Background: Trichinella spiralis causes trichinosis through ingestion of pork contaminated by its infective larvae, resulting in intestinal and muscular phases of infection in the same host. Stem cells (SCs) treat some diseases due to their capacity for trans-differentiation and immunomodulation. Objective: To assess the therapeutic impact of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) during intestinal and muscular stages in T. spiralis-experimentally infected mice; used alone as monotherapy or combined with mebendazole (MBZ). Material and Methods: Forty albino mice were used to obtain bone marrow MSCs. Another 100 albino mice were divided into 2 groups 50 mice each simulating intestinal (a) and muscular (b) phases. Each group was further subdivided into 5 subgroups, 10 mice each as follows: G1a and G1b: negative non infected control; G2a and G2b: positive infected control; G3a and G3b: infected and MBZ treated; G4a and G4b: infected and MSCs tested; and G5a and G5b: infected and combined MBZ and MSCs therapy tested. Mice of intestinal phase were sacrificed on 7 th day post-infection (PI) while mice of muscular phase were sacrificed on 49 th day PI. Assessment was done by parasitological assessment (the number of adult worms in the intestine in groups (a) and the number of encysted larvae in the diaphragm in groups (b); histopathological and histochemical assessment of all groups using hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) and Feulgen stains of different mice tissues and ultrastructural assessment using transmission electron microscope (TEM). Results: The combined therapy was potent; it showed the highest significant reduction in the number of intestinal worms and encysted muscular larvae with preservation of the different tissues elements as investigated by different stains and TEM. Conclusion:MSCs can be used as additive/synergistic therapy in the treatment of trichinosis.

Background. Food-borne parasites are major sources of human and animal illness, posing severe health risks in places with contaminated soil, poor water quality, cleanliness, and poor sanitation. The usage of untreated organic fertilizers arising from the excreta of the parasites’ definitive hosts either man or animal pollutes the agricultural soil and is reflected in its products of vegetables and green fodders causing serious health problems. Therefore, to the best of our knowledge, this will be the first study that investigated the combination of parasitic contamination of the agricultural soil and its products of raw eaten vegetables and green fodder in East Nile Delta, Egypt. Aim. The purpose of this study was to investigate the type and degree of contamination caused by parasites in regularly used raw vegetables, green fodder, and soil samples collected from open fields in Egypt’s East Nile Delta. Study Procedures. A cross-sectional study comprised a simple random collection of 400 soil samples, 180 green fodder samples, and as well as 400 vegetable samples, including lettuce, radish, coriander, parsley, dill, watercress, tomatoes, green pepper, cucumber, and carrot, that were gathered throughout one year period from January to December 2021 to represent all seasons (winter, spring, summer, and autumn). The research locations were chosen from various open green fields and farming regions in Egypt’s East Nile Delta producing ready-to-eat vegetables for human consumptions and planting green fodder for animal feeding. Concentrations, including sedimentation, and flotation, and staining techniques were used to recover the greatest number of parasitic life forms. The parasitic structures discovered were identified using biometric and imaging data and compared with known parasite morphology. Statistical analysis was performed with the SPSS software version 22 (IBM, Chicago, IL, USA). Data were presented in numbers and percentages. P -values equal to or less than 0.05 were considered to be statistically significant. The difference in parasitic contamination among the different categories was compared using the chi-square test. Results. In this investigation, 243 out of 400 soil samples (60.7%) confirmed positive for parasitic contamination ( P < 0.05 ). Various parasitic life forms were significantly found in 249 out of 400 (62.25%) of the vegetable samples, with (65.1%) of them harboring one parasite species, whereas 9.2% significantly contained up to three parasites. Ascaris eggs, Trichuris eggs, and Giardia cysts were the most prevalent parasites, which were predominantly isolated from vegetables with uneven surfaces. 109 of 180 (60.0%) green fodder samples confirmed insignificantly positive for parasitic pollution. The proportion of parasite contamination in vegetable samples was insignificant although the highest was in spring (29.3%), followed by summer (27.7%), whereas it is significant in autumn (24.5%). The prevalence rate was the lowest in winter (20.1%). Conclusion and Recommendations. Our findings demonstrated a significant load of parasites notably the soil-transmitted parasitic infection in raw vegetables and green fodder cultivated in open fields as well as in their mother soil in the east of the Nile Delta, Egypt. These results confirm the urgent need to deploy strict control measures to the soil, especially during the pre-harvest period of raw eaten vegetables and green fodder, a critical step in reducing food-borne transmission of soil-transmitted parasites to man and animals.

