A rare case of human taeniasis caused by Taenia saginata with species undetermined cysticercosis

Taeniasis and cysticercosis, which are caused by Taenia saginata, Taenia solium and Taenia asiatica, are zoonotic parasitic infections with a significant disease burden worldwide. There is consensus amongst experts that T. saginata is a common tapeworm that causes taeniasis in humans as opposed to c...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Parasitology 2023-03, Vol.150 (3), p.240-247
Main Authors: Hou, Jie, Chen, Weilin, Chen, Rong, He, Chunlei, Ma, Ying, Qu, Junyan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Animals
Antibodies
Antiparasitic agents
Biotechnology
Case studies
Cysticercosis
Cysticercosis - diagnosis
Cysticercosis - parasitology
Cysts
DNA sequencing
Genomes
Humans
Infections
Laboratories
Male
Medical imaging
Middle age
Middle Aged
Mitochondrial DNA
Morphology
Muscles
Neuroimaging
Nodules
Parasites
Parasitic diseases
Pathogenicity
Pathogens
Patients
Phylogenetics
Ribosomal DNA
Signs and symptoms
Taenia - genetics
Taenia saginata
Taenia saginata - genetics
Taenia solium - genetics
Taeniasis - diagnosis
Taeniasis - parasitology
Ultrasonic imaging
Vomiting
Worms
Zoonoses
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Summary:Taeniasis and cysticercosis, which are caused by Taenia saginata, Taenia solium and Taenia asiatica, are zoonotic parasitic infections with a significant disease burden worldwide. There is consensus amongst experts that T. saginata is a common tapeworm that causes taeniasis in humans as opposed to cysticercosis. This case study of a middle-aged Tibetan man conducted in 2021 challenges the prevailing notion that T. saginata exclusively causes taeniasis and not cysticercosis by documenting symptoms and laboratory studies related to both taeniasis and multiple cysticercosis. The patient's medical record with the symptoms of taeniasis and cysticercosis was reviewed, and the tapeworm's proglottids and cyst were identified from the patient by morphological evaluation, DNA amplification and sequencing. The patient frequently experienced severe headaches and vomiting. Both routine blood screenings and testing for antibodies against the most common parasites were normal. After anthelmintic treatment, an adult tapeworm was found in feces, and medical imaging examinations suggested multiple focal nodules in the brain and muscles of the patient. The morphological and molecular diagnosis of the proglottids revealed the Cestoda was T. saginata. Despite the challenges presented by the cyst's morphology, the molecular analysis suggested that it was most likely T. saginata. This case study suggests that T. saginata infection in humans has the potential to cause human cysticercosis. However, such a conclusion needs to be vetted by accurate genome-wide analysis in patients with T. saginata taeniasis associated with cysts. Such studies shall provide new insights into the pathogenicity of T. saginata.
ISSN:0031-1820
1469-8161
DOI:10.1017/S003118202200169X