Leila Kianifard; Mohammad Yakhchali; Mehdi Imani
Volume 12, Issue 3 , September 2021, , Pages 291-295
Abstract
Fasciolosis is a zoonotic parasitic disease caused by the trematode Fasciola hepatica. The proteases are essential for the survival of parasites. The present study was aimed to determine serine proteases activities in miracidia of F. hepatica and evaluate the effects of pH and different inhibitors on ...
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Fasciolosis is a zoonotic parasitic disease caused by the trematode Fasciola hepatica. The proteases are essential for the survival of parasites. The present study was aimed to determine serine proteases activities in miracidia of F. hepatica and evaluate the effects of pH and different inhibitors on the serine proteases activities. Adult F. hepatica helminths were removed from naturally infected livers of the slaughtered cattle and crushed. The eggs were incubated at 28.00 ˚C for 16 days. The released miracidia were homogenized and total proteolytic activity of the extract of miracidia at different pH values were evaluated. Serine proteases activities were determined using specific substrates. The inhibitory effects of chemical and herbal inhibitors on the enzymes were also assessed. The extract of miracidia hydrolyzed azocasein with optimum activity at pH 8.00. The optimum pH effect on serine proteases activities was found at alkaline pH. Phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride and Bowman-Birk inhibitors inhibited and decreased the proteases activities in the miracidia extract. It was concluded that there were proteases activities in miracidia of F. hepatica which were inhibited by chemical and herbal inhibitors.
Maryam Nazarbeigy; Mohammad Yakhchali; Fazel Pourahmad
Volume 12, Issue 2 , June 2021, , Pages 229-233
Abstract
Parasitic nematodes of ovine abomasum are of economic and hygienic importance throughout the world and Iran. This study was aimed to evaluate molecular identity and species diversity of parasitic nematodes in the abomasum of slaughtered sheep in Ilam, Iran. In this study, a total number of 240 of abomasa ...
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Parasitic nematodes of ovine abomasum are of economic and hygienic importance throughout the world and Iran. This study was aimed to evaluate molecular identity and species diversity of parasitic nematodes in the abomasum of slaughtered sheep in Ilam, Iran. In this study, a total number of 240 of abomasa were randomly collected from the slaughtered sheep at industrial slaughterhouses in Ilam in all seasons between 2017 and 2018. The abomasum content and abomasal mucosa were removed and washed. The collected nematodes were morphologically identified. The genomic DNA was extracted and a 300 bp-fragment-length from internal transcribed spacer 2 ribosomal ribonucleic acid (ITS2-rRNA) gene was amplified. Overall prevalence was 66.70% (160/240). Five species of four genera of nematodes including Marshallagia marshalli (43.70%), Ostertagia circumcincta (15.50%), Parabronema skrjabini (5.00%), M. occidentalis (2.50%), and Haemonchus contortus (0.04%) were identified. Ostertagia circumcincta and H. contortus were found to be different in two nucleotides. There was no nucleotide difference between M. marshalli and M. occidentalis. This study revealed a significant prevalence of parasitic nematodes in sheep abomasum and species diversity of Trichostrongylid nematodes in the region.
Farhad Farhang-Pajuh; Mohammad Yakhchali; Karim Mardani
Volume 5, Issue 3 , July 2014, , Pages 181-186
Abstract
Sarcocystis is one of the most prevalent parasites of domestic ruminants worldwide. This study was aimed to determine prevalence of Sarcocystis infection and molecular discrimination of Sarcocystis gigantea and Sarcocystis medusiformis infecting domestic sheep. Tissue samples from 638 sheep slaughtered ...
