Annals of parasitology最新文献

Acanthocephalans are grouped in a single phylum, having a cosmopolitan distribution and subdivided into several genera. Although species of this parasite genus have birds and mammals as definitive hosts, they have been reported in amphibians and reptiles, and have been noted as paratenic hosts. In this study we report the record of Rhinella major as a new paratenic host for the Centrorhynchus sp. from an urban area of the Brazilian Amazon. In this study, for the morphometric measurements to take place, the parasitic specimens found were fixed and preserved in an alcoholic liquid medium and the identification of the parasites found were confirmed by specialized literature. The parasitological statistical parameters followed the proposed ecological concepts, calculating the parasite prevalence, intensity, average intensity and average abundance indices with confidence intervals. In the present study, two morphotypes of Acontochephala were found parasitizing R. major. In this study we report the record of R. major as a new paratenic host for the Centrorhynchus sp.

In recent years, there has been more and more new research on the therapeutic effects of plants and their positive impact on the fight against parasitic diseases. It is of great importance, as it gives the opportunity to use this knowledge for phytotherapy, which is cheaper than pharmacological treatment, and as numerous studies have shown, it can be equally effective. Scientists are still looking for newer and newer chemicals that can be isolated from plants around us, and the current medicine is more and more willing to use natural medicines. In the following work, we present an overview of the most common parasitic diseases caused by protozoa, flatworms, roundworms, as well as by arachnids and fleas. We also presented alternative methods of treating these diseases using phytotherapy, which uses extracts of, among others, mint, tea tree, garlic, ginger, pumpkin seeds, annual mugwort, musk cosmos, walnuts, cocoa, grapes or black cumin.

In the experiment, 160 medicinal leeches of the species Hirudo verbana Carena, 1820 were studied. Medicinal leeches were fed on the blood of animals and people (conditionally healthy and diseased). Four leeches were taken from each animal/person. The animals were studied for 3 weeks. Mortality was mostly observed in the first days after feeding on the blood of the host. We noted mortality, the appearance of constrictions on the leeches' body, the intensity of the host blood spitting from their body. The host's blood was taken from their stomach on the first day after feeding. Hematological and immunological indicators of blood were determined in the taken blood of the host. As a result of the study of the blood of the sick, significant changes were found, compared to conditionally healthy ones. It was manifested by an increase in erythrocytes and leukocytes. The leukocyte formula looked like in most pathological conditions of the inflammatory process. The obtained indicators of the experiment make it possible to quickly assess the presence of physiological disorders in the early stages of the disease.

Many studies have suggested that Blastocystis parasites are pathogenic protozoan parasites and one study proposed that these parasites have contributed to anaemia in children. The primary objective of the present study was to made a comparison between healthy control subjects (group 1), Blastocystis-positive subjects (group 2), subjects with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) who were Blastocystis-negative (group 3), and IBS patients who were Blastocystispositive (group 4) regarding the haematological indices. From each participant, blood has been collected and the complete blood count (CBC) has been measured. The current study also was designed to evaluate the correlation between blastocystosis and six selected hemogram parameters [monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio (MLR), neutrophil-tolymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), red cell distribution width (RDW), platelet distribution width (PDW), and mean platelet volume (MPV)]. The results revealed that the total numbers of lymphocytes and platelets decreased significantly (P<0.0001), while the numbers of monocytes (P<0.0001) and neutrophils (P<0.0001) increased significantly in the bloods of IBS patients and non-IBS subjects who were infected with Blastocystis parasites in comparison with the healthy subjects in the control group. In addition, our results revealed for the first time that the levels of NLR, MLR, PLR, RDW, PDW and MPV were significantly higher (P=0.05-0.0001) in the bloods of IBS patients and non-IBS subjects who were infected with Blastocystis parasites than in their Blastocystis-negative counterparts. In conclusion, we believe that the levels of these hemogram parameters can be used as novel markers of blastocystosis. In addition, this study revealed that the infection with Blastocystis parasites had a significant impact on the haematological indices in both IBS patients and non-IBS individuals.

The aim of the study was to determine the relationship between the body condition, and the number of parasites in the gastrointestinal tract of the tufted duck (Aythya fuligula), using the Akaike information criterion. Absolute and relative measurements of 197 ducks were taken. Liver mass was positively associated with the number of parasites in the duodenum (β = 0.5). Heart mass affected positively the number of parasites in the rectum (β = 2.3), the number of nematodes in the jejunum (β = 7.45), the total number of trematodes (β = 1.7), their number in the ceca (β = 7.3) and rectum (β = 4.2), and the number of cestodes in the ceca (β = 8.2). Beak length influenced the number of nematodes in the rectum (β = 1.7). Left tarsometatarsus length (β = 1.4) and relative head height (β = -2.0) affected the number of trematodes in the ceca. Tail length influenced negatively the number of cestodes in the ileum (β = -0.2). Similarly, a ratio of body mass to body length was negatively associated with the total number of parasites (β = -0.1), their number in the ceca (β = -0.2) and rectum (β = -0.3), the total number of trematodes (β = -0.3), and their number in the ceca (β = -0.5) and rectum (β = -0.4). A ratio of keel-skin length to keel length affected differently the total number of parasites in the ceca (β = 9.1), the number of nematodes in the jejunum (β = -17.9) and the number of trematodes in the duodenum (β = -5.8). A ratio of fat mass to body length affected the number of cestodes in the jejunum (β = 1.8). The present study indicates some morphological and anatomical parameters that may be useful for determining the correlation between the body condition and the level of parasitic infection.

