Objective To analyzed the genetic diversity, genetic differences between populations and differentiation time of Echinococcus granulosus and E. multilocularis of Qinghai isolates, in order to provide scientific basis for species tracing and prevention and control of Echinococcus in Qinghai Province, China. Methods For genetic analysis, 50 liver lesion samples were collected from hospitalized echinococcosis patients in the Affiliated Hospital of Qinghai University to extract genomic DNA and amplify mitochondrial dehydrogenase 1 gene (nad1). Sequence multiple alignment was performed using Clustal X v2.0 software. Geographic informatics mapping of patients’ residence was constructed using ArcGIS software. Sequence haplotype analysis was made with DnaSP v6 software. Modeltest 3.7 software and PAUP*4.0B10 software were used to calculate the minimum optimal nucleic acid evolution model. The Bayesian’s phylogenetic evolution tree was constructed with MrBayes-3.2.7 software. The differentiation time of each node in the phylogenetic tree was estimated with the Bayesian method using BEAST v2.6.3 software. Results We successfully identified 48 Echinococcus lesion samples specimen and obtained the full length of complete nad1 gene of 894 bp. Among them, 13 samples were identified as the G1 genotype of E. granulosus, and 35 samples as E. multilocularis. All the sequences showed > 99% similarity to those in GenBank. Four haplotypes were identified as H1-H4 in the two species respectively; H3 was the dominant haplotype in E. granulosus samples(10/13), which is present in Xining, Guoluo, Yushu, Haidong, Haibei and Huangnan. H2 haplotype was found dominant in E. multilocular samples (51.4%,18/35), which is present in Xining, Guoluo, Yushu, and Haidong. The phylogenetic tree showed that E. granulosus and G1 genotype clustered into one branch, and E. multilocularis and Asian strain clustered into one branch. The results of differentiation time showed that the nearest common ancestor of E. granulosus, E. multilocularis, E. vogeli and E. oligarthrus was about 5.5 Mya (95% confidence interval 4.5-6.5 Mya), and the differentiation time of E. granulosus and E. multilocularis was about 2.5 Mya (95% confidence interval 2.3-4.1 Mya). Conclusion Both human E. granulosus and E. multilocularis in Qinghai Province show high genetic diversity. E. granulosus was found of G1 genotype, with H3 as the dominant haplotype, while in E. multilocularis samles H2 is the dominant. The two speies are widely distributed throughout Qinghai Province. The two species of Echinococcus exhit closer genetic relationship and differentiation timing.
The Chinese Journal of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases had its first issue in 1983. Over the past 40 years, the journal witnesses the remarkable achievements in prevention and control of important parasitic diseases in China, marked by effective control of schistosomiasis (2015) and elimination of lymphatic filariasis (2007) and malaria (2021), and has been playing an important role providing academic exchange platform for research and control programs of parasitic diseases and parasitology, promoting domestic and international scientific exchanges. With the guidance of each editorial board, the journal strictly abides by the academic standards and perseveres the concept of presenting high-quality publication. The national and international impact of the journal has continuously increased. It has been included in important international databases such as Medline, Scopus, and Chinese Science Citation Database (CSCD) (Class C) since 1989. It has been selected as one of Chinese Science and Technology Core Journals since 1987, Core Journals in Chinese since 1992 and the World Journal Clout Index Report Scientific & Technological Periodicals (WJCI) since 2020, and was included in the High-Quality Scientific and Technological Journal Classification Catalog for Preventive Medicine and Health (2021 edition). It was also awarded as one of “the 100 Outstanding Chinese Academic Journals” (in 2009), “the First Prize of Excellent Medical and Health Journals of the Ministry of Health” (in 2005), “the First Prize of Excellent Journals of the National Health and Family Planning Commission” (in 2013), the First Prize and the Excellent Journal of “the Journal series of the Chinese Preventive Medicine Association” and “the Excellent Journal Award in East China Region”. In 2021, its core impact factor reached 1.743, the highest in its history, and continues its first rank among 31 core journals in medicine. The network informatization has been constructed since 2006, with "WeChat" platform established in 2016, which has raised the journal’s dissemination, service capacity and impact to a higher level. This article summarizes the 40-year history of the Chinese Journal of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, and prospects its future development direction.
After more than 70 years of effective control programme, China has made remarkable achievements in the control of key parasitic diseases, and is moving towards the goal of control and elimination. This paper analyzes the epidemic status and challenges of schistosomiasis, malaria, echinococcosis, leishmaniasis, clonorchiasis and soil-transmitted helminthiasis in recent years, and puts forward the future directions and key tasks of those diseases, in order to provide reference for accelerating the control and elimination programmes on key parasitic diseases in China.
