Turkiye parazitolojii dergisi最新文献

Objective: Monitoring intestinal parasite frequencies is effective on diagnosis, treatment, and prevention strategies to be developed against these parasites. In this study, it was aimed to reveal the parasite species and frequency data of stool samples in parasitology direct diagnosis laboratory.

Methods: Stool parasitological examination results were obtained retrospectively from our laboratory internal quality control data tables. Data belonging to the year 2018 and 2022 were compared retrospectively.

Results: Annual parasites detected in stool samples were 388 of 4.518, and 710 of 3.537, in 2018 and 2022, respectively. Frequency of parasite detection in stool samples was found to be significantly higher in 2022 (p<0.0001). Number of stools with more than one parasite was 12 and 30 in 2018 and 2022, respectively. Incidence of infection with more than one parasite was significantly higher in 2022 (p=0.0003). Five most common parasite species were Blastocystis spp., Enterobius vermicularis, Cryptosporidium spp., Giardia intestinalis and Entamoeba histolytica in 2018, respectively; and Cryptosporidium spp., Blastocystis spp., Cyclospora spp., Entamoeba dispar and Giardia intestinalis, in 2022, respectively. Cryptosporidium spp., Cyclospora spp. and Entamoeba dispar increased significantly, while Blastocystis spp. and Enterobius vermicularis decreased significantly, in 2022.

Conclusion: According to the data obtained, causative agents for intestinal parasitic infections were protozoans, especially Cryptosporidium spp. It has been concluded that tightening the measures for protection of water with one health approach and improving the education and habits of society on personal hygiene and food safety can be effective in reducing the frequency of intestinal parasite infections in our region.

Objective: Rodents act as reservoir hosts and are an important potential source for many zoonotic pathogens such as parasites, which pose a public health risk to humans. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the prevalence of parasites among rodents.

Methods: A total of 118 Rattus rattus were captured in Mazandaran province, north of Iran, using snap live traps. Various samples were collected from feces and each rat was combed with a fine-tooth comb to extricate any ectoparasite. Fecal specimens were examined by direct wet mounting, formalin-ether concentration, modified acid-fast, and trichrome staining methods.

Results: The overall prevalence of gastrointestinal parasites in the examined rats was 75.4%. Cryptosporidium spp. (30.5%) were the most prevalent protozoan, followed by Giardia spp. (20.3%), Entamoeba muris (13.5%), Trichomonas muris (10.1%), and Spironucleus muris (3.3%). Regarding helminths' eggs, Syphacia obvelata (24.5%), Hymenolepis diminuta (10.1%), and Trichuris muris (9.3%) had the highest prevalence, respectively. Furthermore, 3060 ectoparasites collected from 102 rodents were infested with lice (40% Polyplax spp.), mites (33.3%), and flea (16.1% Xenopsylla cheopis and 10.6% Xenopsylla astia).

Conclusion: According to the results of this study, the prevalence of ecto and gastrointestinal parasites in the collected rats in the area being studied was remarkably high. Additionally, Rattus rattus can be considered a potential risk to human health.

Objective: Pneumocystis jirovecii (P. jirovecii) is an opportunistic pathogen in humans. Early diagnosis and optimal treatment of patients with P. jirovecii pneumonia (PJP) remains a key priority. This study investigated P. jirovecii in patients with lung cancer using the nested-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method and examined the relationship between P. jirovecii and clinical findings.

Methods: The study included 60 patients with lung cancer and 30 patients without lung cancer. The bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid samples of these 90 individuals were taken for diagnostic purposes in the University of Health Sciences Turkey, Van Training and Research Hospital, Clinic of Chest Diseases. Patient information was recorded. After DNA isolation from the BAL fluid samples taken from patients, the nested-PCR protocol for amplification of mtLSUrRNA in P. jirovecii was performed.

