The present survey showed that the prevalence of parasitic infection among students is currently very low even in remote, previously endemic areas, and the present status of parasitic diseases can be summarized as some transmission of fish/food-borne trematodes. Thus, it is necessary to carefully, continuously monitor the trematode infection status, particularly of C. sinensis and M. yokogawai.
Clonorchis sinensis ; Eggs ; Gangwon-do ; Gyeongsangnam-do ; Helminths ; Heterophyidae ; Humans ; Korea ; Ovum ; Parasites ; Parasitic Diseases ; Prevalence ; Trematode Infections ; Trichuris

Malaria remains one of the leading health burdens in the developing world, especially in several sub-Saharan Africa countries; and Uganda has some of the highest recorded measures of malaria transmission intensity in the world. It is evident that the prevalence of malaria infection, the incidence of disease, and mortality from severe malaria remain very high in Uganda. Although the recent stable political and economic situation in the last few decades in Uganda supported for a fairly good appreciation of malaria control, the declines in infection, morbidity, and mortality are not sufficient to interrupt transmission and this country is among the top 4 countries with cases of malaria, especially among children under 5 years of age. In fact, Uganda, which is endemic in over 95% of the country, is a representative of challenges facing malaria control in Africa. In this study, we evaluated an active case detection program in 6 randomly selected villages, Uganda. This program covered a potential target population of 5,017 individuals. Our team screened 12,257 samples of malaria by active case detection, every 4 months, from February 2015 to January 2017 in the 6 villages (a total of 6 times). This study assessed the perceptions and practices on malaria control in Kiyuni Parish of Kyankwanzi district, Uganda. Our study presents that the incidence of malaria is sustained high despite efforts to scale-up and improve the use of LLINs and access to ACDs, based on the average incidence confirmed by RDTs.
Africa ; Africa South of the Sahara ; Child ; Health Services Needs and Demand ; Humans ; Incidence ; Malaria ; Mortality ; Prevalence ; Uganda

Waterborne parasitic protozoa, particularly Giardia lamblia and Cryptosporidium spp., are common causes of diarrhea and gastroenteritis worldwide. The most frequently identified source of infestation is water, and exposure involves either drinking water or recreation in swimming pools or natural bodies of water. In practice, studies on Cryptosporidium oocysts and Giardia cysts in surface water are challenging owing to the low concentrations of these microorganisms because of dilution. In this study, a 3-year monitoring of Cryptosporidium parvum, Giardia lamblia, and Naegleria fowleri was conducted from August 2014 to June 2016 at 5 surface water sites including 2 lakes, 1 river, and 2 water intake plants. A total of 50 water samples of 40 L were examined. Cryptosporidium oocysts were detected in 22% of samples and Giardia cysts in 32%. Water at the 5 sampling sites was all contaminated with Cryptosporidium oocysts (0–36/L), Giardia cysts (0–39/L), or both. The geometric mean concentrations of Cryptosporidium and Giardia were 1.14 oocysts/L and 4.62 cysts/L, respectively. Thus, effective monitoring plans must take into account the spatial and temporal parameters of contamination because they affect the prevalence and distribution of these protozoan cysts in local water resources.
Cryptosporidium ; Cryptosporidium parvum ; Diarrhea ; Drinking ; Drinking Water ; Gastroenteritis ; Giardia ; Giardia lamblia ; Lakes ; Naegleria fowleri ; Oocysts ; Prevalence ; Recreation ; Rivers ; Swimming Pools ; Water Resources ; Water

In order to perform large-scale genetic studies of Kawasaki disease (KD) in Korea, the Korean Kawasaki Disease Genetics Consortium (KKDGC) was formed in 2008 with 10 hospitals. Since the establishment of KKDGC, there has been a collection of clinical data from a total of 1198 patients, and approximately 5 mL of blood samples per patient (for genomic deoxyribonucleic acid and plasma isolation), using a standard clinical data collection form and a nation-wide networking system for blood sample pick-up. In the clinical risk factor analysis using the collected clinical data of 478 KD patients, it was found that incomplete KD type, intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) non-responsiveness, and long febrile days are major risk factors for coronary artery lesions development, whereas low serum albumin concentration is an independent risk factor for IVIG non-responsiveness. In addition, we identified a KD susceptibility locus at 1p31, a coronary artery aneurysm locus (KCNN2 gene), and the causal variant in the C-reactive protein (CRP) promoter region, as determining the increased CRP levels in KD patients, by means of genome-wide association studies. Currently, this consortium is continually collecting more clinical data and genomic samples to identify the clinical and genetic risk factors via a single nucleotide polymorphism chip and exome sequencing, as well as collaborating with several international KD genetics teams. The consortium-based approach for genetic studies of KD in Korea will be a very effective way to understand the unknown etiology and causal mechanism of KD, which may be affected by multiple genes and environmental factors.
Aneurysm ; C-Reactive Protein ; Coronary Vessels ; Data Collection ; DNA ; Exome ; Genetics* ; Genome-Wide Association Study ; Humans ; Immunoglobulins ; Immunoglobulins, Intravenous ; Korea* ; Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome* ; Plasma ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Promoter Regions, Genetic ; Risk Factors ; Serum Albumin