A newly reported trematode Sclerodistomum aegyptiaca was isolated from lizardfishes collected from the Suez Gulf (Taha and Ramadan, 2017). Two monogenean gill parasites, Diclidophora merlangi and Loxuroides pricei were recorded in lizardfishes of the Red Sea (Morsy et al., 2018). The ectoparasitic isopod Gnathia sp. was discovered on lizardfish collected from the Syrian coasts (Hassan et al., 2018). The genus Oncodiscus was revised by Khalil and Abu-Hakima, (1985) in lizardfishes collected from Kuwait Bay and Australian waters. O. sauridae was recorded firstly within lizardfishes collected from the Indo-Pacific (Kuchta et al., 1997). Order Bothriocephalidea includes mainly intestinal parasites of teleost fish and has four families (Kuchta et al., 2008). Four species were recorded belonging to the genus Oncodiscus, namely; O. fimbriatus, O. waltairensis and O. maharashtrae in addition to O. sauridae (Jadhav and Shinde, 1981).Spermatogenesis and ultrastructure of the sperms of O. sauridae from the lizardfish have been investigated (Škoípvá et al., 2011). Studying the flatworm's teguments have been attracted the attention of helminthologists in the last few decades and Investigating microtriches types has a taxonomic significance (Radwana et al., 2014). No previous ultrastructural studies have been carried out on O. sauridae at Egypt. The present study aimed to research the fine cellular constructions of the body wall of this intestinal cestode infecting lizardfishes collected from Suez Gulf, Egypt. The present ultrastructural study may supply useful information for recognizing the biology of this bothriocephalidean cestode. MATERIALS AND METHODS Fresh Lizardfishes were obtained from local fishermen at Suez Gulf during 2019. Fishes were transferred and dissected in the laboratory. Living O. sauridae tapeworms were handled carefully from fish intestines and immediately rinsed in saline solution (0.9% NaCl). Mature proglottids were separated and fixed with 2.5% glutaraldehyde in 0.1 M cacodylate buffer at pH 7.4 for 2 days. They were washed overnight in 0.1 M sodium cacodylate buffer, post fixed in cold (4°C) 2% osmium tetra oxide in the same buffer for 1 h, dehydrated in graded series of ethanol and embedded in Epon resin. Ultrathin sections (60-90 nm in thickness) were mounted on copper grids and stained with uranyl acetate and lead citrate (Reynolds, 1963). Grids were examined in JEOL 100 CX TEM at the Electron Microscopy Unit, Faculty of Agriculture, El-Mansoura University, Egypt. RESULTS 1-Ultrastructure of the distal cytoplasm (syntegument) 1.1. Microtriches The external surface of syntegument dressing the mature proglottids of O. sauridae is wrapped with two different kinds of hair-like microtriches which are classified into:-A-Filitriches: two main types of filamentous microtriches devoid of terminal spines were detected:- Acicular or pin-shaped filitriches: have tubular and straight shafts (0.62 µm l-0.12 µm w) composed of an electron-dense cortex and electron-lucent medulla (Figs. 1, 2, 3).

HE CURRENT study compared the same food products that were produced in a lab to random samples of street food sold in two cities (Tanta and Kafr-Elzayat) in the Gharbia governorate of Egypt. These foods included animal-based items e.g., chicken shawarma, beef shawarma, hawaweshi, and plant-based items like Taamia and Koshary. Samples were gathered and chemically analyzed to determine their moisture, protein, fat, ash, and carbohydrate content. Results of heavy metal assessment showed that both plant-based and animal-based street-vendor foods had cadmium and lead content that were higher than the EOS-permitted levels (2005). Regarding the area, Kafr-Elzayat city and Tanta city showed the greatest levels of cadmium and lead contamination, respectively. As street vendors add low-cost and subpar components at varying percentages to increase their profits, the acquired results showed that the mean values in the tested samples were considerably different from laboratory products to street products.

A new record of Lamproglenine copepods, Lamproglena pulchella were collected from the gills of cyprinid freshwater fish Leuciscus vorax from the Tigris River, Iraq in order to investigate the morphological and functional characteristics of their appendages using scanning electron microscope. A maxilliped appears robust, and bears at its apex two subequal curving, claw-like spines. First legs were with a small protuberance on medial margin of the sympod near the base; endopod apparently unsegmented, exopod indistinctly two-segmented, with several setae on lateral margin and single stout seta on apex. Second legs have two segmented rami; endopod unarmed and exopod with single seta on lateral margin of basal segment and three setae at apex. Third and fourth pairs of appendages were similar, with alike rami and with only two setae at the apex of exopod. These appendages are thought to serve as a holdfast for attachment on the gill filament of the tigris fish. Cuticular differentiations found on the body surface of L. pulchella play a secondary role in the attachment of the copepod on its host. Current study microscopy shows that the maxillae of L. pulchella are characteristically prehensile and thus provides an efficient tool for the attachment to the host tissue.

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Porrorchis indicus is an endoparasite of the Egyptian birds, Centropus Senegalensis aegyptius. This parasite causes damage to the gut wall of the infected birds. Spermiogenesis and sperm ultrastructure have been widely used in the phylogeny of parasitic platyhelminthic and acanthocephalan worms. However, there are limited ultrastructural data available on spermiogenesis and the spermatozoon on the acanthocephalan family, plagiorhynchidae to which P. indicus belongs. The present study investigated the ultrastructure features of the different stages of P. indicus spermiogenesis. The morphology and anatomy of the spermatozoa was described in comparison with the previous reports. Different ultrathin sections of the body of P. indicus (testes and vas deferens) were cut using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to describe the different stages of the spermiogenesis as well as both morphology and anatomy of spermatozoa.The results showed that the primary spermatocystes of P. indicus was rounded shape with large rounded nuclei and high nucleocytoplasmic ratio. The secondary spermatocystes showed nearly ovoid shape; each possessed a small nucleus and numerous mitochondria. The early spermatid possessed a large nucleus and contained a single centriole. The early spermatid showed a posterior bulb in which the centriole had a flagellum with 9+0 pattern surrounded by a plasma membrane it changed into 9+2 pattern. The cytoplasmic canal is characterized by a ring form which appeared around the axoneme. The anterior extremity of the spermatozoa showed the presence of the centriolar derivative that had three different stages. The first is made of nine peripheral elements. The second is of nine peripheral and one central element. The third showed nine peripheral and two central elements. The centriolar derivative is followed by a flagellum with a 9+2 pattern. In mature spermatozoa, protein granules different sizes, numbers and shapes were recognized.

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