Advantages of bioconjugated silica-coated nanoparticles as an innovative diagnosis for human toxoplasmosis.

Nanotechnology is a promising arena for generating new applications in Medicine. To successfully functionalised nanoparticles for a given biomedical application, a wide range of chemical, physical and biological factors have to be taken into account. Silica-coated nanoparticles, (SiO2NP) exhibit substantial diagnostic activity owing to their large surface to volume ratios and crystallographic surface structure. This work aimed to evaluate the advantage of bioconjugation of SiO2NP with PAb against Toxoplasma lyzate antigen (TLA) as an innovative diagnostic method for human toxoplasmosis. This cross-sectional study included 120 individuals, divided into Group I: 70 patients suspected for Toxoplasma gondii based on the presence of clinical manifestation. Group II: 30 patients harboring other parasites than T. gondii Group III: 20 apparently healthy individuals free from toxoplasmosis and other parasitic infections served as negative control. Detection of circulating Toxoplasma antigen was performed by Sandwich ELISA and Nano-sandwich ELISA on sera and pooled urine of human samples. Using Sandwich ELISA, 10 out of 70 suspected Toxoplasma-infected human serum samples showed false negative and 8 out of 30 of other parasites groups were false positive giving 85.7% sensitivity and 84.0% specificity, while the sensitivity and specificity were 78.6% and 70% respectively in urine samples. Using Nano-Sandwich ELISA, 7 out of 70 suspected Toxoplasma-infected human samples showed false negative results and the sensitivity of the assay was 90.0%, while 4 out of 30 of other parasites groups were false positive giving 92.0% specificity, while the sensitivity and specificity were 82.6% and 80% respectively in urine samples. In conclusion, our data demonstrated that loading SiO2 nanoparticles with pAb increased the sensitivity and specificity of Nano-sandwich ELISA for detection of T.gondii antigens in serum and urine samples, thus active (early) and light infections could be easily detected.

Efficacy of soluble glycoprotein fraction from Allium sativum purified by size exclusion chromatography on murine Schistosomiasis mansoni.

In this work, the efficiency of crude MeOH extracts and soluble glycoprotein fraction of Allium sativum purified by size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) on parasitological, histopathological and some biochemical parameters in Schistosoma mansoni infected mice were investigated. Animals were infected by tail immersion with 100 cercariae/each mouse and divided into five groups in addition to the normal control. The results revealed a significant decrease in mean worm burden in all treated mice especially in the group treated with soluble glycoprotein fraction of A. sativum as compared to infected non-treated control with the disappearance of female worms. Administration of the studied extracts revealed remarkable amelioration in the levels of all the measured parameters in S. mansoni infected mice. In addition, treatment of mice with crude A. sativum MeOH extract and soluble glycoprotein fraction of A. sativum decreased significantly the activities of studied enzymes as compared to the infected untreated group. The highest degrees of enhancement in pathological changes was observed in the treated one with soluble glycoprotein fraction of A. sativum compared to the infected group represented by small sized, late fibro-cellular granuloma, the decrease in cellular constituents and degenerative changes in eggs. In conclusion, A. sativum treatment had effective schistosomicidal activities, through reduction of worm burden and tissue eggs, especially when it was given in purified glycoprotein fraction. Moreover, the soluble glycoprotein fraction of A. sativum largely modulates both the size and the number of granulomas.

IMMUNOPROTECTION OF SOLUBLE EGG ANTIGENS AND PRAZIQUANTEL IN CHALLENGED MURINE SCHISTOSOMIASIS MANSONI.

Control of schistosomiasis would be greatly improved by the development of a vaccine, which could be combined with chemotherapy. The current study evaluated the potential effect of soluble egg antigens (SEA) associated with or without PZQ in Schistosoma mansoni challenged mice through parasitological, histopathological and serological studies. Sixty Swiss albino fe- male mice divided into 5 groups (12 mice each); each group was subdivided into 2 groups (6 mice each) according initial and challenged infections. Mice were sacrificed by rapid decapita- tion 8 weeks post initial and challenge infections for assessment. The current results showed marked reduction of egg counts per gram stool, worm burden, granuloma number and size in combined SEA and PZQ group. Also, significant increase in serum IL-12 & INF-,y, plus marked decrease in serum IL-4 during initial and challenged infections. The role of PZQ alone was mainly during primary infection and had no role in reinfection, whereas, SEA alone was effec- tive during challenged one. In conclusion, from the obtained results of the current study the combination of SEA & PZQ was as a possible potent and promising prophylactic treatment for schistosomiasis especially during re-infectiob in endemic areas. This prophylactic effect was significantly greater than those observed in the single drug treatment or vaccine used.

HISTOPATHOLOGICAL AND IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL STUDIES IN EXPERIMENTAL HETEROPHYIASIS AND THE ROLE OF PRAZIQUANTEL AND AMINOGUANIDINE.

Histopathological diagnosis was used to understand the pathological events associated with Heterophyes heterophyes (H. heterophyes) infection. CD3 and CD79α antibodies had been used as markers for both T and. B lymphocytes respectively. Immunohistochemical techniques had several advantages as remarkable sensitivity and specificity. This study aims to evaluate the roles-of praziquantel (PZQ) and aminoguanidine (AG) treatment in H heterophyes infected dogs pathologically and immunohisto-chemically. Study design included experimental infection of dogs with encysted metacercariae of H heterophyes followed by treatment with PZQ and AG. Tissue samples were taken from small intestinal, liver, heart and lung of all groups for histopathological and immunohistochemical studies. Pathological changes were detected in infected tissues by histopathological examination. There was different degree of CD79α+B lymphocytic & CD3+T lymphocytic infiltration detected in immuno-histochemical stained tissues. PZQ caused improvement of pathological changes in the small intestine. However the cellular inflammatory infiltration increased. There was reduction in inflammatory infiltration after intake of AG. Both PZQ and AG improved the pathological changes in the.liver, heart and lung, while the cellular inflammatory infiltration increased after PZQ and reduced by AG. Moreover in the lung AG improves pulmonary congestion and alveolar wall thickness.

COMPARISON BETWEEN KATO-KATZ THICK SMEAR AND SEDIMENTATION TECHNIQUES IN DIAGNOSIS OF FAECAL-ORALLY TRANSMITTED HELMINTHES AND OTHER GEOHELMINTHES.

Kato-Katz technique is widely used for the diagnosis of Fecal-orally transmitted helminthic infections. It is relatively simple and inexpensive. However, a single slide prepared from a single stool specimen has low sensitivity, particularly in light infections. Therefore, there is a great need for concentration techniques. This study detected an accurate and affordable method for diagnosis of fecal-orally transmitted helminthes and other geohelminthes. The study was carried out on 217 stool samples of different sex and age groups. Stool samples were collected from different urban and rural areas in Sharkia Governorate. Stool samples were examined macroscopically and analyzed by different parasitological techniques: direct wet mount (DWM), Kato-Katz thick smear, spontaneous sedimentation in tube technique (SSTT) and formol ether sedimentation technique (FEC). The results showed that formol ether sedimentation method detected 59 positive samples followed by spontaneous sedimentation in tube technique (48/59 positive samples). FEC showed significant difference when compared to direct wet mount and Kato-Katz thick smear. SSTT also showed significant difference when compared to DWM (P <0.05).The overall prevalence of intestinal helminthes was (29.6%) among studied samples in Sharkia Governorate. The commonest helminthic infection was H. nana (12%) followed by E. vemicularis(10%) then A. lumbricoides (3.7%).