Annals of parasitology最新文献

Parasitic infections are one of the most important factors affecting the health and condition of wild ruminants, including bison, particularly those kept in closed breeding, and regular deworming is important. The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of deworming European bison in BNP (Białowieża National Park) reserves with Alphalben (albendazole). The drug was administered orally at a dose of 15 mg/kg body weight. To assess the effectiveness of the treatment, samples of bison faeces were examined by flotation, sedimentation and Baermann methods before deworming and 14 days after drug administration. Treatment efficacy was calculated according to the Faecal Egg Reduction Test (FERCT). Deworming was not effective against gastrointestinal nematodes of the Trichostrongylidae family, Fasciola hepatica or Paramphistomum cervi flukes, or Eimeria bovis coccidia. A deworming efficacy of 100% was recorded against the lung nematodes Dictyocaulus viviparus, the nematodes Nematodirus sp. and Aonchotheca sp., the tapeworms Moniezia sp. and the coccidia Eimeria zuernii, E. cylindrica, E. brasiliensis and E. subspherica. The ineffectiveness of deworming against the most dangerous bison parasites (gastrointestinal nematodes and flukes) may indicate the development of albendazole-resistant parasite strains, possibly due to long-term, repeated administration.

Nano materials are utilized to improve the performance of some pharmaceuticals and materials, as well as to lessen the collateral damage they cause. The purpose of this study was to look at the effect of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) produced by bacteria on some trophozoites of intestinal parasites. The silver nanoparticles were synthesized using Bacillus cereus (BAgNPs) and Chromobacterium violaceum (ChAgNPs) bacteria. The AgNPs production was confirmed by several tests and techniques, such as electron microscopy. The results of the analysis showed that the size of these particles was within the range of 21-96.71 nm for both BAgNPs and ChAgNPs. In vitro and in vivo efficacy were tested on some trophozoites of intestinal parasites. The effect of the AgNPs on Entamoeba histolytica trophozoites in culture was significantly higher compared to metronidazole. The highest percentage of inhibition was 70.6% and 76.5% for the particles prepared from B. cereus and C. violaceum without significant differences between the two bacteria, compared to 57.6% inhibition for metronidazole. The in vivo effect of the AgNPs on Giardia lamblia exceeded that of metronidazole and led to the total disappearance of the stages from mice faeces after 3-4 days. Likewise, Tritrichomonas muris numbers were also reduced in infected mice treated with AgNPs, with the highest inhibition rate of 81.3%. From above can concluded these bacterially produced nanoparticles have proven strong efficacy, and it is possible to recommend their use independently after conducting studies on the extent of their effects on the body and proving their safety.

We purpose to describe and characterize the structure of the parasitic community of H. malabaricus in a stream from Caatinga domain, Ceará state, Brazil. A total of 42 specimens of H. malabaricus have been collected between December 2018 and August 2019, in which, 34 specimens were parasitized by at least one parasite. A total of 1,872 parasites were recovered, of which, 157 were Urocleidoides cuiabai (prevalence = 50%), 268 Urocleidodes brasiliensis (prevalence = 71.43%), 98 Dactylogyridae gen. sp. (prevalence = 14.29%), 401 Diplostomidae gen. sp. (prevalence = 4.76%), 183 Spiroxys sp. (prevalence = 42.86%) and 765 Pindapixara tarira (prevalence = 9.52%). The respective parasite species of H. malabaricus showed a pattern of overdispersion (or aggregation) typical of the parasitehost systems, corroborating with previous studies of parasitic communities of freshwater fish in Brazil. A positive and significant correlation between the host size and abundance of U. brasiliensis was verified. The ontogeny of fish can influence the parasitic load, some larger hosts tend to host larger quantities of parasites. The parasitic levels can vary with the host sex due to the differences in the ecological and physiological interactions between male and female. However, the host sex did not show influences in the prevalence and parasitic burden. All parasite taxa in this study have not yet been reported in the Carás stream, Caatinga domain. This finding extends the geographical distribution of this parasite species, furthermore, contributing to the knowledge of the biodiversity of fish parasites in the Neotropical region.

Ctenodactylus gundi were captured in the southern region of Aures, Algeria from December 2015 through June 2017 to assess their ectoparasite diversity. 63.5% of the gundi had one or more ectoparasites, while 36.5% had none. Eight species of ectoparasites were identified. The most abundant taxa were species of Neotrombicula (61.5%), Trombicula (10.6%), and Caenopsylla mira (4.8%). The mean intensity for arachnids follows: Neotrombicula spp. (14.3), Trombicula spp. (10.6), and Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) annulatus (1.6). Among arachnids, mean intensity of males was greater than females in contrast to that of the flea C. mira, whose mean intensity for females was 4.8 compared to that of males with 2.8. C. mira and Xenopsylla cheopis have previously been reported on the gundi, while the mites Neotrombicula spp., Trombicula spp., Eulaelaps stabularis, O. bacoti, the tick Rh. (Boophilus) annulatus and the louse Polyplax serrata are reported here for the first time. Prevalence was influenced by host sex and was higher in males than females. The highest prevalence was recorded in species of Neotrombicula (39.2%) and Trombicula (20.3%). The abundance of these ectoparasites was directly influenced with climatic conditions specially with temperature (P=0.0002), and air humidity (P=0.0014).

Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) is one well-established vector of a series of mosquito-borne diseases. The larval stage of their life cycle is best suited to control a large population of mosquitoes easily. Controlling the larval stage of such vectors can also control the spread of the pandemic disease through the vector. Larvicides, which are synthetic, is a promising solution now. This kind of synthetic larvicides affects humans and animals equally and damages the environment through unscientific and widespread use. Beyond that, their continued use could create selection pressure and, thus, a resistant population. Plant-based larvicide is a way to overcome the shortcomings of synthetic larvicides. This study infers the larvicidal potency of Spatholobus parviflorus (DC.) Kuntze solvent extracts (SPSE) and crude water extracts (SPWE) against Aedes albopictus, using the dose-response larvicidal assay. The assay conducted using different concentrations of extract (0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, and 0.5%) and standard (bleaching powder), with the concentrations 0.01, 0.02, 0.03, 0.04 and 0.05%. The nourishment of the larvae is maintained by supplementing each of the Petri plates with 10 mg of larval food. The mortality of the nascent is recorded in a successive time interval of 12 h, up to 72 h. A significant (P<0.05) mortality was observed in SPWE of the leaf. The observed data analyses using Log probit analysis, and the highest LC50 (lethal concentration to kill 50% of the population), 0.57 mg/ml, is observed at the 24th h of the larvicidal assay. The lowest LC50, 0.35 mg/ml is observed at the 60th h of the larvicidal assay. In conclusion, the results show that S. parviflorus leaf water extract (SLWE) has significant larvicidal activity against A. albopictus, and this is the first account for the larvicidal potency of S. parviflorus. The study concludes that S. parviflorus is an excellent candidate plant for the development of a plant-based larvicide. This possibly influences a reduction in the use of typical household bleach and conventional chemical larvicides.

Toxoplasmosis caused by Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) affects one-third of the world human population. One of immune evasion strategy in the host-parasite interplay is HLA-G level alteration. HLA-G known as a special proteins (non-classical HLA class I) molecules which can suppress the immune system and its capability of modulating natural killer cell (NK) function such as cytotoxicity and cytokine production through NK cell receptors, specially KIR2DL4 receptor. KIR2DL4 a member of KIR family, featured with both inhibitory and activating functional structure, has been described as the specific receptor for HLA-G. So, this study aimed to investigate the alteration in sHLA-G and its receptor levels could be impressed by present of Toxoplasma and rheumatoid as well as the seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii antibodies in Iraqi patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) was investigated. The prevalence of anti-T. gondii IgG was significantly higher in arthritic patients (50%) compared with (41.6%) in healthy controls. No positive anti-T. gondii IgM was detected. The results showed that treated RA patients without Toxoplasma had the highest significant (P≤0.01) increase level of sHLA-G in comparison to RA untreated patients, also treated RA patients without Toxoplasma showed high significant increase (P≤0.01) of sHLA-G in comparison to untreated RA patients, while the level of sHLA-G in patients with toxoplasmosis only significantly (P≤0.01) increased in comparison to control, whilst that treated RA patients without Toxoplasma had the highest significant (P≤0.01) increase level of KIR2DL4 in comparison to RA untreated patients, while, treated RA patients with Toxoplasma showed high significant increase (P≤0.01) of KIR2DL4 in comparison to RA untreated patient. Also, the results of the level of KIR2SL4 in patients with toxoplasmosis only showed significantly (P≤0.01) decreased in comparison to control. The present study describes the change in HLA-G and KIR2DL4 levels in present of Toxoplasma and RA.

A total of 182 specimens of codling, 107 Urophycis brasiliensis (Kaup, 1858), and 75 U. mystacea Miranda Ribeiro, 1903 from the coastal zone of the states of Rio de Janeiro (RJ) and Santa Catarina (SC), Brazil was examined to study the composition and structure of their parasite communities. A total of 1,684 individual parasites were collected: 506 in U. brasiliensis and 444 in U. mystacea from RJ; 328 in U. brasiliensis and 406 in U. mystacea from SC. There was a total of 21 species in the parasite communities of codlings from Rio de Janeiro (RJ) and Santa Catarina (SC) localities. Urophycis brasiliensis presented a total of 18 species of parasites, being 16 and 12 species in RJ and SC, respectively. The parasite infracommunities of U. brasiliensis and U. mystacea from Rio de Janeiro and Santa Catarina were significant different in the mean total abundance and Brillouin diversity index values. Urophycis brasiliensis and U. mystacea from Santa Catarina present differences in the mean parasite richness, mean total abundance, values of the Brillouin diversity index and the values of Bray-Curtis and Jaccard indexes. However, it was observed higher similarity between the parasite infracommunities of U. brasiliensis and U. mystacea from Santa Catarina. Samples studied of U. mystacea showed significant differences suggested the presence of different stocks of this species, however, this possibility needs to be confirmed with studies using multivariate analysis of additional samples along the geographical distribution area of this species. These results emphasized the necessity for understanding the influence of ecological factors on the composition and structure of parasite communities of the marine fish from Brazil.