Preventive versus curative photobiomodulation for oral mucositis in patients with multiple myeloma undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation: which approach is more effective?

PURPOSE: There is increasing evidence that photobiomodulation (PBM) therapy is both an effective and safe approach in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) for both prevention and management of oral mucositis (OM), but its use in clinical practice is still limited and the timing of application is under discussion. The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate possible differences between patients treated either with preventive or curative PBM therapy. METHODS: The retrospective case series included 24 patients suffering from multiple myeloma who underwent the same conditioning and transplantation protocol. Patients were treated either with preventive PBM starting from the first day of conditioning up to two days post-HSCT or with curative PBM (starting at OM onset for four consecutive days). OM score, pain, and functional parameters were recorded. RESULTS: All patients developed OM. Preventive PBM was significantly more effective in reducing OM severity (p < 0.0001) and pain (p < 0.0001) post-HSCT than curative PBM. Furthermore, we found a lower number of patients reporting discomfort in all subjective parameters (pain during swallowing, chewing, and speaking) in the preventive PBM group. No adverse events related to PBM therapy were recorded in both groups. CONCLUSION: The timing for PBM therapy in patients undergoing HSCT is crucial: when started on the first day of conditioning, it significantly reduces both pain and OM severity, providing an important benefit also in subjective oral functions such as speaking, swallowing, and chewing, thus increasing the overall adherence to the oncological therapies.

The State of Mental Health Services for Incarcerated Adults in Ontario: A Scoping Review.

Individuals with mental illness are significantly overrepresented in the Canadian justice system. Given the high rate of mental illness among individuals who are incarcerated, correctional facilities must implement accessible and effective mental health resources. This not only improves their health and well-being but also contributes to their rehabilitation efforts. However, evidence suggests that the care provided in prisons is inadequate. This scoping review asks, "What is known about the access and quality of mental health care services for adults who are incarcerated in Ontario?" Mental health care services included non-acute interventions and care that is provided in the institution. This scoping review followed the PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews methodology. Databases searched include MedLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Criminal Justice Abstracts, JSTOR, Google Scholar, and the grey literature. The search yielded 354 titles and abstracts of which 16 met the inclusion criteria. Conducted from 2010-2022, the 16 studies included qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods. Common themes that were identified related to segregation, mental health assessments, medication prescribing and access, opioid agonist therapy, psychiatric service access, systemic and institutional barriers, mental health perception, and the need for collaboration. Despite the significant demand for mental health care in Ontario correctional facilities, limitations to quality care are evident. Such limitations intersect and are then exacerbated, resulting in poor mental health care provision among the incarcerated population. More research is warranted regarding the access, quality, and efficiency of mental health care in Ontario prisons, and how factors including ethnicity, gender, and prison classification (provincial vs. federal) may influence mental health care and its outcomes.

The role of the Field Epidemiology Training Program in the public health emergency response: Sudan armed conflict 2023.

Background: On April 15, 2023, the armed conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) started in Khartoum state, Sudan. This conflict was complicated by the preexisting complicated epidemiological situation and fragile health system in Sudan. This study endeavors to illuminate the pivotal role essayed by the Sudan FETP (SFETP) in enhancing the nation's public health response, particularly amidst the tumultuous backdrop of armed conflicts that have left their indelible mark on the region. Methods: Employing a blend of quantitative and qualitative methodologies, we investigated the SFETP's contributions to the public health response during the initial 4 months of the conflict (April-July 2023). Sixty-four SFETP residents and graduates were invited to participate, and data were gathered through semi-structured questionnaires. Results: A total of 44 (69%) SFETP residents and graduates were included in this study. Out of 38 SFETPs present in the states, 32 have considerably contributed to the crisis response at state and locality levels. Three-quarters of them have played key leadership, planning, and management roles. In essence, 38% (n = 12) of them have contributed to public health surveillance, particularly in data management, reports, Early Warning Alert and Response System (EWAR) establishment, and epidemic investigation. SFETPs have made special contributions to crisis response at the community level. The involved SFETPs supported WASH interventions (n = 4), and almost one-third of them strengthened risk communication and community engagement (n = 9). Despite their physical presence at the subnational level, 27% of graduates were not deployed to the crisis emergency response. Notably, throughout this time, half of the total SFETPs were formally retained during this response. Conclusion: The study highlighted the importance of FETP engagement and support during public health crises. SFETP residents and graduates played diverse roles in the various levels of public health emergency response to the crisis. However. Strategies to improve the deployment and retention of FETP residents are necessary to ensure their availability during crises. Overall, FETP has proven to be an asset in public health crisis management in Sudan.

