Effect of concurrent infection of Helicobacter pylori with Toxoplasma gondii infection on gastric pathology.

BACKGROUND: Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) and Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) are among the most prevalent foodborne parasitic and bacterial infections worldwide. However, the concurrent impact of coinfection on gastric pathology has yet to be studied in depth. The effect of coinfection generally either adds a synergetic or antagonistic impact; we aimed in the current work to assess the impact of T. gondii coinfection on the progression of H. pylori-associated gastric pathology and reporting H. pylori virulent strains. The study was conducted on 82 patients complaining of persistent gastrointestinal symptoms with failed treatment response and prone to endoscopy. They were subjected to stool examination to detect H. pylori antigen, serological screening for latent toxoplasmosis, endoscopy, histopathological examination, and molecular detection of H. pylori virulence strains in gastric biopsies. Out of the 82 patients, 62 patients were positive for H. pylori antigen in stool and 55 patients confirmed positivity by histopathology; out of them, 37 patients had isolated Vac As1 variants, 11 patients had combined Vac As1 and Cag A variants, and 7 patients had combined Vac As1, Cag A and VacAs2 variants. Patients with the combined two or three variances showed significantly deteriorated histopathological features than patients with a single Vac As1 variant (P < 0.05). Latent toxoplasmosis was positive among 35/82 patients. Combined H. pylori and Toxoplasma gondii infection had significantly marked inflammation than patients with isolated infection (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Screening for toxoplasmosis among H. pylori-infected patients is recommended as it is considered a potential risk factor for gastric inflammation severity. H. pylori gastric inflammation may be heightened by Toxoplasma coinfection.

Migratory birds as a potential overseas transmitter of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli.

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) has a great public health importance. This study was conducted to investigate the potential role of migratory birds in the transmission of STEC. For this purpose, cloacal swabs were collected from 349 migratory birds (209 ducks and 140 quails) from Damietta governorate, Egypt. The collected swabs were cultured for isolation of STEC using the STEC CHROMagar. STEC isolates were identified based on colonial characteristics, Gram's stain, conventional biochemical tests and molecular detection of stx1, stx2 and eae genes. Positive isolates were serotyped and examined for their antibiotic susceptibility pattern. Furthermore, gene sequencing was performed for genes stx1and stx2. Of the examined birds, two STEC isolates were a obtained with an overall occurrence rate 0.57% (2/349), one isolate carried stx2 gene from a migratory quail 0.71% (1/140), and another isolate from a migratory duck carried stx1 gene 0.48% (1/209), whereas both isolates were negative for eae gene. Moreover, the duck isolate was serotyped O86, while the quail isolate was serotyped O125; both isolates were multidrug resistant. The phylogenetic analysis of the obtained stx1 and stx2 genes revealed high genetic relatedness to those isolated from human cases in the countries where such birds either lived or were in their migratory pathway. In conclusion, this study highlights the potential role of migratory birds in transmitting multidrug-resistant STEC across their migratory pathway.

Evidence of Zoonotic Transmission of Helicobacter canis Between Sheep and Human Contacts.

Helicobacter species are newly emerging bacteria with great public implications but till now its epidemiology is not fully understood; so, this study was conducted to investigate the possible role of ruminants in the epidemiology of these pathogens. For this purpose, fecal samples were collected from 149 animals (76 sheep, 33 goats, 21 cattle, and 19 buffaloes) and stool specimens from 10 animal caretakers in intimate contact with the examined animals. All samples were examined for the presence of Helicobacter species through detection of Helicobacter genus specific 16S rRNA using PCR. Then, all positive Helicobacter spp. amplicons were sequenced to recognize their species through BLAST analysis at GenBank. The overall prevalence of Helicobacter spp. was 14.8% while the distribution among the different animals was 26.3%, 3%, 4.8%, and 0% in sheep, goats, cattle, and buffaloes respectively. Helicobacter canis was the predominant species and detected only in sheep (21%) and goats (3%). Moreover, Helicobacter winghamensis and Helicobacter canadensis were also detected in sheep but not in other animals, whereas the only positive bovine sample was identified as Helicobacter bovis. On the other hand, 4 out of 10 humans were positive for Helicobacter spp. and all sequences were identified as H. canis. The sequences identity matrix and phylogenetic analysis of H. canis sequences from humans and sheep contacts revealed that one human sequence was identical to that of sheep and making sister group clade, which prove the zoonotic transmission of this pathogen between sheep and human contacts. However, our findings highlight sheep as a potential reservoir for H. canis, further researches are needed to address the potential role of sheep in the food-borne transmission of such emerging pathogen.