Effectiveness of peptone-yeast extract (P-Y) medium in the cultivation and isolation of Entamoeba histolytica/Entamoeba dispar in Turkish patients

WOS: 000181429700006PubMed ID: 12614984Amebiasis is a common protozoan infection worldwide, causing serious health problems in both children and adults. Today, almost 10% of the world population is infected with Entamoeba histolytica/Entamoeba dispar. The aims of this study were both the comparison of the reproduction rates,and densities of E. histolytica/E. dispar in Robinson, Dobell-Laidlaw and P-Y culture media and isolation of E. histolytica/E. dispar from stool samples in Peptone-Yeast (P-Y) medium. Trophozoites and cysts of E. histolytica/E. dispar, maintained in Robinson medium, and stool samples of patients with amebiasis were inoculated into P-Y, Robinson and Dobell-Laidlaw culture media. Reproduction rates reached their peak levels 48 h after the inoculation in all culture media. Reproduction rates in P-Y and Robinson media were found similar; however, they were higher than the reproduction rate in Dobell-Laidlaw medium (p 0.05). Twelve isolates from 12 patients were cultivated in P-Y medium and checked for reproduction everyday for 7 days. Twelve of the 12 (100%) isolates were cultivated in P-Y medium, indicating that the P-Y was an effective medium for the isolation of E. histolytica/E. dispar in stool samples. According to these results, P-Y medium could be preferred in immunologic, serologic and molecular studies and, thus the definitive diagnosis of amebiasis due to its low cost and simple formula. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved

Toxoplasmosis in last four years in Agean region, Turkey.

PubMed ID: 9257982Anti-Toxoplasma antibodies were determined with IFA and ELISA tests in 9410 patients who were different age groups, attended Department of Parasitology between 1991-1995. Anti-Toxoplasma IgG antibodies were found positive in 4651 (49.4%) of these patients. 2287 (21.4%) patients were pregnant women and the positivity was 55% of them. According to history of these patients, seropositivity was found 50% in women having spontaneous abortion, 52% in women having stillbirth, in 55% women having abnormal fetal births. These patients and their culinary habits, the presence of cats and relationship with other clinical symptoms were also evaluated

Gebelerde Toksoplazma enfeksiyonunun seropozitiflik ve serokonversiyon oranlri

PubMed: 22639318Infections caused by Toxoplasma gondii are frequently asymptomatic in healthy adults, however they may be serious in pregnant women and immunocompromised patients. The aims of this study were to investigate the rates of seropositivity and seroconversion in pregnant women and newborn cord blood samples, and to evaluate those data in the view of relation to lifestyle and nutrition. A total of 312 pregnant women (mean age: 28.1 ±5.2 years) who were admitted to and followed by gynecology clinics of Inonu University Medical School Hospital, Malatya, Turkey were included in this observational and cross-sectional study. Anti-toxoplasma IgG and IgM antibodies in pregnants and newborn cord sera were screened by commercial ELISA and immunofluorescence antibody (BioTek; USA) methods. A total of 312 sera from pregnant women and 312 cord blood samples during delivery were collected. IgG seropositivity rate in pregnants was found as 37.5% (117/312), seroconversion was not determined in restrained pregnants and T.gondii IgM was found negative in all pregnants. Also in all newborns IgM was negative and IgG seropositivity was determined as 33.3% (104/312) in cord blood. There was a statistically significant relationship between IgG seropositivity and raw meat consumption (p< 0.001) and being engaged in agriculture (p< 0.005). It was concluded that toxoplasma antibodies should routinely be searched on the first visit of the pregnants and the seronegative cases should be trained about the preventive measures related to toxoplasmosis. The follow-up of toxoplasma seronegative cases during pregnancy can be achieved by only detecting the IgM class antibodies and this will also reduce the cost of screen test

House dust mite fauna in western Anatolia, Turkey

House dust mites play an important role in the pathogenesis of allergic diseases. Many factors may influence mite growth. The presence of mites is related to mean temperature and humidity as well as altitude. The aim of this study was to analyze the mite fauna in 5 regions of western Anatolia, Turkey, that have similar climatic properties with low mean temperature and humidity, but differ in altitude. During the period October-November 2004, house dust was collected from 290 homes in 5 different cities. House dust mites were isolated in 67 (23.1%) of 290 samples. The family Pyroglyphidae (Astigmata) was present in all positive samples. This study suggests that the selected western Anatolian regions that share similar environmental conditions host similar dust mite populations