Results: P. jirovecii DNA was detected in 40 (66.67%) of the lung cancer patients included in the study and in six (20%) patients without lung cancer, that is, in 46 (51.11%) patients. The rate of nested-PCR positivity in the lung cancer group was significantly higher than that in the non-lung cancer group (p=0.0001). Additionally, a statistically significant correlation was found between anorexia and weight loss, fever and sputum P. jirovecii positivity in patients with lung cancer (p<0.005).

Conclusion: These findings suggest that lung cancer patients should be evaluated for PJP.

Objective: Recently, there has been a serious increase in cases of scabies. The number of patients who do not benefit from the current treatment agents is also quite high. There are publications showing that scabies mites are permethrin-resistant and ivermectin. The treatment with scabicides usually lasts for several hours and usually the treatment is repeated for at least another time, which reduces the patient's compliance with the treatment, especially in pediatric patients where the toxic effects of the products are more pronounced. Therefore there is a need for treatment modalities that are less toxic to humans. To observe the in vitro effect of tea tree oil (TTO) on S. scabiei and to compare it with those of permethrin.

Methods: Scabies specimens were removed from the patient and examined using a digital microscope. Parasites that were not damaged during sampling, and showed full motion were included in the study. No treatment was applied to the patients before removal of the mites. A total of 40 parasites were included in the study, with 10 parasites in each group. Immersion oil was applied to the control group, 5% permethrin to the first treatment group, while 5% and 25% TTO were used for the second and third study groups.

Results: The mean survival time (ST) of scabies mites in the 5% permethrin group was 350±31.3 min, while this for 5% TTO group 180±15.1 min and 120±13.3 min in the 25% TTO group. The mean ST of the sarcoptes in the control group was 2.820±90 min. The mean ST between the control, permethrin and TTO groups was statistically significant (p=0.03). ST between 5% and 25% TTO groups was also statistically significant (p=0.04). There were no statistical differences between permethrin and 5% or 25% TTO.

Conclusion: TTO has an acaricidal effect on S. scabiei. Although not used as the treatment of choise, it can be used as a supportive agent. Since it shows an acaricidal effect within a short time, it could be used as a shampoo or shower gel to enhance the acaricidal activity of another scabicide.

Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) that can infect most warm-blooded animals and humans, is an obligate intracellular apicomplexan parasite with a wide host range. About one-third of the world's population is infected with this parasite. While toxoplasmosis progresses asymptomatically in individuals with a strong immune system, it can cause serious clinical manifestations and death in immunocompromised individuals. The parasite is transmitted to humans through the consumption of water and food contaminated with cat feces, as well as raw or undercooked animal products, congenital infection and blood/organ transplantation. Additionally, T. gondii is often observed in farm animals such as sheep and goats. Clinical manifestations and abortions caused by T. gondii in sheep and goats lead to enormous economic loss worldwide. There is a commercial vaccine against T. gondii, called Toxovax (MSD, New Zealand) that can only be used in sheep. For these reasons, there is a need for innovative T. gondii vaccine that is harmless, easily produced, which can prevent losses and be used in all living things. Advances in immunology, molecular biology, genetic, biotechnology and proteomics bring new perspectives to vaccine studies. Studies in innovative vaccine studies against T. gondii have accelerated with the discovery of new antigens by in vitro screenings, and bioinformatic analyzes, the use of various expression systems and new adjuvant types. Recombinant protein vaccines are biotechnological vaccines that are frequently preferred due to their rapid and easy production in various expression systems, availability of very and high purity products, ease of manipulation and stimulation of both cellular and humoral immune responses. Recombinant protein vaccines, developed by biotechnological methods, are promising tools for providing a protective immune response against toxoplasmosis. In this review, an overview of the parasite complex life cycle, its pathogenesis, humoral and cellular immune responses in the host, and recombinant protein vaccine studies developed against the parasite are presented.

Objective: The current study provides training to parents and teachers about pediculosis in schools in three villages in Adana to measure their knowledge level by conducting surveys and to determine the prevalence of pediculosis in these foci.

