Oral Myiasis Caused by Chrysomya bezziana in Anterior Maxilla.

Oral myiasis is a rare pathology and is associated with poor oral hygiene, alcoholism, senility, suppurating lesions, and severe halitosis. It arises from invasion of body tissues or cavities of living animals by maggots or larvae of certain dipterian flies. It is mostly reported in developing countries and in the tropics. We hereby report a rare case of oral myiasis in a 70-year-old female with extensive necrotic oral lesion burrowing into the hard palate through which numerous live maggots (larvae) and seen emerging out and discuss the definition, etiology, predisposing factors, classification, and management of the same. Furthermore, the life cycle of the causative organism in the present case, that is, Chrysomya bezziana, has also been discussed.

Setaria cervi dual specific phosphatase: characterization and its effect on eosinophil degranulation.

Setaria cervi, a bovine filarial parasite contains significant acid phosphatase (AcP) activity in its various life stages. Two forms of AcP were separated from somatic extract of adult female parasite using cation exchange, gel filtration and concavalin affinity chromatography. One form having a molecular mass of 79 kDa was characterized as dual specific protein tyrosine phosphatase (ScDSP) based on substrate specificity and inhibition studies. With various substrates tested, it showed significant activity in the order of phospho-L-tyrosine>pNPP>ADP>phospho-L-serine. Inhibition by orthovanadate, fluoride, molybdate, and zinc ions further confirms protein tyrosine phosphatase nature of the enzyme. Km and Vmax determined with various substrates were found to be 16.66 mM, 25.0 microM/ml/min with pNPP; 20.0 mM, 40.0 microM/ml/min with phospho-L-tyrosine and 27.0 mM, 25.0 microM/ml/min with phospho-L-serine. KI with pNPP and sodium orthovanadate (IC50 33.0 microM) was calculated to be 50.0 mM. Inhibition with pHMB, silver nitrate, DEPC and EDAC suggested the presence of cysteine, histidine and carboxylate residues at its active site. Cross-reactivity with W. bancrofti-infected sera was demonstrated by Western blotting. ScDSP showed elevated levels of IgE in chronic filarial sera using ELISA. Under in vitro conditions, ScDSP resulted in increased effector function of human eosinophils when stimulated by IgG, which showed a further decrease with increasing enzyme concentration. Results presented here suggest that S. cervi DSP should be further studied to determine its role in pathogenesis and the persistence of filarial parasite.