Conjugated silver nanoparticles as a diagnostic tool for circulating hydatid antigens.

Cystic hydatid disease is one of the most significant worldwide zoonotic diseases. The causative agent is the larval stage of Echinococcus granulosus. The diagnosis of cystic echinococcosis by clinical symptoms and scanning alone is often difficult and confusing. The definite diagnosis needs sensitive and reliable serological tests. This study aimed to evaluate a nano silver-based enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in the detection of circulating hydatid antigen in human serum samples. The study included 66 human serum samples (36 hydatidosis confirmed cases, 15 cases infected with other parasites, and 15 normal subjects as negative control). The circulating protoscolices antigen was assayed by the nano-silver dot ELISA, nano-silver sandwich ELISA and the traditional methods (dot ELISA and sandwich ELISA). Our study revealed that the sensitivity and specificity of the nano-silver dot ELISA were 97.2% and 93.3%, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of nano-silver sandwich ELISA were 94.4% and 96.7% respectively. The nano-silver-based ELISA showed higher sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and diagnostic accuracy than the traditional ELISA. In conclusion, the nano-silver-based ELISA can be proposed as a confirmatory test in the diagnosis of cystic echinococcosis.

Role of IL-17A in enhancing liver fibrosis induced by TGF-ß1 and IL-13 in Schistosoma mansoni infected mice.

Schistosoma mansoni liver fibrosis is a complicated multicellular process involving numerous cytokines, chemokines, and growth factors. Transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-1) and interleukin (IL)-13 have been identified as critical pro-fibrotic mediators in many studies. IL-17A was linked to enhanced TGF- and IL-13-induced pathologies. This case-control study aimed to explore the effect of IL-17A on TGF- and IL-13-induced liver fibrosis during experimentally schistosomiasis mansoni infection. A total of 40 laboratory-bred female C57BL/6 mice were divided into four equal groups (G), G1 non-infected, G2 infected wild type (WT), G3 infected/anti-IL-17 monoclonal antibodies (mAb) and G4 treated mice. Mice were infected percutaneously with 40±5 cercariae per mouse. Neutralizing IL-17 mAb was administered to G3 intraperitoneally 3 weeks after infection and then every third day until 2 days before sacrification; mice of G4 were treated with a single dose of praziquantel. Serum levels of TGF-, IL-13, IL-17A, and proinflammatory cytokines were measured by ELISA. Liver granulomas were identified by hematoxylin-eosin stain and measured by an ocular micrometer. There was a significantly increased serum concentration of TGF-, IL-13, and IL-17A in infected WT mice (P<0.01), but praziquantel treatment reduced cytokine levels (P<0.03). Neutralization of IL-17A activity remarkably reduced serum concentrations of TGF- and IL-13 (P <0.03) resulting in improved liver functions and reduced granuloma size. Secretion of IL-IL-6 and TNF-were markedly enhanced by infection, however, mice that received anti-mouse IL-17 mAb displayed fewer inflammatory mediators (P<0.03). In conclusion, IL-17A might contribute to the progress of liver fibrosis by enhancing the profibrotic effect of TGF- and IL-13 in mice infected with S. mansoni.

Toxicological assessment of lambda-cyhalothrin and acetamiprid insecticides formulated mixture on hatchability rate, histological aspects, and protein electrophoretic pattern of Biomphalaria alexandrina (Ehrenberg, 1831) snails.

Several formulated mixtures of pesticides are widely used in modern agriculture. Nevertheless, the agriculture runoff causes a serious damage to the aquatic ecosystem. Therefore, the present study aims to use B. alexandrina snails as bioindicators for 30 g/l lambda-cyhalothrin and 17 g/l acetamiprid as a formulated mixture insecticide. Results showed that it has a molluscicidal activity against snails at LC50 7.9 mg/l. The hatchability percent of both treated 1-day-aged and/or 3-day-aged groups were less than that of the control group. The sublethal concentrations of the tested insecticide caused a remarkable abnormal necrosis in male and female gametogenic cells, besides a severe damage in both secretory and digestive cells. The results of SDS-PAGE protein profiles of treated snails showed that the least number of protein bands was noticed in snail groups that subjected to LC10 (6.6 mg/l) and LC25 (7.2 mg/l) concentrations when compared to control protein fractions.