Objective To understand the situation of soil-transmitted nematode infection in China in 2020 and provide support for evaluating the development of surveillance on soil-transmitted nematodiasis in various provinces/municipalities/autonomous regions, and improving and perfecting the control strategies. Methods Surveillance was carried out in 408 national surveillance sites (counties) in 31 provinces (municipalities, autonomous regions) in China in 2020. With the county as unit, each site was divided into 5 areas geographically: east, west, south, north, and central part, followed by selecting one township (town), and therein one administrative village was selected from wherein, 200 permanent residents over the age of 3 were sampled. A total of 1 000 people were surveyed at each surveillance site. Fecal samples were collected from the sampled villagers, and examined by using the modified Kato-Katz thick smear method (two slide-reading for each sample) for infection of hookworm, Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura and Enterobius vermicularis, to calculate the infection rate and intensity, respectively. In addition, soil samples were collected from fields or vegetable gardens of each village in the survey site, and examined for hookworm larvae using 5% saline at 45 ℃, and for Ascaris eggs by saturated sodium nitrate flotation method. Results In 2020, the overall infection rate of soil-transmitted nematode in residents was 0.84% (3 485/415 672) in 408 surveillance sites of 31 provinces (municipalities/autonomous regions), with the highest found in Hainan (6.34%, 199/3 141), followed by Yunnan (5.80%, 963/16 616) and Sichuan (3.66%, 592/16 168); infection rate in females was 0.91% (1 944/213 591), which was higher than that of 0.76% in males (1 541/202 081) (χ2 = 27.20, P < 0.01). The soil-transmitted nematode infection rate was the highest in the age group ≥ 60-years-old, which is 1.26% (1 376/109 251). The difference between each age group was statistically significant (χ2 = 382.28, P < 0.01). The infection rates of hookworm, A. lumbricoides, T. trichiura were 0.51% (2 016/415 672), 0.19% (805/415 672) and 0.16% (673/415 672), respectively. Among them, hookworm and T. trichiura had only mildly infected cases. The proportions of mild and moderate A. lumbricoides infections were 99.25% (799/805) and 0.75% (6/805), respectively. In 2020, 2 604 soil samples were examined and found that the positive rate of Ascaris eggs and hookworms was 3.07% (80/2 604) and 2.42% (63/2 604), respectively. Conclusion In 2020, the infection rate of soil-transmitted nematode in China remains at a low level in general, but the regional differences are still significant, and the areas with high infection rates still exist. At the same time, it is necessary to strengthen the control measures for the key groups of people over age of 60, women and children, and carry out health education.
Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular parasite that widely distributes in the world and causes zoonotic toxoplasmosis. In recent years, parasite infection in the brain has been paid more and more attention. T. gondii can cause central nervous system damage, often manifested as depression, schizophrenia, epilepsy and other symptoms. In this paper, the process and mechanism of T. gondii establishing chronic infection through blood-brain barrier, causing central nervous system injury and disease are reviewed.
Malaria epidemiological data in 31 provinces/municipalities/autonomous regions (excluding Taiwan region, Hong Kong SAR and Macao SAR) of China in 2022 were collected from the Information System for Parasitic Diseases Prevention and Control. The epidemiological characteristic of malaria cases was analyzed. In 2022, a total of 845 malaria cases were reported in China, which is increased by 5.8% compared to that in 2021 (799 cases). Of all these cases, 844 were imported cases and 1 was local recurrent case infected with Plasmodium malariae with along incubation period. In addition, 820 cases were of Chinese nationality (97.0%, 820/845) and 25 cases were of foreign nationality (3.0%, 25/845). Most of the cases were within the age range of 50-59 years (29.5%, 249/845), with a male-to-female ratio of 17.0:1. The reported cases included 494 cases of P. falciparum infection (58.8%, 494/845), 204 cases of P. vivax infection (24.1%, 204/845), 108 cases of P. ovale infection (12.8%, 108/845), 31 cases of P. malariae infection (3.7%, 31/845), and 8 cases of mixed-infection (0.9%, 8/845). The cases were reported from 26 provinces/municipalities/autonomous regions, with the top 5 provinces including Guangdong (182 cases), Yunnan (136 cases), Sichuan (72 cases), Zhejiang (64 cases) and Henan (59 cases), from which 513 cases (60.7%, 513/845) were reported. A total of 36 severe malaria cases (4.3%, 36/845) and 6 deaths (0.7%, 6/845) were reported. Although there has been no report of indigenous malaria cases in China for six consecutive years, there is still a risk of cluster outbreak of imported malaria and reemerging. After malaria elimination, malaria surveillance and response should be further strengthened, and malaria cases should be detected timely with accurate, diagnosis and standard treatment, so as to reduce the severe cases and deaths and finally prevent the reemerging of malaria transmission.
