In vitro and In vivo Anti-Filarial Effect of Tetracycline/ Doxycycline

Tetracycline is an established antibiotic and is targets to Wolbachia endosymbiont present within the filarial worms. Antibiotic treatment of filarial nematodes results in sterility and inhibits larval development and adult worm viability; this is due to effect on the Wolbachia. In the present study in vitro and in vivo anti-filarial effect of different concentration of tetracycline/ doxycycline was determined. In vitro results indicated that 50 µg/ml and 100 µg/ml tetracycline concentrations affects the motility in both microfilariae and adult worms of B. malayi. The loss of motility was efficiently higher in female adult worms than male adult worms, could be attributed to the differences in Wolbachia load of the filarial worms. 14 (10 Male and 4 female) microfilaraemic subjects were treated with doxycycline @ 200mg/day for 30 days to study the in vivo filaricidal effect. In which the mean mf counts were gradually decreased after doxycycline treatment in both male and female subjects upto 6 months. The findings suggest that tetracycline/ doxycycline treatment can eliminate or reduce the mf load due to targeting Wolbachia endosymbiont therefore provide good tool for treatment and to hamper the transmission of filariasis from one host to another

Protective role of Brucella abortus specific murine antibodies in inhibiting systemic proliferation of virulent strain 544 in mice and guinea pig

Aim: The major objective of the investigation was to evaluate the hitherto uncharacterized potential of Brucella-specific antibodies to win the battle against virulent Brucella abortus infection. Materials and Methods: Brucella-specific immune serum was raised in mice. The antibody titer of serum was determined by standard tube agglutination test and indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (iELISA). Groups of mice and guinea pigs were passively immunized with serum containing specific agglutinin titers. 24 h after immunization, all animals along with unimmunized controls were challenged with B. abortus S544. Total B. abortus S544 counts in the spleen of each animal collected on the 7th day of challenge was determined to evaluate the protective index (PI) of anti-Brucella serum by statistical analysis. Results: A dose-dependent protective response to immune mice serum was observed in both experimental models though the values of PI of mice were higher than those obtained for guinea pigs. The PI values in mice passively immunized with 50 IU or 25 IU antibodies were 1.38 and 0.69, respectively. In guinea pigs, however, animals passively immunized with 50 IU or 25 IU antibodies showed PI values equivalent to 0.79 and 0.41, respectively. Conclusion: The observations support our hypothesis that the presence of antibodies inhibits the initial multiplication and eventual colonization of systemic organs by B. abortus. Therefore, a predominant antibody-mediated response induced by a vaccine is expected to protect the animal against the most severe clinical outcome of infection

Comparative jejunal expression of MUC 13 in Indian native pigs differentially adhesive to diarrhoeagenic E. coli

Escherichia coli are important pathogens among bacterial causes of neonatal piglet diarrhoea. Their adhesion to the intestinal epithelial cells is an essential prerequisite for incidence of diarrhoea, which makes certain animal innately resistant and this adhesion pattern is genetically controlled. Among the candidate genes associated with adhesion pattern, MUC13 is the most likely responsible gene examined in diverse outbred swine populations. The present investigation aimed to evaluate the native Indian (desi) pigs in terms of E. coli adhesion pattern (with Indian isolate) and MUC13 expression profile across adhesion phenotypes. Out of 80 pigs screened, 27 were found to be non-adhesive, 46 adhesive and 7 were weakly adhesive. Effect of sex was found to be significant (P<.05) with non-significant age effect. RT-PCR analysis revealed that although, porcine MUC13 mRNA expression was highest in adhesive (2.67±0.69 fold), moderate in weakly adhesive (1.22±0.35 fold) and low levels in non-adhesive (calibrator) phenotypes, differences were statistically non-significant (P<.05). While the availability of non-adhesive phenotypes among Indian desi pigs implicates abundance of input genetic resources to start a breeding programme against diarrhoea, the descending expression of MUC 13 in adhesive and weakly adhesive samples speculates its important role in adhesion of E. coli