Extracellular traps development in canine neutrophils induced by infective stage Toxocara canis larvae.

Neutrophils, a crucial element of the host defense system, develop extracellular traps against helminth parasites. Neutrophils accumulate around the larvae of Toxocara canis (T. canis) in the tissues of the organism. This study aimed to determine the reaction in canine neutrophils after incubation with infective stage T. canis larvae (L3) in vitro. Most L3 were still active and moved between the extracellular traps (NETs) after 60-min incubation. NETs were not disintegrated by L3 movement. The L3 was only immobilized by NETs, entrapped larvae were still motile between the traps at the 24 h incubation. NETs were observed not only to accumulate around the mouth, excretory pole or anus but also the entire body of live L3. The extracellular DNA amount released from the canine neutrophils after being induced with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate was not affected by T. canis excretory/secretory products obtained from 250 L3. To the Authors'knowledge, the extracellular trap structures was firstly observed in canine neutrophils against T. canis L3 in vitro. NETs decorated with myeloperoxidase, neutrophil elastase and histone (H3) were observed under fluorescence microscope. There were not significant differences in the amount of extracellular DNA (P > 0.05), but the morphological structure of NETs was different in the live and head-inactivated T. canis larvae.

Antibody Response to SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination in Heart Failure Patients: Retrospective Single-Center Cohort Study.

We sought to investigate the impact of heart failure on anti-spike antibody positivity following SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. Our study included 103 heart failure (HF) patients, including those with and without left ventricular assist devices (LVAD) selected from our institutional transplant waiting list as well as 104 non-heart failure (NHF) patients who underwent open heart surgery at our institution from 2021 to 2022. All the patients received either heterologous or homologous doses of BNT162b2 and CoronaVac. The median age of the HF group was 56.0 (interquartile range (IQR): 48.0-62.5) and the NHF group was 63.0 (IQR: 56.0-70.2) years, and the majority were males in both groups (n = 78; 75.7% and n = 80; 76.9%, respectively). The majority of the patients in both the HF and NHF groups received heterologous vaccinations (n = 43; 41.7% and n = 52; 50.3%, respectively; p = 0.002). There was no difference in the anti-spike antibody positivity between the patients with and without heart failure (p = 0.725). Vaccination with BNT162b2 led to significantly higher antibody levels compared to CoronaVac alone (OR: 11.0; 95% CI: 3.8-31.5). With each passing day after the last vaccine dose, there was a significant decrease in anti-spike antibody positivity, with an OR of 0.9 (95% CI: 0.9-0.9). Furthermore, hyperlipidemia was associated with increased antibody positivity (p = 0.004).

A Parasitological Examination on Aquarium Fish Sold in Petshops in Kirikkale.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence of parasitic infections in aquarium fish sold in local pet shops. METHODS: Totally 502 fish samples from 8 species were obtained from 7 pet shops. Native preparations were prepared from the gills, fins, skin, intestines, and internal organs of fish and examined under a light microscope. RESULTS: It was detected at the end of the study that 62.7% of the fishes examined were infected with one or more parasite species. Among the fish examined, 28.9% were infected with a single parasite, whereas 33.9% were infected with mixed parasites. Chilodonella sp. identified as the most common species. Other species detected included Trichodina sp., Piscinoodinium sp., Ichthyobodo sp., Ichthyophthirius multifiliis, Apiosoma sp., Epistylis sp., Vorticella sp., Gyrodactylus sp., Dactylogyrus sp., Capillaria sp., Camallanus sp., metacercariae, and nematode larvae, Argulus sp., Philodina sp., Euchlanis sp., Aelosoma sp., and Tetrahymena. CONCLUSION: The importance of the present study is that highest number of parasite species were detected in aquarium fish sold in pet shops in Türkiye. The aquarium owners should pay attention to the cleanliness of the aquarium water in order to reduce the rate of parasitic infection in fish; when new fish are purchased, they should be taken from reliable sources, and the quarantine process should be observed.