{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,13]],"date-time":"2026-01-13T08:53:45Z","timestamp":1768294425357,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":25,"publisher":"Springer Science and Business Media LLC","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,6,1]],"date-time":"2024-06-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1717200000000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,6,12]],"date-time":"2024-06-12T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1718150400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":11,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"funder":[{"name":"Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy and the Hawaii State Legislature."}],"content-domain":{"domain":["link.springer.com"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Parasitol Res"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2024,6]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title><jats:p>Rat lungworm disease or neuroangiostrongyliasis is a cerebral parasitic infection that affects humans and animals alike. Its clinical signs and symptoms can range from mild self-resolving to serious life-threatening conditions. Studies suggest therapeutic interventions during the early stages of infection to be more effective than in later stages. However, early diagnosis of infection is usually problematic without the knowledge of exposure and\/or detection of the parasite\u2019s DNA or antibody against the parasite in the cerebrospinal fluid. This requires a lumbar puncture, which is an invasive procedure that generally requires hospitalization. This study evaluates an affordable and less invasive alternative to detect parasitic DNA by PCR from the peripheral blood of potentially infected animals. Blood samples from 58 animals (55 dogs and 3 cats) with clinical suspicion of infection were submitted to our lab between February 2019 and August 2022 by local, licensed veterinarians. DNA was extracted from whole blood, plasma, serum, and\/or packed cells using the Qiagen DNeasy Blood &amp; Tissue Kit as per the manufacturer\u2019s protocol. All 58 animals were tested by real-time PCR using the AcanITS1 assay and 32 of these animals (31dogs; 1 cat) were also tested using the AcanR3990 assay. The PCR results for both assays were classified into strongly positive\u2009&gt;\u2009positive\u2009&gt;\u2009weakly positive\u2009&gt;\u2009negative, and equivocal for ambiguous results, based on the strength of the signal. The percent infection detected using the AcanITS1 and AcanR3990 assays was 12.72% (7\/55) and 20.68% (6\/29), respectively. The overall percent infection detected was 34.37% (11\/32), with only two animals testing positive by both assays. The three cats involved in this study tested negative by both assays. These results are promising and warrant further investigations to increase sensitivity including variables that might affect detection in the blood, such as parasite load, and laboratory methodologies.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1007\/s00436-024-08251-9","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,6,12]],"date-time":"2024-06-12T03:36:30Z","timestamp":1718163390000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Detection of rat lungworm (Angiostrongylus cantonensis) infection by real-time PCR from the peripheral blood of animals: a preliminary study"],"prefix":"10.1007","volume":"123","author":[{"given":"Susan","family":"Jarvi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"John","family":"Jacob","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Alfred","family":"Mina","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Malia","family":"Lyons","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,6,12]]},"reference":[{"key":"8251_CR1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"227","DOI":"10.1017\/S0031182020001262","volume":"148","author":"V Ansdell","year":"2021","unstructured":"Ansdell V, Kramer KJ, McMillan JK et al (2021) Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of neuroangiostrongyliasis: updated recommendations. 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IACUC exemption was issued for this study, as research personnel did not work directly with live animals. Blood products of animals presenting symptoms suspicious of neuroangiostrongyliasis and\/or a history of exposure to slugs and snails were submitted by veterinarians for PCR-based testing.","order":2,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Ethics approval"}},{"value":"All animals were privately owned in Hawaii and consent for research was obtained from the owners before drawing blood samples.","order":3,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Consent to participate"}},{"value":"Consent for publication was obtained from the pet owners before drawing blood samples.","order":4,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Consent for publication"}},{"value":"The authors declare no competing interests.","order":5,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Competing of interest"}}],"article-number":"240"}}