Malaria is an endemic infectious disease caused by Plasmodium and is mainly prevalent in tropical and subtropical areas. Despite the World Health Organization’s announcement of the country’s malaria elimination certification in 2021, the threat of imported malaria will persist as international travel increases. In order to facilitate clinicians’ understanding and rational treatment of malaria and to improve the diagnosis and treatment of malaria, we have invited experts in the relevant field of infectious diseases and parasitic diseases in China to prepare the guidelines for malaria diagnosis and treatment. The guidelines introduce the etiology, epidemiology, pathogenesis, clinical manifestations, diagnosis and differential diagnosis, treatment, care, and prevention of malaria, emphasising on treatment options for different clinical conditions, so that the clinician can use them properly.
In order to understand the work progress in nationwide control of echinococcosis, data related to echinococcosis prevention and control in 2021 were collected and analyzed. As of the end of 2021, echinococcosis was found endemic in 370 counties (city, district, banner) covering 30 421 endemic villages in China. There were 47 584 117 permanent residents living in endemic townships. In 2021, 26 773 echinococcosis cases were documented in endemic counties (cities, districts, banners), with an average prevalence 0.06% (26 773/47 584 117), among them, 16 625 cases were of cystic, and 8 327 cases alveolar echinococcosis, 311 cases mixed infection, 1 510 cases unclassified. A total of 1 346 cases were newly diagnosed in 2021, including 1 075 cases of cystic echinococcosis, 86 cases of alveolar echinococcosis, 7 cases of mixed infection, and 178 cases of unclassified. In 2021, population screening by abdominal ultrasound scanning was performed in all endemic provinces (autonomous regions) for 4.471 7 million person/times, of them, 0.871 5 million person/examinations were for people under age of 12, 3.600 2 million person/times for permanent residents aged ≥ 12; serological examination was carried out for 11 358 person/times. Recorded from 370 surveillance sites in 2021, positive rate of ultrasound detection in people under age of 12 was 0.02% (72/336 959), of which 58.33% (42/72) were newly diagnosed. The positive rate of ultrasound imaging in permanent residents aged ≥ 12 was 0.26% (922/355 006) in type Ⅰ, Ⅱ endemic counties (city, district, banner), and the newly diagnosed patients accounted for 10.52% (97/922) of the detected patients. In 2021, 19 552 people received drug treatment, 14 440 people received liver and kidney function tests or treatment of adverse reactions. A total of 1 792 patients received surgical treatment, among them cystic echinococcosis accounted for 71.15% (1 275/1 792) and alveolar echinococcosis accounted for 23.66% (424/1 792). In 2021, the follow-up results showed that 3 063 cases were cured, 22 660 cases responded to the treatment, 2 356 cases failed in the treatment, 359 cases died (the cause of death was not echinococcosis), 285 cases were excluded, 301 cases were lost in follow-up, 312 cases had not completed the follow-up, and 146 cases migrated to other places. In 2021, there were 2 626 679 dogs in endemic townships (towns) nationwide, of which 2 389 828 were registered and documented. In 35 019 villages, deworming was conducted for dogs, with 25 844 226 deworming for domestic dogs and 131 315 deworming drug sites were distributed for wild canines. A total of 555 688 fecal samples from domestic dogs were collected and tested, of which 2 614 were found Echinococcus coproantigen positive, with a positive rate of 0.47% (2 614/555 688). Of wild canidae, 54 266 field fecal samples were collected and tested, among which, 422 were found Echinococcus coproantigent positive, with a positive rate of 0.78%. A total of 222 844 slaughtered livestock were randomly examined, among which 1 408 were positive, with a positive rate of 0.63% (1 408/222 844); and 56 124 field rodents were examined, of which 599 were found positive, with a positive rate of 1.07% (599/56 124). The epidemic state of echinococcosis has been basically controlled, but there are still many difficulties and challenges in the control and prevention. It is noted that there may be flaws in the control of the source of infection in some endemic areas, and it is likely that there might exist transmission chain in wild environment. It is imperative to continuously advance the comprehensive intervention areas as gripper to explore and optimize the control strategy, enhance the capacity of primary disease control institutions for control of echinococcosis, carry out pilot trial for controlling echinococcosis transmission in wild field, strengthen the surveillance-early warning system to further curb the epidemic of echinococcosis.
