Abstract
In this study, we describe a rare human case with corneal ulcer caused by thelaziosis in a 69-year-old man in Southwest China. A male nematode was discovered and removed from the patient’s right eye with a long spicule and further identified by sequencing mitochondrial cox1 gene. The ophthalmologic and molecular biological evidence demonstrates the corneal ulcer caused by T. callipaeda infection, which is mainly distributed in Asian and European countries. Most T. callipaeda infections are emerged in the conjunctiva, leading to conjunctivitis. To the best knowledge of the authors, corneal ulcers caused by T. callipaeda have not been reported yet.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Basak SK, Basak S, Mohanta A, Bhowmick A (2005) Epidemiological and microbiological diagnosis of suppurative keratitis in Gangetic West Bengal, eastern India. Indian J Ophthalmol 53:17–22
Bradbury RS, Breen KV, Bonura EM, Hoyt JW, Bishop HS (2018) Case report: conjunctival infestation with Thelazia gulosa: a novel agent of human Thelaziasis in the United States. Am J Trop Med Hyg 98:1171–1174. https://doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.17-0870
Cheng KH, Leung SL, Hoekman HW, Beekhuis WH, Mulder PG, Geerards AJ, Kijlstra A (1999) Incidence of contact-lens-associated microbial keratitis and its related morbidity. Lancet 354:181–185
Fuentes I, Montes I, Saugar JM, Latrofa S, Gárate T, Otranto D (2012) Thelaziosis in humans, a zoonotic infection, Spain, 2011. Emerg Infect Dis 18:2073–2075. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid1812.120472
Krishnachary PS, Shankarappa VG, Rajarathnam R, Shanthappa M (2014) Human ocular thelaziasis in Karnataka. Indian J Ophthalmol 62:822–824. https://doi.org/10.4103/0301-4738.138183
Liu GH, Gasser RB, Nejsum P, Wang Y, Chen Q, Song HQ, Zhu XQ (2013) Mitochondrial and nuclear ribosomal DNA evidence supports the existence of a new Trichuris species in the endangered francois’ leaf-monkey. PLoS One 8:e66249. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0066249
Miyazaki I (1991) An illustrated book of helminthic Zoonoses. In: Miyazaki I (ed) Tokyo : International Medical Foundation of Japan, Tokyo, Japan, pp 362–368
Nguyen VD, Thanh HL, Chai JY (2012) The first human case of Thelazia callipaeda infection in Vietnam. The Korean journal of parasitology 50:221–223. https://doi.org/10.3347/kjp.2012.50.3.221
Otranto D, Dantas-Torres F (2015) Transmission of the eyeworm Thelazia callipaeda: between fantasy and reality. Parasit Vectors 8:273. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13071-015-0881-7
Otranto D, Lia RP, Testini G, Milillo P, Shen JL, Wang ZX (2005a) Musca domestica is not a vector of Thelazia callipaeda in experimental or natural conditions. Med Vet Entomol 19:135–139
Otranto D, Testini G, De Luca F, Hu M, Shamsi S, Gasser RB (2005b) Analysis of genetic variability within Thelazia callipaeda (Nematoda: Thelazioidea) from Europe and Asia by sequencing and mutation scanning of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 gene. Mol Cell Probes 19:306–313
Seo M, Yu JR, Park HY, Huh S, Kim SK, Hong ST (2002) Enzooticity of the dogs, the reservoir host of Thelazia callipaeda, in Korea. Korean J Parasitol 40(2):101–103
Shen J, Gasser RB, Chu D, Wang Z, Yuan X, Cantacessi C, Otranto D (2006) Human thelaziosis--a neglected parasitic disease of the eye. J Parasitol 92:872–876
Sohn WM, Na BK, Yoo JM (2011) Two cases of human thelaziasis and brief review of Korean cases. Korean J Parasitol 49:265–271
Tasić-Otašević S, Gabrielli S, Trenkić-Božinović M, Petrović A, Gajić B, Colella V, Momčilović S, Cancrini G, Otranto D (2016) Eyeworm infections in dogs and in a human patient in Serbia: a one health approach is needed. Comp Immunol Microbiol Infect Dis 45:20–22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cimid.2016.01.003
Vieira L, Rodrigues FT, Costa A, Diz-Lopes D, Machado J, Coutinho T, Tuna J, Latrofa MS, Cardoso L, Otranto D (2012) First report of canine ocular thelaziosis by Thelazia callipaeda in Portugal. Parasit Vectors 5:124. https://doi.org/10.1186/1756-3305-5-124
Wang S, Yu SJ, Wang XL, Zhao MY, Deng S, Shang H, An CL (2014) A pediatric case report and literature review of thelaziosis in China. Int J Infect Dis 29:249–250. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijid.2014.10.016
Xue C, Tian N, Huang Z (2007) Thelazia callipaeda in human vitreous. Can J Ophthalmol 42:884–885
Yang YJ, Liag TH, Lin SH, Chen HC, Lai SC (2006) Human Thelaziasis occurrence in Taiwan. Clin Exp Optom 89:40–44
Zakir R, Zhong-Xia Z, Chioddini P, Canning CR (1999) Intraocular infestation with the worm, Thelazia callipaeda. Br J Ophthalmol 83:1194–1195
Zhang X, Shi YL, Han LL, Xiong C, Yi SQ, Jiang P, Wang ZX, Shen JL, Cui J, Wang ZQ (2018) Population structure analysis of the neglected parasite Thelazia callipaeda revealed high genetic diversity in eastern Asia isolates. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 12:e0006165. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0006165
Acknowledgments
We wish to thank Dr. Shasha Yu, from the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, P.R. China, for technical assistance in PCR.
Funding
This work was supported by Grants from National Natural Science Foundation of China (81900830, 81860370), Basic science and frontier technology project in Chongqing Science and Technology Commission (Cstc2016jcyjA0297), National Key Research and Development Project (SQ2016YFSF100125) and CAS “Light of West China” Program.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.
Additional information
Section Editor: David Bruce Conn
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Electronic supplementary material
Fig. S1
PCR amplification of the cox1 gene fragment of the Thelazia callipaeda specimen isolated from the patient (1.5% Agarose). Lanes 1 and 2:PCR product of approx. 690 bp Lane 3:Marker DL1000, TAKARA. Lane 4:Marker 1000, INVITROGEN. Lane 5:Marker DL2000, TAKARA (PNG 1380 kb)
Fig. S2
Sequence alignment of the cox1 gene fragment amplified from the specimen isolated from the patient and a known sequence of the Chinese Thelazia callipaeda haplotype h7. (PNG 897 kb)
Supplemental Video 1
Thelazia callipaeda isolated from Conjunctival sac of the patient and movement of the worm observed under transmission electron microscope. (MP4 6206 kb)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wei, X., Liu, B., Li, Y. et al. A human corneal ulcer caused by Thelazia callipaeda in Southwest China: case report. Parasitol Res 119, 3531–3534 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-020-06850-w
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-020-06850-w