Epidemiological and molecular data on community acquired methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) are still scarce in both Egypt and Saudi Arabia. There is almost no data regarding methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) prevalence in both countries. This study was conducted to investigate the prevalence and molecular epidemiology of S. aureus and MRSA nasal carriage among outpatients attending primary health care centers in two big cities in both countries. A total of 206 nasal swabs were obtained, 103 swabs from each country. S. aureus isolates were characterized by antibiotic susceptibility, presence of mecA and PVL genes, SCCmec-typing and spa typing, the corresponding Multi locus sequence typing clonal complex was assigned for each spa type based on Ridom StaphType database. MRSA was detected in 32% of the Egyptian outpatients while it was found in 25% of the Saudi Arabian outpatients. All MRSA isolates belonged to SCCmec type V and IVa, where some isolates in Saudi Arabia remained nontypeable. Surprisingly PVL(+) isolates were low in frequency: 15% of MRSA Egyptian isolates and 12% of MRSA isolates in Saudi Arabia. Two novel spa types were detected t11839 in Egypt, and t11841 in Saudi Arabia. We found 8 spa types among 20 isolates from Egypt, and 12 spa types out of 15 isolates from Saudi Arabia. Only two spa types t008 and t223 coexisted in both countries. Four clonal complexes (CC5, CC8, CC22, and CC80) were identified in both Egypt and Saudi Arabia. However, the data collected lacked a representation of isolates from different parts of each country as only one health center from each country was included, it still partially illustrates the CA-MRSA situation in both countries. In conclusion a set of control measures is required to prevent further increase in MRSA prevalence.

Generation of free radicals in kidney cortex plays an important role in the pathogenesis of gentamicin (GM) nephrotoxicity, and curcumin, the yellow curry pigment isolated from turmeric, has been confirmed to have a strong antioxidant action. Therefore, in the present work, we aimed at testing the possible protective or palliative effect of curcumin on GM nephrotoxicity. Curcumin was given to rats at an oral dose of 200 mg/kg/day for 10 days, and in some of these rats GM was also injected intramuscularly at a dose of 80 mg/kg/day during the last 6 days of the treatment. Nephrotoxicity was evaluated histopathologically by light microscopy, and biochemically by measuring the concentrations of creatinine and urea in serum, and reduced glutathione (GSH) concentration and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity in renal cortex. The concentration of GM in renal cortex was measured microbiologically. GM significantly increased the concentrations of urea and creatinine (P < 0.05) by about 111 and 97%, respectively. GM treatment reduced cortical GSH concentration by about 31% (P < 0.05), and the activity of SOD by about 27% (P < 0.05). Curcumin significantly mitigated these effects. Sections from saline and curcumin-treated rats showed apparently normal proximal tubules. However, kidneys of GM-treated rats had a moderate degree of necrosis. The degree of necrosis appeared lessened when GM was given simultaneously with curcumin. The concentration of GM in the renal cortex of the rats given GM + curcumin was significantly (P < 0.05) lower than that found in rats treated with GM alone by about 39%. The results suggested that curcumin had ameliorated the histopathological and biochemical indices of nephrotoxicity in rats. Pending further studies, curcumin may potentially be useful as a nephroprotectant agent.

Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis ( M. ap ) is the causative agent of paratuberculosis or Johne's disease (JD) in herbivores with potential involvement in cases of Crohn's disease in humans. JD is spread worldwide and is economically important for both beef and dairy industries. Generally, pathogenic ovine strains ( M. ap -S) are mainly found in sheep while bovine strains ( M. ap -C) infect other ruminants (e.g. cattle, goat, deer), as well as sheep. In an effort to characterize this emerging infection in dromedary/Arabian camels, we successfully cultured M. ap from several samples collected from infected camels suffering from chronic, intermittent diarrhea suggestive of JD. Gene-based typing of isolates indicated that all isolates belong to sheep lineage of strains of M. ap ( M. ap -S), suggesting a putative transmission from infected sheep herds. Screening sheep and goat herds associated with camels identified the circulation of this type in sheep but not goats. The current genome-wide analysis recognizes these camel isolates as a sub-lineage of the sheep strain with a significant number of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) between sheep and camel isolates (∼1000 SNPs). Such polymorphism could represent geographical differences among isolates or host adaptation of M. ap during camel infection. To our knowledge, this is the first attempt to examine the genomic basis of this emerging infection in camels with implications on the evolution of this important pathogen. The sequenced genomes of M. ap isolates from camels will further assist our efforts to understand JD pathogenesis and the dynamic of disease transmission across animal species.

