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Query: UMLS:C0024530 (malaria)
 44,886 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Rhabdomyolysis was diagnosed in two dogs with babesiosis. The first animal presented with muscle pain and caramel-coloured urine, and had markedly elevated serum myoglobin and muscle enzymes. Acute renal failure complicated the clinical picture. The second dog exhibited muscle pain and tremors, together with neurological signs and pulmonary oedema, and died soon after admission. Muscle necrosis and haemorrhage were found at necropsy. In human malaria, a disease clinically similar to canine babesiosis, rhabdomyolysis is unusual, but clinically silent muscle damage appears to be common. Likewise, biochemical evidence of muscle damage is readily found in experimental bovine babesiosis. Muscle enzymes were mildly elevated in three dogs with severe babesiosis and pigmenturia but there was no obvious muscle damage, indicating that this might also apply to canine babesiosis. The pathogenesis of infection-associated rhabdomyolysis and acute renal failure remains unclear, but inflammatory cytokines and nitric oxide could play an important role.
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PMID:Rhabdomyolysis as a complication of canine babesiosis. 896 83

The presently used therapy for Babesia microti infections, a combination of quinine and clindamycin, does not always result in parasitologic cures. To identify possible alternative chemotherapeutic agents for such infections, we screened, in the hamster-B. microti system, 12 antiprotozoal drugs that have either recently been released for human use or were in experimental stages of development at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research for the treatment of malaria and leishmaniasis. Several well-recognized antimalarial drugs, such as mefloquine, halofantrine, artesunate, and artelenic acid, exhibited little or no effect on parasitemia. Two 8-aminoquinolines, WR006026 [8-(6-diethylaminohexylamino)-6-methoxy-4-methylquinoline dihydrochloride] and WR238605 [8-[(4-amino-1-methylbutyl)amino]-2,6-dimethoxy-4-methyl-5 -(3-trifluoromethylphenoxy-7) quinoline succinate], produced clearance of patent parasitemia. Furthermore, blood from infected hamsters treated with WR238605 via an intramuscular injection failed to infect naive hamsters on subpassage, thus producing a parasitologic cure. These two compounds merit further screening in other systems and may prove useful in treating human babesiosis.
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PMID:Evaluation of selected antiprotozoal drugs in the Babesia microti-hamster model. 898 Jul 61

This review presents short information on the present status and some future perspectives of vaccination against parasitoses of domestic animals. For the control of such parasitoses in some European countries only a few vaccines are registered: Paracox and Livacox (for coccidiosis in chickens), Toxovax (for toxoplasmosis in sheep), Pirodog (for babesiosis in dogs) and Dictol (for dictyocaulosis in cattle). These are live vaccines containing attenuated parasites, except Pirodog. As a world-wide innovation in 1994 a vaccine against ixodid tick infestation (Boophilus microplus) in cattle was marketed in Australia under the trade name TickGARD which contains a recombinant protein antigen. A recombinant vaccine against Taenia ovis cysticercosis in sheep was developed in Australia/New Zealand but has not yet been registered. The development of vaccines against further parasitoses of domestic animals is a fascinating and promising field. Present research activities are focussed on molecular antigen vaccines and vector vaccines. First reports (for example regarding leishmaniosis and malaria) indicate that nucleic acid vaccines represent a new potential of development.
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PMID:[Vaccines against parasitic diseases of domestic animals]. 901 13

Bovine piroplasmosis caused by Theileria sergenti is a major cause of economical loss in grazing cattle in Japan. We found that parasite stocks and isolates consist of genetically and antigenically mixed population. To differentiate parasite populations bearing 2 allelic forms of p32, an immunodominant piroplasm surface protein, 2 sets of oligonucleotide primers were designed to amplify either of the 2 alleles by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). By using this allele-specific PCR, we found that the majority of T. sergenti-infected calves in Japan harbored mixed parasite populations with C and I type parasites. Amino acid sequence of p32 contains Lys-Glu-Lys (KEK) motif which is one of tripeptide necessary for malaria parasite to invade erythrocytes. We produced 2 vaccine candidates, recombinant baculovirus p32 and synthetic peptide containing KEK motif. Immunization of either recombinant p32 or synthetic peptide containing a KEK sequence with adjuvant resulted in low parasitemia and reduced the clinical symptoms compared to control calves. Interestingly, parasites with a p32 allelic form corresponding to one used as the immunogen were suppressed. Therefore, a cocktail vaccine containing KEK peptides derived from C and I type parasites is desired for control Theileria parasite infection in Japan.
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PMID:Vaccine development against Theileria parasite. 965 67