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Sarcocystis is one of the most prevalent parasites of domestic ruminants worldwide. This study was aimed to determine prevalence of Sarcocystis infection and molecular discrimination of Sarcocystis gigantea and Sarcocystis medusiformis infecting domestic sheep. Tissue samples from 638 sheep slaughtered at Urmia abattoir were randomly collected from February 2011 to January 2012. Genomic DNA extraction and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed to amplify a 964 bp fragment of nuclear 18S rRNA gene. The PCR products were subjected to digestion with endonuclease MboII and/or MvaI for discriminating S. medusiformis and S. gigantea. Results indicated that the overall prevalence of Sarcocystis unspecified species was 36.83% (235/638) in which male (7.63%, 38/498) and female (35.00%, 49/140) sheep over 4 years-old had the highest prevalence. There was no significant difference between prevalence of macrosarcocysts and sex. Two macrosarcocysts forms were found as fat (27.90%, 178/638) and thin (8.93%, 57/638) in striated muscles. There was significant difference between frequency of macrosarcocysts and body distribution. Mixed infection with both fat and thin macrosarcocysts was also found in 11.13% (71/638) of infected sheep. There was no significant difference regarding the prevalence of mixed infection in both age classes. The PCR-RFLP patterns showed that fat sarcocysts were S. gigantea (29.31%, 187/638) and thin sarcocysts were S. medusiformis (7.52%, 48/638). It was concluded that ovine Sarcocystis infection was prevalent in Urmia and a combination of conventional methods and molecular study for sheep sarcocysts could be informative.
Farnaz Malekifard; Mousa Tavassoli; Mohammad Yakhchali; Reza Darvishzadeh
Volume 5, Issue 2 , June 2014, , Pages 129-133
Abstract
Equine piroplasmosis is a severe disease of horses caused by the intra-erythrocyte protozoan, Theileria equi and Babesia caballi. The aim of this study was to identify equine piroplasmosis based on molecular and morphometrical features in horses in suburb of Urmia, West Azerbaijan province, Iran. From ...
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Equine piroplasmosis is a severe disease of horses caused by the intra-erythrocyte protozoan, Theileria equi and Babesia caballi. The aim of this study was to identify equine piroplasmosis based on molecular and morphometrical features in horses in suburb of Urmia, West Azerbaijan province, Iran. From April to September 2011, a total number of 240 blood samples were collected randomly from horses of 25 villages. The specimens were transferred to the laboratory and the blood smears stained with Geimsa, and the morphological and biometrical data of parasite in any infected erythrocyte were considered. Extracted DNA from each blood sample was used in multiplex PCR in order to confirm the presence of B. caballi and T. equi. Microscopic observation on 240 blood smears determined that 15 (6.25%) and 5 (2.80%) samples were infected by T. equi and B. caballi, respectively. The mixed infections occurred in 2 (0.83%) samples. The results of the PCR assays showed 26 (10.83%), 14 (5.83%) and 4 (1.66%) were distinguished as T. equi, B. caballi and mixed infection, respectively. Differences in infection rates were statistically nonsignificant between male and female horses and among different age groups. Our findings indicated that T. equi and B. caballi were prevalent in horse population.
Yousef Mirzai; Mohammad Yakhchali; Karim Mardani
Volume 5, Issue 1 , March 2014, , Pages 55-60
Abstract
The protozoan intestinal parasite Cryptosporidium commonly infects cattle throughout the world and Iran. The present study was undertaken to determine the abundance and associated risk factors of Cryptosporidium infection in cattle herds of northwestern Iran. A total number of 246 fecal samples from ...
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The protozoan intestinal parasite Cryptosporidium commonly infects cattle throughout the world and Iran. The present study was undertaken to determine the abundance and associated risk factors of Cryptosporidium infection in cattle herds of northwestern Iran. A total number of 246 fecal samples from 138 (56.1%) diarrheic (D) and 108 (43.9%) non-diarrheic (ND) cattle were randomly collected and examined by fecal smears stained with Ziehl-Neelsen. For molecular specification, DNA was extracted from collected Cryptosporidium oocysts and a fragment of 1325 bp in size from 18S rRNA gene was amplified. The overall prevalence of Cryptosporidium infection was 22.3% (55/246). The prevalence of Cryptosporidium infection in examined calves less than 6 month-old was significantly higher than adult cattle. C. parvum and C. andersoni were identified in 20.3% (50/246) and 2.03% (5/246) of examined cattle, respectively. The highest prevalence of C. parvum infection was found in D calves < 6 month-old (13.4%, 33/246), while C. andersoni was only detected in ND cattle (8.9%, 22/246). There was significant difference in the prevalence between male than female cattle. There was no significant difference between prevalence and seasons of investigation. It was concluded that C. parvum was the prevalent species in younger animals compared to older ones as a potentially zoonotic agent in the region.