• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.439-443
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• 1997

A total of 135 freshwater fish samples (Oreochromis spp. <85> and Clarias lazera <50>) were collected from different localities (shops and fish markets) in Alexandria Province-Egypt and examined for the presence of parasitic larval stages. The obtained data found the overall mean of the infestation with encysted metacercariae was 71.1% in the examined fish. The rates of infestation with encysted metacercariae were 72.9% and 68.0% in the examined Oreochromis spp. and Clarias lazera, respectively. The highest prevalence of the encysted metacercariae was found in summer (81.8%) in case of Oreochromis spp. and in winter (92.3%) in case of Clarias lazera, all these seasonal differences are statistically significant. The rate of infestation of encysted metacercariae in the anterior third, middle third and posterior third of Oreochromis spp. was found to be 82.3%, 74.2% and 95.2%, respectively, while 88.2%, 88.2% and 91.2%, respectively, in Clarias lazera. Moreover, the rate of infestation of encysted metacercariae in eyes, gills, liver, kidney and branchial cavity of Oreochromis spp. was 91.9%, 70.9%, 20.9%, 46.8% and 32.2%, respectively. In Clarias lazera the infestation rate was found to be 47.1%, 70.6%, 8.8% and 38.2% in the gills, liver, spleen and kidney, respectively. The zoonotic and public health importance of the encysted metacercariae are causes severe visceral pain, abdominal discomfort, intermittent bloody diarrhoea and colic after consumption of inadequately cooked fish especially Tilapia spp. (Oreochromis spp.).

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.383-390
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• 2009

To investigate the regulatory mechanism underlying the contractile response in the intestinal smooth muscle of the nile tilapia (Orechromis niloticus), we used pharmacologic and molecular approaches to identify the muscarinic subreceptors and the intracellular signaling pathways involved in this motility. Myography assays revealed that an M1- and M3-subtype selective antagonist, but not a M2-subtype selective antagonist, inhibited carbachol HCl (CCH)-induced intestinal smooth muscle contraction. In addition, a phospholipase C inhibitor, but not an adenylate cyclase inhibitor, blocked the contractile response to CCH. We also cloned five muscarinic genes (OnM2A, OnM2B, OnM3, OnM5A, and OnM5B) from the nile tilapia. In the phylogenetic analysis and sequence comparison to compare our putative gene products (OnMs) with the sequences obtained from the near complete teleost genomes, we unexpectedly found that the teleost fish have respectively two paralogous genes corresponding to each muscarinic subreceptor, and other teleost fish, except zebrafish, do not possess muscarinic subreceptor M1. In addition, the expression pattern of the nile tilapia muscarinic subreceptor transcripts during CCH-induced intestinal smooth muscle contraction in the proximal intestinal tissue was analyzed by real-time PCR surveys and it was demonstrated that CCH increased the OnMs mRNA expression rapidly and transiently.