Frequency of lyme disease in patients with tick contact and identification of ticks from Bolu province of Turkey.

BACKGROUND OBJECTIVES: Lyme disease is a multisystemic disease caused by the bacteria in the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato complex, which is transmitted by ticks of Ixodes genus. Although there are seroprevalence studies and case reports of Lyme disease from various regions in Turkey, there is no widespread epidemiological research. This study aimed to determine the frequency of Lyme disease in the cases followed-up after tick contact and to examine the isolated ticks to reveal tick population from Bolu province. METHODS: The cases who applied to the emergency department due to tick contact between April and September 2020 were firstly evaluated in our infectious diseases and clinical microbiology outpatient clinic on the third day of exposure and antibodies against Lyme disease were investigated with IFA method to exclude the patients who were previously exposed to B. burgdrorferi. Thereafter, patients were requested to continue outpatient visits at the 1st and 3rd month control. At these controls serum samples were taken to study B. burgdorferi antibodies with ELISA method which was stored at -20°C until the study day. RESULTS: Out of 123 patients who came to first control, 69 patients continued later to at least one of the two controls (either at first or third month). Of these 69 patients, only one (1.4%) was diagnosed with Lyme borreliosis according to clinical and laboratory features. Erythema migrans did not occur in any of the cases. Serum samples were assessed by ELISA method. Asymptomatic infection was detected in 22 cases (30.5%). In addition, we could obtain 46 ticks from our cases and two genera were identified. Forty-two (91.3%) were Ixodes spp, and two (4.3%) were Hyalomma spp. INTERPRETATION CONCLUSION: In this study, which was carried out for the first time in the province of Bolu, it was concluded that the cases presenting with a history of tick contact were most frequently exposed to Ixodes spp ticks and the probability of developing Lyme borreliosis was low (1.4%) during the three-month follow-up. Further studies with a greater number of cases and more extended follow-up period are needed.

Acute toxoplasmosis and antioxidant levels in the liver, kidney and brain of rats

Toxoplasma gondii is a common protozoan parasite which causes toxoplasmosis worldwide. There are limited treatment options against T. gondii infection. Once transmitted, T. gondii can spread to many organs in the body, including the brain, liver and kidneys. One of the most common signs of toxoplasmosis is a rise in oxidative stress. Therefore, our aim was to determine the antioxidant levels in the brain, liver and kidney of rats infected with this parasite. In the present study, 2­4-months old Wistar albino rats were infected intraperitoneally with 1 x 104 mL of RH strain of T. gondii dispersed in 0.9% NaCl. Post-infection after 30 days, the experiment was terminated, the rats were sacrified, and the blood, brain, liver and kidney tissues were collected for analyses. Catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels were determined by ELISA assay. Increased SOD and GSH-Px levels were found in the liver of infected rats compared to controls; however, similar changes were not observed in other tested organs. These results suggest the increased oxidative stress caused by T. gondii infection can be efficiently alleviated, at least in the liver, by increased levels of antioxidant enzymes during post-infection. Further research will be required to determine the potential mechanisms of increasing antioxidant levels in the liver at 30 days post-infection, as well as the potential differences in antioxidant enzyme levels during the acute and chronic phases of toxoplasmosis.

Investigation of a 6-year seropositivity of Toxoplasma gondii in Abant Izzet Baysal University Educational Research Hospital.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii IgG and IgM antibodies in patients who were admitted in Abant Izzet Baysal University Education and Research Hospital between January 2010 and December 2016 with a suspicion of toxoplasmosis. METHODS: Anti-T. gondii IgM and IgG antibodies and IgG avidity test determined by ELISA method in 14,262 serum samples belonging to the Abant Izzet Baysal University Education and Research Hospital were retrospectively investigated. RESULTS: IgG was detected in 4079 serum samples with 78% negative, 21% positive, and 0.8% gray zone. IgM was detected in 13,671 cases with 98% negative, 1.2% positive, and 0.5% gray zone. (3.8%, n=540) and neurology (3.4%, n=478) patients who were referred to the Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinic (88.3%, n=12,588) for the majority of the cases requested for the detection of T. gondii antibodies. It has been found that a request has been made. CONCLUSION: The seropositivity of T. gondii has been found to be so large that it should not be ignored. It has come to the conclusion that the events in the risk group should be taken into consideration for this parasite, and awareness should be established. In recent years, this awareness has been observed, especially in neurology clinics.

[Characterization of Toxoplasma gondii proteins from various strains]. / Toxoplasma gondii'nin çesitli suslarinin proteinlerinin karakterizasyonu.

OBJECTIVE: Toxoplasma gondii the causative agent of toxoplasmosis, is a worldwide intracellular protozoan parasite that infects all warm blooded animals including humans. It can be devastating to immunocompromised humans and congenital transmission may result in severe clinical spectrum. It causes economic losses due to abortus in animals. Toxoplasmosis diagnosis depends on direct and indirect methods. Besides the Sabin-Feldman test, which is accepted to be the reference test, serologic tests such as ELISA and immunofluorescence antibody tests are means of indirect diagnosis. As detected antibodies in serologic tests are correlated with antigens that cause their synthesis, it is important to know different proteins of different strains. In this study RH, Ankara and TS-4 strains were used and differences between their proteins were examined. METHODS: RH and Ankara strains were inoculated into the peritoneal cavity of mice. TS- 4 strain was produced in Vero cell culture. Tachyzoites collected by peritoneal wash were lysed and lyophilised. This was run on SDS-PAGE gel and protein bands were compared with a standard protein ladder after staining with polychromatic silver stain. RESULTS: It was observed that, while Ankara and RH strains had dense bands between 60-70 kDa and at 15 kDa, the most prominent bands of TS-4 strain were 60 ve 115 kDa bands. CONCLUSION: RH and Ankara strains have the same protein bands while TS-4 strain has different and fewer protein bands than the others.

[Evaluation of Sabin-Feldman test results of Ankara University Medical Faculty Medical Parasitology laboratory between 1997-2007]. / Ankara Üniversitesi Tip Fakültesi Tibbi Parazitoloji Bilim Dali Laboratuvarinda 1997-2007 Yillari Arasinda Yapilan Sabin-Feldman Test Sonuçlarinin Degerlendirilmesi.

OBJECTIVE: Toxoplasmosis caused by Toxoplasma gondii is a protozoan infection which has a worldwide distribution. Sabin-Feldman is considered as a reference test among serologic methods for its high sensitivity and specificity and has a role for the confirmation of the suspected results of the commonly used ELISA tests. Few laboratories perform this test as it enrolls the live tachyzoites.The aim of this study was to report the results of Ankara University Medical Faculty Parasitology laboratory which is the first lab to perform this test in Turkey. METHODS: We retrospectively investigated anti-Toxoplasma antibody positivities and titers of 678 sera obtained from 648 patients who applied to our laboratory between January 1997 and December 2007 with a prediagnosis of toxoplasmosis. RESULTS: Among 648 patients (490 (75.62%) female and 158 (24.38%) male), 318 (46.90%) were seropositive with titers of 1:16 or higher. The titers were 1:16 in 93, 1:64 in 134, 1:256 in 53, 1:1024 in 28 and 10 patients with higher titers. Seven patients (1.08%) seroconverted or had a 4 fold increase in antibody titers in their sera taken 3 weeks apart and were considered as acute toxoplasmosis. There was no statistically significant difference between the seropositivity rates of female and male patients (p=0.078). CONCLUSION: Sabin-Feldman Test still has an important role in seroprevalence studies both in humans and animals and confirmation of the tests used in routine diagnosis.