First report on molecular epidemiology, seasonality and phylogeny of Toxoplasma gondii infecting goats from Khanewal district in Punjab, Pakistan.

Raising small ruminants is the main source of income for farmers in Pakistan. Economic losses caused by Toxoplasma gondii to small ruminants have been reported worldwide, however reports on molecular detection of T. gondii are lacking in Pakistan despite a large goat population. The current study was carried out from March 2019 till February 2020 to report the seasonal and molecular prevalence of T. gondii in different breeds of goats located in Khanewal district of Punjab, Pakistan. A total of 898 blood goat samples were collected during the four seasons and screened for T. gondii DNA by using PCR based on the amplification of ITS-1 partial sequence. Out of 898 goats, 48 (5.3%) were found positive to T. gondii. The prevalence of T. gondii varied according to season (Chi square test,P = 0.016) and the highest prevalence was observed in goats tested during the summer (8.8%) followed by the spring (5.7%), the winter (4.4%) and the autumn season (2.2%). PCR products positive to T. gondii were confirmed by DNA sequencing and BLAST analysis. Phylogenetic study based on ITS 1 gene provided evidence that the amplified isolates of T. gondii were highly conserved in Pakistani goats. Buck (Fischer exact test, P = 0.002) and farms containing other dairy animals next to goats (Fischer exact test, P = 0.001) and farms with a water supply from pools (Fischer exact test, P = 0.001) were more infected with T. gondii. Infected goats had a reduction on red blood cell count (Two-sample t test, P = 0.01) and hemoglobin concentration (Two-sample t test, P = 0.03) and an increase in the number of monocytes (%) (Two-sample t test, P = 0.05), mean cell hemoglobin (Two-sample t test, P = 0.01) and serum creatinine (Two-sample t test, P = 0.01) as compared to T. gondii uninfected goats. In conclusion, we report a relatively low PCR based prevalence of T. gondii in goats from Khanewal district as previously the serum ELISA test based prevalence of T. gondii in Pakistani goats varied between 19-52%. Control measures should be taken to eradicate T. gondii infection in goats of the study area.

Prevalence, epidemiology, seasonality, and phylogeny of Anaplasma marginale in blood samples of goats collected from Punjab, Pakistan.

PURPOSE: In Pakistan, a major constrain to goat farming is the tick and tick-borne diseases that results in financial losses to livestock farmers. This study was conducted to report the molecular prevalence of Anaplasma (A.) marginale in goat blood samples collected during four seasons from Khanewal district in Punjab (Pakistan). METHODS AND RESULTS: The mps1 gene of A. marginale was targeted in 900 blood samples that were collected on seasonal basis (n = 225 per season) and 6.6% (61/900) goats were found positive with A. marginale. Anaplasma marginale positive PCR products were sequenced and submitted to the GenBank. Prevalence of A. marginale varied with sampling season (P = 0.002) and it was highest in the summer (11.5%) followed by the autumn (7.6%), spring (5.3%), and winter seasons (2.7%) respectively. Anaplasma marginale prevalence varied significantly between goat breeds during the autumn (p = 0.01) and summer seasons (p = 0.02). Goats more than 2 years old and livestock farms where only goats were kept and dogs were associated with herds were risk factors for ovine anaplasmosis during different seasons. White and red blood cell counts and parameters associated with their counts were affected in A. marginale infected goats while studied serum parameters remained unaffected. CONCLUSION: PCR is a reliable tool for the detection of A. marginale in goat blood samples. A relatively low prevalence of A. marginale in goats of Khanewal district was observed and the parasite prevalence in goats was higher in the summer (May until September) and autumn (October and November) seasons. Control measures are required to prevent tick-borne diseases in ruminants from Pakistan.

Clinical role of HER2 gene amplification and chromosome 17: a study on 154 IHC-equivocal cases of invasive breast carcinoma patients.

Accurate evaluation of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) status is quite crucial for invasive breast tumor patients in order to select anti-HER2 therapy for effective clinical outcomes. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) assay is routinely used to evaluate the HER2 oncoprotein overexpression but is unable to explain the chromosomal and genetic alterations and has been considered as a hot issue in IHC-equivocal cases. We investigated these molecular aberrations in correlation with prognostic factors. A cohort of 154 IHC-equivocal (+2) cases was selected and retrospectively analyzed by dual-probe fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) assay by using locus-specific HER2 and centromere enumeration probes (CEP17) for the identification of HER2 proto-oncogene amplification and chromosomal copy number per cell, respectively. The data were analyzed by SPSS 16.0 version using chi-square test (p < 0.05). We identified 36 out of 154 cases (23.4 %) showing HER2 gene amplification (average HER2 gene copies per cell >4 or <4 with HER2/CEP17 ratio >2) in concordance with HER2 oncoprotein overexpression, and significant correlation was observed with prognostic parameters including histological type, tumor grade II to III, histology and pathological type, lymphatic invasion, ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), and estrogen-positive and progesterone-negative receptors. Of the 154 cases, 18 cases (11.7 %) showed polysomy 17 with CEP17 probe signals per cell ≥3 and 22 cases (14.3 %) presented monosomy 17 (CEP17 probe signals per cell ≤1). Our data indicate that the use of anti-HER2 therapy should not be suggested unless true evaluation of HER2 protein expression is made regarding gene amplification essentially in IHC-ambiguous invasive breast tumors.