Despite significant differences in some aspects of their life-cycles, the Apicomplexan parasites Babesia bovis and Plasmodium falciparum share many parallels. Significant among these are participation in rapid, clonal antigenic variation, and cyto-adherence and sequestration in the deep vasculature. Antigenic variation has long been thought to be primarily a mechanism of escape from antibody-mediated mechanisms of the host's immune system. In each species, the components demonstrated to participate in antigenic variation are parasite-derived proteins expressed on the infected erythrocyte's surface. Recently, the malarial component PfEMP1 has been found to be a multifunctional protein that is not only subject to antigenic variation, but also participates in cyto-adherence and rosetting (adhesion to uninfected erythrocytes). In the present review, the antigens elaborated on the surface of an erythrocyte infected with B. bovis, for immune evasion via antigenic variation, are described, and compared and contrasted with those from P. falciparum. The significance of the similarities between B. bovis and P. falciparum, and the potential for contributions to be made to our understanding of malaria through the study of babesiosis are discussed.
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PMID:Antigenic variation in Babesia bovis: how similar is it to that in Plasmodium falciparum? 968 97

Clinical Confusion between human babesiosis and malaria is often reported in the literature. Headache, fever, chills, nausea, vomiting, myalgia, altered mental status, disseminated intravascular coagulation, anaemia with dyserythropoiesis, hypotension, respiratory distress, and renal insufficiency are common to both diseases. This remarkable similarity is not restricted to the human host. In the mouse, for example, the histological changes wrought by fatal malaria (Plasmodium vinckei) and babesiosis (Babesia rhodaini) are identical, and parasites of both genera cross-protect. Malarial disease pathogenesis is now generally associated with excessive production of pro-inflammatory cytokines , such as tumour necrosis factor. While this concept has not yet been examined in babesiosis, indirect evidence arises from noting the parasite density at which illness occurs in primary infections caused by either organism. Naive mice tolerate high loads of malarial or babesial parasites before they become ill, and are also tolerant to endotoxicity, which is mediated by these same cytokines. In contrast, humans require very much smaller loads of Plasmodium or Babesia spp. before becoming ill, and likewise are very sensitive to endotoxin, the harmful effects of which are mediated by the pro-inflammatory cytokines. For these reasons, as discussed in this review, the diseases caused by these two genera of intra-erythrocytic protozoan parasites will probably prove to be conceptually identical.
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PMID:Do babesiosis and malaria share a common disease process? 968 99

