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Nanoparticles are dispersed droplets or solid particles with a size of 10-100nm which are made in different shapes. Nanoparticles have received more attention as antiparasitic drugs in recent years since current antiparasitic drugs have some side effects and their efficacy is not proved yet. Nanoparticles are currently used in cancer treatment and gold and silver nanoparticles have a long history in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. However, far too little attention has been paid to the potential use of gold derivatives against parasitic diseases. In this paper recent developments in the use of gold nanoparticles as anti-parasitic drugs, with emphasis on the major tropical diseases such as Malaria, Leishmaniasis, Schistosomiasis and Trypanosomiasis are reviewed. These diseases affect millions of people worldwide and are involved with many limitations in treatment methods. Some researches indicate that silver nanoparticles, gold, chitosan, and oxidized metals have growth inhibitory or cytotoxic effect on various parasites, including Giardia, Leishmania, Malaria, Toxoplasma and insect larva. Some studies also evaluated the health effects of nanoparticles, such as gold and silver on particular protozoa specially Leishmania and Malaria. Nanoparticles could be used against parasites individually or in combination. Therefore, nanoparticles are recommended for destroying parasites (cytotoxic and inhibitory effect), making more effective and less harmful drugs and also beneficial vaccines for the prevention and control of the parasites.

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Molecular epidemiology refers to the use of molecular tools in assessing the status of a cycle of a disease in a specific population. Currently, easy, fast, and high performance molecular tools are widely used in identifying parasites in clinical and biological samples. The aim of this study was to review molecular tools for better understanding of parasitic infection in taxonomic and epidemiological studies. Many researches have provided a variety of methods and markers for identification and evaluation of genetic diversity and elimination of taxonomic problems, especially at the level of species or subspecies of various parasites. Many of these studies are on the prevalence of concurrent infections with different species and subtypes or strains of a parasite. So far, different pieces of rDNA, mtDNA, and kDNA have been used for identification and phylogenetic analysis. If the purpose of a study is to determine intra-specific variations of the parasite, it is better to use sequencing ribosomal ITS1 and mitochondrial CO1. In addition, SSU rDNA and LSU rDNA are used in phylogenetic analysis and taxonomy. It can be concluded that new molecular tools and markers are good alternatives to traditional methods because in many endemic areas successful treatment depends on rapid and accurate diagnosis.

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Apoptosis is a physiological cell death that occurs under normal conditions in major biological processes, including the removal of old, damaged, extra, or harmful cells. It plays an important role in natural evolution, tissue homeostasis, removal of cells damaged or infected by viruses, and removal of immune cells activated against self-antigens. The purpose of this review was to examine the role of apoptosis in parasites and helminths. In this study, four English databases and three Persian databases were used to investigate the articles published between 1999 and 2018. Findings showed that in the Leishmania parasites, Plasmodium and Toxoplasma gondii mimic apoptosis with the expression of phosphatidylserine on the surface of the infected macrophages and prevent the recognition of the infected cell by the host immune system. Also, excreted/secreted antigens in the helminths, including Echinococcus granulosus, Echinococcus multilocularis, and Schistosoma haematobium induce apoptosis in immune cells, especially in lymphocytes. Parasites follow different goals by inducing or preventing apoptosis and current article aimed at reviewing these aspects. Moreover, apoptotic blebs from parasite-infected cell can potentially stimulate the host's immune system, therefore, they could be further investigated in vaccine-related studies.