Anti-oncospheral antibodies in the serum of lambs experimentally infected with eitherTaenia ovis orTaenia hydatigena

Using a peroxidase micro-enzyme-linked-immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method anti-oncospheral antibodies were demonstrated in sera from four lambs after primary and challenge infections withTaenia ovis orT. hydatigena. Antibodies assayed using homologous oncospheral antigen (OA) reached a peak by 3–4 weeks after primary infection and at 1–3 weeks post-challenge infection, but waned to pre-infective, background levels by 8–12 weeks after each infection. Antibodies assayed against antigens in strobilar or cystic larval extracts persisted for long periods after the initial infections and exhibited different kinetics of response from those demonstrated against OA. These antibodies showed increased levels after challenge infection. Oncospheral antigens did not seem to be species specific although they appeared to elicit a stage-specific response. It is suggested that the anti-oncospheral antibody response could be associated with protective or functional antibody.     

Genetic typing of Echinococcus granulosus in Romania

In Romania, cystic echinococcosis is endemic and affects, besides humans, various animal species including sheep, cattle, and swine. As yet, no molecular-genetic typing has been carried out to clearly identify the putative strains being transmitted there. Parasite samples (protoscoleces or germinal layers) were collected from infected intermediate hosts and subsequently analyzed by comparing the PCR-amplified DNA sequences of three targets: one nuclear (BG1/3) and two mitochondrial (cox1 and nadI). Three strains were identified with the mitochondrial sequences: (i) the common sheep strain (G1) which circulates between sheep and cattle and is infective for humans, (ii) the Tasmanian sheep strain (G2) infecting sheep and cattle, and (iii) the pig strain (G7) predominantly found in swine. To our knowledge, this is the first report which demonstrates the occurrence of the Tasmanian sheep strain in cattle and the sympatric occurrence of these three strains (G1, G2, and G7) in Europe.     

Retrospective study of the distribution and the fertility of hydatid cysts in the child in Tunisia

Purpose of the study

Our aim was to study the distribution and the fertility of the hydatid cysts in function of the age and the sex of patients and to identify the strain(s) responsible(s) of the children hydatidosis.

Patients and methods

We have analyzed a total of 241 cysts coming from 195 children aged 2 to 16 years operated in the CHU F. Bourguiba of Monastir during the period from November 1999 to December 2009. For each cyst, the localization and the fertility of the métacestode as well as age, sex and origin of the patient are listed. Identification of strains was carried out by PCR/RFLP and has targeted the ribosomal gene ITS1.

Results

The lung was the primary localization of cyst (61.8%) followed by the liver (34.85%). The greatest number of cases is observed in the age groups 4–9 years (138 cases) where children's infection is more frequent in the male than in the female sex. The fertility of the cyst was independent of its site or its size and no incidence of age of children was detected. The G1 sheep strain is responsible for the contamination of children.

Conclusion

The cystic echinococcosis described as a young adult disease may actually observed at any age and remains a serious problem of public health in Tunisia.     

Satellite cysts and biliary fistulas in hydatid liver disease. A retrospective study of 17 liver resections

In Switzerland, the preferred mode of treatment for hydatid liver disease caused by Echinococcus granulosus is surgery, giving us the opportunity for a retrospective histopathologic study of 17 consecutive liver resections. We focused on the occurrence of satellite cysts and of biliary fistulas and their effects on bile ducts. Of 17 patients, 6 (35%) had one or more satellite cysts, to be distinguished from internal daughter cysts. Small areas of fibrinoid necrosis within the fibrous pericyst, a surprisingly constant histologic finding, offer a simple explanation for the occurrence of such satellite cysts as well as for the development of biliary fistulas. Large fistulas with gross drainage of cyst contents into bile ducts were present in 5 patients (30%). The accompanying cholangitis was distinctly granulomatous in 2 of them, an observation rarely mentioned in the literature. All 5 patients with large fistulas also had chronic sclerosing cholangitis and dilatation of smaller bile ducts, in all probability the result of chronic cyst fluid leakage through preexisting, clinically silent smaller fistulas. Dilatation of small bile ducts is rightly considered a precursor sign for large fistulas. Awareness of the histopathology of these complications facilitates the interpretation of ultrasound and radiologic imaging, sheds light on their pathogenesis, and may influence the choice of treatment.     

Fever response of sheep in the peripartum period to Gram-negative and Gram-positive pyrogens

We have measured body temperatures and serum iron concentrations of sheep in the peripartum period following administration of endotoxin and Staphylococcus aureus cell walls. Both the rise in rectal temperature and the fall in serum iron concentration following intravenous injection of S. aureus were the same immediately pre- and postpartum as they were 5 weeks after parturition. The rise in rectal temperature following intravenous endotoxin injection immediately pre- and postpartum was significantly less than that of the same ewes 5 weeks later. However, the fall in serum iron concentration following endotoxin injection was significantly suppressed only prepartum. We conclude that fever is not suppressed in sheep in the peripartum period, but the response to endotoxin is suppressed, through complex processes incidental to the mechanisms responsible for the maintenance of gestation and induction of labour.     

