Seroepidemiology for MERS coronavirus using microneutralisation and pseudoparticle virus neutralisation assays reveal a high prevalence of antibody in dromedary camels in Egypt, June 2013.

We describe a novel spike pseudoparticle neutralisation assay (ppNT) for seroepidemiological studies on Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERSCoV) and apply this assay together with conventional microneutralisation (MN) tests to investigate 1,343 human and 625 animal sera. The sera were collected in Egypt as a region adjacent to areas where MERS has been described, and in Hong Kong, China as a control region. Sera from dromedary camels had a high prevalence of antibody reactive to MERS-CoV by MERS NT (93.6%) and MERS ppNT (98.2%) assay. The antibody titres ranged up to 1,280 and higher in MN assays and 10,240 and higher in ppNT assays. No other investigated species had any antibody reactivity to MERS-CoV. While seropositivity does not exclude the possibility of infection with a closely related virus, our data highlight the need to attempt detection of MERSCoV or related coronaviruses in dromedary camels. The data show excellent correlation between the conventional MN assay and the novel ppNT assay. The newly developed ppNT assay does not require Biosafety Level 3 containment and is thus a relatively high-throughput assay, well suited for large-scale seroepidemiology studies which are needed to better understand the ecology and epidemiology of MERS-CoV.

Investigation of the electrical properties of some dental composite restorative materials before and after laser exposure.

Some electrical properties, such as piezoelectricity, ac conductivity, dielectric constant and loss tangent of nine commercial types of dental composite restorative materials, have been investigated before and after laser exposure for 3s to study the effect of a probable laser exposure during some surgeries on the electrical properties of these materials. No piezoelectric effect has been found in these materials before and after laser exposure. The materials were found to be good insulators (very poorly conducting materials). The temperature and frequency dependence of ac conductivity, dielectric constant and loss tangent have not shown significant changes in values after laser exposure.

Effect of some drugs on some histopathological and immunological aspects of experimental trichinosis in albino rats.

The present work is concerned with study of the effects of praziquantel, thiabendazole, mebendazole, cyclophosphamide and cortisone on histopathology of the small intestine (during intestinal phase) and skeletal muscles (during muscular phase), in addition to T. lymphocytes count and serum IgG estimation in experimental trichinosis in albino rats. Praziquantel has no effect on the histopathology of small intestine or skeletal muscles. Thiabendazole and mebendazole treatment resulted in complete eradication of Trichinella spiralis worms of small intestine and marked reduction of larval infection (mild infection) of skeletal muscle. Praziquantel, thiabendazole and mebendazole did not affect significantly the T. lymphocytes count of the host during the intestinal phase. Cyclophosphamide and cortisone suppressed the cellular immunity (T. lymphocytes) and accordingly enhanced the parasitic infection in histopathology of both phases. All the drugs tested induced significant reduction of T. lymphocytes in muscular phase (which may be due to parasitic infection itself) and insignificant effect on IgG level in both phases.

Interaction of diphenylhydantoin and some oral hypoglycemic drugs related to carbohydrate metabolism in rats.

Daily treatment of rats with 50 or 100 mg/kg ip of diphenylhydantoin (DPH) for 3 weeks caused a significant elevation of blood glucose level and reduction of hepatic glycogen content. In rats receiving daily oral doses of tolbutamide (100 mg/kg) or phenformin (50 mg/kg) for the last 7 days of DPH treatment, the blood glucose level did not differ from those in the control group; in rats receiving the low doses of DHP, the reduction in hepatic glycogen content was prevented by either hypoglycemic drug; in rats receiving the high dose of DPH in combination with the hypoglycemics the glycogen reduction was smaller than in rats receiving DPH alone. A week's treatment with tolbutamide (100 mg/kg) alone resulted in a significant depression of the blood glucose level and elevation of hepatic glycogen content; phenformin (50 mg/kg) given alone for one week elevated the level of hepatic glycogen, but to a lesser degree than tolbutamide did, and did not affect the blood glucose level.

The relation between liver vitamin content and the duration of Schistosoma mansoni infection in mice.

To study some changes that take place in the liver after schistosomal infection, the level of five vitamins of the B-complex group was estimated in non-infected mice and in 8, 16 and 20 weeks after the exposure of mice to cercariae of Schisostoma mansoni. Schistosomiasis caused a decrease in the level of thiamine, pantothenic acid, and niacin, but did not affect the concentration of riboflavin and pyridoxine in the liver.