Could be the swine responsible of transmission to the humans of Dientamoeba fragilis infection?

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The gene expression profiles of canine mammary cancer cells grown with carcinoma-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) as a co-culture in vitro

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>It is supposed that fibroblasts present in tumour microenvironment increase cancer invasiveness and its ability to metastasize but the mechanisms have not been clearly defined yet. Thus, the current study was designed to assess changes in gene expression in five various cancer cell lines grown as a co-culture with the carcinoma-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) <it>in vitro</it>.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A carcinoma-associated fibroblast cell line was isolated from a canine mammary cancer. Then, a co-culture of cancer cells with the CAFs was established and maintained for 72 hrs. Having sorted the cells, a global gene expression in cancer cells using DNA microarrays was examined. The analysis revealed an up-regulation of 100 genes and a down-regulation of 106 genes in the cancer cells grown as a co-culture with the CAFs in comparison to control conditions. The PANTHER binomial statistics tool was applied to determine statistically over-manifested pathways (<it>p </it>< 0.05). Bulk of the up-regulated genes are involved in the adhesion, the angiogenesis, the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and generally take part in the developmental processes. These results were further confirmed using real-time qPCR. Moreover, a wound-healing assay and growth characteristics on Matrigel matrix showed that CAFs increase cancer cell migration and matrix invasion.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The results of the current study showed that the co-culturing of cancer cells and the CAFs caused significant changes to the cancer gene expression. The presence of the CAFs in a microenvironment of cancer cells promotes adhesion, angiogenesis and EMT.</p

A web-based tumor registration system for a regional Canine Cancer Registry in Umbria, central Italy

The Umbria Canine Cancer Registry (CCR) is a web-based platform for cancer registrationset up in order to estimate the incidence of spontaneous tumors. It is an integralpart of the regional canine demographic registry in which veterinary practitioners andpathologists interact. Veterinary pathologists perform double-blind comparisons andclassify neoplasms in an automated classification process using the WHO criteria forcanine neoplasms and the ICD-O tumor topographical and morphological keys. Herewe describe the organization, on-line procedures and the methods used to assess caninedemography, a pre-requisite for accurately estimating the incidence of cancer.In its first 4 years the CCR recruited 4857 cases of suspected tumors, as diagnosed bypractitioners, clinics and a veterinary hospital. After the first year the number of enrolledcases increased by 63%, suggesting growing interest from the regional veterinarycommunity

West Nile Virus lineage 2 overwintering in Italy

In January 2022, West Nile virus (WNV) lineage 2 (L2) was detected in an adult female goshawk rescued near Perugia in the region of Umbria (Italy). The animal showed neurological symptoms and died 15 days after its recovery in a wildlife rescue center. This was the second case of WNV infection recorded in birds in the Umbria region during the cold season, when mosquitoes, the main WNV vectors, are usually not active. According to the National Surveillance Plan, the Umbria region is included amongst the WNV low-risk areas. The necropsy evidenced generalized pallor of the mucous membranes, mild splenomegaly, and cerebral edema. WNV L2 was detected in the brain, heart, kidney, and spleen homogenate using specific RT-PCR. Subsequently, the extracted viral RNA was sequenced. A Bayesian phylogenetic analysis performed through a maximum-likelihood tree showed that the genome sequence clustered with the Italian strains within the European WNV strains among the central-southern European WNV L2 clade. These results, on the one hand, confirmed that the WNV L2 strains circulating in Italy are genetically stable and, on the other hand, evidenced a continuous WNV circulation in Italy throughout the year. In this report case, a bird-to-bird WNV transmission was suggested to support the virus overwintering. The potential transmission through the oral route in a predatory bird may explain the relatively rapid spread of WNV, as well as other flaviviruses characterized by similar transmission patterns. However, rodent-to-bird transmission or mosquito-to-bird transmission cannot be excluded, and further research is needed to better understand WNV transmission routes during the winter season in Ital

Hystological confirmation of Opisthorchis felineus in two stray cats on ‘Isola Maggiore’ (Trasimeno Lake, Perugia, Italy): the epidemiological chain of human opisthorchiasis is almost complete in this middle Italy lake

Over the past five years have been described, in Umbria, the first human cases of infestation with Opistorchis felineus, as well as detect the presence of this fluke eggs in the feces of Digenea stray seeds or stray cats on the island of Maggiore Lake Trasimeno (Umbria) in central Italy. Previous research metacercariae in fish caught in this lake and the recovery of the shellfish B. leach into the lake area have been rather insignificant.This work confirms the presence of eggs of O. felineus in 33.3% of cat litter and, most importantly, it shows active infestation in two cats found dead on that island, anatomical lesions - histopathological opisthorchiasi and consistent with the observation of the presence of adult worm with eggs is in intrahepatic bile home that when pancreatic O. felineus

Dientamoeba fragilis nella popolazione suina: indagini preliminari

Dientamoeba fragilis is a worldwide distributed protozoon which is now estimated responsible of enteric diseases in humans. A wide spectrum of intestinal symptoms has been described: diarrhoea (acute or prolonged), flatulence, abdominal pains, and not specific bowel syndrome; however, asymptomatic infection has been also reported. D. fragilis is still not well know because only the delicate trophozoite stage has been demonstrated in stool samples and definitive identification is based on permanent stains, usually not performed in ova and parasites (O&amp;P) examinations, in Italy.D. fragilis is difficult to cultivate but molecular techniques, such as PCR, appear promising for a sure diagnosis of this protozoan infection.The epidemiology of dientamoebiasis is not clear too, and this paper presents preliminary results concerning the presence of D. fragilis in swine faeces in order to evaluate the possible role of pigs as reservoir of the parasite. So, 121 stool specimens of swine population were examined using Giemsa permanent stain and D. fragilis was observed in 53 stool specimens (43.8%). Other consideratioona are reported too