Expression of RFC/SLC19A1 is Associated with Tumor Type in Bladder Cancer Patients

Urinary bladder cancer (UBC) ranks ninth in worldwide cancer. In Egypt, the pattern of bladder cancer is unique in that both the transitional and squamous cell types prevail. Despite much research on the topic, it is still difficult to predict tumor progression, optimal therapy and clinical outcome. The reduced folate carrier (RFC/SLC19A1) is the major transport system for folates in mammalian cells and tissues. RFC is also the primary means of cellular uptake for antifolate cancer chemotherapeutic drugs, however, membrane transport of antifolates by RFC is considered as limiting to antitumor activity. The purpose of this study was to compare the mRNA expression level of RFC/SLC19A1 in urothelial and non-urothelial variants of bladder carcinomas. Quantification of RFC mRNA in the mucosa of 41 untreated bladder cancer patients was performed using RT-qPCR. RFC mRNA steady-state levels were ∼9-fold higher (N = 39; P<0.0001) in bladder tumor specimens relative to normal bladder mRNA. RFC upregulation was strongly correlated with tumor type (urothelial vs. non-urothelial; p<0.05) where median RFC mRNA expression was significantly (p<0.05) higher in the urothelial (∼14-fold) compared to the non-urothelial (∼4-fold) variant. This may account for the variation in response to antifolate-containing regimens used in the treatment of either type. RFC mRNA levels were not associated with tumor grade (I, II and III) or stage (muscle-invasive vs. non-muscle invasive) implying that RFC cannot be used for prognostic purposes in bladder carcinomas and its increased expression is an early event in human bladder tumors pathogenesis. Further, RFC can be considered as a potential marker for predicting response to antifolate chemotherapy in urothelial carcinomas

Population Structure of Pseudomonas aeruginosa from Five Mediterranean Countries: Evidence for Frequent Recombination and Epidemic Occurrence of CC235

Several studies in recent years have provided evidence that Pseudomonas aeruginosa has a non-clonal population structure punctuated by highly successful epidemic clones or clonal complexes. The role of recombination in the diversification of P. aeruginosa clones has been suggested, but not yet demonstrated using multi-locus sequence typing (MLST). Isolates of P. aeruginosa from five Mediterranean countries (n = 141) were subjected to pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), serotyping and PCR targeting the virulence genes exoS and exoU. The occurrence of multi-resistance (≥3 antipseudomonal drugs) was analyzed with disk diffusion according to EUCAST. MLST was performed on a subset of strains (n = 110) most of them had a distinct PFGE variant. MLST data were analyzed with Bionumerics 6.0, using minimal spanning tree (MST) as well as eBURST. Measurement of clonality was assessed by the standardized index of association (IAS). Evidence of recombination was estimated by ClonalFrame as well as SplitsTree4.0. The MST analysis connected 70 sequence types, among which ST235 was by far the most common. ST235 was very frequently associated with the O11 serotype, and frequently displayed multi-resistance and the virulence genotype exoS−/exoU+. ClonalFrame linked several groups previously identified by eBURST and MST, and provided insight to the evolutionary events occurring in the population; the recombination/mutation ratio was found to be 8.4. A Neighbor-Net analysis based on the concatenated sequences revealed a complex network, providing evidence of frequent recombination. The index of association when all the strains were considered indicated a freely recombining population. P. aeruginosa isolates from the Mediterranean countries display an epidemic population structure, particularly dominated by ST235-O11, which has earlier also been coupled to the spread of ß-lactamases in many countries

Prevalence and intensity of Nematodirus sp. and Eimeria sp. infections in the domestic goats of St. Katherine\'s Protectorate (Sinai, Egypt): relations with some ecological and biological factors

