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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, December 2000, p. 4511-4516, Vol. 38, No. 12
Department of Medical
Zoology1 and Third Division of the Department of
Medicine,3 Kobe University School of
Medicine, Kobe 650-0017, School of Veterinary Medicine, Rakuno-gakuen
University, Ebetsu 069-8501,2 Hyogo Red Cross
Blood Center, Kobe 651-0062,4 National
Institute of Infectious Diseases, Shinjuku, Tokyo
162-8640,5 and Central Institute of
Experimental Animals, Nogawa, Kawasaki
216-0001,6 Japan
Received 18 May 2000/Returned for modification 27 July
2000/Accepted 18 September 2000
We have isolated piroplasms from a patient who developed the first
case of human babesiosis in Japan by using NOD/shi-scid mice whose circulating erythrocytes (RBCs) had been replaced with human
RBCs (hu-RBC-SCID mice). Following inoculation of the patient's blood
specimen into hu-RBC-SCID mice, parasites proliferated within the human
RBCs in the mice, resulting in a high level of parasitemia. Parasite
DNA was prepared from blood samples of the patient and the mice, and
the nuclear small-subunit rRNA gene (rDNA) was amplified and sequenced.
Both DNA samples gave rise to identical sequences which showed the
highest degree of homology (99.2%) with the Babesia microti rDNA. Because the patient had received a blood
transfusion before the onset of babesiosis, we investigated the eight
donors who were involved. Their archived blood samples were analyzed for specific antibody and parasite DNA; only a single donor was found
to be positive by both tests, and the parasite rDNA sequence from the
donor coincided with that derived from the patient. The donor's serum
exhibited a high antibody titer against the isolate from the patient,
whereas it exhibited only a weak cross-reaction against B. microti strains isolated in the United States. We conclude that
the first Japanese babesiosis case occurred due to a blood transfusion
and that the etiological agent is an indigenous Japanese parasite which
may be a geographical variant of B. microti. Our results
also demonstrated the usefulness of hu-RBC-SCID mice for isolation of
parasites from humans and for maintenance of the parasite infectivity
for human RBCs.
0095-1137/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Transfusion-Acquired, Autochthonous Human Babesiosis in
Japan: Isolation of Babesia microti-Like Parasites with
hu-RBC-SCID Mice
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: School of
Veterinary Medicine, Rakuno-gakuen University, 582-1 Bunkyodai-midorimachi, Ebetsu 069-8501, Japan. Phone and fax:
81-11-386-3144. E-mail: tsuji{at}rakuno.ac.jp.
Journal of Clinical Microbiology, December 2000, p. 4511-4516, Vol. 38, No. 12
0095-1137/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
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