Infection with the carcinogenic human liver fluke, Opisthorchis viverrini

Michael J. Smout; Banchob Sripa; Thewarach Laha; Jason Mulvenna; Robin B. Gasser; Neil D. Young; Jeffrey M. Bethony; Paul J. Brindley; Alex Loukas

doi:10.1039/C0MB00295J

Infection with the carcinogenic human liver fluke, Opisthorchis viverrini

Michael J. Smout,^a Banchob Sripa,^b Thewarach Laha,^c Jason Mulvenna,^a Robin B. Gasser,^d Neil D. Young,^d Jeffrey M. Bethony,^e Paul J. Brindley^e and Alex Loukas*^a

Author affiliations

* Corresponding authors

^a Queensland Tropical Health Alliance, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, Australia
E-mail: Alex.Loukas@jcu.edu.au

^b Department of Pathology, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand

^c Department of Parasitology, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand

^d Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Tropical Medicine, George Washington University, Washington DC, USA

^e Department of Veterinary Science, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia

Abstract

Throughout Southeast Asia there is a strikingly high incidence of cholangiocarcinoma (CCA—hepatic cancer of the bile duct epithelium), particularly in people from rural settings in Laos and Northeast Thailand who are infected with the liver fluke, Opisthorchis viverrini, one of only three carcinogenic eukaryotic pathogens. More ubiquitous carcinogenic microbes, such as Helicobacter pylori, induce cancer in less than 1% of infected people, while as many as one-sixth of people with opisthorchiasis will develop CCA. The mechanisms by which O. viverrini causes cancer are multi-factorial, involving mechanical irritation from the activities and movements of the flukes, immunopathology, dietary nitrosamines and the secretion of parasite proteins that promote a tumourigenic environment. Genomic and proteomic studies of the liver fluke secretome have accelerated the discovery of parasite proteins with known/potential roles in pathogenesis and tumourigenesis, establishing a framework towards understanding, and ultimately preventing, the morbidity and mortality attributed to this highly carcinogenic parasite.

Article information

https://doi.org/10.1039/C0MB00295J

Article type

Review Article

Submitted

23 Nov 2010

Accepted

12 Jan 2011

First published

11 Feb 2011

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Mol. BioSyst., 2011,7, 1367-1375

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Infection with the carcinogenic human liver fluke, Opisthorchis viverrini

M. J. Smout, B. Sripa, T. Laha, J. Mulvenna, R. B. Gasser, N. D. Young, J. M. Bethony, P. J. Brindley and A. Loukas, Mol. BioSyst., 2011, 7, 1367 DOI: 10.1039/C0MB00295J

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Molecular BioSystems

Infection with the carcinogenic human liver fluke, Opisthorchis viverrini

Abstract

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Infection with the carcinogenic human liver fluke, Opisthorchis viverrini

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