Splenogonadal fusion in a female: A case report of a rare congenital anomaly.

We present a case of an 18-year-old female referred for an MRI pelvis to evaluate suspected uterine anomaly by ultrasound. The MRI showed a complete septate uterus and in addition, an elongated tubular structure (isointense to the spleen) extending from the left ovary in the left retroperitoneal region/left paracolic gutter to the under-splenic surface. CT abdomen and pelvis revealed this to be a similarly enhancing structure as the spleen and appears as a tubular retroperitoneal structure connecting the left ovary to the spleen with associated vasculature joining the splenic vein cranially and the ovarian vessels caudally consistent with splenogonadal fusion.

High Prevalence of Bovine Cardiac Cysticercosis in Upper Egypt: An Epidemiological and Histopathological Study.

Bovine cysticercosis is categorized as a serious parasitic zoonotic infestation. The infection is mainly caused by the tapeworm Taenia saginata, which infects cattle and humans. The larval stage, Cysticercus bovis (C. bovis), is found in the skeletal and cardiac muscles of infected cattle. Despite its potential public health concern, few studies have been conducted on cardiac cysticercosis in Upper Egypt. This study investigates the prevalence, epidemiology, and impact of cardiac cysticercosis in Upper Egypt, emphasizing how histopathological changes in cardiac muscle and physiological parameters might be associated with the infection. From December 2022 to October 2023, a total of 941 animals from Assiut province, Upper Egypt, were slaughtered and their cardiac muscles were examined for the presence of C. bovis. Cysts were classified as viable or degenerated through macroscopic inspection. The overall prevalence of C. bovis infected hearts made up 10.8% of the total examined. The highest prevalence rate was in the summer season followed by spring; winter had the lowest infections. The histopathological examination of infected tissues revealed immune cell infiltration around Cysticercus-infected areas. Additionally, Bax immunostaining demonstrated the apoptotic effect of cysticercosis. Regarding the measured physiological parameters, there were non-significant changes in plasma levels of total protein and albumin in cattle infected with cysticercosis compared with control animals. Moreover, there was a significant decrease in total antioxidant capacity (TAC) combined with a significant increase in lipid peroxide (Malondialdehyde) (MDA), troponin T, and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity in infected animals. The present work documented a set of epidemiological and pathological findings, revealing that C. bovis is a potentially harmful parasite and can cause significant health problems in both cattle and humans.

PLM-GAN: A Large-Scale Protein Loop Modeling Using pix2pix GAN.

Revealing the tertiary structure of proteins holds huge significance as it unveils their vital properties and functions. These intricate three-dimensional configurations comprise diverse interactions including ionic, hydrophobic, and disulfide forces. In certain instances, these structures exhibit missing regions, necessitating the reconstruction of specific segments, thereby resulting in challenges in protein design, which encompasses loop modeling, circular permutation, and interface prediction. To address this problem, we present two pioneering models: pix2pix generative adversarial network (GAN) and PLM-GAN. The pix2pix GAN model is adept at generating and inpainting distance matrices of protein structures, whereas the PLM-GAN model incorporates residual blocks into the U-Net network of the GAN, building upon the foundation of the pix2pix GAN model. To bolster the models' performance, we introduce a novel loss function named the "missing to real regions loss" (LMTR) within the GAN framework. Additionally, we introduce a distinctive approach of pairing two different distance matrices: one representing the native protein structure and the other representing the same structure with a missing region that undergoes changes in each successive epoch. Moreover, we extend the reconstruction of missing regions, encompassing up to 30 amino acids and increase the protein length by 128 amino acids. The evaluation of our pix2pix GAN and PLM-GAN models on a random selection of natural proteins (4ZCB, 3FJB, and 2REZ) demonstrated promising experimental results. Our models constitute significant contributions to addressing intricate challenges in protein structure design. These contributions hold immense potential to propel advancements in protein-protein interactions, drug design, and further innovations in protein engineering. Data, code, trained models, examples, and measurements are available on https://github.com/mena01/PLM-GAN-A-Large-Scale-Protein-Loop-Modeling-Using-pix2pix-GAN_.

