title: Neurocysticercosis: a review on status in India, management, and current therapeutic interventions.
abstract: Tapeworms (cestodes) are segmented flatworms responsible for causing diseases that may prove fatal and difficult to treat in the absence of proper treatment and efficient drugs. Neurocysticercosis (NCC) is a common parasitic infection of the central nervous system and a major contributor to epilepsy caused by the metacestode (larva) of the human tapeworm Taenia solium, characterized by a range of pathological symptoms including epileptic seizures, headaches, and hydrocephalus. Cysticercosis is considered as a "biological imprint" of the socioeconomic development of a community in general and a country in particular. It is the single most common cause of epilepsy in the resource-poor endemic regions of the world, including most of South and Central America, India, Southeast Asia, China, and sub-Saharan Africa. A vast degree of variation in the neuropathology and clinical symptoms of NCC often makes it difficult to diagnose and manage. To add to it, emerging drug resistance to known anti-parasitic agents, together with the inability of these agents to prevent re-infection and relapse, further complicates the disease scenario. The aim of the current review was to provide the latest update on NCC with special emphasis on the Indian scenario, along with current and novel methods of diagnosis as well as scope of development for novel detection techniques, novel targets for drug development, and therapeutic interventions, as well as future challenges.
authors: Present address: Department of Biochemistry, Era's Lucknow Medical College & Hospital, Sarfarazganj, Hardoi Road, Lucknow, 226003, UP, India. rumana_ahmad@yahoo.co.in.
authors: Rumana
authors: R
authors: Ahmad
authors: Department of Chemistry, Isabella Thoburn College, 7, Faizabad Road, Lucknow, 226007, UP, India.
authors: Tahmeena
authors: T
authors: Khan
authors: Department of Pathology, Era's Lucknow Medical College & Hospital, Sarfarazganj, Hardoi Road, Lucknow, 226003, UP, India.
authors: Bilal
authors: B
authors: Ahmad
authors: Present address: Department of Biochemistry, Era's Lucknow Medical College & Hospital, Sarfarazganj, Hardoi Road, Lucknow, 226003, UP, India.
authors: Aparna
authors: A
authors: Misra
authors: Division of Biochemistry, CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow, 226031, UP, India.
authors: Anil K
authors: AK
authors: Balapure
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D020019:Neurocysticercosis / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000628:therapy*; D041201:Taenia solium / Q000502:physiology
keywords: Drug targets; Drugs; Neurocysticercosis; Pathology; Taenia solium; Therapy