Objective: The Huntington’s Disease Quality of Life Battery for Carers (HDQoL-C) is used to evaluate caregiver quality of life. This study aimed to develop and validate the Korean version of the HDQoL-C (K-HDQoL-C) to assess the burden on Korean caregivers of Huntington’s disease (HD) patients. Methods: A total of 19 HD caregivers (7 females, mean age 55.4±14.6 years) participated in this study. The K-HDQoL-C, a translation of the English version, consisted of demographic information, caring aspects, life satisfaction, and feelings about life. It was administered twice, 2 weeks apart. Internal consistency was evaluated using Cronbach’s α, and test-retest reliability was assessed with intraclass correlation coefficients. The relationship with the Zarit Burden Interview-12 (ZBI-12) was analyzed. Results: The internal consistencies of the K-HDQoL-C were 0.771 (part 2), 0.938 (part 3), and 0.891 (part 4). The test-retest reliability ranged from 0.908 to 0.936. Part 3 was negatively correlated with the ZBI-12, and part 4 was positively correlated with the ZBI-12 (r=-0.780, 0.923; p<0.001). Conclusion The K-HDQoL-C effectively evaluates the challenges faced by HD caregivers, particularly in terms of care aspects and life satisfaction.

Objective: The Huntington’s Disease Quality of Life Battery for Carers (HDQoL-C) is used to evaluate caregiver quality of life. This study aimed to develop and validate the Korean version of the HDQoL-C (K-HDQoL-C) to assess the burden on Korean caregivers of Huntington’s disease (HD) patients. Methods: A total of 19 HD caregivers (7 females, mean age 55.4±14.6 years) participated in this study. The K-HDQoL-C, a translation of the English version, consisted of demographic information, caring aspects, life satisfaction, and feelings about life. It was administered twice, 2 weeks apart. Internal consistency was evaluated using Cronbach’s α, and test-retest reliability was assessed with intraclass correlation coefficients. The relationship with the Zarit Burden Interview-12 (ZBI-12) was analyzed. Results: The internal consistencies of the K-HDQoL-C were 0.771 (part 2), 0.938 (part 3), and 0.891 (part 4). The test-retest reliability ranged from 0.908 to 0.936. Part 3 was negatively correlated with the ZBI-12, and part 4 was positively correlated with the ZBI-12 (r=-0.780, 0.923; p<0.001). Conclusion The K-HDQoL-C effectively evaluates the challenges faced by HD caregivers, particularly in terms of care aspects and life satisfaction.

Objective: The Huntington’s Disease Quality of Life Battery for Carers (HDQoL-C) is used to evaluate caregiver quality of life. This study aimed to develop and validate the Korean version of the HDQoL-C (K-HDQoL-C) to assess the burden on Korean caregivers of Huntington’s disease (HD) patients. Methods: A total of 19 HD caregivers (7 females, mean age 55.4±14.6 years) participated in this study. The K-HDQoL-C, a translation of the English version, consisted of demographic information, caring aspects, life satisfaction, and feelings about life. It was administered twice, 2 weeks apart. Internal consistency was evaluated using Cronbach’s α, and test-retest reliability was assessed with intraclass correlation coefficients. The relationship with the Zarit Burden Interview-12 (ZBI-12) was analyzed. Results: The internal consistencies of the K-HDQoL-C were 0.771 (part 2), 0.938 (part 3), and 0.891 (part 4). The test-retest reliability ranged from 0.908 to 0.936. Part 3 was negatively correlated with the ZBI-12, and part 4 was positively correlated with the ZBI-12 (r=-0.780, 0.923; p<0.001). Conclusion The K-HDQoL-C effectively evaluates the challenges faced by HD caregivers, particularly in terms of care aspects and life satisfaction.

We studied on the proteomic characteristics of Toxoplasma gondii KI-1 tachyzoites which were originally isolated from a Korean patient, and compared with those of the well-known virulent RH strain using 2-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE), mass spectrometry, and quantitative real-time PCR. Two-dimensional separation of the total proteins isolated from KI-1 tachyzoites revealed up to 150 spots, of which 121 were consistent with those of RH tachyzoites. Of the remaining 29 spots, 14 showed greater than 5-fold difference in density between the KI-1 and RH tachyzoites at a pH of 5.0-8.0. Among the 14 spots, 5 from the KI-1 isolate and 7 from the RH strain were identified using MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry and database searches. The spots from the KI-1 tachyzoites were dense granule proteins (GRA 2, 3, 6, and 7), hypoxanthine-guanine-xanthine phosphoribosyltransferase (HGRPTase), and uracil phosphoribosyltransferase (UPRTase). The spots from the RH strain were surface antigen 1 (SAG 1), L-lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), actin, chorismate synthase, peroximal catalase, hexokinase, bifunctional dihydrofolate reductase-thymidylate synthase (DHTR-TS), and nucleoside-triphosphatases (NTPases). Quantitative real-time PCR supported our mass spectrometric results by showing the elevated expression of the genes encoding GRA 2, 3, and 6 and UPRTase in the KI-1 tachyzoites and those encoding GRA 7, SAG 1, NTPase, and chorismate synthase in the RH tachyzoites. These observations demonstrate that the protein compositions of KI-1 and RH tachyzoites are similar but differential protein expression is involved in virulence.
Electrophoresis, Gel, Two-Dimensional ; Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental ; Humans ; Molecular Sequence Data ; *Proteomics ; Protozoan Proteins/chemistry/*genetics/metabolism ; Toxoplasma/chemistry/*genetics/*growth & development/metabolism ; Toxoplasmosis/parasitology