An antibody fragment-decorated liposomal conjugate targets Philadelphia-like acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Philadelphia-like acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph-like ALL) is an aggressive B-ALL malignancy associated with high rates of relapse and inferior survival rate. While targeted treatments against the cell surface proteins CD22 or CD19 have been transformative in the treatment of refractory B-ALL, patients may relapse due to antigen loss, necessitating targeting alternative antigens. Cytokine receptor-like factor 2 (CRLF2) is overexpressed in half of Ph-like ALL cases conferring chemoresistance and enhancement of leukemia cell survival. Therefore, targeting CRLF2 may reduce the likelihood of relapse associated with antigen loss. We developed a CRLF2-targeting single-chain variable fragment modified by the fragment crystallizable region (CRLF2 scFv-Fc) conjugated to a drug maytansinoid 1 (DM1)-DOPC liposomal conjugate, creating homogeneous CRLF2-targeted liposomes (CRLF2-DM1 LIP). Cellular association and internalization studies in a Ph-like ALL cell line, MHH-CALL-4, compared to its lentivirally transduced CRLF2-knockdown counterpart (KD-CALL-4) revealed excellent CRLF2-targeting efficiency of CRLF2-DM1 LIP. Moreover, CRLF2-DM1 LIP showed selective association and internalization ex vivo using Ph-like ALL patient-derived xenograft (PDX) cells with minimal reactivity with non-target cells. Cell apoptosis assays demonstrated the CRLF2-dependent potency of CRLF2-DM1 LIP in Ph-like ALL cell lines. This study is the first to highlight the therapeutic potential of a CRLF2-directed scFv-Fc-liposomal conjugate for targeting Ph-like ALL.

Effect of different timings of umbilical cord clamping on the level of CD34+ cells in full-term neonates.

Despite the fact that delayed cord clamping (DCC) is recommended by many international organizations, early cord clamping is still widely practiced worldwide. The overarching goal of the DCC practice is to maximize neonatal benefits as achieving higher hemoglobin levels and decreasing the incidence of anemia as well as avoiding the adverse consequences. The current study was conducted to identify the effect of of DCC on the number of CD34+ stem cells in cord blood of full term neonates after two different timings (30 and 60 s after birth). One hundred and three full-term (FT) newborn babies (gestational age 37-40 weeks) delivered by elective cesarean section were randomly assigned into 2 groups: Group 1: babies were subjected to DCC 30 s after birth (50 newborns). Group 2: babies were subjected to DCC 60 s after birth (53 newborns). Neonates in group 2 had significantly higher levels of hemoglobin, hematocrit, total nucleated cells and CD34+ cells compared to those in group 1. The practice of DCC 60 s after birth achieved better CD34+ stem cells transfer in FT neonates than clamping the cord after 30 s.

Clover microgreen incorporation in diet-controlled diabetes and counteracted aflatoxicosis of rats.

Diabetes mellitus is one of the chronic metabolic diseases whose control remains a challenge. Its increased incidence was mainly attributed to increased environmental contamination. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the effect of feeding clover microgreen (CM) on a diabetes model with or without aflatoxin exposure. Rats were distributed into 8 groups. G1 was a control group. G2 was fed CM. G3 was administered aflatoxin orally. G4 was fed clover and administered aflatoxin. G5 was diabetic rats. G6 was diabetic rats fed CM. G7 was diabetic rats administered aflatoxin. G8 was diabetic rats administered aflatoxin and fed CM. Phytochemical analysis of the CM showed that gardenin was the most common compound. The administration of aflatoxin aggravated diabetes. The groups fed CM showed a decreased glucose concentration compared to the unfed groups. Liver and kidney function parameters were improved by CM. The histopathological alteration of the pancreas, liver, and kidneys was relieved in CM-fed groups. The area % of insulin in islets of Langerhans was increased in CM-fed groups. Feeding CM also enhanced the oxidative stress biomarkers. In conclusion, CM improved all evaluated parameters in diabetic rats either exposed to aflatoxin or not compared to the control.

Cold-induced urticaria after black ant bite anaphylaxis.

