ABSTRACT
A 35-year-old man presented with right lower extremity numbness and weakness. CT demonstrated an irregular left parietal hypoattenuation with a punctuate calcification. MRI revealed a T1 low signal and T2 high signal lesion with extensive surrounding edema. Gadolinium-enhanced MRI showed an irregular enhancing lesion. F-FDG and C-methionine PET both demonstrated high uptake in the left parietal lesion. Lesion SUV was 7.5 for F-FDG and 3.0 for C-methionine. Surgical pathology demonstrated cerebral sparganosis.
Subject(s)
Brain Diseases/diagnostic imaging , Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 , Methionine , Positron-Emission Tomography , Sparganosis/diagnostic imaging , Adult , Brain Diseases/metabolism , Brain Diseases/pathology , Humans , Male , Sparganosis/metabolism , Sparganosis/pathologyABSTRACT
Plerocercoids of the tapeworm, Spirometra mansonoides, produce a potent growth stimulating substance which is active in several species of mammals. While most of the actions of the plerocercoid growth factor (PGF) are similar to those of growth hormone (GH), lipid metabolism is one area where their actions are not alike. This report demonstrates that plerocercoid infection not only stimulates growth of intact male hamsters but is lipogenic as well. The lipogenic effects of plerocercoid infection were demonstrated by increases in epididymal fat pad weights, serum triglycerides, cholesterol, and total lipid. The livers of the plerocercoid-infected hamsters also had more cholesterol and more lipid phosphorus than controls. Incorporation studies using [2-14C]acetate showed that infected hamsters incorporated significantly higher levels of the radionuclide in their livers and serum after 1 hr than the controls. The lipogenic effect of plerocercoid infection is distinctly unlike the reported lipolytic action of GH and the lack of any stimulation of [2-14C]acetate incorporation into the epididymal fat pads is unlike the reported acute actions of insulin as well.
