Space Occupying Lesion in the Liver Caused by Hepatic Visceral Larva Migrans: A Case Report

Visceral larva migrans (VLM) is one of the clinical syndromes of human toxocariasis. We report a case of hepatic VLM presenting preprandial malaise and epigastric discomfort in a 58-year-old woman drinking raw roe deer blood. The imaging studies of the abdomen showed a 74-mm hepatic mass featuring hepatic VLM. Anti-Toxocara canis immunoglobulin G (IgG) was observed in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and western blot. Despite anthelmintic treatment, the patient complained of newly developed cough and skin rash with severe eosinophilia. Hepatic lesion increased in size. The patient underwent an open left lobectomy of the liver. After the surgery, the patient was free of symptoms such as preprandial malaise, epigastric discomfort, cough, and skin rash. Laboratory test showed a normal eosinophilic count at postoperative 1 month, 6 months, 1 year, and 4 years. The initial optical density value of 2.55 of anti-T. canis IgG in ELISA was found to be negative (0.684) at postoperative 21 months. Our case report highlights that a high degree of clinical suspicion for hepatic VLM should be considered in a patient with a history of ingestion of raw food in the past, presenting severe eosinophilia and a variety of symptoms which reflect high worm burdens. Symptom remission, eosinophilia remission, and complete radiological resolution of lesions can be complete with surgery

Comparison of Seropositivity to Trichomonas vaginalis between Men with Prostatic Tumor and Normal Men

Trichomoniasis is the most common curable sexually-transmitted infection. Most Trichomonas vaginalis-infected men are asymptomatic and can remain undiagnosed and untreated, and this has been thought to result in chronic persistent prostatic infection. Chronic inflammation is regarded as the major factor in the pathogenesis and progression of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and prostatic cancer (PCa). The aim of this study is to identify seropositivity to T. vaginas in men with prostate tumors (BPH or PCa) visited to Hanyang University Hospital. A total of 183 men were enrolled between October 2013 and November 2014. They consisted of 139 with BPH (mean age: 64.0 +/- 0.07) and 44 with prostate cancer (mean age: 73.3 +/- 0.18). We carried out ELISA to identify the seropositivity to T. vaginas. Mixed lysate antigen extracted from 8 strains of T. vaginas was used in the ELISA. Also 58 male outpatients visited to Health Promotion Center in Hanyang University Hospital were evaluated for comparing group. As a results, seropositivity to T. vaginalis in patients with prostatic diseases was 19.7% (BPH: 18.7%, PCa: 22.7%) and it was significantly higher than the 1.7% of the comparing healthy group (P=0.001). Therefore, prostatic tumor showed higher seropositivity against T vaginas than normal men. As far as we know, this is the first report about seroprevalence in prostatic tumor in Korea.This work was supported by the research fund of Hanyang University (HY-201200000002843)

Comparison of Two PCR Assays for Trichomonas vaginalis

PCR is known to be the most sensitive method for diagnosing Trichomonas vaginalis infections. This study aimed to compare the sensitivity of a PCR assay for trichomoniasis (HY-PCR) developed in Hanyang University with the use of a Seeplex Ace Detection Kit (R), using urine collected from four Korean men with prostatic disease. Overall, HY-PCR was more sensitive than the Seeplex Kit. The use of Chelex 100 is recommended for DNA isolation in order to increase the sensitivity of the PCR test.This research was supported by the Basic Science Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT (NRF-2017R1A2B 4002072)

Proliferation of prostate epithelia induced by IL-6 from stroma reacted with Trichomonasvaginalis

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is characterized by the proliferation of stromal and epithelial cell types in the prostate, and interactions between the two types of cells. We demonstrated previously that proliferation of prostate stromal cells was induced by BPH epithelial cells in response to Trichomonasvaginalis (Tv) infection via crosstalk with mast cells. In this study, we investigated whether IL-6 released by the proliferating stromal cells in turn induce the BPH epithelial cells to multiply. When culture supernatants of the proliferating prostate stromal cells were added to BPH epithelial cells, the latter multiplied, and expression of cyclin D1, FGF2 and Bcl-2 increased. Blocking the IL-6 signalling pathway with anti-IL-6R antibody or JAK1/2 inhibitor inhibited the proliferation of the BPH epithelial cells and reduced the expression of IL-6, IL-6R and STAT3. Also, epithelial-mesenchymal transition was detected in the proliferating BPH epithelial cells. In conclusion, IL-6 released from proliferating prostate stromal cells induced by BPH epithelial cells infected with Tv in turn induces multiplication of the BPH epithelial cells. This result provides first evidence that the inflammatory microenvironment of prostate stromal cells resulting from Tv infection induces the proliferation of prostate epithelial cells by stromal-epithelial interaction.Basic Science Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF), Grant/Award Number: NRF-2017R1A2B4002072; Ministry of Science; IC