Camels are the prime source of meat and milk in many desert regions of the world including Saudi Arabia. Paratuberculosis of camels, locally called Silag, is a serious and invariably fatal disease in the Arabian camel. Six camels were used in this study. Five camels with clinical paratuberculosis were used to study the pathology of the disease and confirm its aetiology. The sixth camel was clinically healthy and used as a control. The camels were examined clinically and bled for haematological and blood chemistry analysis. They were then humanely killed with a high intravenous dose of thiopental sodium (10 mg/kg) for pathological studies as well as obtaining tissues for microbiological and molecular studies. The clinical signs of the disease were emaciation, diarrhoea, alopecia, wry neck and pale mucous membranes. Laboratory diagnosis showed reduced haemoglobin concentration, low haematocrit and high activity of the serum enzyme alanine aminotransferase. Serum creatinine concentration was normal. These results indicated the infected camels were anaemic and the function of their livers was affected. Postmortem examination showed thickened and corrugated intestinal mucosa, enlarged granulomatous mesenteric lymph nodes, miliary and diffuse granulomas in the liver (in four camels), generalized lymph node granulomas (in one camel), splenic granuloma (in one camel) and mediastinal lymph node granuloma (in two camels). Histopathological examination showed diffuse infiltration of macrophages in all organs showing lesions. Ziehl-Neelsen staining of tissue scraping and tissue sections showed masses of acid fast bacilli, except for the spleen. Infection with Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis was confirmed by PCR by targeting the IS900 gene.

Abstract:The effect of treatment of rats with gentamicin (80 mg/kg/day for 6 days), oral doses of spironolacatone (20 mg/kg/day for 6 days), and the combined treatment (spironolactone π gentamicin) on renal histology and reduced glutathione (GSH) concentration, and some serum constituents indicative of kidney function were studied. The serum concentrations of creatinine and urea were not significantly affected by spironolactone treatment, but were significantly elevated (PϽ0.05) by gentamicin administration. The antibiotic treatment also reduced GSH concentration and caused a moderate renal cortical necrosis. However, rats exposed to spironolactone π gentamicin revealed drastic increases in the serum urea and creatinine concentrations amounting to about 1.8 and 2.1 times those of rats treated with gentamicin alone, respectively. The histological examination of slides of the renal cortex of rats exposed to the combined drugs exhibited more extensive necrosis in the tubules when compared to those treated with gentamicin alone. The reduction in GSH induced by gentamicin was unaffected by the concomitant treatment of gentamicin and spironolactone. The concentration of gentamicin accumulated in the renal cortex was significantly larger (twofold) in rats treated concomitantly with spironolactone π gentamicin than in rats treated with gentamicin alone. The present results indicate that spironolactone aggravates gentamicin-induced nephrotoxicity in the rat.Gentamicin is an important aminoglycoside antibiotic that is commonly used in serious and life-threatening Gramnegative infections. However, its usefulness is limited by nephrotoxicity, which may occur in 13-30% of treated patients (Mathew 1992;Paterson et al. 1998). This prompted a surge in research into the possible influences of certain agents that can ameliorate or potentiate the nephrotoxicity of gentamicin (Mingeot-Leclerq & Tulkens 1999;Ali 2003). Examples of the agents that can potentiate gentamicin nephrotoxicity are iron (Ben-Ismail et al. 1994), the immunosuppressive agent cyclosporine (Fashola et al. 2000), the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor captopril (Ali et al. 1993a), the anti-thyroid drug carbamizole , the Ca ππ -channel blockers dilitiazam (Ali et al. 1993b) and verapamil (Ali et al. 2002) and the diuretic furosemide (Adelman et al. 1979). Recently, it has been reported that the nephrotoxicity of cisplatin is significantly augmented by co-administration of gentamicin with the diuretic spironolactone (Ahmida et al. 2001). As far as we are aware this is the only published report on interaction between spiranolactone and a nephrotoxic agent. In the present work we have attempted to find out if concomitant treatment of rats with spironolactone would influence the nephrotoxicity of gentamicin. As both drugs are fairly commonly used, such an interaction may be of some clinical significance if the two agents are combined. Materials and MethodsAnimals. Twenty-four healthy male Wistar rats (initial body weight of about 160 g) maintained on nut...

