The relationship between the intensity of Gasterophilus intestinalis larvae infection and the serum and salivary humoral immune response in horses.

Infection with Gasterophilus intestinalis (botfly) larvae often occurs in horses. The aim of the study was to isolate the larvae of G. intestinalis and evaluate the serum and salivary humoral immune response using self-developed ELISA in G. intestinalis infected horses. Blood serum or saliva samples were taken from 125 infected horses and 54 uninfected slaughtered horses. The antigens from G. intestinalis larvae were used for development of ELISA in order to evaluate the intensity of G. intestinalis IgG, IgM, and IgA antibody reactivity in the serum or saliva of naturally infected horses and horses without larvae in the gastrointestinal tract (control group). Serum antibodies against second and third larvae's stadium antigens reacted significantly more intensively in infected than in healthy horses in IgG (p ≤ 0.001; p ≤ 0.05, respectively) and IgA (p ≤ 0.05;p ≤ 0.001, respectively) classes. Salivary IgG and IgA specific's antibody reactivity was significantly higher in horses with moderate (p ≤ 0.01) and severe infection (p ≤ 0.001) compared to the healthy horses. The determination of the G. intestinalis IgG and IgA antibody activity in saliva and serum may be used for detecting horses moderately and severely infested with larvae.

Infection exposure, detection and causes of death in perinatal mortalities in Polish dairy herds.

The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and types of infections in perinatal mortality (PM) cases from Polish dairy farms and the relevance of the presence of infection to the cause of death. This prospective longitudinal study was carried out on 121 PM and 21 control calves with a gestation of ≥260 days. Six control calves were euthanized and examined using the same protocol as for PM calves. Material was collected over a 20-month period between November 2013 and June 2015. The PM and control calves were collected from 29 to 5 herds, respectively. Blood samples from calves were tested for antibodies to Neospora caninum, glycoprotein B of BoHV-1, BVDV and SBV using ELISAs and Leptospira hardjo and Leptospira pomona with the microscopic agglutination test. Brain and kidney samples from all PM and six euthanized control calves were tested using real time PCR to detect Neospora caninum, pathogenic Leptospira spp., BoHV-1 and SBV; brain was examined histopathologically for detection of N. caninum cysts. Samples from eight inner organs from all PM and six control calves were cultured aerobically, anaerobically and microaerobically. Ear samples from all PM and control calves were tested for BVDV using an antigen ELISA. In total, 21.5% of PM calves were infected (antigen and/or antibody-positive) in utero; none of the control calves were infected. Direct evidence of infection (culture, Ag-ELISA, PCR, histopathology) was detected in 9.1% of PM calves. Gestation length in infected singletons was shorter than in uninfected singletons (274 ± 8 vs. 279 ± 7 days; P < 0.01). The odds ratio for diagnosis of infection in single pregnancies ≤275 days was 3.75 (95% CI:1.2-12.1), (P < 0.05). Infection was the cause of death in 10% of calves. The most common infections detected in these Polish PM calves were parasitic (11.6% of PM cases), viral (7.4%) and bacterial (5%). This study demonstrated that indirect evidence of infection is detected more frequently than direct, coinfection is rare, infection is rarely accompanied by gross lesions and is rarely a cause of death in cases of PM.

Levels of metals in kidney, liver and muscle tissue and their relation to the occurrence of parasites in the red fox in the Lower Silesian Forest in Europe.

Together with the occurrence of parasites, increased concentrations of xenobiotics, to which scavengers are greatly exposed, may significantly influence the physiology of red foxes. It is also suspected that these two factors interact. The accumulation of various metals (Ca, Cd, Cu, Fe, Hg, K, Mg, Ni, Pb, Zn) in kidney, liver and muscle tissue was investigated, as well as the occurrence of parasites, and the potential link to the presence of metals. Generally speaking, neither sex nor age influenced these concentrations. K, Mg and Fe were found in the highest concentrations and Hg was found in the lowest. Various relationships between the concentrations of metals were observed in the tissues. 34% of the specimens studied were hosts to parasites. No clear, significant connection between the concentrations and the occurrence of parasites was noted, but the discernible trend confirmed by the logistic regression, needs further study.

Histopathological diagnosis in parasitic diseases.

Histopathological research is very important in diagnosing human and animal diseases. Detection of histopathological changes during certain parasitic invasions is particularly important for differential diagnosis and often confirms the presence of parasitic diseases. Such studies allow also to conclude on the primary cause of the disease.

Molecular comparison of Gasterophilus intestinalis and Gasterophilus nasalis from two distinct areas of Poland and Italy based on cox1 sequence analysis.

In this study, Gasterophilus intestinalis and Gasterophilus nasalis collected from horses in northeastern Poland and southern Italy were genetically compared. The cox1 sequences of the Polish and Italian G. nasalis larvae revealed a higher degree of geographic genetic diversity, with an intra-specific variation rate of 1.27%, than the G. nasalis specimens collected in Poland (intra-specific variation rate: 0.49%) and those collected in Italy (intra-specific variation rate: 0.58%). However, the level of genetic homology of the Polish and Italian G. intestinalis specimens (intra-specific variation rate: 1.27%) was similar to that of the G. intestinalis larvae collected in northeastern Poland (intra-specific variation rate: 0.94%) and those collected in southern Italy (intra-specific variation rate: 1.16%). Analysis of the restriction enzyme sites in the coxI gene of G. nasalis and G. intestinalis showed that the nucleotide polymorphism (NP) at position 1050 of this gene determines cleavage by MnlI only in G. nasalis, making it possible to differentiate the two species using PCR-RFLP. Interestingly, comparison of the nucleotide sequences of the PCR-amplified coxI gene fragments from the Italian specimens of G. nasalis with other analyzed cox1 genes revealed an additional NP at position 1236 of cox1 gene, recognized by MnlI. The present study shows that G. nasalis specimens from different geographical areas display a level of genetic diversity which can influence PCR-RFLP analysis.

[Nasal polyps in a chimpanzee]. / Polipy nosa u szympansa.

The work presents a case of occurrence of nasal polyps of a chimpanzee. The world-wide literature holds the view that this pathology does only occur among the human race. Only in two cases the polyps has been found among chimpanzee.