{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,28]],"date-time":"2026-02-28T08:45:29Z","timestamp":1772268329620,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":28,"publisher":"PeerJ","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,7,29]],"date-time":"2022-07-29T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1659052800000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004695","name":"University of KwaZulu-Natal","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004695","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"name":"National Research Foundation of South Africa"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      <jats:italic>Plasmodium falciparum<\/jats:italic>\n                      and tissue dwelling helminth parasites are endemic in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The geographical overlap in co-infection is a common phenomenon. However, there is continued paucity of information on how the co-infection influence the blood glucose and insulin profiles in the infected host. Animal models are ideal to elucidate effects of co-infection on disease outcomes and hence, blood glucose, insulin and glycogen profiles were assessed in Sprague-Dawley rats co-infected with\n                      <jats:italic>P. berghei<\/jats:italic>\n                      ANKA (Pb) and\n                      <jats:italic>Trichinella zimbabwensis<\/jats:italic>\n                      (Tz), a tissue-dwelling nematode.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      One-hundred-and-sixty-eight male Sprague-Dawley rats (weight range 90\u2013150 g) were randomly divided into four separate experimental groups: Control (\n                      <jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u00a0=\u00a042), Pb-infected (\n                      <jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u00a0=\u00a042), Tz-infected (\n                      <jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u00a0=\u00a042) and Pb- + Tz-infected group (\n                      <jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u00a0=\u00a042). Measurement of Pb parasitaemia was done daily throughout the experimental study period for the Pb and the Pb + Tz group. Blood glucose was recorded every third day in all experimental groups throughout the experimental study period. Liver and skeletal muscle samples were harvested, snap frozen for determination of glycogen concentration.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Results showed that Tz mono-infection and Tz + Pb co-infection did not have blood glucose lowering effect in the host as expected. This points to other possible mechanisms through which tissue-dwelling parasites up-regulate the glucose store without decreasing the blood glucose concentration as exhibited by the absence of hypoglycaemia in Tz + Pb co-infection group. Hypoinsulinemia and an increase in liver glycogen content was observed in Tz mono-infection and Tz + Pb co-infection groups of which the triggering mechanism remains unclear.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      To get more insights into how glucose, insulin and glycogen profiles are affected during plasmodium-helminths co-infections, further studies are recommended where other tissue-dwelling helminths such as\n                      <jats:italic>Taenia taeniformis<\/jats:italic>\n                      which has strobilocercus as the metacestode in the liver to mimic infections such as hydatid disease in humans are used.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  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