Methods: Pre- and post-questionnaires including 30 questions about pediculosis were handed to parents and teachers. The answers were analyzed with the Pearson correlation analysis. Overall, 418 school pupils s were examined for lice. The results of the head louse control were analyzed by the chi-square test and t-test.

Results: We observed that the level of awareness increased in parents and teachers. Additionally, the gender of both teachers and parents was determined as the most important factor in increasing this awareness. Because of interventions for the control of head and lice, the prevalence of pediculosis decreased from 15.22% to 1.71%.

Conclusion: It is very important that parents and teachers are aware of the health problems related to pediculosis, while regular combing of school children may be essential for the control of this common infestation.

Objective: In this study, it was aimed to investigate the presence of Entamoeba histolytica, Giardia intestinalis and Cryptosporidium spp. in the samples taken during the procedure from patients who underwent endoscopy and/or colonoscopy with different prediagnoses, and in the stools of the same patients, by ELISA and direct microscopy methods.

Methods: A total of 88 patients' endoscopic and colonoscopic pre-washed materials, which consisted of 49 individuals who belong former group and 39 individuals to the next group, were, respectively, obtained, and the stool samples were also included to study from the same group. All the specimens were immediately transferred to the parasitology research laboratory within the same day and stored C until for the next step of ELISA applications.

Results: All the samples were examined by direct microscopy and ELISA method. In the examinations performed using the ELISA method; E. histolytica was detected in 2 (2.3%) stool samples, and G. intestinalis was found in 4 (4.5%) stool samples. In the colonoscopic wash/swab samples of the patients who underwent colonoscopy, 6 (6.8%) G. intestinalis, 1 (1.1%) Cryptosporidium spp. detected. No parasites were detected by ELISA in any of the stool samples or endoscopic washing/swab samples of the patients who underwent colonoscopy. No parasites were detected in stool and wash/swab samples by the direct examination method. When the incidence of G. intestinalis in washing/swab samples taken from patients who underwent endoscopy and colonoscopy was statistically compared, the difference was found to be significant (p<0.05). When the incidence of G. intestinalis in the stools of patients who underwent endoscopy was compared, the difference between genders was found to be significant (p<0.05).

Conclusion: In patients with gastrointestinal complaints and undergoing endoscopy and colonoscopy, investigation of the presence of parasites by stool examination with direct microscopy may be insufficient. In addition to the direct examination of the stool sample, it is thought that the investigation of parasite antigens in the wash/swab materials that can be easily taken during the endoscopy and colonoscopy procedure is necessary and critical in the diagnosis.

Objective: Larvae of wax moths cause great harm to honeybee hives and especially stored honeycombs. In the battle for wax moth in storage rooms; biological methods of struggle that does not harm the bee, product and the environment have become important. This study was conducted to determine the effect of essential oils of cloves, thyme and bay plants at 5% and commercial preparation derived from the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium anisopliae under laboratory conditions against wax moth larvae.

Methods: Content analyses of essential oils have determined components by doing them with the gas chromatography/mass spectrometry device. Previously collected and cultured lesser wax moth (Achroia grisella) larvae are divided into three groups, small/medium/large, based on their period. For each group of fifteen larvae, three volatile oils, one fungal experiment were performed, and two control groups were formed. The trials were conducted in glass jars and the larvae were retained in an incubator with a temperature of 25 °C/75% relative humidity conditions. Each jar was checked daily for nine weeks with dead/live larvae recorded and dead ones taken from the jar.

Results: At the end of the study, moth emerging rates were determined for each group of dead larvae and remainders. Based on their percentage average; while no difference was seen between the essential oil groups and the control group, the fungal groups were observed to be effective relative to the control groups.

Conclusion: According to the data, it was determined that M. anisopliae fungus preparation could be used as an alternative control methods against wax moth larvae in storage conditions.