Cryptic diversity in hymenolepidid tapeworms infecting humans

Agathe Nkouawa; Voitto Haukisalmi; Tiaoying Li; Minoru Nakao; Antti Lavikainen; Xingwang Chen; Heikki Henttonen; Akira Ito

doi:10.1016/j.parint.2015.10.009

Cryptic diversity in hymenolepidid tapeworms infecting humans

Parasitol Int. 2016 Apr;65(2):83-6. doi: 10.1016/j.parint.2015.10.009. Epub 2015 Oct 29.

Authors

Agathe Nkouawa¹, Voitto Haukisalmi², Tiaoying Li³, Minoru Nakao⁴, Antti Lavikainen⁵, Xingwang Chen³, Heikki Henttonen⁶, Akira Ito¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Parasitology, Asahikawa Medical University, Asahikawa, Japan.
² Finnish Museum of Natural History Luomus, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
³ Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Sichuan Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Chengdu, China.
⁴ Department of Parasitology, Asahikawa Medical University, Asahikawa, Japan. Electronic address: nakao@asahikawa-med.ac.jp.
⁵ Department of Bacteriology and Immunology/Immunobiology Program, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
⁶ Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Vantaa, Finland.

PMID: 26537836
DOI: 10.1016/j.parint.2015.10.009

Abstract

An adult hymenolepidid tapeworm was recovered from a 52-year-old Tibetan woman during a routine epidemiological survey for human taeniasis/cysticercosis in Sichuan, China. Phylogenetic analyses based on sequences of nuclear 28S ribosomal DNA and mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 showed that the human isolate is distinct from Hymenolepis diminuta and Hymenolepis nana, the common parasites causing human hymenolepiasis. Proglottids of the human isolate were unfortunately unsuitable for morphological identification. However, the resultant phylogeny demonstrated the human isolate to be a sister species to Hymenolepis hibernia from Apodemus mice in Eurasia. The present data clearly indicate that hymenolepidid tapeworms causing human infections are not restricted to only H. diminuta and H. nana.

Keywords: Cryptic species complex; Hymenolepiasis; Hymenolepis diminuta.

Publication types

Case Reports
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
China
Female
Humans
Hymenolepiasis / parasitology*
Hymenolepis / classification*
Hymenolepis / genetics*
Hymenolepis / isolation & purification
Middle Aged
Ovum
Phylogeny