Advances in single-cell transcriptomic sequencing in hepatic echinococcosis

Echinococcosis is a chronic parasitic disease and a serious zoonotic infection caused by the adult or larval stages of Echinococcus tapeworms. The transmission of Echinococcosis depends on carnivores as definitive hosts and various animals as intermediate hosts. According to current epidemiological reports, the liver is the most commonly affected organ. Clinically, Hepatic Echinococcosis is classified into hepatic alveolar Echinococcosis and hepatic cystic Echinococcosis, both of which pose a serious threat to the quality of life of residents in endemic areas. Currently, surgical treatment combined with benzimidazole medication is the main therapy; however, there are few chemotherapeutic drugs and targeted treatments available, and clinical treatment still has limitations. Therefore, there is an urgent need for new exploration in the molecular immunology, cellular directions. In recent years, with the development of high-throughput sequencing technology, integrated analyses of spatial transcriptomics and single-cell transcriptomics have become more accessible in clinical research, providing new approaches for the study of hepatic Echinococcosis. This review focuses on the application of single-cell RNA sequencing in hepaticEchinococcosis in recent years, as well as research on molecular immunopathogenesis, moleculardiagnostics, metastasis, cellular heterogeneity, growth and development, and the interactions between human hosts and echinococcosis. We pay particularly attentionto the heterogeneity of infiltrating immune cells around lesions, classification of cell subpopulations, immune suppression, and the immune microenvironment, which can help clinicians better understand the molecular immune mechanisms and biological characteristics of hepatic Echinococcosis, providing references for exploring new drug therapeutic targets.