To understand the Anisakis larvae infection status in marine fishes sold in Shanghai, the fresh marine fishes caught in the East China Sea area were collected from Farmers’ markets, supermarkets and seafood markets in Shanghai in 2022. The suspected Anisakis larvae were searched in the offal and muscles after dissection and observed under optical microscope and scanning electron microscope, respectively. A total of 338 marine fish of 16 species were collected, and 1 065 Anisakis larvae were found from 116 fish of 6 species, with a total infection rate of 34.3% (116/338) and average infection intensity of 9.2 larvae/fish. The highest infection rate was 11/12 in Lophiiformes, and the highest average infection intensity was 13.0 larvae/fish in Larimichthys polyactis. The Anisakis larvae infection rates increased gradually from spring to winter. The infection rate and average infection intensity in winter were 51.1% (46/90) and 12.3 larvae/fish, respectively, which were the highest seasons of the year. The predominant sites of Anisakis larvae parasitise in marine fishes were the intestines and abdominal cavity, with infection rates of 54.6% (582/1 065) and 40.7% (433/1 065), respectively. The result showed that Anisakis larvae infections were present in marine fish sold in Shanghai and the infection rates of commonly consumed marine fishes such as Lophiiformes and L. polyactis were high.
Food-borne parasitic diseases caused by ingesting food and water containing infective parasites are still common parasitic diseases that are easily misdiagnosed and mistreated in clinical practice. With the participation of multi-disciplinary experts, and in the light of the latest research results at home and abroad, based on factors other than the quality of evidence (economics, patient preferences and values, trade-offs, accessibility, fairness, acceptability, etc.), the level of recommendation and the quality of evidence in evidence-based medicine were assessed using the World Health Organization-recommended evidence quality classification and strength of recommendation system, and a consensus of 24 items was reached to guide and improve the comprehensive diagnosis and treatment of food-borne parasitic diseases for clinical medical staff.
One Health is an upgrade and optimization of health concepts, which recognizes the integrated health of the human-animal-environment. It emphasizes the use of interdisciplinary collaboration, multi-sectoral coordination, and multi-organizational One Health approaches to solve scientific questions. The surveillance and early warning system is the basis of public health emergency prevention and control. The COVID-19 pandemic and the emerging infectious disease (EID) have put great challenges on the existing surveillance and early warning systems worldwide. Guided by the concept of One Health, we attempt to build a new pattern of integrated surveillance and early warning system for EID. We will detail the system including the One Health-based organizational structure, zoonotic and environmental science surveillance network, EID reporting process, and support and guarantee from education and policy. The integrated surveillance and early warning system for EID constructed here has practical and application prospects, and will provide guidance for the prevention and control of COVID-19 and the possible EID in the future.
Objective To screen the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) by comparing the transcriptome of the brain tissues between the mice chronically infected with Toxoplasma gondii and normal mice, to analyze the relative transcription level of DEGs in the depression-related kynurenine (KYN) pathway and to provide a theoretical basis for exploring the mechanism of depression-like symptoms caused by Toxoplasma gondii chronic infecttion in mice. Methods SV129 male mice (n = 18) were randomly and equally divided into the infection group and the control group. Mice in the infection group were intraperitoneally injected with 120 tachyzoites of T. gondii ME49 strain (200 μl), and mice in the control group were injected with the same volume of PBS. After 3 months post-infection, mice brain tissues of the two groups were collected for extraction of total RNA to undertake transcriptome sequencing for screening DEG. With the DEGs obtained, cluster analysis, gene ontology (GO) functional annotation analysis, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) functional annotation and enrichment analysis were performed. Eight DEGs [interferon-γ (IFN-γ), indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1 (IDO1), IDO2, kynurenine-3-monooxygenase (KYNU), kynurenine-3-monooxygenase (KMO), 3-hydroxyanthranilate 3,4-dioxygenase (3-HAO), vimentin (Vim) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)] related to KYN pathway associated with depression were selected to examine each gene’s relative transcription level by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), using glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase gene as an internal reference. Results Transcriptome sequencing found 2 295 DEGs in