The prevalence and intensity of intestinal parasites in the domestic goats at St. Katherine\'s protectorate and their relation to some ecological and biological factors that might possibly influence parasite load were investigated. Faecal samples from 164 goats, housed in three different sites during two seasons, (Aug-Sept 2001 and Jan-Feb 2002) were examined for egg or oocyst numbers per gram (EPG or OPG) as indices of parasite load. Nematodirus sp. (Nematoda) and Eimeria sp. (coccidian protozoa) were the dominant intestinal parasites. Only few cases showed high EPG (>200) or OPG (>500) while others showed subclinical levels of infection. Marked seasonal variations were observed, higher in Aug-Sept (dry season) than in Jan-Feb (wet season). There were significant differences among sites, perhaps caused by many factors including site topography, feeding habits, diet or health status. OPG increased dramatically in ungrazed and EPG increased in grazed goats. OPG was affected by sex, age class and female status but this was not the case for EPG. There was a significant correlation between OPG and host size. We conclude that differences in parasite loads are determined by both environmental and biological factors. KEY WORDS: goats, Nematodirus, Eimeria, season, site, food, sex, age. Egyptian Journal of Botany Vol.5 2003: 78-8

Freshwater Snail Distribution Related to Physicochemical Parameters and Aquatic Macrophytes in Giza and Kafr El-Shiekh Governorates, Egypt

A field work was conducted to study the density of the freshwater snail in relation to the vegetation cover as well as the physical and chemical properties in different watercourses. Two sites were selected in Giza governorate while, three sites were selected at Kafr El-Shiekh governorate. Water temperature, conductivity, total hardness, and pH were measured in the selected sites as well as bisphenol A (BPA) levels. Snail sampling was carried out and all types of macrophytes found in each site were collected, identified and coverage. Nine snails species namely Biomphalaria alexandrina, Physa acuta, Planorbis planorbis, Lymnaea natalensis, Bulinus truncates, Bellamya unicolor, Melanoides tuberculata, Helisoma duryi and Lanistes carinatus were identifi ed. B. alexandrina was the most enumeration of snail species. The percentage of total snail species (75.47 %) was recorded at 28 °C as compared to 5.86 % recorded at 34 °C. Five species of aquatic vegetation were identifi ed, two of them correlated positively and signifi cantly with various snail species. Sites in which snails associated with macrophytes were characterized with higher ranges of chemicals, dissolved oxygen, and conductivity. In conclusion, the most important of the associating vegetation was L. gibba which correlated with B. alexandrina and served as an indicator plant.</p

Factors Affecting Lethality of Bisphenol a on Biomphalaria alexandrina Snails

The present study was undertaken to investigate the influence of some environmental factors including temperature, water vegetation, bed mud and pH on LC50, LC90 and LT50 of bisphenol A (BPA) on the snail host of Schistosoma mansoni, Biomphalaria alexandrina. Effects of exposure to the sublethal concentrations of BPA on some biological aspects of the snails and on the cercarial output form S. mansoni infected snails were studied. Results showed that temperature, water vegetation, bed mud and pH markedly affected the lethality of BPA. The biological parameters of B. alexandrina including survival rate, egg hatchability and egg laying capacity were greatly affected by exposure to BPA and the response was dose dependent. Regarding the possible effect of BPA on transmission of schistosomiasis, results showed that exposure to different concentration of BPA for 7 days before miracidial infection caused the death of all the snails before reaching the patent period while, no cercarial output was recorded from snails exposed to BPA for 24 hrs till their death. In conclusion, our results showed that the environmental characteristics may alter the biological impacts of BPA and the exposure of snail to BPA may affect the transmission of schistosomiasis.</p

Inheritance of Schistosoma mansoni infection incompatibility in Biomphalaria alexandrina snails

In this study, we looked at the inheritance of susceptibility and resistance to Schistosoma mansoni infection in the first generation of crossbred Biomphalaria alexandrina snails. Our ultimate goal is to use such information to develop a biological method of controlling schistosomiasis. We infected laboratory-bred snails with S. mansoni miracidia and examined cercarial shedding to determine susceptibility and resistance. Five parental groups were used: Group I contained 30 susceptible snails, Group II contained 30 resistant snails, Group III contained 15 susceptible and 15 resistant snails, Group IV contained 27 susceptible and three resistant snails and Group V contained three susceptible and 27 resistant snails. The percentage of resistant snails in the resulting progeny varied according to the ratio of susceptible and resistant parents per group; they are 7%, 100%, 68%, 45% and 97% from Groups I, II, III, IV and V, respectively. On increasing the percentage of resistant parent snails, the percentage of resistant progeny increased, while cercarial production in their susceptible progeny decreased