{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,18]],"date-time":"2026-09-18T21:39:22Z","timestamp":1789767562835,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":28,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,2,18]],"date-time":"2022-02-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1645142400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Pathogens"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Echinococcosis is a neglected zoonotic disease and a worldwide public health problem caused by infection with the larval stages of taeniid cestodes of the genus Echinococcus. In vitro studies have demonstrated a protoscolecidal effect of eosinophilic cationic protein (ECP), a granule protein of eosinophilic granulocytes, against E. granulosus. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to evaluate ECP as a biomarker in the treatment of alveolar echinococcosis (AE) and cystic echinococcosis (CE). Data were collected retrospectively from the Vienna Echinococcosis Cohort over 7 years until December 2020. Altogether, 32 patients (16 AE and 16 CE) were included. In the selected patients, serum ECP values were compared before and after the beginning of an operative and\/or benzimidazole (BMZ) therapy. Mean ECP serum levels before intervention were significantly (p &lt; 0.05) elevated at 34.0 \u00b1 22.9 \u03bcg\/L in AE patients and at 38.6 \u00b1 19.9 \u03bcg\/L in CE patients compared to the control group. After the intervention, mean ECP levels decreased significantly (p &lt; 0.05) to 20.4 \u00b1 14.6 \u03bcg\/L in AE patients and to 22.4 \u00b1 8.3 \u03bcg\/L in CE patients. Furthermore, ECP showed a significant (p &lt; 0.05) correlation of k = 0.56 with PET\u2013CTI. Based on the significant decrease after operative and\/or BMZ treatment and the correlation with clinical markers such as PET\u2013CTI, it is recommended to investigate ECP more intensively as a marker of AE and CE in prospective studies with larger cohorts.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/pathogens11020261","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,2,21]],"date-time":"2022-02-21T08:23:29Z","timestamp":1645431809000},"page":"261","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":7,"title":["Evaluation of Eosinophilic Cationic Protein as a Marker of Alveolar and Cystic Echinococcosis"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"11","author":[{"given":"Julian Frederic","family":"Hotz","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine I, Division of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna, Austria"},{"name":"Department of Internal Medicine III, Division of Infectious Diseases, University Hospital of Ulm, D-89081 Ulm, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Klaus","family":"Kaczirek","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of General Surgery, Medical University Vienna, A-1090 Vienna, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4815-4135","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Stefan","family":"Stremitzer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of General Surgery, Medical University Vienna, A-1090 Vienna, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fredrik","family":"Waneck","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biomedical Imaging and Image-Guided Therapy, Division of Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiology, Medical University of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7020-9705","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Herbert","family":"Auer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Parasitology, Institute of Specific Prophylaxis and Tropical Medicine, Center of Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology, Medical University of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Thomas","family":"Perkmann","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Laboratory Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Manuel","family":"Kussmann","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine I, Division of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Philipp Karl","family":"Bauer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine I, Division of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rui-Yang","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine I, Division of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7388-2927","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Richard","family":"Kriz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine I, Division of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Heinz","family":"Burgmann","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine I, Division of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, A-1090 Vienna, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9259-1885","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Michael","family":"Ramharter","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Tropical Medicine, Bernhard-Nocht-Institute for Tropical Medicine & I, Department of Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, D-20359 Hamburg, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3240-7385","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Heimo","family":"Lagler","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine I, Division of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine, Medical University 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