South African canine babesiosis is caused by the virulent Babesia canis rossi. In recent years, this common disease has been detected in 12% of dogs presented at the outpatients' division of the University of Pretoria's (Onderstepoort) Veterinary Academic Hospital, and 31% of the affected dogs have been hospitalized as seriously ill. Of these hospitalized cases, 50% had severe anaemia at presentation, 32% had moderate anaemia and 18% were non-anaemic (often polycythaemic), frequently with central-nervous-system signs or multiple organ failure. A retrospective survey of 662 hospitalized cases revealed that the haematology, clinical biochemistry and patient profile (signalment) of the severely anaemic dogs were distinct from those of the non-anaemic, indicating that the babesiosis in these two groups of dogs should be viewed as two different disease in terms of the postulated, underlying, 'pathomechanisms'. The severely anaemic dogs exhibited hypoxic hepatic disease and an increase in serum urea (without a concomitant increase in creatinine), seldom had profound electrolyte imbalances and tended to have a much more profound leucocytosis, consisting of a left-shifted inflammatory leucogram, with higher numbers of circulating metamyelocytes, lymphocytosis and monocytosis. In contrast, the non-anaemic dogs exhibited severe azotaemia (which could be of renal or pre-renal origin) and often showed a marked electrolyte disturbance (reflecting acid-base abnormalities) and a very mild leucocyte response; such dogs often presented as leucopenic, many being lymphocytopenic. These results indicate that the severely anaemic dogs had developed haemolytic disease (possibly immune-mediated), whereas the non-anaemic dogs had developed an acute and overwhelming inflammatory response. The mean age of the non-anaemic dogs (2.66 years) was less than the dogs in the 'severe anaemia group' (0.83 years). Dogs belonging to the traditional fighting breeds (bull terriers, pit bull terriers and Staffordshire bull terriers) were noticeably over-represented in the non-survivors of the acute inflammatory response, possibly indicating an underlying genetic basis for the different presentations. It is evident that the inflammatory-response disease presentation, which is similar to complicated falciparum malaria in humans, amy serve as an animal model for the disease.
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PMID:Canine babesiosis in South Africa: more than one disease. Does this serve as a model for falciparum malaria? 968 1

A number of parasitic diseases are known, or suspected to be transmitted by blood transfusion. Of greatest concern are malaria and Chagas' disease, but babesia, leishmania and toxoplasmosis also offer risk in particular locations or circumstances. Some of these parasites may be imported into non-endemic areas as a result of population movements and in some cases, the natural range of the parasite is increasing as a result of environmental change. Recent research, particularly on Chagas disease and babesiosis will be discussed, along with measures to minimize transmission of these and other parasites via transfusion.
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PMID:Transmission of parasites by blood transfusion. 970 40

The phylum Apixomplexa includes obligate intracellular parasites that are of enormous medical and veterinary significance, as they are responsible for a wide variety of diseases including malaria, toxoplasmosis, coccidiosis, cryptosporidiosis, theileriosis and babesiosis. The EST sequencing projects in Toxoplasma gondii and the Plasmodium falciparum genome sequencing project have greatly accelerated gene discovery, revealing for example novel coding sequences restricted to the Apicomplexa. However, easy acquisition of sequence is almost useless if the function of any given gene cannot be tested. The establishment of transfection systems in Toxoplasma gondii, Neospora and in several Plasmodium species has provided us with the reverse genetics methods appropriate to the functional analysis of genes. Over the past few years, the discovery of novel genes coupled to the ability to introduce or modify genes has already contributed to a better understanding of cell biology and pathogenesis of these obligate intracellular parasites. Some insights into the complex processes of parasite invasion, differentiation, regulation of gene expression and protein trafficking are emerging although identification of the exact functional roles for many molecules is still awaiting more investigation. This review summarizes progress in this area. It also emphasises the tight link and synergy between Toxoplasma and malaria research. The use of reverse genetics does not guarantee the answer to gene function, so we can learn from both failed and successful experiments about how better and more efficiently to use 'genomics' to accelerate discoveries relevant to the understanding of parasitism by Apicomplexa.
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PMID:The importance of reverse genetics in determining gene function in apicomplexan parasites. 1046 37

Infections with certain species of Plasmodium and Babesia induce, among other symptoms, cerebral pathology. The finding of heavily parasitized cerebral capillaries upon postmortem examination has led to the assumption that blockage of capillaries with infected red blood cells caused the cerebral symptoms and subsequent death. As this type of cerebrovascular pathology is found both in humans dying from malaria and in cattle dying from babesiosis, the latter could possibly be used as an animal model for the study of human cerebral malaria. However, before such a model system is adopted, the experimental data concerning cerebral pathology of babesiosis needs critical evaluation. Here, Theo Schetters and Wijnand Eling review the pathological mechanisms in cerebral babesiosis and relate these to cerebral malaria. Finally, they discuss the use of animal model systems for specific aspects of the pathological picture.
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PMID:Can Babesia infections be used as a model for cerebral malaria? 1082 37


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