CYTOGENETIC CONSEQUENCES OF THE MIXED EFFECTS OF OPISTORCHIASIS AND TICK-BORNED ENCEPHALITIS IN ASSOCIATION WITH POLYMORPHISM BY GLUTHATHIONE-S-TRANSFERASE GENES

Purpose: to study the duration of the preservation of the cytogenetic effects of tickborne encephalitis (TBE) in individuals infected with the Opisthorchis felineus (OF) helminth, which differ in alleles of the glutathione-S-transferase enzyme genes. Methods: the objects of the study were patients with tick-borne encephalitis in whom the frequencies of micronucleated lymphocytes were detected. All examined patients were subdivided into two groups: TBE patients non-infected with OF, and TBE patients infected with OF. Multiplex PCR was used to analyze the GSTM1 and GSTT1 genes. Results: patients with TBE, infected with OF, had a significantly lower increase in the level of cytogenetic disorders than patients with TBE without OF infection; at the same time, the restoration of the cytogenetic norm in this group was not reached, and there was no association between the frequency of micronucleated lymphocytes and different variants of the glutathione-S-transferase enzyme genes. Conclusion: the frequency of cytogenetic changes in TBE patients infected with OF are significantly less than one in patients with TBE without OF infection. Polymorphism in the genes of the enzyme glutathione-S-transferase does not have significant effect on the cytogenetic disorders in patients with TBE with OF infection.

Tick-borne diseases and the importance of prophylaxis for prevention of borreliosis and tick-borne encephalitis

The morbidity rate of tick-borne diseases has been rising steadily in Europe as well as in Asia and America. The group of most frequently contracted diseases include borreliosis, tick-borne encephalitis, granulocytic anaplasmosis, and babesiosis. Tick-borne diseases are usually transmitted by a tick bite during which germs get to the victim’s blood with the tick’s saliva. Another way of transmitting the disease might be by the alimentary system (only in the case of tick-borne encephalitis). Borreliosis and tick-borne encephalitis are the diseases the incidence of which has been increasing in Poland in the last few years making them a serious epidemiological threat. The basic principle of tick-borne diseases prophylaxis is raising awareness among individuals exposed to tick bites, which, in turn, provides these individuals with proper protection. These preventive measures include: wearing proper clothes covering the body completely (long-sleeved tops and trousers tucked into the socks), applying tick repellents, checking the body after potential exposure to ticks, vaccination against tickborne encephalitis, avoiding consuming unpasteurised milk and unpasteurised dairy products, quick and careful removal of the whole tick from the body and the ability to recognize early symptoms of the disease (e.g. skin redness). Only by taking these steps can the increase of tick-borne diseases morbidity be stopped.