Immunological status of some edible fishes exposed to parasitic infections in relation to heavy metals pollution

Khalefa, Hanan S.; Attia, Marwa M.; Abdelsalam, Mohamed; Mahmoud, Mahmoud; Ewiss, M. A. Zaki

doi:10.1007/s12639-022-01479-1

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…This intestinal fluke can be transmitted by consuming infected fish intermediate hosts. Prohemistomum vivax intermediate hosts include a variety of fresh and brackish water fish, such as Tilapia zilli, Tilapia nilotica, Clarias gariepinus, Clarias lazera, Chrysichthys auratus, Bagrus bayad, Barbus binny, Ctenopharyngodon idella, Gambusia affinis, Shilbe mystus, Hydrocyon sp., Atherina sp., Alestes sp., Eutropius sp., Schilbe sp., Mugil capito, and Mugil cephalus (2,(4)(5)(6)(7). Fish with metacercarial infection display myositis, muscle pressure atrophy, respiratory distress, excessive mucus, scale loss, and spots on affected tissues, with significant economic losses (7,8).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Immune pathogenesis in pigeons during experimental Prohemistomum vivax infection

et al. 2022

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Prohemistomum vivax is a small trematode belonging to the family Cyathocotylidae, infecting fish-eating birds and mammals, including humans. However, no data on molecular identification and immune pathogenesis are available, challenging effective diagnostic and therapeutic interventions. Here, we identified P. vivax based on combined morphological and molecular data and examined histopathological lesions and the differential cytokines expression in experimentally infected pigeons. Pigeons were orally infected with 500 prohemistomid metacercariae. Intestinal and spleen tissues were harvested 2, 4, 7, 14, 21, and 28 days post-infection (dpi). Gene expression levels of eleven cytokines (IL-1, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12, IL-15, IL-18, IFN-γ, and TGF-β3) were assessed using quantitative reverse-transcription PCR (RT-qPCR). We identified the recovered flukes as Prohemistomum vivax based on morphological features and the sequence and phylogenetic analysis of the internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1), 5.8 ribosomal RNA, and ITS2 region. Histopathological lesions were induced as early as 2 dpi, with the intensity of villi atrophy and inflammatory cell infiltration increasing as the infection progressed. An early immunosuppressive state (2 and 4 dpi), with TGF-β3 overexpression, developed to allow parasite colonization. A mixed Th1/Th2 immune response (overexpressed IFN-γ, IL-12, IL-2, IL-4, and IL-5) was activated as the infection progressed from 7 to 28 dpi. Inflammatory cytokines (IL-1, IL-6, IL-18, and IL-15) were generally overexpressed at 7–28 dpi, peaking at 7 or 14 dpi. The upregulated Treg IL-10 expression peaking between 21 and 28 dpi might promote the Th1/Th2 balance and immune homeostasis to protect the host from excessive tissue pathology and inflammation. The intestine and spleen expressed a significantly different relative quantity of cytokines throughout the infection. To conclude, our results presented distinct cytokine alteration throughout P. vivax infection in pigeons, which may aid in understanding the immune pathogenesis and host defense mechanism against this infection.

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