Abstract
BackgroundHemozoin is the pigment produced by some blood-feeding parasites. It demonstrates high diagnostic and therapeutic potential. In this work the formation of co-called hemozoin “knobs” – the bile duct ectasia filled up by hemozoin pigment - in Opisthorhis felineus infected hamster liver has been observed.MethodsThe O. felineus infected liver was examined by histological analysis and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The pigment hemozoin was identified by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and high resolution electrospray ionization mass spectrometry analysis. Hemozoin crystals were characterised by high resolution transmission electron microscopy.ResultsHemozoin crystals produced by O. felineus have average length 403 nm and the length-to-width ratio equals 2.0. The regurgitation of hemozoin from parasitic fluke during infection leads to formation of bile duct ectasia. The active release of hemozoin from O. felineus during in vitro incubation has also been evidenced. It has been shown that the hemozoin knobs can be detected by magnetic resonance imaging.ConclusionsIn the paper for the first time the characterisation of hemozoin pigment extracted from liver fluke O. felineus has been conducted. The role of hemozoin in the modification of immune response by opisthorchiasis is assumed.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13071-015-1061-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Hemozoin is the pigment produced by some blood-feeding parasites
In this paper we provide the evidence that the identified pigment is a hemozoin identical to byproduct of O. felineus
Histological analysis of the infected liver The visual analysis of O. felineus infected liver showed that dark knobs - the bile duct ectasia filled by blackbrown pigment - can be found starting from 5 week postinfection
Summary
Hemozoin is the pigment produced by some blood-feeding parasites. It demonstrates high diagnostic and therapeutic potential. Hemozoin formation is an adaptation to hematophagy. This pigment first identified and described for Plasmodium falciparum has been found in other Plasmodium species and in the series of blood-living parasite organisms: in the intracellular protozoan Haemoproteus columbae [1], in the trematodes Schistosoma mansoni [2, 3] and Echinostoma. Hemozoin is a unique biocrystal, a distinguishing trait of some blood-feeding organisms [6], it demonstrates high diagnostic and therapeutic potential. Hemozoin has been widely discussed as a candidate of target macromolecule for parasitic disease treatment [7,8,9]. In general hemozoin is recognized as a key factor in the induction of malaria-associated immunosuppression [12, 13]
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