Advancements in Host-Parasite Interactions

A special issue of Pathogens (ISSN 2076-0817). This special issue belongs to the section "Parasitic Pathogens".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 April 2027 | Viewed by 3162

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Departamento de Parasitología, Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México 04510, Mexico
Interests: zoonotic diseases; host–parasite interactions; parasitic diseases; veterinary parasitology; infectious diseases; molecular parasitology; helminthology; immunoparasitology
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Guest Editor
Laboratorio de Interacciones Neuroinmunoendocrinas, Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México 04510, Mexico
Interests: immunoparasitology; molecular parasitology; zoonotic diseases; host–parasite interactions; helminthology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Departamento de Zoología, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México 04510, Mexico
Interests: taxonomy; systematics; and ecology of parasites associated with wildlife vertebrates from Nearctic and Neotropical regions of Mexico

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Parasitism involves an association between animals of different species in which the host is indispensable to the parasite. In other words, parasitism is a heterospecific type of association between two individuals in which one of the partners, called the parasite, is metabolically dependent on the other, and always harms the other, referred to as host. The relationship may be permanent, as in the case of tapeworms found in the intestines of mammals, or temporary, as during the feeding of mosquitoes, leeches, and ticks on a host’s blood.

In the host–parasite relationship, we can identify two categories of bio-physiological function. The first of these is parasite invasiveness, in which the parasite aims to obtain entry into the host and continue its life therein; second, host resistance tends to prevent the invasion of parasites and its colonization. In this relation, we can see that both these functions counter each other, thereby acting as a check to maintain balance in the host–parasite relationship. When a parasite is growing and multiplying within or on a host, the host is said to have an infection.

Dr. Víctor Hugo Del Río-Araiza
Dr. Jorge Morales-Montor
Dr. José Martín García-Varela
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • host–parasite dynamics
  • parasite zoonotic diseases
  • immunoparasitology
  • host–parasite trans-regulation
  • neuroimmunoendocrinology
  • mechanisms of interaction
  • molecular parasitology

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 1751 KB  
Article
Chewing Lice (Phthiraptera: Amblycera, Ischnocera) of the Common Buzzards (Buteo buteo) in Romania: Host Age and Habitat Jointly Determine Lice Infestation
by Călin Mircea Gherman, Gianluca D’Amico, Katarzyna Anna Hołówka, Florinel Gheorghe Brudaşcă, Petru Burduhos, Alexandru Bulacu, Dan-Traian Ionescu, Sándor Hornok and Attila D. Sándor
Pathogens 2026, 15(2), 193; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens15020193 - 10 Feb 2026
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Abstract
(1) Background: The common buzzard (Buteo buteo) is the most widespread raptor in Romania. This study aimed to assess the occurrence of chewing louse species and the factors influencing the epidemiology of louse infestation in the national bird populations. (2) Methods: [...] Read more.
(1) Background: The common buzzard (Buteo buteo) is the most widespread raptor in Romania. This study aimed to assess the occurrence of chewing louse species and the factors influencing the epidemiology of louse infestation in the national bird populations. (2) Methods: Between 2012 and 2025, a total of 131 buzzards were collected from all over Romania, which were either roadkilled or died due to health issues. These birds were parasitologically examined, the gathered lice were identified, and epidemiological parameters were determined. (3) Results: The overall prevalence of louse infestation was 77.9%, with 4389 specimens collected. Five species were identified: Degeeriella fulva (55.7%), Craspedorrhynchus platystomus (37.4%), Colpocephalum nanum (42.0%), Colpocephalum turbinatum (7.6%), and Laemobothrion maximum (2.3%). Among the factors influencing the evolution of louse infestations, birds’ age statistically significantly affected only the mean intensity (48.0 in subadults and 28.6 in adults, p < 0.001). Combined origin and season through temperatures and relative humidity also influenced the mean intensity of infestations. Sex-ratio and nymph-to-female ratio were, in the majority, female-biased and nymph-biased. (4) Conclusions: Lice infestation patterns of common buzzards are shaped more commonly by environmental and biogeographic context than by host sex, with temperature, humidity gradients, and region of origin primarily influencing mean intensity rather than prevalence. In addition, sex ratios were consistently female-biased across all lice species, and nymph-to-female ratios suggested contrasting demographic trajectories among taxa, with evidence of expanding infrapopulations in some species and more senescent structures in others. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advancements in Host-Parasite Interactions)
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Review

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34 pages, 10372 KB  
Review
Parasites as Modulators of Angiogenesis: Implications for Vascular Biology and Pathogenesis
by Tonathiu Rodríguez, Víctor H. Salazar-Castañón, Luis I. Terrazas, Imelda Juárez-Avelar and Miriam Rodríguez-Sosa
Pathogens 2026, 15(4), 347; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens15040347 - 25 Mar 2026
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Abstract
Some parasitic infections promote or inhibit vascular growth in their hosts to increase parasite survival through immune evasion and tissue dissemination. This review focuses on how the most prevalent protozoan and helminth parasites in humans, such as Plasmodium, Toxoplasma, Leishmania, [...] Read more.
Some parasitic infections promote or inhibit vascular growth in their hosts to increase parasite survival through immune evasion and tissue dissemination. This review focuses on how the most prevalent protozoan and helminth parasites in humans, such as Plasmodium, Toxoplasma, Leishmania, Trypanosoma, Entamoeba, Schistosoma, and Taenia, manipulate angiogenic pathways for their own benefit. This knowledge reveals that angiogenesis is central to the pathophysiology and therapeutic targeting of parasitic diseases. Importantly, parasites and/or their excretory/secretory factors, which modulate vascular responses, are potential treatments for chronic degenerative diseases in which angiogenesis is crucial to disease progression, such as cancer. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advancements in Host-Parasite Interactions)
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Other

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8 pages, 1382 KB  
Case Report
Taenia lynciscapreoli in Eurasian Lynx: New Taeniid Record for Romania
by Maria Monica Florina Moraru, Ana-Maria Marin, Dan-Cornel Popovici, Azzurra Santoro, Federica Santolamazza, Radu Blaga, Kalman Imre and Narcisa Mederle
Pathogens 2026, 15(5), 468; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens15050468 - 25 Apr 2026
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Abstract
The Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) is an apex predator and an important sentinel for trophically transmitted helminths acquired via predation on wild ungulates. On 2 March 2022, an adult male lynx that was road-killed in the Apuseni Mountains (Surducel hunting ground, [...] Read more.
The Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) is an apex predator and an important sentinel for trophically transmitted helminths acquired via predation on wild ungulates. On 2 March 2022, an adult male lynx that was road-killed in the Apuseni Mountains (Surducel hunting ground, Bihor County) was collected, frozen for biosafety, and a necropsy was performed. Taeniid cestodes were detected, with a total intestinal burden of nine adult specimens. Genetic analyses confirmed Taenia lynciscapreoli, and the obtained sequences were deposited in GenBank (PV843597, PV855065, PV844409). Phylogenetic inference based on cox1 assigned the Romanian isolate within the European cluster, distinct from the Chinese isolate, while showing genetic proximity to Taenia sp. (MW846305) that have been reported from a lynx in China. This study represents the first molecular identification of T. lynciscapreoli in the Eurasian lynx in Romania and, to our knowledge, the first record from Southeastern Europe. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advancements in Host-Parasite Interactions)
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