Detection of reserpine-like substances in the myocardium of animls and man

Substances similar in some of their physicochemical properties to reserpine were found in the myocardium of animals and man. The tissues of the myocardium were shown to synthesize these substances from formate and tryptophan.Laboratory of Pathological Anatomy, All-Union Cardiological Science Center, Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR. Instite, of Cosmic Research, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Moscow. (Presented by Academician of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR E. I. Chazov). Translated from Byulleten' Éksperimental'noi, Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 84, No. 7, pp. 35–38, July, 1977.     

Effect of adaptation to moderate physical loads on the increased resistance of the isolated heart to ischemia and reperfusion

Adaptation to physical loads elicits pronounced anti-ischemic and antireperfusion effects on the isolated heart. By the 20th min of total ischemia contracture in the hearts of adapted animals is much less than that in the control group. During reperfusion of hearts from adapted animals the degree of restoration of the contractile force was 6-fold higher, contracture was lesser, and the total period of tachycardia and fibrillation were 3-fold shorter than in the control. Translated fromByulleten' Eksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 119, N ^o 1, pp. 25–27, January, 1995 Presented by S. S. Debov, Member of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences     

Effect of various oxygen concentrations on the ATP content in isolated hepatocytes of rats adapted and nonadapted to hypoxia

It is shown that isolated hepatocytes are capable of perceiving slight changes in the envioronmental oxygen concentration. A complicated phase dependence exists between adenosine triphosphate and partial oxygen pressure, which differs in cells from animals with high and low resistance to hypoxia, the former showing a more stable and resistant energy-synthesizing function than the latter. After long-term adaptation to periodic hypoxia, the resistance of the energy-synthesizing function rises in hepatocytes from high-resistant animals, and falls in low-resistant animals suggesting a fundamentally different organization of the emergency compensatory mechanisms of the energy-synthesizing function in hepatocytes of animals of these two types. Translated fromByulleten' Eksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 118, N ^o 12, pp. 576–581, December, 1994     

Effect of hyperlipidemia on thymocyte sensitivity to apoptosis in CBA and C57Bl/6 mice

Effects of experimental hyperlipidemia on apoptosis and proliferation of thymocytes in response to mitogens were studied in CBA and C57Bl/6 mice. The concentrations of cholesterol in the serum and thymocyte membranes increased in both mouse strains. Spontaneous and dexamethasone-induced apoptosisin vitro and the proliferative response to phytohemagglutinin and concanavalin A were enhanced in thymocytes from C57Bl/6 mice and suppressed in cells from CBA mice. These data suggest opposite reactions of thymocyte to increased serum cholesterol concentration in these two strains, associated with stimulation and suppression of cell activity. Translated fromByulleten' Eksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 130, No. 8, pp. 200–202, August, 2000     

Effect of adaptation to high-altitude hypoxia in early ontogeny on higher nervous activity

Newborn male and female Wistar rats were adapted to hypoxia in a pressure chamber. Adaptation began at an altitude of 1000 m for 1 h daily, after which the duration and intensity of exposure were gradually increased so that, starting from the 17th day, the animals were adapted to an altitude of 5000 m for 5 h on 5 days a week. After adaptation for two months, a conditioned active avoidance reflex was produced in the animals. In the adapted males a tendency was observed for the reflex to be formed more rapidly and for it to be preserved to a much greater degree than in the control animals. In females adapted to hypoxia under similar conditions no changes were observed in the formation and preservation of the reflex.Laboratory of Pathophysiology of the Heart, Institute of General Pathology and Pathophysiology, Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR, Moscow. (Presented by Academician of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR A. M. Chernukh.) Translated from Byulleten' Éksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 82, No. 8, pp. 902–903, August, 1976.     

Effect of preliminary adaptation to transauricular electrostimulation on the content of catecholamines and met-enkephalin in rat heart and adrenals in stress and acute myocardial infarction

Adaptation to transauricular electrostimulation decreases the content of epinephrine in the adrenal glands and norepinephrine in the heart. Immobilization stress has no appreciable effect on the content of catecholamines in the heart and adrenal glands. In animals with myocardial infarction, the content of norepinephrine in the heart decreases 2-fold, while the content of epinephrine in the adrenals decreases inconsiderably. Adaptation to transauricular electrostimulation is associated with a rise in met-enkephalin concentration. Preadaptation induces a more pronounced rise of met-enkephalin and promotes normalization of epinephrine in the adrenals, without changing the content of norepinephrine in the heart. Translated fromByulleten' Eksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 124, No. 10, pp. 388–391, October, 1997     

Occurrence of Echinococcus multilocularis in red foxes from the Carpathian regions of Slovakia and Poland

