Determination of hormoligosis of organophosphate insecticides against Phenacoccus solenopsis.

Cotton mealybug is a highly invasive pest of agricultural crops worldwide. Major agriculturists most rely on the use of insecticides for the control of pesticides. So, the indiscriminate use of insecticides leads to resistance development in recent years. For this purpose, an experiment was conducted using different concentrations of the three insecticides (profenfos chlorpyrifos and triazophos) to check the hormoligosis effects against cotton mealybug (CMB) in laboratory conditions. Investigation of variations for % mortality of adults of CMB after three days revealed that all treatments had statistically significant (P ˂ 0.05). The highest mortality was observed at the highest concentrations of profenofos 2.4% (38.55%). After 7 days, all the treatments were significant with difference in means (P ˂ 0.05). The highest mortality was recorded at the highest dilution of pesticide profenofos 2.4% (77.11%). The values of fecundity and longevity exposed a valid difference among treatments (P ˂ 0.05). Maximum fecundity was observed at the concentration 2.4% (181.41%) and longevity showed (38.46%). The highest mortality was observed at a concentration of triazophos 4% (27.98%). For chlorpyriphos the highest mortality was examined at concentration 4% (24.79%). The fecundity showed a statistically significant difference for different concentrations of triazophos and chlorpyriphos (P ˂ 0.05). The results of the recent study provide valuable information regarding the selection of insecticides and hormoligosis effects. The study can be helpful in the implications of integrated pest management of P. solenopsis.

Molecular characterisation of Panton-Valentine leucocidin-producing methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus clones isolated from the main hospitals in Taif, KSA.

INTRODUCTION: Panton-Valentine leucocidin (PVL) is a bicomponent pore-forming cytolytic toxin encoded by the lukF-PV and lukS-PV genes. Community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) may carry the pvl genes which may be related to increased disease severity. This study aimed to characterise the PVL-producing MRSA recovered from different Taif Hospitals, Saudi Arabia. METHODS: The study included 45 hospital-acquired-MRSA (HA-MRSA) and 26 CA-MRSA strains which were identified from 445 S. aureus strains isolated from different clinical samples. MRSA strains were identified by standard oxacillin salt agar screening procedure and by the detection of the mecA gene by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Detection of the S. aureus-specific femA, mecA and pvl genes was performed by multiplex PCR. PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis was done for coagulase (coa) gene. RESULTS: The staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec types of the 45 HA-MRSA strains were Type I (n = 24), Type II (n = 7) and Type III (n = 14) whereas the 26 CA-MRSA strains were Type IV (n = 14), Type V (n = 11) and one isolate was non-typeable. All the HA-MRSA and six CA-MRSA strains were PVL-negative PCR-RFLP analysis of coa gene showed that PVL-positive MRSA (n = 20) isolates showed six different patterns, and five patterns were shared by PVL-positive methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA). The eighth pattern was the most frequent in both MRSA and MSSA. CONCLUSION: PVL is more frequent among CA-MRSA than MSSA. All the HA-MRSA and 25% of CA-MRSA strains were negative for PVL. The pvl gene was related to the severity of infection but not related to coa gene RFLP pattern.

Association of serum cytokines levels, interleukin 10 -1082G/A and interferon-γ +874T/A polymorphisms with atopic asthma children from Saudi Arabia.

The aim of this study was to clarify the role of IL-4, IL-10, IL-13 and interferon (IFN) -γ levels in atopic asthma patients by studying the relation between their serum levels and severity of the disease. The effect of IL-10 -1082G/A and IFN-γ +874T/A SNPs was also studied. The study included 200 atopic children with asthma and 50 age- and gender matched healthy children as controls. The levels of both IL-4 and IL-13 were significantly (p<0.001) higher, while IFN-γ was significantly (p<0.001) lower in patients compared to that of the controls. There was a significant effect of gene polymorphisms of IL-10 (p<0.05) and IFN-γ (p<0.001) in occurrence of atopic asthma and increased IgE level. Polymorphism of IFN-γ gene had an effect on the serum level of IFN-γ. In conclusion, IFN-γ gene polymorphism at position +874 and IL-10 gene polymorphism at position -1082A/G are genetic determinants which contribute to susceptibility to atopic asthma in children from Saudi Arabia.

Pretreatment serum interferon gamma inducible protein-10 as biomarker of fibrosis and predictor of virological response in genotype 4 hepatitis C virus infection.

OBJECTIVE: Assess the value of baseline interferon-γ-inducible protein-10 (IP-10) levels as a noninvasive maker of liver fibrosis and as a predictor of response to interferon therapy in HCV genotype 4 infected patients. METHODS: Eighty-four HCV genotype 4 infected patients were enrolled in this study. Degrees of liver fibrosis were determined and baseline IP-10 was measured in serum samples collected prior to initiation of treatment using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Patients were followed up for 1.5 year to assess their response to antiviral therapy. RESULTS: The baseline IP-10 levels were significantly correlated with the degree of fibrosis and had the ability to differentiate between patients with mild, moderate and advanced stages of fibrosis (F0-1: 95.24 ± 33.08 pg/ml, n = 25; F2: 158.70 ± 52.74 pg/ml, n = 37; F3-4: 357.45 ± 162.18 pg/ml, n = 22; P <0.001). Baseline IP-10 levels were significantly lower in patients achieved Early virological response (responders 134.80 ± 60.47 pg/ml, n = 60; non-responders 334.54 ± 168.94 pg/ml, n = 24, P <0.001). Also baseline IP-10 levels were significantly lower in patients who became HCV RNA negative at 24 weeks of therapy (179.52 ± 130.03 pg/ml, n = 78) than non-responders (352.33 ± 132.58 pg/ml, n = 6, P = 0.002). SVR was achieved in 58/68 (85.3%) patients while 10 patients were relapsed. Baseline IP-10 levels differs significantly between patients who achieved SVR at week 24 post therapy and relapsed patients (IP10 level: SVR, 173.52 ± 125.20 pg/ml, n = 58; Relapsed, 216.20 ± 67.72 pg/ml, n = 10, P = 0.021). CONCLUSION: Baseline IP-10 level independently predicts EVR, response at week 24 during therapy and SVR. It also differentiates patients with mild fibrosis from those with moderate and advanced fibrosis.