The surface tegument of the liver fluke Fasciola hepatica is a syncytial cytoplasmic layer bounded externally by a plasma membrane and covered by a glycocalyx, which constitutes the interface between the parasite and its ruminant host. The tegument's interaction with the immune system during the fluke's protracted migration from the gut lumen through the peritoneal cavity and liver parenchyma t...

BACKGROUND fasciola hepatica, along with Fasciola gigantica, is the causative agent of fasciolosis, a foodborne zoonotic disease affecting grazing animals and humans worldwide. Pathology is directly related to the release of parasite proteins that facilitate establishment within the host. The dominant components of these excretory-secretory (ES) products are also the most promising vaccine cand...

BACKGROUND Fasciolosis due to Fasciola hepatica is the most important hepatic disease in veterinary medicine. Its relevance is important because of the major economical losses to the cattle industry such as: reduction in milk, meat and wool production; miscarriages, anemia, liver condemnation and occasionally deaths, are estimated in billons of dollars. The emergence of fluke resistance due to ...

Fascioliasis and other food-borne trematodiases are included in the list of important helminthiases with a great impact on human development. Six plant-borne trematode species have been found to affect humans: Fasciola hepatica, Fasciola gigantica and Fasciolopsis buski (Fasciolidae), Gastrodiscoides hominis (Gastrodiscidae), Watsonius watsoni and Fischoederius elongatus (Paramphistomidae). Whe...

BACKGROUND Fasciola hepatica is not only responsible for major economic losses in livestock farming, but is also a major food-borne zoonotic agent, with 180 million people being at risk of infection worldwide. This parasite is sophisticated in manipulating the hosts' immune system to benefit its own survival. A better understanding of the mechanisms underpinning this immunomodulation is crucial...

To infect their mammalian hosts, Fasciola hepatica larvae must penetrate and traverse the intestinal wall of the duodenum, move through the peritoneum, and penetrate the liver. After migrating through and feeding on the liver, causing extensive tissue damage, the parasites move to their final niche in the bile ducts where they mature and produce eggs. Here we integrated a transcriptomics and pr...

BACKGROUND The nature of the immune response to infection is dependent on the type of infecting organism. Intracellular organisms such as Toxoplasma gondii stimulate a Th1-driven response associated with production of IL-12, IFN-gamma, nitric oxide and IgG2a antibodies and classical activation of macrophages. In contrast, extracellular helminths such as Fasciola hepatica induce Th2 responses ch...

An adaptation of a previously developed climate forecast computer model and digital agroecologic database resources available from FAO for developing countries were used to develop a geographic information system risk assessment model for fasciolosis in East Africa, a region where both F. hepatica and F. gigantica occur as a cause of major economic losses in livestock. Regional F. hepatica and ...

BACKGROUND Heavy metals tend to bioaccumulate in living organisms, and their accumulation has been a major concern. As mammals are known to excrete heavy metals via their bile, it seems to be very promising to analyse metal burdens of parasites that infect the biliary tree such as liver flukes of the genus Fasciola. The present study was carried out to evaluate F. hepatica and F. gigantica as b...

Passive intraperitoneal transfer of sera from Fasciola hepatica-infected sheep, cattle or rats can protect naive rats from F. hepatica infection, suggesting a parasite killing mechanism within the peritoneal cavity that is dependent on the presence of parasite-specific antibody. We investigated antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity by resident peritoneal lavage cell populations, contain...