Parasitic fauna of Hyphessobrycon takasei and Hyphessobrycon amapaensis (Osteichthyes: Characidae), ornamental fish of two basins from Amapá state, Brazil.

This study compared the parasites fauna of Hyphessobrycon takasei and H. amapaensis from hydrographic basins in Amapá state, Brazil. Of the 42 H. takasei examined, 95.2% were parasitized by one or more species such as Dactylogyridae gen. sp., encysted metacercariae of digenean, adults and larvae of Procamallanus (Spirocamallanus) inopinatus and larvae of Camallanus sp. A total of 224 parasites were collected from H. takasei, and there was a dominance of nematode species and dispersion pattern aggregated of parasites. The species richness of parasites varied of 0 to 3 species, Brillouin index of 0-0.97 and evenness of 0-0.70. Of the 32 specimens of H. amapaensis examined, 28.1% were parasitized by Camallanus sp. larvae, which presented random dispersion pattern. For H. takasei, no correlation of host length with Brillouin diversity and species richness of parasites was found. The presence of these nematode species and metacercariae of digenean indicates that these fish may act as intermediate hosts. This is the first study to gather information about the parasite fauna of these endemic fish from the eastern Amazon, providing records that contribute new reports on occurrence of parasite species in new localities. This study on parasites of H. takasei and H. amapaensis may help prevent the introduction of parasites in other regions of the country, as well as in other countries due to aquarium fish. Since the ornamental fish exportation from the Brazil is largely dominated by wild Amazonian species, biosecurity export conditions should be require all exported fish to be inspected and certified to show no clinical signs of parasite and diseases. Lastly, this knowledge on the parasitic epidemiology may help improve the health and quality of these fish being exported from the Amazon region, reducing losses on all stages of this production chain

Transient elastography and APRI score: looking at false positives and false negatives. Diagnostic performance and association to fibrosis staging in chronic hepatitis C

Although long regarded as the gold standard for liver fibrosis staging in chronic hepatitis C (CHC), liver biopsy (LB) implies both the risk of an invasive procedure and significant variability. The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic performance for transient elastography (TE) and aspartate aminotransferase to platelet index (APRI) used alone and in combination compared to liver biopsy and to analyze false positive/negative results. Patients with CHC, and no previous clinical diagnosis of cirrhosis were enrolled to undergo liver biopsy, TE and APRI. A total of 182 adult patients with a median age of 55 years and median body mass index of 26.71 kg/m2 were analyzed. On LB, 56% of patients had significant levels of fibrosis (METAVIR F≥2) and 28% had advanced fibrosis (F3/F4). The strongest performance for both tests was observed for exclusion of advanced fibrosis with good negative predictive values (89 and 86%, respectively). Low necroinflammatory activity on LB was associated with false negative TE. False positives were associated with NASH and smaller LB fragments. Correlation between APRI and Fibroscan for F≥2 was 100% and 84% for F≥3 and remained high in both false negative and false positive instances, correctly identifying F<2 in 71% of cases and F<3 in 78% (and potentially foregoing up to 84% of LB). We concluded that low individual performance indicators could be attributable to limitations of LB. Poorer differentiation of lower levels of fibrosis is a known issue for LB and remains so for noninvasive tests. Good predictability is possible, however, for advanced fibrosis4991

The invasive red palm mite, Raoiella indica Hirst (Acari: Tenuipalpidae), in Brazil: range extension and arrival into the most threatened area, the Northeast Region.

Na publicação: Denise Navia; Elisangela G. F. de Morais