Special Issue "Advances in the One Health Based on Helminthology Research"

Dear Colleagues,

Helminths compose a complex and diverse group of macroparasites that can explore different environments. They spread by simple resistance structures, eggs, or within other organisms using their body (such as larvae or adult worms) as a definitive, intermediate, or paratenic host. Many of these parasites have a body mass very close to their host, and are always much larger than any eukaryotic cell. Challenges to understanding how these starving parasites can succeed without killing most of their hosts remain an important target of advanced helminthology. Expanding our knowledge of helminth diversity by exploring classical tools in association with advanced technologies could be a roadmap to attract funding and young researchers to the integrative taxonomy of helminths. As we expand the list of helminth parasites and detail their life cycles, more zoonoses and emerging and reemerging diseases are described. Helminths are important protagonists of the One Health concept, moving between the abiotic environment and intriguing sites and host tissues. Helminthology is a fascinating and important topic that must continue growing and advancing; therefore, we encourage you to submit your research to this Special Issue.

Dr. Eduardo José Lopes-Torres
Guest Editor

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• neglected
• taxonomy
• diagnosis
• epidemiology
• treatment
• morphology
• molecular biology
• helminth

Title: Structural Characterization of Host-Parasite Interaction in Giant African Snail Achatina fulica Infected With Angiostrongylus cantonensis
Authors: Lopes-Torres Eduardo; Simões Raquel; Mota Ester; Thiengo Silvana
Affiliation: 1. Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro; 2. Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro; 3. Fundação Oswaldo Cruz.
Abstract: (1) Background: Angiostrongylus cantonensis is a nematode parasite of the pulmonary arteries of rodents, which are its definitive hosts. Achatina fulica, the African giant snail, is considered one of the most important intermediate hosts in the America. This helminth causes eosinophilic meningitis or meningoencephalitis in humans, an emergent disease in the Americas. The knowledge of the host-parasite relationship within the One Health Approach is extremely relevant, since zoonoses are closely intertwined in this complex mechanisms of wild/human hosts, parasite adaption and environmental dispersion. The objective of this study was to enrich our knowledge of the tissue biological mechanisms associated whit the defense of A. fulica against A. cantonensis. (2) Methods: Nine snails aged three months were randomly selected and exposed for 24 hours to a concentration of 2000 L1/dose of A. cantonensis. After necropsy, the samples were processed exploring new approaches using light and scanning electron microscopy. (3) Results: We show that the A. fulica presents a multifocal inflammatory process with granulomas distributed in different tissues (fig. 1), composed of granulocyte cells and granule clusters distributed in the region bordering the larvae. Scanning electron microscopy revealed details of the structure of the nematode (Fig. 2), suggesting that the granulomas may serve to protect the parasite against attack by the molluscan immune defense system. (4) Conclusions: The host-parasite process adaption is based on a complex balance between host resistance and parasite pathogenicity, and evolutionary adaptation is a key to this equation. Based on our results, we can suggest that the african invertebrate host and this Chinese nematode, when in the natural infection in Brazilian rodents, allowed the formation a granuloma, keeping the parasite alive, isolating it from the snail immune system, favoring the dispersal of the nematode, and preserving the host tissues.