The record of Vannella species (Vannellidae, Discosea, Amoebozoa) from freshwater sources in Dakahlyia Governorate, Egypt.

The River Nile is the main source of fresh water in Egypt, where its water is used for irrigation, drinking, fisheries, industrial uses, and recreation. For sustainable utilization of the River Nile and its branches in the Nile Delta region, it is necessary to monitor regular investigation for the biodiversity of protozoan fauna in the Damietta branch and other freshwater canals in Dakahlyia Governorate. Water samples were collected monthly from different water sources, for 1 year, and examined for protozoans, using phase-contrast microscopy and recorded video films, The genus Vannella Bovee 1965 is recorded for the first time in four freshwater localities: Demietta branch of the River Nile, Mansouria Canal, Bouhia Canal, and Bahr El-Saghir Canal. A detailed morphological description with a brief report of their locomotion has been given for four morphologically different Vannella species. The locomotive form of Vannella sp.1 has a long pointed posterior tail and 2 lateral posterior processes. Such a tail was absent in other Vannella species. Vannella sp.2 is unique among other recorded species, where its locomotive form possesses a long posterior rounded tail region and a frontal hyaloplasm provided with a wavy surface that forms several lobes and finger-like processes during locomotion. In addition, the hyaloplasm produces several transverse waves that vary in thickness and density. The floating form of Vannella sp.2 is of a radial type and has comparatively long hyaline pointed and spiral pseudopodia. The process of transformation of locomotive form to floating form in Vannella sp.2 has been followed up using several recorded video films. The locomotive form of Vannella sp.3 is bear-shaped, while that of Vannella sp.4 has variable shapes from semicircular to rectangular and sometimes fan-shaped. During movement in vivo, locomotive cells of all Vannella species, except Vannella sp.1, move in nearly a straight line, but there were variations in their rate of locomotion. Vannella sp.4 recorded the highest rate (6.8 µm/s), followed by Vannella sp.2 (4.5 µm/s), Vannella sp.3 (2.4 µm/s), and finally Vannella sp.1 (1.0 µm/s). Molecular studies and transmission electron microscope examinations are still needed to confirm the precise identity of each Vannella species.

Community structure, seasonal dynamics, and impact of some biological parameters of the African catfish Clarias gariepinus on the infection level of the helminth parasites.

Fish parasitic diseases impose a major economic concern on aquaculture. Identified parasites of Clarias gariepinus include one monogenean, Macrogyrodactylus clarii (gills), three digeneans Orientocreadium batrachoides, Eumasenia bangweulensis and Sanguinicola sp. (intestine), two cestodes Tetracampose ciliotheca and Monobothrioides chalmersius (intestine) and two nematodes Paracamallanus cyathopharynx and Procamallanus pseudolaeviconchus (intestine and stomach). Most nematodes, digeneans and cestodes occurred in all months of the study period. However, M. clarii and Sanguinicola sp. disappeared for 6 and 8 months of the year, respectively. The digenean group was the most dominant followed by the cestode and nematode groups, respectively. The nematodes attained the highest infection rate over the digeneans and cestodes while the monogenean M. clarii recorded the lowest infection rate. The infection level of examined parasites varied seasonally, but no overall significant pattern was detected. E. bangweulensis showed a highly significant difference for all parameters seasonally. A higher prevalence was obvious in males than females for most parasites, and the opposite for the mean intensity except for P. pseudolaeviconchus which was significantly different between females and males in the mean abundance. There were variations in the relationship between the host condition factor and helminth parasite infection levels. O. batrachoides, E. bangweulensis and P. cyathopharynx recorded the highest infection level in class II. The mean prevalence was highly significantly different between host classes for T. ciliotheca, M. chalmersius and P. pseudolaeviconchus.

Additional morphological characters of the nematode Capillostrongyloides fritschi (Travassos, 1914) Moravec, 1982 (Nematoda: Capillaridae) from Bagrus spp. (Bagridae) inhabiting Damietta Branch of the River Nile, Egypt with a special reference to evaginated cirrus.

The catfish Bagrus bajad (Forsskål) and B. docmak (Forsskål) (Siluriformes: Bagridae) are well distributed in the River Nile and have an economic value with good marketing and use in aquaculture. Collected specimens of Capillostrongyloides fritschi (Travassos 1914) were redescribed using a phase-contrast microscope and scanning electron microscope. The most remarkable finding was the unique structure of the evaginated cirrus, being composed of a proximal long tube, a middle spherical bulb packed with mature spermatozoa, and a distal funnel-shaped structure. All regions of the cirrus are provided with longitudinal and transverse muscles and covered with transverse cuticular folds. The mechanism of cirrus emergence was discussed based on available musculature data. Other important findings are the short stylet of the mouth, the two lateral oral lobes, 6-10 buried cephalic papillae and the bacillary bands that lack elevations. Stichosome is formed of 35-44 stichocytes that were differentiated into black and white forms, each containing dense granules and translucent vacuoles. The intestine showed a convoluted part at its anterior region. The vulvar lips are slightly elevated, many mature eggs are cleaved, and their shells are 3-layered. The anus was found in a groove bounded by two unequal lobes.

Abnormalities in spontaneous abortions detected by G-banding and chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA) at a national reference laboratory.

BACKGROUND: Cytogenetic evaluation of products of conception (POC) for chromosomal abnormalities is central to determining the cause of pregnancy loss. We compared the test success rates in various specimen types and the frequencies of chromosomal abnormalities detected by G-banding analysis with those found by Oligo-SNP chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA). We evaluated the benefit of CMA testing in cases of failed culture growth. METHODS: Conventional cytogenetic results of 5457 consecutive POC specimens were reviewed and categorized as placental villi, fetal parts, and unspecified POC tissue. The CMA was performed on 268 cases. Of those, 32 cases had concurrent G-banding results. The remaining 236 cases included 107 cases with culture failure and 129 cases evaluated by CMA alone. RESULTS: The overall POC culture success rate was 75%, with the lowest for fetal parts (37.4%) and the highest for placental villi (81%). The abnormality rate was 58% for placental villi, but only 25% for fetal parts. Of the abnormalities detected, the most common were aneuploidies, including trisomy 16, triploidy, monosomy X, trisomy 22, trisomy 21 and trisomy 15, while the least encountered aneuploidies were trisomy 1, trisomy 19 and monosomies (except monosomy 21). Overall, POC specimens studied by CMA were successful in 89.6% of cases and yielded a 44.6% abnormality rate. CONCLUSIONS: Placental villi yielded higher rates of culture success and a higher percentage of abnormal karyotypes than did other specimen types. The Oligo-SNP CMA method has demonstrated a viable alternative to the G-banding method in view of its advantages in detection of submicroscopic genomic aberrations, shorter turnaround time due to elimination of time required for culture and a higher test success rate.

The use of microencapsulated hepatocytes transplantation reduces mortality and liver alterations in Schistosoma mansoni infected hamsters.