Trichomonas vaginalis is an anaerobic protozoan parasite that causes trichomonosis in human. It is one of the most common non-viral sexually transmitted infections. It has been found to be most prevalent in patients referred to sexually transmitted disease clinics. In recent years, molecular methods have been used to identify genotypes of this parasite in different parts of the world and so far 6 types of T. vaginalis have identified. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and genotype identification of T. vaginalis from married women in northern Iran. A total of 450 vaginal specimens were taken from married women, referring to health centers in northern Iran. Demographic information of women was collected through a questionnaire. The samples were first examined microscopically and then monitored in Dorsch culture medium for up to 10 days. Actin genes of positive samples were amplified by PCR. Finally, PCR products were used to determine the sequence and genotype of the parasite. Overall, 0.7% (3/450) samples were positive for T. vaginalis. All of the three infected women were housewives. After sequencing, the genotype of these parasites were type H (66.7%) (Accession no; MW414672-MW414673) and type E (33.3%) (Accession no: MW414671). Low prevalence of T. vaginalis in north of Iran indicate high level of hygiene in sexual intercourse and avoiding from high risk sexual behaviors, and also it seems that genotype H is dominant type of the parasite in the study area.

The parasites that belong to the genus Blastocystis are the most common intestinal parasite detected in a wide range of hosts including humans. Although the pathogenicity of these parasites remains controversial, many studies confirmed their pathogenicity and some researchers strongly believe that the pathogenicity may be linked with specific subtypes of these parasites. The current study investigated the Blastocystis sp. subtypes recovered from individuals suffering from the irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) in comparison with those recovered from non-IBS subjects. Fresh stool samples were collected from each participant and processed during the same day of collection. Iodine wet mounts and trichrome stained smears prepared from fresh stool and sediment concentrates were microscopically examined for Blastocystis parasites. In addition, Jones's medium has been used in order to confirm the identification and also to get the genomic DNA from positive samples for PCR and sequencing. The culture was significantly more sensitive (P=0.0035) than the other identification methods, especially in IBS patients. Blastocystis was detected in 60.0% of patients with IBS and in 22.0% of non-IBS individuals and the difference between two groups was statistically significant (P=0.0001). Regarding the impact of age and gender on the prevalence of infection with Blastocystis, no significant differences were observed between IBS patients and non-IBS subjects except for the age group (10-30 years) where the non-IBS subjects were significantly more prone (P=0.0223) to the infection with this parasite than IBS patients. The abdominal pain and bloating were the leading symptoms. DNA sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of Iraqi Blastocystis isolates identified three subtypes (ST1, ST2 and ST3). Among these three subtypes, ST3 was significantly more prevalent (OR=8.5; P=0.0058) among IBS patients (60%) than non-IBS subjects (25%). In contrast, the dominance of ST1 was significantly higher (OR=7.0; P=0.0062) in the non-IBS subjects (70%) than their IBS patients counterparts (15%). As far as we know, this study is the first to deal with the genetic characterization of Blastocystis subtypes in an Iraqi population with and without IBS.

Abortion is a condition that occurs due to one of the pathological injuries, often one of the members of the TORCH is the real cause. The current study aimed to investigate the impact of toxoplasmosis, HSV-2 infections with abortion, and also, the identification of immunogenetics marker (interleukin-10) that may be associated with abortion. Anti-Toxoplasma IgG, IgM, Herpes simplex virus-2 IgM, human soluble leukocyte antigen class I-G and interleukin-10 were estimated by ELISA technique, while the expression of IL-10 gene was investigated by using the real-time PCR. The results showed that among aborted women the rate of anti-Toxoplasma and HSV-2 IgM antibodies occurred within the age groups (21-30) years and (31-40) years 32(100.0%) and 36(100.0% ), respectively. A significant relationship was found between IL-10 and cases with a P=0.005. The pattern of distribution of HLA-G in the studied groups showed that there was a significant relationship between HLA-G and cases with a P=0.005. Regarding the IL-10 rs gene, the results revealed an amplified product of 377 bp and there was a high Ct value for patients and controls with a high Ct value of templates, preoperational to the gene concentration. We concluded that there was a significant relationship between human leukocyte antigen-G and the cases. It was found that there was a high Ct value for patients and controls with a high Ct value for templates.

This study documents the diversity of intestinal parasites in the eastern broad-toothed field mouse (Apodemus mystacinus) along the altitudinal gradient of Ibrahim River in Mount Lebanon during the spring and autumn of 2017. A total of 190 A. mystacinus were trapped in seventeen sites (6 riparian, 11 non-riparian) and examined for intestinal parasites. Eight intestinal parasites were identified including Heligmosomoides polygyrus, Trichuris muris, Syphacia frederici, Protospirura muris, and Aspiculuris tetraptera (nematodes), Hymenolepis diminuta (cestode), Brachylaima spp. (trematode), and Eimeria alorani (coccidian). Most of the trapped mice (85%) were infected with intestinal parasites and 38.84% showed concurrent infection with at least two parasitic species. The season had a significant effect on mice infection with Syphacia frederici, and mice are most likely to have infection with this nematode in spring season. The vegetation zone had a significant overall impact on mice infection with the nematodes Heligmosomoides polygyrus and Trichuris muris while gender did not influence significantly mouse infection with intestinal parasites. This is the first study that has been carried out to identify the intestinal parasite community in A. mystacinus of Ibrahim River region. The findings pave the way for future studies on intestinal parasites in rodents and the environmental variations affecting their dynamics.