Disease relevance of Toxocara

• Purified protein derivative of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and excretory-secretory antigen(s) of Toxocara canis expand in vitro human T cells with stable and opposite (type 1 T helper or type 2 T helper) profile of cytokine production [1].
• It is suggested that Toxocara, among other environmental factors, may stimulate polyclonally immunoglobulin E production, including allergen-specific immunoglobulin E, and thus may contribute to the manifestation of allergic asthma and possibly of eczema in children predisposed to allergy [2].
• Induction of a marked eosinophilia by cyclophosphamide in Toxocara canis infected SJL mice [3].
• An open randomized study was carried out to assess the efficacy of diethylcarbamazine (DEC) and mebendazole (MBZ) across, respectively, 39 and 41 patients, all exhibiting clinical and biological features evocative of toxocariasis, together with a positive immunodiagnosis by Western blot using Toxocara larvae excretory-secretory antigens [4].
• We report a case of eosinophilic pleural effusion and CD8 cell deficiency associated with Toxocara sp. The symptoms of this patient responded promptly to a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medication (naproxen) [5].

High impact information on Toxocara

• An abundantly expressed mucin-like protein from Toxocara canis infective larvae: the precursor of the larval surface coat glycoproteins [6].
• An abundant, trans-spliced mRNA from Toxocara canis infective larvae encodes a 26-kDa protein with homology to phosphatidylethanolamine-binding proteins [7].
• Iodinated surface antigens of similar m.w. were precipitated by each antibody after detergent solubilization, but only two clones (Tcn-2 and -8) were able to bind exposed sites on the epicuticle of intact Toxocara larvae [8].
• OBJECTIVE: To assess the relationship between epilepsy and infection with Taenia solium and Toxocara canis with a case-control study, in the rural area of the Cordillera Province, Bolivia [9].
• In vivo changes of hemopoietic progenitors and the expression of the interleukin 5 gene in eosinophilic mice infected with Toxocara canis [10].

Chemical compound and disease context of Toxocara

• The treatment of cutaneous larva migrans and Toxocara infection relies on antihelminthic agents such as thiabendazole, albendazole and ivermectin [11].
• Use of systemic cyclosporin A in a case of severe Toxocara uveitis [12].
• A single dose of 15 mg oxibendazole/kg body weight given to 70 dogs and to 29 cats reduced faecal worm egg counts (EPG) by 97.6% for Toxocara canis, 95.7% for Trichuris vulpis, 94.6% for Ancylostoma caninum, and 100% for Toxascaris leonina [13].

Biological context of Toxocara

• OBJECTIVE: This study examines the effect of ultrasonically nebulized distilled water inhalation on the systemic histamine hyperreactivity of Toxocara canis-infected mice [14].
• Infectivity and pathogenicity to mice of embryonated eggs of Toxocara canis, that had been maintained in 2% formalin for 14 months at 4 degrees C, were evaluated by immunological and pathological assessment at 1, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, 42 and 67 weeks post-infection (WPI) [15].
• D. immitis antigen injected into uninfected dogs having no detectable IgG antibody to D. immitis or Toxocara canis produced a rapid drop in blood pressure that paralleled a drop in C1 and C3 levels and an increase in prostaglandin D2 [16].
• To reduce migration of Toxocara larvae a single course of albendazole is suggested in cases where eosinophilia and serology are at least moderately positive [17].
• Kinetics of the reduction of oxaloacetate catalyzed by mitochondrial malate dehydrogenase of Toxocara canis muscle [18].

Anatomical context of Toxocara

• Blood samples from 1,379 Dutch urban and rural elementary schoolchildren, were examined for Toxocara antibodies, eosinophil numbers, total IgE concentrations, and the occurrence of inhaled allergen-specific IgE [19].
• The effect of four Toxocara canis antigens on nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) synthesis was studied in vitro using rat alveolar macrophages [20].
• Because the induction of host IL-4 is characteristic of infection with nematodes, we asked whether E/S from two other nematode parasites, Nippostrongylus braziliensis and Toxocara canis were also capable of generating a suppressor cell population [21].
• Suspensions of fertilized eggs of Toxocara canis were mixed with 2% neutral formalin and preserved at 4 degrees C. When, after storage for 0, 12, 18, 21 and 24 months, samples of the eggs were incubated at 30 degrees C for 12 days, 96.8%, 92.6%, 74.1%, 51.0% and 19.3% of the eggs in the samples were found to embryonate [22].
• Intestinal parasites were recovered, identified, counted, sexed, and preserved in either 10% formalin or frozen at -70 degrees C. The geometric mean numbers of adult Toxocara canis in the small intestines for Group A puppies (n = 40) were 2.8, 8.5 for Group B puppies (n = 39), and 29.7 for Group D puppies (n = 28) [23].

Associations of Toxocara with chemical compounds

• Identification, characterization and expression of Toxocara canis nematode polyprotein allergen TBA-1 [24].
• A cysteine protease migrating at 30 kDa was identified in somatic extracts of Toxocara canis larvae (TEX), by its binding to the biotinylated inhibitor Phe-Ala-CH2F [25].
• Oral, parenteral and paratenic infections of mice with Toxocara pteropodis [26].
• The binding of human complement components C3, C5 and C9 to the surface of the infective larvae of the nematode parasites Toxocara canis and Trichinella spiralis, by the alternative pathway, was examined by direct and indirect immunofluorescence on the intact parasites [27].
• The phosphorylcholine-bearing component was isolated from an extract of Toxocara canis larvae using a TEPC-15-Sepharose 4B column [28].

Gene context of Toxocara

• Cultures of 5 x 10(4) bone marrow cells using interleukin 3 (IL-3), IL-5 and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor showed that nu/nu and nu/+ mice mimicked each other in eosinophil production both before and after infection with Toxocara canis [29].
• Inhibition of interleukin 5 production with no influence on interleukin 4 production by an anti-allergic drug, tranilast, in Toxocara canis-infected mice [30].
• The relationships between inflammation in organs with Toxocara canis larval migration and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) were investigated following the infection of mice with 1,000 infective eggs [31].
• Characterisation of Tc-cpl-1, a cathepsin L-like cysteine protease from Toxocara canis infective larvae [25].
• The impact of Toxocara canis infection on the proportion of CD4+ and CD8+ T splenocytes, the serum concentrations of cytokine IFN-gamma and IL-5, and the production of Toxocara-specific antibodies were studied in two C57BL6/J mouse groups and their offspring [32].

Analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic context of Toxocara

• Ascaris showed the greatest degree of cross-reactivity in these tests, although under conditions of competitive inhibition even sera with high levels of antibody against this parasite could be negative in Toxocara ELISA [33].
• A paper radioimmunosorbent test (PRIST) for the detection of larva-specific antibodies to Toxocara canis in human sera [34].
• 300 micrograms of total RNA was extracted from 1 ml of packed Toxocara canis larvae by centrifugation through a 5.7 M cesium chloride cushion [35].
• Sera from patients suffering from toxocarosis, a disease caused by the parasitic roundworm Toxocara canis, and from healthy individuals were tested for autoantibodies by immunofluorescence and immunoblot assays using HEp-2 cells as antigen [36].
• In La Réunion island (Indian Ocean) a seroepidemiological survey for toxocariasis was carried out among 387 subjects over 15 years old by Western blotting using Toxocara canis excretory-secretory larval antigens; 92.8% of the sera were positive [37].

References