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Review
. 2022 Apr 27;1(4):500-507.
doi: 10.1016/j.gastha.2022.02.027. eCollection 2022.

Liver Fluke Infection Throughout Human Evolution

Tianyi Wang  1 , Piers D Mitchell  1
Affiliations
Review

Liver Fluke Infection Throughout Human Evolution

Tianyi Wang et al. Gastro Hep Adv. .

Abstract

The species of liver fluke that infect humans are zoonotic parasites that we share with other animals. The complex way in which humans have interacted with their environment, and the animals that live alongside them, has affected our ancestors' risk of infection by these helminths for millions of years. Here, we describe the range of flukes that can survive in the human liver and the health consequences that result from infection. Our focus is on Clonorchis sinensis (Chinese liver fluke), Fasciola hepatica (sheep liver fluke), F. gigantica (giant liver fluke), Opisthorchis viverrini (Southeast Asian liver fluke), O. felineus (cat liver fluke), and Dicrocoelium dendriticum (lancet liver fluke). We use our knowledge of where different kinds of liver flukes are endemic to estimate when and where human ancestors would have been exposed to infection over deep time. DNA evidence is used to investigate the evolutionary origins of the major species of liver flukes. The archaeological evidence for different species of fluke helps to show in which periods of human history they were most common. These flukes spread to humans from wild animals in early prehistory because of our ancestor's hunter-gatherer lifestyle and later from farm animals after the development of agriculture. We explore when and how some species have been able to spread across the world, whereas others are limited to particular geographic regions because of the endemic distribution of snail and vertebrate intermediate hosts. It is clear that human activity and migrations have played a key role in the expanding geographical range where we find liver flukes endemic today.

Keywords: Clonorchis; Dicrocoelium; Fasciola; Opisthorchis; Paleopathology.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
A timeline of key liver fluke–related events during human evolution.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Clonorchis sinensis egg from the Xuanquanzhi relay station on the Silk Road in China, dating from 111 BCE to CE 109. Egg dimensions 29 × 16 μm. Black bar indicates 20 μm.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Fasciola hepatica egg from Brussels, Belgium, dating from 14th to 15th CE. Egg dimensions 130 × 85 μm. Black bar indicates 20 μm.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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