• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.416-421
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• 1992

Male urethral diverticulum is uncommon lesion, furthermore calculus formation within the male urethral diverticulum is very rare. Generally, urethral diverticula are classified as congenital and acquired. The majority of male urethral diverticula are acquired and approximately 10 to 20 per cent are congenital. Acquired urethral diverticula in the male may arise from many sources, including infection(prostatic abscess, infection of periurethral glands, hematoma or schistosomiasis), obstruction (stricutre, impacted stone, Cunningham clamp or condom catheter) and trauma(instrumentation, external injury and pelvic fracture). Calculi formation is more common in the acquired diverticulum owing to stagnation of urine and infection. These calculi in the diverticulum usually are solitary and may attain considerable size with predisposing factors. 1) a ureteral or bladder calculus that is lodged in the urethra, 2) urethral trauma or stricture, 3) calcification around a foreign body or hair. The treatment of urethral diverticulum conbined with stone is excision of the diverticula with removal of stone. We treated two cases of urethral diverticulum combined with stone in the male, and report with review of literature.

• The Korean Journal of Malacology
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.85-90
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• 1998

The effects of methanol extracts of plant molluscicide, Brassaia actinophylla (Araliaceae) had been assessed on development of eggs f snails, Biomphalaria glabrata and Indoplanorbis exustus at sublethal concentrations. Results revealed that the administration of 10mg/l of B. actionophylla caused some alterations in embryos of both species. Niclosamide (0.004 mg/l) also arrested the development of embryos in B. glabrata ans I. exustus. It can be concluded that B. actinophylla has a potential use as an avicidal agent in the control of the snail intermediate hosts of schistosomiasis.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.216-220
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• 2005

Pulmonary arteriovenous fistulas(PAVFs) is a rare disorder that occurs in two to three children per 100,000 population. It is presented as absence of intervening capillary beds between the pulmonary artery and vein with resultant persistent right to left shunt. Other causes include trauma, liver cirrhosis, malignancy and schistosomiasis. It is mostly asymptomatic, but it may present with respiratory difficulty, cyanosis, clubbed fingers induced by right to left shunt or hemoptysis, polycythemia and epistaxis. Major complications, such as brain abscess, brain embolism, paradoxical embolism and subacute infective endocarditis can be devastating, so therapeutic intervention is recommended in all patients. However, removal of low-resistance fistulas can aggrevate pulmonary hypertension, so detection of increased pulmonary pressure is important. We report two patients : One a 42 year-old male with PAVFs treated with coil embolization, and a 42 year-old female who was treated with anticoagulants due to pulmonary hypertension.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.59 no.3
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• pp.257-263
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• 2021

Human gnathostomiasis is a parasitic disease caused by Gnathostoma nematode infection. A rapid, reliable, and practical immunoassay, named dot immuno-gold filtration assay (DIGFA), was developed to supporting clinical diagnosis of gnathostomiasis. The practical tool detected anti-Gnathostoma-specific IgG4 in human serum using crude extract of third-stage larvae as antigen. The result of the test was shown by anti-human IgG4 monoclonal antibody conjugated colloidal gold. The sensitivity and specificity of the test were both 100% for detection in human sera from patients with gnathostomiasis (13/13) and from healthy negative controls (50/50), respectively. Cross-reactivity with heterogonous serum samples from patients with other helminthiases ranged from 0 (trichinosis, paragonimiasis, clonorchiasis, schistosomiasis, and cysticercosis) to 25.0% (sparganosis), with an average of 6.3% (7/112). Moreover, specific IgG4 antibodies diminished at 6 months after treatment. This study showed that DIGFA for the detection of specific IgG4 in human sera could be a promising tool for the diagnosis of gnathostomiasis and useful for evaluating therapeutic effects.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.127-132
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• 2010

