Teníase e cisticercose: breve revisão dos aspectos gerais / Teniasis and cysticercosis: review and general aspects

O presente artigo procura enfatizar os aspectos mais importantes da teníase - epidemiológicos, etiológicos, imunopatológicos, clínicos, terapêuticos e de prevenção - e helmintose causada por cestódeos do gênero Taenia - Taenia solium e Taenia saginata - ambos os parasitos que têm o homem como hospedeiro definitivo. São revistas, também, algumas particularidades da cisticercose, complicação causada pela infecção por formas larvares de T. solium.

Bertiellosis in man: a review of cases

En este trabajo se hace una arevision de los casos humanos parasitados por Bertiella mucronata y Bertiella studeri (Cestoda: Anoplocephalidae), que incluye la casuistica internacional y bibliografia actualizada. Se analizan varios aspectos de esta zoonosis como son: taxonomia, ciclo biologico, epidemiologia, patologia, diagnostico, control, prevencion y terapeutica. Se discuten aspectos relacionados con la potencialidad zoonotica creciente de esta parasitosis

Cestode vaccines.

Studies over the past 20 years have clearly shown the potential for developing vaccines against larval cestode infections of man and animals. The important larval cestode infections of man (Echinococcus granulosus--hydatidosis: Taenia solium--cysticercosis) involve domesticated animals as intermediate hosts in their natural life-cycles. These animals develop strong immunity against reinfection, and immunity can be artificially induced by vaccination with oncosphere antigens. A major stumbling block in developing commercial vaccines against cestodes has been the difficulty in obtaining adequate supplies of these antigens. Recent studies with Taenia ovis, a larval cestode causing cysticercosis in sheep, have demonstrated the feasibility of developing commercial vaccines against cestodes using recombinant DNA technology. A cDNA library prepared using mRNA obtained from T. ovis oncospheres was used to isolate a clone which expressed T. ovis polypeptide antigen 45W as a fusion protein with Schistosoma japonicum glutathione S-transferase (GST-45W). GST-45W gave up to 94% protection against challenge infection when used to vaccinate sheep with saponin as adjuvant. The vaccine antigen was shown by SDS PAGE to be unstable, a major disadvantage in subsequent attempts to obtain high yields of antigen for commercial production. The fusion protein has now been stabilized by reducing the size of GST-45W cDNA through deleting 19 carboxyl terminal hydropathic acids, and the resultant fusion protein GST-45W (B/X) was highly host-protective. Another experiment showed that the 45W T. ovis polypeptide cleaved enzymatically from GST-45W was still host-protective, suggesting that GST had no influence on the immunogenicity of GST-45W fusion protein.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)