Ultrastructural and muscular modifications of adult schistosoma mansoni worms induced by artemether [ART] in vitro

Schistosomiasis is one of the most important public health problems worldwide. In spite of two decades of safe and effective widespread chemotherapy with praziquantel, the number of individuals with schistosomiasis remains high with the appearance of drug resistance. So, it diverts the attention to other anti-parasitic drugs like artemesinin derivatives e.g. artemether [ART]. This study was done to assess the effects of ART on the tegument and musculature of adult Schistosoma mansoni worms in vitro. Five groups of S. mansoni coupled adult worms, each of 10 couples, were used. Four groups were tested in vitro using different concentrations of ART [20, 40, 80 and 100microg/ml] for 24 hours of exposure. These adult worms were obtained by hepatic perfusion technique seven weeks postinfection by 100+/-10 S. mansoni cercariae in male white albino mice using tail immersion method. Ultrastructural and muscular modifications of adult S. mansoni worms were assessed using Scanning Electron Microscopy [SEM] and a special device respectively. SEM examination revealed that after 24 hours of exposure to 40microg/ml ART, the tegument showed vesicles and loss of spines. On exposure to 80microg/ml ART, the tegument showed cracking and more loss of spines. After exposure to 100microg/ml ART, tegument appeared mostly distorted with cracking, peeling, bleb formation and the spines covering the tubercles appeared to be partially lost. ART elicited muscle contraction and reached the highest response with 100microg/ml ART. The maximal increase in muscle tension [% shortening of worms] was 44.1 +/- 1.79 % shortening induced by the highest concentration [100microg/ml] of ART

New concept in histopathological grading and staging of chronic hepatitis C infection at Sharkia Governorate, Egypt

In this study, the Knodell histology activity index and the semi- quantitative reproducible description of the various morphological lesions of chronic hepatitis were applied on 109 liver biopsies taken from Egyptian patients infected with hepatitis C virus [HCV]. It was found that the presented histopathological features may be unusual for any of the known scoring systems. Therefore, a new system was suggested for grading and staging of liver diseases in Egyptian patients infected with HCV. Accordingly, the degrees of necro- inflammations are classified into 3 grades [1-3] and the progression of fibrosis is classified into 3 stages [1-3]. The reduced numbers of grades and stages proposed in this study may be attributed to the rapid course among Egyptians who differ in the environmental circumstances

HCV and associated concomitant infections at Sharkia Governorate Egypt

This study was performed on 109 cases divided into 6 groups according to the concomitant infection with hepatitis C virus [HCV]. The results proved that groups 1, 3 and 5 had a higher level of viremia than the other groups and a higher risk was found in these groups, as 56.4% and 34.6% were in G2S2 and G3S3, respectively. All cases of liver cell dysplasia and hepatocellular carcinoma in this study were seen in these groups. The study concluded that these factors play an important role in the progression of HCV infection. The death of the patients of this progressive condition occurs in younger age and due to liver failure more than to HCC

Non-invasive markers and predictors of severity of hepatic fibrosis in HCV patients at Sharkia Governorate, Egypt

This study included 109 patients with detectable hepatitis C virus [HCV] by real time PCR. The patients were classified into three different pathological stages and grades according to the new concept of histopathological staging and grading. The different clinical, biochemical, virological and ultrasonographic parameters were assessed and analyzed and the variables that showed a significant association with the histopathological staging and grading were included in the multivariate logistic regression analysis. The regression model revealed that platelet count, matrix metalloproteinase-9 [MMP-9], portal vein diameter, splenic longitudinal axis, alanine transaminase, aspartate transaminase and viral load added a significance to the model in a decreasing order of significance. From these findings, a new score ranged from 0-9 was generated. The score model was applied to the patients to assess its validity, where it proved to be accurate in discriminating patients with mild inflammation and fibrosis [sensitivity 81.8%, specificity 80.5% and accuracy 80.7%] and more accurate in detecting patients with cirrhosis [specificity 96.6%, sensitivity 80% and accuracy 93.6%], but less accurate in detecting patients with moderate to severe fibrosis [specificity 66.7%, sensitivity 68.7% and accuracy 67.9%]. Also, the results revealed that co-infection with schistosomiasis, old age >/45 years and positive history of blood transfusion as a source of infection were significantly associated with severe hepatic pathology

Experimental demonstration of hepatitis C virus [HCV] in an Egyptian strain of Culex pipiens complex

Reverse transcriptase [RT] polymerase chain reaction [PCR] was used to detect hepatitis C virus [HCV] RNA among heads, guts, larvae and eggs of Culex pipiens complex. The mosquitos were trapped from homes of hepatitis C patients or among the same organs of symbiotic [normal gut bacteria] and aposymbiotic [without gut bacteria] mosquitos fed HCV positive blood by an artificial membrane feeder. The eggs and larvae resulted from symbiotic females fed HCV positive blood were tested for HCV-RNA. Hepatitis C virus RNA was detected only in the heads of symbiotic mosquitos collected from homes of HCV positive patients at 3 and 6 hours after feeding. The virus was detected at 3 and 8 days after being fed on HCV-RNA positive blood in guts of the same group. The virus was not detected in the eggs or larvae resulted from female mosquitos fed on HCV-RNA positive blood