the brain of the mice from the infection and control groups, of which 2 016 were up-regulated and 279 were down-regulated. GO analysis showed that localisation was the most significantly enriched biological process, with a total of 257 DEGs. The most significantly enriched in cellular components was the protein-containing complex, with a total of 425 DEGs. The most significantly enriched molecular function was molecular transducer activity, with 177 DEGs. The largest number of DEGs enriched in biological process, cell component and molecular function were cell process, cell part and binding, with 1 039, 1 240 and 1 088 DEGs, respectively. KEGG analysis showed that the top three up-regulated metabolic pathways were the immune system, signaling transduction, and viral infectious disease, and the top three down-regulated pathways were signal transduction, signaling molecules and interaction and immune system. Functional enrichment analysis showed that 77 pathways were significantly enriched. The signaling pathways related to depression include tumor necrosis factor signaling pathway, neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction, NF-kappa B signaling pathway, JAK-STAT signaling pathway, necroptosis, apoptosis, chemokine signaling pathway, KYN pathway. The qRT-PCR results showed that the relative transcription levels of IFN-γ, IDO1, IDO2, KYNU, KMO, 3-HAO and Vim genes in the infection group were 3 023.08%, 355.52%, 190.17%, 496.55%, 339.92%, 212.74% and 507.34%, if the relative transcript level of control mice was taken as 100%. Compared with the control group, the transcription was significantly up-regulated (t = 3.782, 3.749, 3.226, 2.908, 2.533, 5.656, 2.948; all P < 0.05 or 0.01). The relative transcription level of BDNF was 63.32%, which was significantly down-regulated (t = 2.398, P < 0.05). The fold change of IFN-γ, IDO1, IDO2, KYNU, KMO, 3-HAO, BDNF, Vim obtained by qRT-PCR was 4.96, 1.74, 0.89, 2.10, 1.60, 1.06, -0.94, 2.18, respectively. The fold change obtained by transcriptome sequencing was 7.30, 0.55, 0.80, 3.83, 2.75, 3.53, -0.86 and 1.93, respectively. The transcriptional trend obtained by qRT-PCR was consistent with that obtained by transcriptome sequencing. Conclusion DEGs from brain tissues of mice chronically infected with T. gondii were screened. Transcriptome analysis revealed that the immune response of central nervous system of the mice with chronic infection of T. gondii was continuously activated. Seven DEGs in KYN pathway related to depression showed up-regulated transcription level.
The morphology, proliferation and stability of in vitro cultured Blastocystis were studied. Blastocystis were isolated from Blastocystis positive feces of patients with diarrhea and cultured in IMDM medium to observe the parasite morphology and proliferation. The density of Blastocystis was quantified by microscopic counting and the copy number of Blastocystis 18S small subunit ribosomal DNA (SSU rDNA) was measured by fluorescence quantitative PCR (qPCR) to analyze the proliferation of Blastocystis in the in vitro culture, and the proliferation curve was plotted to analyze the correlation between the two methods. Blastocystis were stored at 4, -20, and -80 ℃ for 1 to 7 days and 1 to 5 weeks respectively, and the Blastocystis SSU rDNA was detected by qPCR to analyze the stability. Morphological studies showed that the four common morphological forms were observed in the IMDM medium, including vacuolar form, granular form, ameboid form and cyst form; and the three reproductive modes including fission, gemmation and endodyogeny were observed. The rapid growth period of Blastocystis was observed from day 3 to 7 from the in vitro culture, and the Blastocystis density peaked on day 7. The microscopic counting and qPCR results were (2.55 ± 0.22) × 106/ml and (1.06 ± 0.10) × 106 copies/μl, respectively. Correlation analysis showed that the Pearson correlation coefficient of proliferation curve generated by microscopic counting and qPCR was 0.95, which was highly correlated. The degradation of Blastocystis began on the second day after storage at 4, -20 and -80 ℃, and the copy numbers of SSU rDNA on the seventh day were (2.75 ± 0.20) × 104, (6.84 ± 1.33) × 104 and (1.39 ± 0.06) × 105 copies/μl, respectively, which accounted for 11.65%, 28.67% and 62.42% of the copy volume (2.36 ± 0.06) × 105, (2.39 ± 0.06) × 105, (2.23 ± 0.21) × 105 copies/μl on the first day. The difference was statistically significant (F = 130.67, P < 0.05). At the fifth week, the copy numbers of SSU rDNA were (3.77 ± 0.23) × 103, (4.37 ± 0.59) × 103 and (3.86 ± 0.26) × 104 copies/μl, accounted for 2.98%, 3.41% and 28.74% of the copy volume (2.23 ± 0.21) × 105, (2.23 ± 0.21) × 105, (2.23 ± 0.21) × 105 copies/μl in the first week. The difference was statistically significant (F = 500.51, P < 0.05). The morphology of in vitro cultured Blastocystis showed diversive forms at the rapid proliferation stage. Both microscopic counting and qPCR can be used for the quantification of Blastocystis and the stability of Blastocystis stored at -80 ℃ is less than that stored at 4 and -20 ℃.