Hepatocyte transplantation is an attractive therapeutic modality for liver disease as an alternative for orthotropic liver transplantation. The goal of this work was to study the adequacy of intrasplenic hepatocyte transplantation (HCTx) in fresh and microencapsulated forms, in a hamster model of liver fibrosis by Schistosoma mansoni infected hamsters were divided into 6 groups; untreated for 11 weeks (GI) and for 15 weeks (GII), treated with praziquantel (PZQ) 7 weeks PI, and killed 4 weeks (GIII) and 8 weeks (GIV) post-treatment. Treated with PZQ 7 weeks PI, and then treated orally with immunosuppressive drug "cyclosporine (4 weeks post PZQ treatment), 24 hr. before interasplenic injection with fresh hepatocytes (V). Treated with PZQ 7 weeks PI, and then injected interasplenically (4 weeks post-treatment) with microencapsulated hepatocytes (GVI). GI & GIII were killed 11 weeks PI for assessment the anti-schistosomal efficacy of PZQ. The other four groups were killed 15 weeks PI for investigation of liver and spleen histology, serum liver enzymes and hepatic oxidative markers before and after HCTx. Freshly isolated hepatocytes with a mean viability 92.97 +/- 1.2% were used for microencapsulation and transplantation. Histological study showed the presence of transplanted hepatocytes in spleen of recipient. PZQ accelerated healing of hepatic granulomatous lesions as evidenced parasitologically by the increase in the percentage of dead eggs and histologically showing more granuloma circumscription with more ova degeneration and less inflammatory cells. The 25-day survival rates in GII, GIV, GV& GVI were 5/15 (33.3%), 8/15 (53.3%), 10/15 (66.7%) and 9/15 (60%) respectively. In addition, there were significantly better outcomes in serum biochemical indexes such as ALT, AST, gamma-GT, ALP, and hepatic SOD and MDA in the fresh and microencapsulated groups than in PZQ-treated group, without great differences between the microencapsulated and the fresh transplanted groups. Liver pathological staining supported these findings.

Spectral Karyotyping for identification of constitutional chromosomal abnormalities at a national reference laboratory.

Spectral karyotyping is a diagnostic tool that allows visualization of chromosomes in different colors using the FISH technology and a spectral imaging system. To assess the value of spectral karyotyping analysis for identifying constitutional supernumerary marker chromosomes or derivative chromosomes at a national reference laboratory, we reviewed the results of 179 consecutive clinical samples (31 prenatal and 148 postnatal) submitted for spectral karyotyping. Over 90% of the cases were requested to identify either small supernumerary marker chromosomes (sSMCs) or chromosomal exchange material detected by G-banded chromosome analysis. We also reviewed clinical indications of those cases with marker chromosomes in which chromosomal origin was identified by spectral karyotyping. Our results showed that spectral karyotyping identified the chromosomal origin of marker chromosomes or the source of derivative chromosomal material in 158 (88%) of the 179 clinical cases; the identification rate was slightly higher for postnatal (89%) compared to prenatal (84%) cases. Cases in which the origin could not be identified had either a small marker chromosome present at a very low level of mosaicism (< 10%), or contained very little euchromatic material. Supplemental FISH analysis confirmed the spectral karyotyping results in all 158 cases. Clinical indications for prenatal cases were mainly for marker identification after amniocentesis. For postnatal cases, the primary indications were developmental delay and multiple congenital anomalies (MCA). The most frequently encountered markers were of chromosome 15 origin for satellited chromosomes, and chromosomes 2 and 16 for non-satellited chromosomes. We were able to obtain pertinent clinical information for 47% (41/88) of cases with an identified abnormal chromosome. We conclude that spectral karyotyping is sufficiently reliable for use and provides a valuable diagnostic tool for establishing the origin of supernumerary marker chromosomes or derivative chromosomal material that cannot be identified with standard cytogenetic techniques.

Prognostic significance of survivin in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Impaired apoptosis is mediated by members of the inhibitor of apoptosis proteins (IAP) family such as survivin. Survivin was described in number of different tumors and found to correlate with poor prognosis in a variety of cancers including hematologic malignancies. The aim of this study was to determine survivin in pediatric ALL and compare it with clinical and hematological findings, response to therapy and outcome. Flowcytometry was used for detection of intracellular survivin and determine its mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) in bone marrow mononuclear cells. Patients were followed up for 28 months after induction therapy. Survivin was detected in 63.3% of the patients BM. In spite of no association of survivin levels with established risk factors (P > 0.05) except with high WBC, there was significant higher level of survivin expression in high risk group patients when patients were stratified into high and standard risk groups. According to response to induction therapy, there was no significant difference, in survivin level between patients who achieved CR, RD and ED. However, patients suffering relapse of the disease, had a significant higher basal level of survivin than patients still in remission. Over expression of survivin is a candidate parameter to determine poor prognosis in ALL patients and it may serve to refine treatment stratification with intensification of therapy in those patients prone to relapse.