Title
Successful antiparasitic treatment for cysticercosis is associated with a fast and marked reduction of circulating antigen levels in a naturally infected pig model
Date Issued
01 December 2015
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Publisher(s)
American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
Abstract
Taenia solium cysticercosis is a common parasitic infection of humans and pigs. We evaluated the posttreatment evolution of circulating parasite-specific antigen titers in 693 consecutive blood samples from 50 naturally infected cysticercotic pigs, which received different regimes of antiparasitic drugs (N = 39, 7 groups), prednisone (N = 5), or controls (N = 6). Samples were collected from baseline to week 10 after treatment, when pigs were euthanized and carefully dissected at necropsy. Antigen levels decreased proportionally to the efficacy of treatment and correlated with the remaining viable cysts at necropsy (Pearson's p = 0.67, P = 0.000). A decrease of 5 times in antigen levels (logarithmic scale) compared with baseline was found in 20/26 pigs free of cysts at necropsy, compared with 1/24 of those who had persisting viable cysts (odds ratio [OR] = 76.7, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 8.1-3308.6, P < 0.001). Antigen monitoring reflects the course of infection in the pig. If a similar correlation exists in infected humans, this assay may provide a minimally invasive and easy monitoring assay to assess disease evolution and efficacy of antiparasitic treatment in human neurocysticercosis.
Start page
1305
End page
1310
Volume
93
Issue
6
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Ciencia veterinaria Parasitología
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-84949650607
PubMed ID
Source
American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
ISSN of the container
00029637
Sponsor(s)
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation: 23981. National Institutes of Health: TW001140. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases: R01AI116456. Fogarty International Center: D43TW001140.
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus