Canine tick-borne pathogens in Cyprus and a unique canine case of multiple co-infections

Canine tick-borne pathogens such as Ehrlichia canis and Hepatozoon canis are widespread in the Mediterranean basin but have never been reported or investigated in Cyprus. We describe herein the presence of canine tick-borne pathogens in three dogs with clinical signs compatible with vector-borne diseases from Paphos area of Cyprus. Molecular and phylogenetic analysis revealed the presence of E. canis, Anaplasma platys, H. canis, Babesia vogeli and Mycoplasma haemocanis in Cyprus. One dog co-infected with E. canis, H. canis, B. vogeli and M. haemocanis is, to the best of our knowledge, the first report of this multiple co-infection in dogs. The tick-borne pathogens reported in the current study should be considered in the differential diagnoses in dogs exposed to ticks in Cyprus

Activation of protein kinase C increases the extracellular release of the transmembrane amyloid protein precursor of Alzheimer's disease.

The beta A4 peptide is the major constituent of the amyloid core of abundant senile plaques found in the cerebral cortex of patients with Alzheimer's disease. This amyloid peptide is synthesized as part of a large transmembrane amyloid protein precursor or APP. In addition to the highly expressed transmembrane APP isoforms, an mRNA encoding a secreted APP lacking the transmembrane domain has been identified. A cleavage of the transmembrane protein also yields an extracellular soluble APP fragment. The effect of phorbol esters on the release of the extracellular APP was studied in transfected Chinese hamster ovary cells which stably express either a transmembrane or a secreted APP isoform. The activation of protein kinase C by phorbol-12,13-dibutyrate increased the extracellular release of the transmembrane APP resulting from its proteolytic cleavage, while 4-beta-phorbol, which does not activate protein kinase C, did not significantly affect the recovery of the soluble APP. On the contrary, the recovery of APP secreted in the culture medium without proteolytic cleavage was not increased by protein kinase C-mediated phosphorylation

Simultaneous presence of different Borrelia burgdorferi genospecies in biological fluids of Lyme disease patients.

Oligonucleotide primers based on Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato ospA gene sequences have been designed for use in the PCR to type all (SL primers) or each (GI to GIII primers) of the B. burgdorferi sensu lato genospecies involved in Lyme disease. These genospecies-specific primers were then used in the PCR on 24 biological fluids collected from 18 neuroborreliosis patients. Among the samples tested, 20 contained DNA from Borrelia garinii, 11 contained DNA from B. burgdorferi sensu stricto, and 10 contained DNA from Borrelia afzelii. In toto, 10 patients appeared to have been infected by a single genospecies and 8 were infected by more than one Lyme disease-associated genospecies. Serum specimens from six patients were absorbed with heterologous antigens and tested by Western blotting (immunoblotting). In four cases, residual immunodetection revealed specific epitopes of genospecies also detected by PCR; in two of them, the concordant results indicated pluri-infection of the patients. In the other two cases, Western blotting showed specific antibodies for two genospecies of Borrelia, while PCR detected DNA from only one. In summary, the data underscored the relatively high prevalence of pluri-infections in Lyme disease and confirmed the association of B. garinii with neuroborreliosis

The abundance of Ixodes ricinus depends on tree species composition and shrub cover

The mainstream forestry policy in many European countries is to convert coniferous plantations into (semi-natural) deciduous woodlands. However, woodlands are the main habitat for Ixodes ricinus ticks. Therefore, assessing to what extent tick abundance and infection with Borrelia spirochetes are affected by forest composition and structure is a prerequisite for effective prevention of Lyme borreliosis. We selected a total of 25 pine and oak stands, both with and without an abundant shrub layer, in northern Belgium and estimated tick abundance between April and October 2008-2010. Additionally, the presence of deer beds was used as an indicator of relative deer habitat use. Borrelia infections in questing nymphs were determined by polymerase chain reactions. The abundance of larvae, nymphs, and adults was higher in oak stands compared to pine stands and increased with increasing shrub cover, most likely due to differences in habitat use by the ticks' main hosts. Whereas tick abundance was markedly higher in structure-rich oak stands compared to homogeneous pine stands, the Borrelia infection rates in nymphs did not differ significantly. Our results indicate that conversion towards structure-rich deciduous forests might create more suitable tick habitats, but we were unable to detect an effect on the infection rate