Cercarial penetration, in low to moderate numbers, does not cause a normal skin inflammatory response; therefore, the authors sought to determine whether cercariae can down-regulate keratinocyte activation and thus the secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines and eicosanoids. Human living skin equivalent (LSE, Organogenesis) consisting of dermal, epidermal and stratum corneum-like layers was use...

OBJECTIVE To detect the species of larval trematodes (cercariae) in Melanopsis praemorsa snails from 5 different fresh water bodies in Palestine. METHODS A total of 1 880 Melanopsis praemorsa snails were collected from different fresh water bodies in Palestine from October, 2008 to November, 2010. Cercariae in Melanopsis praemorsa snails were obtained by lighting and crushing methods. The beh...

Ultraviolet (UV) light is an electromagnetic radiation below the visible wavelengths. Their use in cercariae attenuation needs to be examined. In the present work, Schistosoma mansoni cercariae was exposed to UV radiation. Few studies showed previously an inflicted damage seen on the adult schistosome worms developed from irradiated cercariae. The aim of the study was to find out whether this d...

Introduction Partial protection against challenge infections with normal cercariae of Schistosoma mansoni or S. japonicum has been induced by immunization with attenuated cercariae of either species. Immunization was successful in a number of different hosts including laboratory rodents and larger mammals. In most cases cercariae or schistosomula were irradiated with gamma or X-irradiation. The...

BACKGROUND The last study on snail population density in relation to rainfall pattern in Kigungu canoe landing and recreational sites on Lake Victoria shore was earlier carried out about fifteen years ago. This study also reviewed the influence of other environmental factors on the snails' infection rate. OBJECTIVE To reassess the density dynamic of Biomphalaria (B) choanomphala and Biomphala...

Anthropogenic stressors such as pollutants can modulate levels of parasitic infections in aquatic animals by suppressing host immunity or through some other mechanisms. One such mechanism could involve increases in either the quantity or quality of infective stages produced by parasites. We investigated the effect of exposure of infected snails, Potamopyrgus antipodarum, to different concentrat...

Parasites, in particular trematodes, are unseen but ubiquitous components of marine intertidal ecosystems. Although parasites are known to affect population dynamics and food web structure, their potential function as an unrecognized path of energy flow in these ecosystems is yet to be quantified. We use published data on rates at which trematodes produce free-swimming infective larvae (cercari...

the pond snail lymnaea auricularia serves as an intermediate host for many digenian species. in west azerbaijan province, northwestern iran, the cercariae infection investigation was undertaken in l. auricularia from may to november 2010. of 6759 collected lymnaeid snails, 370(5.5%) l. auricularia snails were identified. cercariae infection was found in a number of 276 (74.56 %) snails. the res...

BACKGROUND Trematodes are a diverse group of endoparasites which require molluscan and vertebrate animals as intermediate and definitive hosts in their life cycle. The present study was carried out to determine the diversity and geographic distribution of infection with trematodes'cercariae in the snail Lymnaea gedrosiana from north-west Iran. METHODS A total number of 6759 Lymnaeidae snails ...

In murine schistosomiasis, the highest levels of resistance to cercarial challenge are obtained by vaccination with radiation-attenuated cercariae. To identify candidate vaccine antigens relevant to the vaccine model, we examined parasite antigens recognized by antibodies from mice vaccinated with irradiated cercariae of Schistosoma mansoni. To optimize recognition of a wide spectrum of antigen...