Transcriptomic analysis of F. hepatica Southamerican drug resistant isolates

Food borne trematodiasis infect around 100 million people around the globe. The economic impact of these diseases is huge, as the main species of production animals are affected. Particularly, F. hepatica is a worldwide zoonosis affecting 300 million cattle and 250 sheep with an estimated economical cost of 3 billion dollars annually. Besides, this parasitosis is emerging as a relevant issue in human health, affecting between 2.4 and 17 millon people worldwide. Even when effective treatments are available, drugs are costly and can result in tolerance, liver-damage and normally they do not impair re infection. Moreover resistant strains are emerging as an issue in cattle in various countries, and more recently drug resistance in human has been reported. The present study aims to characterize the transcriptome of resistant isolates and compare them to a non-resistant strain to reveal putative molecular mechanisms leading to drug resistance.