INTRODUCTION: Acquired cold-induced urticaria is a form of physical urticaria that is usually spontaneous. However, reports have shown that bees, wasps, or jellyfish stings can trigger it. We report the first case of cold-induced urticaria following black ant bite-induced anaphylaxis. CASE REPORT: A 41-year-old lady with no chronic illness with a known black ant bite allergy history. Three years ago, she sustained a black ant bite that required an emergency room visit to treat anaphylaxis. A few days later, she developed attacks of generalized hives on exposure to cold air and objects. She was started on desloratadine tablets which controlled her symptoms. The patient was given EpiPen and instructed to avoid black ants' approach and exposure to cold. She was then followed up in our clinic. DISCUSSIONS AND CONCLUSIONS: Acquired cold-induced urticaria is a form of physical chronic inducible urticaria. Physical urticarias account for 25 % of chronic urticarias. The patient can have wheals, angioedema, or both in response to the cold exposure. Symptoms can be mild or severe, limiting the patient's quality of life. Acquired cold urticaria is idiopathic; however, cases have been reported after different triggers, such as insect stings (bees, wasps, and jellyfish). The black Samsum ant is a recognized trigger of allergic reactions in Qatar and the Gulf region. In a study done in Qatar, 23.5% of anaphylaxis cases were due to black ant stings. There are no validated or standardized skin tests or immunotherapy for the black Samsum ant, which necessitates physicians to be careful in assessing such patients and focus on taking a detailed history. The limitation of testing and immune therapy makes history the tool for diagnosis, and avoidance is the mainstay of treatment.

Macro, Micro, and Nano-Inspired Bioactive Polymeric Biomaterials in Therapeutic, and Regenerative Orofacial Applications.

Introducing dental polymers has accelerated biotechnological research, advancing tissue engineering, biomaterials development, and drug delivery. Polymers have been utilized effectively in dentistry to build dentures and orthodontic equipment and are key components in the composition of numerous restorative materials. Furthermore, dental polymers have the potential to be employed for medication administration and tissue regeneration. To analyze the influence of polymer-based investigations on practical medical trials, it is required to evaluate the research undertaken in this sector. The present review aims to gather evidence on polymer applications in dental, oral, and maxillofacial reconstruction.

A cross-sectional study from Qatar on the effect of influenza vaccination on the severity of COVID-19.

To assess and compare the severity of corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection in patients with and without a history of influenza vaccination. In this cross-sectional study descriptive statistics were used to analyze COVID-19-related parameters, including demographics, comorbidities, and severity. Normally distributed data with mean, standard deviation, and 95% confidence interval (CI) were reported, while non-normally distributed data was presented with median and inter-quartile range. Categorical data was summarized using frequencies and percentages. Associations were assessed using Pearson Chi-square, Fisher Exact, t test, or Mann-Whitney U test. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression methods were used to evaluate the relationship between disease severity, clinical outcomes, influenza vaccination status, and other predictors. Significance was considered for p values < 0.05. Statistical analyses were done using SPSS V.27.0 (IBM Corp) and Epi Info (CDC) software. Between March 2020 and December 2020 before the availability of COVID-19 vaccination, 148,215 severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus 2 positive patients were studied, with 3519 vaccinated against influenza, and 144,696 unvaccinated. After random sampling at 1:2 ratio, the final analysis included 3234 vaccinated and 5640 unvaccinated patients. The majority (95.4%) had mild or asymptomatic COVID-19, while 4.6% had severe or critical cases as defined by World Health Organization severity grading. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that the vaccinated group had significantly less severe (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 0.683; 95% CI 0.513-0.911, P = .009) and critical (adjusted OR 0.345; 95% CI 0.145-0.822, P = .016) COVID-19 and were less likely to require oxygen therapy (adjusted OR 0.696; 95% CI 0.531-0.912, P = .009) after adjusting for confounders like age, gender and comorbidities. No significant differences in Intensive care unit admissions (adjusted OR 0.686; 95% CI 0.425-1.11, P = .122), mechanical ventilation (adjusted OR 0.631; 95% CI 0.308-1.295, P = .209) and mortality (adjusted OR 1.105; 95% CI 0.348-3.503, P = .866) were noted between the 2 groups. Influenza vaccination may significantly reduce the severity of COVID-19 but has no significant effect on intensive care unit admissions, mechanical ventilation and all- cause mortality.

AI-Based Cancer Detection Model for Contrast-Enhanced Mammography.