The extensive distribution of Echinococcus multilocularis cestode from endemic alpine areas to the parts of Central Europe has been recorded in recent years. The first confirmed finding of E. multilocularis in Slovakia was recorded in 1999 in the area adjacent to the Polish border. At present, this serious zoonosis occurs almost across the whole territory of Slovakia. The occurrence of these tapeworms in red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) at the border regions of Slovakia and Poland has been monitored. In these districts, out of 152 faecal samples examined, 36.2% were positive for the coproantigen-ELISA. With the sedimentation and counting technique the prevalence of E. multilocularis in red foxes was up to 38.8%. The examination of foxes from neighbouring districts revealed worm burden ranging from 1–15,000 specimens, but the majority of animals harboured medium number of tapeworms. In the Small Carpathian and Sub-Carpathian regions of Poland, out of 65 samples examined, 13.8% were coproantigen positive. Using the small intestine scraping method only 6.1% prevalence of E. multilocularis in red foxes was determined, mostly with a high worm burdens over 1,000 specimens. The results suggest possible transborder transmission of E. multilocularis, the causative agent of serious alveolar echinococcosis.     

Effect of melatonin on cyclic nucleotide content and intensity of lipid peroxidation in the hippocampus and habenula of rats exposed to acute hypoxia

Single intraperitoneal injection of melatonin in a dose of 1 mg/kg prevented accumulation of cGMP and intensification of lipid peroxidation in the hippocampus and habenula of rats exposed to acute hypobaric hypoxia (12,000 m). Changes in habenular content of cGMP suggest that melatonin prevents hypoxia-induced activation of heme-oxygenase. Translated fromByulleten' Eksperimental" noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 130, No. 8, pp. 168–171, August, 2000     

Effect of diazepam on the transmembrane potential and physicochemical state of the thymocyte membrane in rats during exposure to cold

Exposure of restrained rats to cold caused a drop in rectal temperature by 3°C, attenuated membrane potential by ΔΨ_T, decreased the level of lipid peroxidation products, and increased the viscosity of membrane lipids in thymocytes. Although diazepam (5 mg/kg, 1 h prior to experiment) decreased ΔΨ_T and lipid viscosity under comfortable temperature, it prevented the cold-induced changes in these parameters. Incubation of intact rat thymocytes with diazepam (0.2 μg/ml) decreased ΔΨ_T, increased lipid viscosity, and did not change the intensity of lipid peroxidation. Possibilities are discussed to reduced with the help of diazepam the cold-related energy losses not only due to its effect on the central benzodiazepine receptors, but also due to changes in functional and structural parameters of the membranes caused by interaction with peripheral receptors. Translated fromByulleten' Eksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 126, No. 12, pp. 636–639, December, 1998     

Effect of adaptation to intermittent normobaric hypoxia on the ultrastructure of cardiac myocytes in pregnant rats

A comparative ultrastructural study of organelles involved in supplying cardiac myocytes with energy (nucleus, mitochondria, microbodies, and lysosomes) in pregnant rats that had been exposed to intermittent normobaric hypoxia and in rats not so exposed showed no significant differences between these two groups of animals. In both groups, glycogen granules were present in the nucleus, mitochondria, lysosomes, and microbodies (peroxisomes) of cardiac myocytes, and many of their mitochondria had a dense matrix and appeared hyperplastic. Translated fromByulleten' Eksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 119, N ^o 6, pp. 597–602, June, 1995 Presented by A. V. Smol'yannikov, Member of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences     

Cell-to-cell interactions in cultures of swine bone marrow cells and CPK-66b cells infected with african swine fever virus

In the presence of specific antiserum, cultured bone marrow cells from pigs infected with African swine fever virus form cell-to-cell junctions which are morphologically similar to those observed in antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity. This type of cytotoxicity does not determine the reaction of delayed hemadsorption, since this reaction is realized in a long-term culture of CPK-66b cells in the absence of the effectors of antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity. The sensitivity of delayed hemadsorption depends on the variant of infecting virus. A negative correlation is established between the area of the contact between erythrocytes and cells infected with different variants of the virus, on the one hand, and titers of antibodies in the delayed hemadsorption reaction, on the other. Translated fromByulleten' Eksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 122, No. 10, pp. 418–424, October, 1996     

Effect of amiridine and tacrine on reuptake of neurotransmitters in experimental amnesia

It is demonstrated that a single administration of amiridine, tacrine, piracetam, and physostigmine has no effect on the reuptake of adrenalin, noradrenalin, dopamine, and glycine, or of γ-aminobutyric, glutamic, and aspartic acids. Scopolamine (single administration or a 20-day treatment) also has no effect on the reuptake of these neurotransmitters. Administration of amiridine to intact rats during a 20-day period leads to a decrease in the reuptake of dopamine and γ-aminobutyric acid. A course of amiridine therapy of rats after repeated administration of scopolamine results in a reduced reuptake of dopamine. Tacrine, piracetam, and physosostigmine exhibit no activity under the chosen experimental conditions. Translated fromByulleten' Eksperimental'noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 119, N ^o 5, pp. 512–514, May, 1995 Presented by Yu. A. Romanov, Member of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences