No abstract

Cryptosporidiosis and toxoplasmosis are diseases caused by opportunistic coccidial parasites that can lead to life-threatening infection in immunocompromised patients. We evaluated dehydroepiandrosterone as prophylaxis and therapy in immunosuppressed mice infected with Cryptosporidium parvum and avirulent Toxoplasma gondii. Mice were infected with either Cryptosporidium oocysts or Toxoplasma cysts. Assessment was by mortality rates, parasitic counts and electron microscopic studies. Mortality rates were significantly reduced in all treated groups. A significant reduction in the cryptosporidial oocyst count in stool and intestinal villi and in Toxoplasma cysts in the brains of infected mice was observed in all the groups. The effect of the drug was greater when given prior to infection.

Background: Hypersensitivity to Anisakis species is a worldwide medical problem. The aim of this study was to detect the immunological response in experimental mice, through measurement of Immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies in their lymphocytes by flow cytometry, following the ingestion of Anisakis crude antigen.Method: Sixty Swiss albino mice were divided equally into control and experimental groups and each of them were further subdivided into five subgroups, six mice each. The percentage of IgE antibodies was measured in the lymphocytes of their splenic suspensions at zero, 1 st , 3 rd , 5 th and 7 th weeks post inoculation using Fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) anti -mouse IgE and were analyzed on a FACS Calibur flow cytometer Becton Dickinson equipped with an argon-ion laser apparatus operating at 488 nm. Results:The percentage of IgE antibodies was enhanced in lymphocytes of animals exposed to Anisakis antigen from the first week, peaking three weeks following initial exposure, starting a decline by week five and decreased more by the seventh week, as compared to the control group. Conclusion:The results obtained from this study proved the efficacy of flow cytometry in detecting the sensitization against Anisakis species through the measurement of IgE antibodies.

This study evaluated the utility of SYBR Green real-time PCR for simultaneous detection and differentiation of microsporidial infections in hundred stool samples of immunosuppressed patients in comparison to the modified trichrome stain, and in relation to the age, sex, and different causes of immunosuppression of the patients. DNA was extracted using ISOLATE Faecal DNA Kit and amplification was performed in a light cycler using a Sen-siFAST TM SYBRHi-ROX PCR kit using MsRTf1 and MsRTr1 primers. Of 100 stool samples routinely analysed for microsporidian spores, 49 were positive by microscopy. By measuring the spore size using micrometre, determination of the species of the positive cases was 17 Encephalitozoon intestinalis, 15 Enterocytozoon bieneusi, 11 Encephalitozoon hellem, and six Encephalitozoon cuniculi based on the reference spores' size of each species. By SYBR Green real-time PCR, 55 stool samples were positive for microspoidial DNA upon determination of their specific melting curves, comprising 16 Encephalitozoon cuniculi, 14 Encephalitozoon hellem, 13 Encephalitozoon intestinalis, 10 Enterocytozoon bieneusi, and two unspecified species with melting temperature of 84.2018 and 84.903˚C. There was a positive agreement reaching 84 % between both techniques as regard the number of positive cases. Moreover, real-time PCR was superior over microscopy in species identification with statistically significant difference between both methods. However, there was no statistically significant difference between patients' age, sex and causes of immunosuppression with different Microsporidia species detected by real-time PCR. Thus, SYBR Green real-time PCR can be considered a fast and reliable method for detection and identification of Microsporidia species.

e290 14th International Congress on Infectious Diseases (ICID) Abstracts were immunoreactive with significantly higher number of samples. Conclusion: The sensitivity and specificity of 2D-PAGE EITB assay were higher than that reported earlier with the use of lentil lectin purified glycoprotein antigenic fractions EITB assay, which is considered the gold standard serodiagnostic method for neurocysticercosis.