BACKGROUND: The recent development of deep neural network models for the analysis of breast images has been a breakthrough in computer-aided diagnostics (CAD). Contrast-enhanced mammography (CEM) is a recent mammography modality providing anatomical and functional imaging of the breast. Despite the clinical benefits it could bring, only a few research studies have been conducted around deep-learning (DL) based CAD for CEM, especially because the access to large databases is still limited. This study presents the development and evaluation of a CEM-CAD for enhancing lesion detection and breast classification. MATERIALS & METHODS: A deep learning enhanced cancer detection model based on a YOLO architecture has been optimized and trained on a large CEM dataset of 1673 patients (7443 images) with biopsy-proven lesions from various hospitals and acquisition systems. The evaluation was conducted using metrics derived from the free receiver operating characteristic (FROC) for the lesion detection and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) to evaluate the overall breast classification performance. The performances were evaluated for different types of image input and for each patient background parenchymal enhancement (BPE) level. RESULTS: The optimized model achieved an area under the curve (AUROC) of 0.964 for breast classification. Using both low-energy and recombined image as inputs for the DL model shows greater performance than using only the recombined image. For the lesion detection, the model was able to detect 90% of all cancers with a false positive (non-cancer) rate of 0.128 per image. This study demonstrates a high impact of BPE on classification and detection performance. CONCLUSION: The developed CEM CAD outperforms previously published papers and its performance is comparable to radiologist-reported classification and detection capability.

Double-balloon catheter vs dinoprostone (PGE-2) insert for labour induction: A meta-analysis of 2493 pregnancies.

Induction of labor (IOL) is the stimulation of the uterus during pregnancy to begin the onset of labour. Nearly two of five pregnancies require IOL. We compared the effectiveness of double-balloon catheter (DBC) with dinoprostone (PGE-2) insert for labour induction from previous studies. We included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that compared the safety and efficacy of DBC to PGE-2. To evaluate the studies, we utilized the Cochrane tool for risk of bias assessment. The rates of vaginal birth and cesarean section were the primary outcomes. We included ten RCTs in this meta-analysis with a total sample of 2493 singleton pregnancies. After 24 hours, there was no significant difference in the delivery rates between DBC and PGE-2 s [R.R=1.08, 95% CI, (0.77, 1.52), P.value=0.65], and the rate of cesarean delivery [R.R=1.03, 95% CI, (0.90; 1.18), P.value=0.65]. The DBC showed a significantly higher oxytocin use rate compared to the PGE-2 group [R.R=1.77, 95% CI, (1.41; 2.32), P.value<0.0001]. In the PGE-2 group, there was a significantly higher risk of uterine hyperstimulation, tachysystole, and umbilical artery PH levels below 7. There was no significant difference in the efficacy between the PGE-2 and DBC in terms of delivery rate in 24 hours and the rate of cesarean delivery except for a slight BISHOP score improvement with DBC. However, DBC showed a higher rate of oxytocin use compared to the PGE-2, the DBC seems to be safer with a lower risk of umbilical artery PH < 7, uterine hyperstimulation, and tachysystole incidence than PGE-2.

Pathological and biochemical evaluation of radish microgreen on diabetes and aflatoxicosis in rats.

Diabetes mellitus type 2 remains one of the common diseases nowadays. Several risk factors can be implicated like increased environmental pollution. This study is aimed at evaluating the toxic effect of aflatoxin on diabetes mellitus and possible protection using natural food like radish microgreen (RM). Forty-eight male rats were randomly assigned to 8 groups: G1 control group, G2 RM group, G3 aflatoxin group, G4 aflatoxin-RM group, G5 diabetic group, G6 diabetic RM group, G7 diabetic-aflatoxin group, G8 diabetic, aflatoxin, RM group. Phytane and citronellyl tiglate were the main phytochemicals present in RM. The glucose and insulin levels were the worst in G5 and G7 groups. RM feeding restored glucose level to normal but did not alter insulin level. Insulin resistance was decreased, and insulin sensitivity was increased in groups fed RM. Liver and kidney function parameters and LDH activity were improved in groups fed RM. Histopathology of the pancreas and immunohistochemistry of insulin in pancreatic islets was improved in groups fed RM. In RM fed groups, the MDA content was decreased, whereas GSH content and antioxidant enzymes activity were increased. In conclusion, feeding RM in diabetic and/or aflatoxicated groups improved all evaluated parameters which could be due to its antioxidant potential.

A systematic review and meta-analysis on the efficacy and safety of the Baska mask versus other laryngeal mask airways during general anaesthesia.