Objective To investigate the infection and molecular characteristics of Enterocytozoon bieneusi and Cyclospora cayetanensis in pet dogs and cats in Shanghai and assess the zoonotic potential. Methods Fresh fecal samples were collected from dogs and cats at a pet hospital in Shanghai from November 2021 to June 2022. Genomic DNA was extracted from the fecal samples, and nested PCR was used to amplify the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the ribosomal RNA (rRNA) of E. bieneusi and the small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA) sequence of C. cayetanensis. The positive products were subjected to bidirectional sequencing and sequence alignment by BLAST in the GenBank database. The phylogenetic tree was constructed using MEGA 11.0 software based on the neighbor-joining method. Results A total of 145 fecal samples were collected (99 from dogs and 46 from cats). The positive rates of E. bieneusi and C. cayetanensis were 4.1% (6/145) and 4.8% (7/145), respectively. The positive rates of E. bieneusi and C. cayetanensis in dogs were 3.0% (3/99) and 6.1% (6/99), respectively, while those in cats were 6.5% (3/46) and 2.2% (1/46), respectively. The ITS sequences of 6 E. bieneusi were 100% identical to human genotype A (GenBank accession number: MK982500), and the SSU rRNA sequences of 7 C. cayetanensis were 100% identical to human C. cayetanensis (GenBank accession number: KJ569533). The results of the phylogenetic tree analysis showed that all the E. bieneusi isolates belonged to the same branch as the reported human E. bieneusi genotype A isolates and fell into group 1. All the C. cayetanensis isolates belonged to the same branch as the reported human C. cayetanensis isolates. Conclusion E. bieneusi and C. cayetanensis infections were detected in pet dogs and cats in Shanghai, all of which were caused by zoonotic parasite strains.
Echinococcosis is an important zoonotic parasitic disease caused by the metacestode stage larval of the genus Echinococcus. In China, it is mainly endemic in the western region. E. ortleppi is a unique specie of Echinococcus, due to its morphological and developmental characteristics, which are significantly different from that of E. granulosus. Its suitable intermediate host is cattle. Humans, pigs, camels, sheep, goats, lemurs and deers can be infected with E. ortleppi. In this review, the morphology, genetic variation, molecular genetic markers and epidemiology of E. ortleppi were summarized to provide a reference for epidemiological investigation, prevention and control and monitoring of echinococcosis.
Objective To understand the infection of Babesia in ticks parasitized on domestic animals in Xinyang, Henan Province. Methods Tick specimens were collected from domestic animals in Guangshan County and Shangcheng County, Xinyang City, Henan Province, from June to August 2022. The tick species were identified by morphology and 16S rDNA. Genomic DNA was extracted from tick specimens, and nested-PCR was performed to amplify 18S rRNA gene sequence of Babesia. The PCR products were sequenced and aligned by BLAST, and phylogenetic trees were constructed by the neighbor-joining method. Using MEGA7.0 software for homology analysis. Results A total of 335 ticks were collected, including the species of 49 Haemaphysalis longicornis, 208 Rhipicephalus microplus, 1 H. flava, 34 R. annulatus, and 43 H. punctataa, identified by morphology and PCR amplification. The PCR amplification results showed that 2 out of 335 tick samples were amplified target bands of 400 bp, and the overall positive rate was 0.6%. The BLAST comparison analysis results showed that the 18S rRNA sequence amplified from one sample had a 99.26% similarity with the sequences of B. microti from the United States (MK609547), Thailand (MG199181), and China (KU204794) in GenBank. The 18S rRNA sequence amplified from another sample shares 100% similarity with the sequences of B. gibsoni from the United States (MH620203), India (MN161136), and China (KP666166) in GenBank. The phylogenetic tree analysis revealed that the B. microti positive sample was clustered on the same branch with B. microti from Russia (KX987864), China (KU204794) and Thailand (MG199179), showing a high homology. The B. gibsoni-positive samples were clustered on the same branch with B. gibsoni from China (FJ769386), USA (MH620203) and India (KF606884), showing a close relation. Conclusion The infections of B. microti and B. gibsoni were detected in ticks parasitized on domestic animals in Xinyang area of Henan Province, which may render risk of disease transmission to humans and domestic animals.
Objective To analyze the effect of Toxoplasma gondii infection on the level of N6-methyladenosine （m6A） methylation of brain transcripts in mice. Methods C57BL/6J female mice (n = 20) were randomly divided into TgCtwh6 infection group (n = 7), LHG infection group (n = 7) and control group (n = 3 for the control of TgCtwh6 infection and LHG infection group, respectively). The TgCtwh6 infection group and the LHG infection group were inoculated by gavage with 0.2 ml brain tissue suspension (20 cysts/mouse) from the mice infected with T. gondii Chinese Ⅰ genotype wh6 strain or Chinese Ⅲ genotype LHG strain, respectively. The control group was given with the same amount of normal saline. At 15, 30 and 45 days post-infection, one mouse was randomly selected by drawing lots from each infected group, which was sacrificed under anesthesia to collect brain tissue for microscopic examination and counting of the cyst number in the cerebral cortex, hippocampus and olfactory bulb. At 45 days post-infection, the whole brain tissues of 3 mice in each group were collected, the total RNA was extracted, the genome library was prepared, the transcriptome was sequenced, differential methylation loci (DML) were screened, and differential m6A methylation sites and transcripts of mRNA in infected group and control group were recorded. The transcripts with methylation sites were analyzed by gene ontology functional annotation (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Gene and Genome (KEGG), and methylated differential transcripts by gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA). Three m6A methylation modification protein genes, methyltransferase like 3 (METTL3), fat mass and obesity-associated protein (FTO) and YTH domain family 3 (YTHDF3), were selected, and their relative transcription levels were detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) using the glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase gene as an internal reference. Results All the mice in the infection group were infected successfully. On day 45 after infection, the cysts in cerebral cortex, hippocampus and olfactory bulb were (5 676 ± 10), (4 773 ± 9) and (243 ± 10), respectively. A total of 760 650 methylation sites were detected in the infection group and control group. Among them, the methylation levels of four m6A motifs, GGACA, GGACC and ACGAT, accounted for 16.8% (127 923/760 650), 4.6% (35 164/760 650), 3.8% (28 983/760 650) and 0.4% (3 122/760 650), respectively. A total of 127 016 transcripts with high methylation sites were detected, including 71 727, 27 754, 24 556 and 2 979 transcripts with GGACA, GGACC, GGACT and ACGAT, respectively. The total number of DML sites for four m6A motifs, including ACGAT, GGACA, GGACC and GGACT, in the transcriptome of the infected and control group mice brain tissue was 9 233, including 4 832 high methylation sites and 4 851 low methylation sites. The GO analysis showed that the transcripts where DML was located were significantly enriched in cellular processes of biological processes, cell of cellular components, and binding in molecular functions. The KEGG enrichment analysis of the transcripts where DML was located showed that the intermolecular interaction network was mainly enriched in signaling pathway such as lysosome, spliceosomes, dopamine synapses. The GO enrichment analysis of biological processes showed that in the transcripts where DML was located, some transcripts related to biological processes were mainly enriched in processes such as protein glycosylation, negative regulation of neuronal apoptosis and proteion import into nucleus. The GSEA analysis showed the differential methylation between the control group and the two infection groups was highly enriched in transcriptome subsets related to the negative regulation pathway of fibroblast proliferation and Hippo signaling pathway. Among them, four key transcripts, ENSMUST00000105393, ENSMUST00000006523, ENSMUST00000055261 and ENSMUST00000038658, were screened, which encode costimulatory factor ligand (ICOSL), cysteine-rich intestinal protein 1 (CRIP1), MOB kinase activator 1A201 (MOB1A201) and MOB1A202, respectively. Compared with the control group, the expression of these four genes in TgCtwh6 infection group and LHG infection group were all up-regulated. The results of qRT-PCR showed that the relative expression level of mettl3 mRNA in brain tissue of TgCtwh6 infection group and LHG infection group was 5.47 ± 1.09, 1.63 ± 0.06, respectively, which was significantly different from that of the control group (1.01 ± 0.11) (t = 4.05, 5.03; both P < 0.05). The relative expression level of ythdf3 mRNA in the control group was 3.57 ± 0.08 and 1.80 ± 0.25, respectively, which was significantly different from that in the control group (1.01 ± 0.11) (t = 18.95, 2.85; both P < 0.05). The relative expression level of fto mRNA was 0.41 ± 0.04, 0.60 ± 0.12, respectively, which was significantly different from the control group (1.00 ± 0.06) (t = 7.67, 2.99; both P < 0.05). The qRT-PCR results were consistent with the transcriptional trend obtained by transcriptional sequencing. Conclusion Chronic T. gondii infection may enhance the m6A methylation in mouse brain transcripts, leading to changes in the biological processes and signal pathways related to host mental behavioural through modifying and regulating key differential transcripts including icosl, crip1 and mob1a.