Biomphalaria alexandrina snails play an indispensable role in transmission of schistosomiasis. Infection rates in field populations of snails are routinely determined by cercarial shedding neglecting prepatent snail infections, because of lack of a suitable method for diagnosis. The present study aimed at separation and quantification of oxalic, malic, acetic, pyruvic, and fumaric acids using ion-suppression reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to test the potentiality of these acids to be used as diagnostic and therapeutic biomarkers. The assay was done in both hemolymph and digestive gland-gonad complex (DGG) samples in a total of 300 B. alexandrina snails. All of the studied acids in both the hemolymph and tissue samples except for the fumaric acid in hemolymph appeared to be good diagnostic biomarkers as they provide not only a good discrimination between the infected snails from the control but also between the studied stages of infection from each other. The most sensitive discriminating acid was malic acid in hemolymph samples as it showed the highest F-ratio. Using the Z-score, malic acid was found to be a good potential therapeutic biomarker in the prepatency stage, oxalic acid and acetic acid in the stage of patency, and malic acid and acetic acid at 2 weeks after patency. Quantification of carboxylic acids, using HPLC strategy, was fast, easy, and accurate in prediction of infected and uninfected snails and possibly to detect the stage of infection. It seems also useful for detection of the most suitable acids to be used as drug targets.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.51 no.6
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• pp.651-656
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• 2013

Human schistosomiasis caused by Schistosoma japonicum and Schistosoma mekongi is a chronic and debilitating helminthic disease still prevalent in several countries of Asia. Due to morphological similarities of cercariae and eggs of these 2 species, microscopic differentiation is difficult. High resolution melting (HRM) real-time PCR is developed as an alternative tool for the detection and differentiation of these 2 species. A primer pair was designed for targeting the 18S ribosomal RNA gene to generate PCR products of 156 base pairs for both species. The melting points of S. japonicum and S. mekongi PCR products were $84.5{\pm}0.07^{\circ}C$ and $85.7{\pm}0.07^{\circ}C$, respectively. The method permits amplification from a single cercaria or an egg. The HRM real-time PCR is a rapid and simple tool for differentiation of S. japonicum and S. mekongi in the intermediate and final hosts.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.54 no.4
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• pp.477-484
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• 2016

There is renewed interest in natural products as a starting point for discovery of drugs for schistosomiasis. Recent studies have shown that phytol reveals interesting in vivo and in vitro antischistosomal properties against Schistosoma mansoni adult worms. Here, we report the in vitro antischistosomal activity of phytol against Schistosoma haematobium juvenile and adult worms and alterations on the tegumental surface of the worms by means of scanning electron microscopy. The assay, which was carried out with 6 concentrations (25, 50, 75, 100, 125, and $150{\mu}g/ml$) of phytol, has shown a promising activity in a dose and time-dependent manner. There was a significant decline in the motility of the worms and a mortality rate of 100% was found at 48 hr after they had been exposed to phytol in the concentration of $150{\mu}g/ml$. Male worms were more susceptible. On the ultrastructural level, phytol also induced tegumental peeling, disintegration of tubercles and spines in addition to morphological disfiguring of the oral and ventral suckers. This report provides the first evidence that phytol is able to kill S. haematobium of different ages, and emphasizes that it is a promising natural product that could be used for development of a new schistosomicidal agent.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.165-175
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• 2013