Concurrent infection with bovine leukaemia virus (BLV) and Theileria annulata was diagnosed in a Friesian calf about 6 months of age at a dairy farm at the Qassim region of central Saudi Arabia. The disease ended fatally with signs of liver and heart failure. There was anorexia, pyrexia, anaemia, generalized oedema and jaundice. Haematology showed low RBC counts, PCV percentage and haemoglobin concentration and WBC counts. Lymphocyte differential was high. Examination of blood smears stained with Giemsa's stain showed the presence of piroplasms in red blood cells. Autopsy showed enlarged lymph nodes and lymphosarcoma lesions in the omentum and the heart. There was hydroperitoneum, hydropericardium and hydrothorax. The liver was pale yellow and friable. Impression smears from sliced lymph nodes and stained with Giemsa's stain showed presence of Koch's blue bodies in lymphoblasts. Histopathological examination revealed fatty degeneration of hepatocytes and pleomorphic lymphoblasts and giant cells in lymph nodes. Lymphoblasts infiltrated the omentum and heart tissues. Amyloid was found around blood vessels in the liver, kidneys and lymph nodes. BVL infection was diagnosed by demonstrating antibodies against the virus in serum using agar gel immunodiffusion and was confirmed with ELISA.

We aimed to investigate Mycoplasma infections among chicken flocks (Ross, Lohmann and native) in Giza, Egypt, using serological tests, including the slide plate agglutination (SPA) test, hemagglutination inhibition (HI) test, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The slide plate agglutination examination, a serological test, indicated the prevalence of Mg and Ms infections of 10.9% and 13.2%, respectively. On 91 SPA test positive serum samples for either Mg or Ms, a passive hemagglutination/hemagglutination inhibition (HI) test was performed. The SPA and HI test findings were found to be comparable. On 90 SPA test positive samples, an ELISA was performed using commercial kits for Mg and Ms serodiagnosis. According to the ELISA data, only 83.33% and 18.88% of SPA test positive samples were confirmed as positive for Ms and Mg infections, respectively. The prevalence increased to 84.44% and 77.77%, respectively, when suspected samples were deemed positive.

A total of 78 rabbits representing two genetic groups of V-line and crossbred of V-line x Saudi Gabali were used to evaluate dietary treatments containing discarded dates (DD) for post-weaning growth performance‚ feed consumption and conversion‚ carcass characteristics, caecal parameters, and blood constituents. In the control diet (C), no DD was added‚ while in the other diets DD were incorporated to replace partially barley‚ wheat bran‚ molasses and corn by 15% (D15 diet) or 30% (D30 diet). Feed conversion ratio at interval of 4-12 weeks was significantly in favour of the control diet. Carcass traits and caecal parameters were not significantly affected by any of the 3 dietary treatments. Total caecal bacterial count was significantly increased in favour of rabbits fed D30. Crude protein, ether extract and ash in the lean were in favour of the diets containing 15 or 30% DD; indicating an improvement of 5.3 or 3.9% in crude protein and 7.3 or 14.4% in ash relative to the control diet, respectively. Rabbits fed D30 recorded a significant decrease in the plasma cholesterol. Crossbred rabbits were heavier in body weights and gains than that of the V-line rabbits. Feed conversion ratios were in favour of V-line rabbits. Fat in carcass and meat to bone ratio in crossbred rabbits were significantly higher than that in V-line rabbits, while percentages of the lean and bone in V-line carcasses were higher. Caecal bacterial count in crossbred rabbits was lower than that in V-line rabbits. Carcass traits, tissues compositions, caecal parameters and blood constituents were significantly affected by interaction of dietary treatments with genetic groups, while most of the lean constituents were not affected. Crossbred rabbits fed D30 conversed feed lesser (2.57) than crossbred rabbits fed the other two dietary treatments since feed conversion ratio was 2.48 for C diet and 2.49 for D15 diet. But‚ V-line rabbits fed C diet conversed better (2.95) than V-line rabbits fed D15 or D30 since feed conversion ratio was 3.29 for D15 and 3.04 for D30.