Zoonotic diseases pose a serious threat to human health and ecological security. Climate change facilitates the crossover and spread of zoonotic diseases by affecting pathogens, hosts, vectors, and human activities, therefore threatening global public health. This article summarizes the impact of climate change on the spread of zoonotic diseases and explores the effective strategies based on the One Health approach to protect human health and safety.
Objective To understand the prevalence and gene polymorphism of Echinococcus granulosus in cattle and sheep in part areas of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (Xinjiang), and to provide field data for the prevention and control of cystic echinococcosis in this region. Methods From 2020 to 2021, the livers and lungs of the slautered cattle and sheep were collected from the designated slaughterhouses in Yining City, Altay City, Tacheng City, Zhaosu County, Turks County, Emin County and Bole City. The infection was preliminarily assessed by visual inspection and palpation. Suspected E. granulosus cysts were collected for DNA extraction, of which the E. granulosus cytochrome oxidase 1 (cox1) gene was amplified by PCR and sequenced. The sequences obtained were BLAST aligned with the sequences of G1, G3, C4, G5 and G6 downloaded. The phylogenetic tree was constructed by the neighbour-joining method using MEGA 7.0 software, the haplotype network of cox1 gene was constructed by Popart software, and the gene polymorphism sites were analyzed by DnaSPvS software. SPSS17.0 software was used for statistical analysis. The infection rates of cattle, sheep and different organs in different regions were compared by Chi-square (χ2) test. Results A total of 4 977 livestock (563 cattle, 4 414 sheep) were investigated in 7 counties (cities) in Xinjiang, from them 141 cysts were collected. An amplicon of 850 bp was found in 121 cysts, and was successfully sequenced. The overall infection rate in cattle and sheep was 2.07% (103/4 977), among them the highest infection rate in cattle and sheep was seen in Bole City (6.50%, 32/492) compared to Yining City (1.80%, 38/2 108), Tacheng City (1.14%, 9/790), Turks County (1.06%, 2/189) and Emin County (0.72%, 7/970). The difference was statistically significant (χ2 = 49.873, 33.682, 8.762, 28.666, all P < 0.05). The infection rates of cattle and sheep were 3.02% (17/563) and 1.95% (86/4 414), respectively, and the difference was statistically significant (χ2 = 14.296, P < 0.05). The liver and lung cysts from 101 sheep were collected, in which liver cysts accounted for 42.57% (43/101), lung cysts accounted for 27.72% (28/101), and liver and lung co-infection cysts accounted for 29.70% (30/101). The liver and lung cysts from 20 cattle were collected, in which liver cysts accounted for 25.00% (5/20), lung cysts accounted for 45.00% (9/20), and liver and lung co-infection cysts accounted for 30.00% (6/20). BLAST alignment showed that 120 (99.2%) of the 121 sequences had 98%-100% homology with the G1 genotype sequence of E. granulosus (MN886258.1, MG280957.1, KX020359.1 and MG672143.1), which clustered into one branch on the phylogenetic tree, and One (0.8%) had 100% homology with the G3 genotype sequence (MG682532.1), which clustered into one branch on the phylogenetic tree. Haplotype analysis showed that there were 18 haplotypes in cox1 gene sequence, Hap 1-Hap 17 was G1 genotype, Hap 18 was G3 genotype. Hap 1 had the largest haplotype population. There were a total of 20 variation sites among 18 haplotypes. Sequence alignment showed that 52 of 121 sequences had base conversion and transversion. Conclusion The E. granulosus infection rates among cattle and sheep in 7 counties (cities) in Xinjiang are significantly different. G1 (99.2%) and G3 (0.8%) genotypes and 18 haplotypes are found, among which Hap 1 is the dominant pathogenic haplotype.
The pandemic of Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) worldwide has prompted the use One Health concept to solve health problems and improve the public health governance system. Using the Superiority Weakness Opportunity Threats (SWOT) analysis method to analyze the opportunities and challenges brought by the current development of One Health in China. The results show that the current advantage is that the Chinese government attaches great importance to One Health, and Chinese scholars are also actively involved in the development of One Health, but there are still disadvantages of weak foundation and low international influence. At the same time, with the opportunity for more recognition of the concept of One Health in the world, China is facing challenges such as insufficient talent competitiveness and unbalanced development in the development of One Health. In this regard, this paper puts forward the strategies and key research contents for developing One Health in China to provide ideas for promoting the development of One Health in China.