The fear that schistosomes will become resistant to praziquantel (PZQ) motivates the search for alternatives to treat schistosomiasis. The antimalarials quinine (QN) and halofantrine (HF) possess moderate antischistosomal properties. The major metabolic pathway of QN and HF is through cytochrome P450 (CYP) 3A4. Accordingly, this study investigates the effects of CYP3A4 inhibitor, ketoconazole (KTZ), on the antischistosomal potential of these quinolines against Schistosoma mansoni infection by evaluating parasitological, histopathological, and biochemical parameters. Mice were classified into 7 groups: uninfected untreated (I), infected untreated (II), infected treated orally with PZQ (1,000 mg/kg) (III), QN (400 mg/kg) (IV), KTZ (10 mg/kg)+QN as group IV (V), HF (400 mg/kg) (VI), and KTZ (as group V)+HF (as group VI) (VII). KTZ plus QN or HF produced more inhibition (P<0.05) in hepatic CYP450 (85.7% and 83.8%) and CYT b5 (75.5% and 73.5%) activities, respectively, than in groups treated with QN or HF alone. This was accompanied with more reduction in female (89.0% and 79.3%), total worms (81.4% and 70.3%), and eggs burden (hepatic; 83.8%, 66.0% and intestinal; 68%, 64.5%), respectively, and encountering the granulomatous reaction to parasite eggs trapped in the liver. QN and HF significantly (P<0.05) elevated malondialdehyde levels when used alone or with KTZ. Meanwhile, KTZ plus QN or HF restored serum levels of ALT, albumin, and reduced hepatic glutathione (KTZ+HF) to their control values. KTZ enhanced the therapeutic antischistosomal potential of QN and HF over each drug alone. Moreover, the effect of KTZ+QN was more evident than KTZ+HF.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.18
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• pp.7673-7677
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• 2014

Background: Patients with long-standing inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have an increased risk of developing colorectal cancer (CRC). Colon cancer risk in IBD increases with longer duration and greater anatomic extent of colitis, the presence of primary sclerosing cholangitis, family history of CRC and degree of inflammation of the bowel. This study aimed to characterize the histopathological pattern of benign colorectal diseases among Saudi patients and to highlight age and gender variations of lesions as base line data for future studies to investigate the link between benign/IBD and colorectal cancers in the local population. Materials and Methods: The materials consisted of 684 biopsies, reported as benign (excluding malignancies and polyps) at the Department of Pathology, King Fahad Hospital, Madinah, Saudi Arabia from January 2006 to December 2013. Data collected and entered in MS-Excel and were analyzed using SPSS-20. Results: Of 684 colorectal tissues reviewed, 408 specimens (59.6%) were from male patients and 276 specimens (40.4%) were from females giving a male: female ratio of 1.5:1. Age of the patients ranged from 4 to 75 years with a mean of 39.6 years. The most frequent histologic diagnosis was a chronic non specific proctocolitis followed by ulcerative colitis, accounting respectively for 52.6% and 31.7% of all cases. These were followed by Crohn's disease 22 (3.2%), ischemic bowel disease 20 (2.9%), diverticular disease 14 (2%), eosinophilic colitis 12 (1.7%) and solitary rectal ulcer 12 (1.7%). A minority of 21 patients (3.1%) were cases of acute nonspecific proctocolitis, schistosomiasis, tuberculosis, volvulus and pseudomembranous colitis. Conclusions: These data show that although chronic non specific proctocolitis and ulcerative colitis were the dominant diagnoses, Crohn's disease, ischemic bowel disease and diverticular disease also existed to a lesser extent and should be considered in the differential diagnosis of benign colorectal diseases. This study provides a base line data for future studies which would be taken up to investigate the link between benign/IBD and colorectal cancers in the local population.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.53 no.6
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• pp.745-747
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• 2015

Cryptosporidium, a protozoan parasite that causes watery diarrhea, is found worldwide and is common in areas with low water hygiene. In February 2014, 866 stool samples were collected from the inhabitants of 2 rural areas in White Nile State, Sudan. These stool samples were assessed by performing modified acid-fast staining, followed by examination under a light microscope. The overall positive rate of Cryptosporidium oocysts was 13.3%. Cryptosporidium oocysts were detected in 8.6% stool samples obtained from inhabitants living in the area having water purification systems and in 14.6% stool samples obtained from inhabitants living in the area not having water purification systems. No significant difference was observed in the prevalence of Cryptosporidium infection between men and women (14.7% and 14.1%, respectively). The positive rate of oocysts by age was the highest among inhabitants in their 60s (40.0%). These findings suggest that the use of water purification systems is important for preventing Cryptosporidium infection among inhabitants of these rural areas in Sudan.