BACKGROUND: The Baska mask is a supraglottic airway device used during general anaesthesia that combines features from various other devices. This systematic review aims to compare its efficacy and safety with other laryngeal mask airways. METHODS: Randomised controlled trials were identified by searching PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science and Cochrane Library. RevMan software was used for meta-analysis, with mean difference and risk ratios calculated for continuous and dichotomous data, respectively, along with a 95% confidence interval. RESULTS: The meta-analysis found that the Baska mask provides a better oropharyngeal seal pressure (mean difference = 7.03; 95% confidence interval = [6.00, 8.07], p < 0.00001) and a higher rate of maximal seal pressure (risk ratio = 18.38; 95% confidence interval = [2.53, 133.47], p = 0.004) compared to other laryngeal mask airways. However, the Baska mask had lower success rates in first-attempt insertion (risk ratio = 0.79; 95% confidence interval = [0.72, 0.86], p < 0.00001) and higher rates of insertion manipulation (risk ratio = 16.64; 95% confidence interval = [5.86, 47.24], p < 0.00001). CONCLUSION: The Baska mask offers better oropharyngeal seal pressure, but may be more difficult to insert than other laryngeal mask airways, without causing significant delays. The Baska mask appears as safe as other laryngeal mask airways, but larger trials are needed to support these findings.

Antihelimentic effect of Androctonus crassicauda scorpion venom against Trichuris arvicolae isolated from Psammomys obesus in Egypt.

Trichuridae family has a genetic and morphological variability between species affecting rodents, but it is considerably hard to morphologically diagnose species within the genus of Trichuris and the individuals of these species are identified according to their host, as it is known that Trichuris spp. is strictly host-specific. However, some species lack host specificity. So, it is necessary to use molecular data in order to well identify the Trichuris spp. in Egyptian rodents. The host examined in the current research is Psammomys obesus and the molecularly identified species from its cecum is Trichuris arvicolae. In addition, Trichuris arvicolae was subjected to in vitro treatment with Androctonus crassicauda Crude Venom as a model of natural alternative treatment for gastrointestinal nematodes that increasingly develop anthelmintic drug resistance. The changes in Trichuris arvicolae were monitored using scanning electron microscopy, Androctonus crassicauda Crude Venom made a significant ultrastructural surface changes in Trichuris arvicolae, including marked cuticular sloughing, disintegrated bacillary glands, bursting of vulva and edema of anal region. This study was done for closer identification of Trichuris spp. infecting rodents in Egypt and evaluating the efficacy of Androctonus crassicauda Crude Venom in vitro.

Molecular characteristics and zoonotic potential of enteric protists in domestic dogs and cats in Egypt.

Introduction: Domestic dogs and cats can be a source of human infection by a wide diversity of zoonotic pathogens including parasites. Genotyping and subtyping tools are useful in assessing the true public health relevance of canine and feline infections by these pathogens. This study investigated the occurrence, genetic diversity, and zoonotic potential of common diarrhea-causing enteric protist parasites in household dogs and cats in Egypt, a country where this information is particularly scarce. Methods: In this prospective, cross-sectional study a total of 352 individual fecal samples were collected from dogs (n = 218) and cats (n = 134) in three Egyptian governorates (Dakahlia, Gharbeya, and Giza) during July-December 2021. Detection and identification of Cryptosporidium spp., Giardia duodenalis, Enterocytozoon bieneusi, and Blastocystis sp. were carried out by PCR and Sanger sequencing. Basic epidemiological variables (geographical origin, sex, age, and breed) were examined for association with occurrence of infection by enteric protists. Results and discussion: The overall prevalence rates of Cryptosporidium spp. and G. duodenalis were 1.8% (95% CI: 0.5-4.6) and 38.5% (95% CI: 32.0-45.3), respectively, in dogs, and 6.0% (95% CI: 2.6-11.4) and 32.1% (95% CI: 24.3-40.7), respectively, in cats. All canine and feline fecal samples analyzed tested negative for E. bieneusi and Blastocystis sp. Dogs from Giza governorate and cats from Dakahlia governorate were at higher risk of infection by Cryptosporidium spp. (p = 0.0006) and G. duodenalis (p = 0.00001), respectively. Sequence analyses identified host-adapted Cryptosporidium canis (n = 4, one of them belonging to novel subtype XXe2) and G. duodenalis assemblages C (n = 1) and D (n = 3) in dogs. In cats the zoonotic C. parvum (n = 5) was more prevalent than host-adapted C. felis (n = 1). Household dogs had a limited (but not negligible) role as source of human giardiasis and cryptosporidiosis, but the unexpected high frequency of zoonotic C. parvum in domestic cats might be a public health concern. This is the first molecular-based description of Cryptosporidium spp. infections in cats in the African continent to date. Molecular epidemiological data provided here can assist health authorities and policy makers in designing and implementing effective campaigns to minimize the transmission of enteric protists in Egypt.