Gnathostoma spinigerum: immunodepression in experimental infected mice.

Mice were infected with 8- or 25-infective worms of advanced third stage Gnathostoma spinigerum larvae (L3) which were obtained from natural infected eels. On day 14, 60 and 200 post infections (PI), spleen cells of infected mice were tested for lymphoproliferative responses in vitro against the mitogen and specific L3 somatic antigen in order to clarify the cellular immune status of the host upon this nematode infection. Reduced responsiveness to Con A was observed in infected mice. These depressed responses were more pronounced in chronically infected mice (day 200, PI) than in day 14 and day 60, PI. There was no significant difference of lymphoproliferative response between groups of high (25 L3) and low (8 L3)-infective dose in the chronic readily stage. Regarding to the L3 somatic Ag stimulation, the depressed response was obviously detected in high dose and chronic infection. Our results demonstrated that in this G. spinigerum-mouse system T-cell response is defective. The depression could be reversible and was associated with active infection because it was abolished by anthelmintic (ivermectin) treatment. This study shows the involvement of Th-2 response to this nematode in regulating T cell proliferation.

Positivity and intensity of Gnathostoma spinigerum infective larvae in farmed and wild-caught swamp eels in Thailand.

From July 2008 to June 2009, livers of the swamp eels (Monopterus alba) were investigated for advanced third-stage larvae (AL3) of Gnathostoma spinigerum. Results revealed that 10.2% (106/1,037) and 20.4% (78/383) of farmed eels from Aranyaprathet District, Sa Kaeo Province and those of wild-caught eels obtained from a market in Min Buri District of Bangkok, Thailand were infected, respectively. The prevalence was high during the rainy and winter seasons. The infection rate abruptly decreased in the beginning of summer. The highest infection rate (13.7%) was observed in September and absence of infection (0%) in March-April in the farmed eels. Whereas, in the wild-caught eels, the highest rate (30.7%) was observed in November, and the rate decreased to the lowest at 6.3% in March. The average no. (mean±SE) of AL3 per investigated liver in farmed eels (1.1±0.2) was significantly lower (P=0.040) than those in the caught eels (0.2±0.03). In addition, the intensity of AL3 recovered from each infected liver varied from 1 to 18 (2.3±0.3) in the farmed eels and from 1 to 47 (6.3±1.2) in the caught eels, respectively. The AL3 intensity showed significant difference (P=0.011) between these 2 different sources of eels. This is the first observation that farmed eels showed positive findings of G. spinigerum infective larvae. This may affect the standard farming of the culture farm and also present a risk of consuming undercooked eels from the wild-caught and farmed eels.

Bioproduction and anticancer activity of biosurfactant produced by the dematiaceous fungus Exophiala dermatitidis SK80.

A new biosurfactant producer was isolated from palm-oilcontaminated soil and later identified through morphology and DNA sequencing as the yeast-like fungus Exophiala dermatitidis. Biosurfactant production was catalyzed by vegetable oil, supplemented with a basal medium. The culture conditions that provided the biosurfactant with the highest surface activity were found to be 5% palm oil with 0.08% NH4NO3, at a pH of 5.3, with shaking at 200 rpm, and a temperature of 30 degrees C for a 14-day period of incubation. The biosurfactant was purified, in accordance with surfactant properties, by solvent fractionation using silica gel column chromatography. The chemical structure of the strongest surface-active compound was elucidated through the use of NMR and mass spectroscopy, and noted to be monoolein, which then went on to demonstrate antiproliferative activity against cervical cancer (HeLa) and leukemia (U937) cell lines in a dose-dependent manner. Interestingly, no cytotoxicity was observed with normal cells even when high concentrations were used. Cell and DNA morphological changes, in both cancer cell lines, were observed to be cell shrinkage, membrane blebbling, and DNA fragmentation.

Identification of ricinoleic acid as an inhibitor of Ca2+ signal-mediated cell-cycle regulation in budding yeast.

Free fatty acids exhibit diverse biological effects such as the regulation of immune responses in humans and animals. To investigate the biological effect of fatty acids in the model eukaryotic organism yeast, we examined the activity of various fatty acids in a yeast-based drug-screening system designed to detect the small-molecule compounds that inhibit Ca(2+)-signal-mediated cell-cycle regulation. Among the fatty acids examined, ricinoleic acid markedly alleviated the deleterious physiological effects induced by the compelled activation of Ca(2+) signaling by external CaCl(2), such as the polarized bud growth and the growth arrest in the G(2) phase. In accordance with the physiological consequences induced by ricinoleic acid, it diminished the Ca(2+)-induced phosphorylation of Cdc28p at Tyr-19, concomitant with the decrease in the Ca(2+)-stimulated expression levels of Cln2p and Swe1p.