scholarly journals The development of Psychodiella sergenti (Apicomplexa: Eugregarinorida) in Phlebotomus sergenti (Diptera: Psychodidae)

Parasitology ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 139 (6) ◽  
pp. 726-734 ◽  
Author(s):  
LUCIE LANTOVA ◽  
PETR VOLF

SUMMARYPsychodiella sergenti is a recently described specific pathogen of the sand fly Phlebotomus sergenti, the main vector of Leishmania tropica. The aim of this study was to examine the life cycle of Ps. sergenti in various developmental stages of the sand fly host. The microscopical methods used include scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and light microscopy of native preparations and histological sections stained with periodic acid-Schiff reaction. Psychodiella sergenti oocysts were observed on the chorion of sand fly eggs. In 1st instar larvae, sporozoites were located in the ectoperitrophic space of the intestine. No intracellular stages were found. In 4th instar larvae, Ps. sergenti was mostly located in the ectoperitrophic space of the intestine of the larvae before defecation and in the intestinal lumen of the larvae after defecation. In adults, the parasite was recorded in the body cavity, where the sexual development was triggered by a bloodmeal intake. Psychodiella sergenti has several unique features. It develops sexually exclusively in sand fly females that took a bloodmeal, and its sporozoites bear a distinctive conoid (about 700 nm long), which is more than 4 times longer than conoids of the mosquito gregarines.

2021 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-17
Author(s):  
Muhammad Ilyas Iqbal ◽  
Muchtaruddin Mansyur ◽  
Pudji Sari ◽  
Dwi Anita Suryandari ◽  
Pramudianto

Intoduction: Acute and chronic exposure to toluene at high doses is known to affect all organs of the body including the spermatogenesis process. In the industrial sector, the use of toluene as a solvent is still widely used, up to 10 million tons per year. The control over health problems that may occur is carried out by applying work exposure threshold values. This research aims to explore the effect of toluene exposure at the threshold value range on spermatogenesis.Method: This research used laboratory experiment on 30 male Wistar rats which were divided into five groups of different exposure levels, namely 12.5 parts per million (ppm], 25 ppm, 50 ppm, 100 ppm, and no exposure (control). Exposure was given for 4 hours daily over 14 days through a hood with measured release in the glass cage. The toluene exposure markers observed were Malondialdehyde (MDA) in the blood tissue and testicles using the Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances (TBARS) method. The effect on the spermatogenicity process was assessed by counting the spermatogonia A cells of male Wistar rats with Periodic Acid Schiff (PAS) staining and is calculated by the Abercrombie formula. Analysis of the correlation between the level of exposure and its effect on the increase in malondialdehyde, and spermatogenesis was carried out using the Spearman correlation analysis.Result: There was a moderately positive correlation between levels of toluene exposure and plasma MDA levels (r = 0.42; p = 0.025). Meanwhile, on [the issue of] the quantity of spermatogonia cells, a high level of negative correlation with exposure levels was obtained (r = -0.68; p = 0.001).Conclusion: Toluene exposure in male Wistar rats within the range of threshold values influenced the increase in plasma MDA levels and decreased the Spermatogenia A cells. However, toluene exposure did not affect the testicular MDA levels of male Wistar rats.


2018 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 322-331
Author(s):  
Rani S. Sellers ◽  
S. Radma Mahmood ◽  
Geoffrey S. Perumal ◽  
Frank P. Macaluso ◽  
Irwin J. Kurland

Lipin-1 ( Lpin1)–deficient lipodystrophic mice have scant and immature adipocytes and develop transient fatty liver early in life. Unlike normal mice, these mice cannot rely on stored triglycerides to generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP) from the β-oxidation of fatty acids during periods of fasting. To compensate, these mice store much higher amounts of glycogen in skeletal muscle and liver than wild-type mice in order to support energy needs during periods of fasting. Our studies demonstrated that there are phenotypic changes in skeletal muscle fibers that reflect an adaptation to this unique metabolic situation. The phenotype of skeletal muscle (soleus, gastrocnemius, plantaris, and extensor digitorum longus [EDL]) from Lpin1-/- was evaluated using various methods including immunohistochemistry for myosin heavy chains (Myh) 1, 2, 2a, 2b, and 2x; enzyme histochemistry for myosin ATPase, cytochrome-c oxidase (COX), and succinyl dehydrogenase (SDH); periodic acid–Schiff; and transmission electron microscopy. Fiber-type changes in the soleus muscle of Lpin1-/- mice were prominent and included decreased Myh1 expression with concomitant increases in Myh2 expression and myosin-ATPase activity; this change was associated with an increase in the presence of Myh1/2a or Myh1/2x hybrid fibers. Alterations in mitochondrial enzyme activity (COX and SDH) were apparent in the myofibers in the soleus, gastrocnemius, plantaris, and EDL muscles. Electron microscopy revealed increases in the subsarcolemmal mitochondrial mass in the muscles of Lpin1-/- mice. These data demonstrate that lipin-1 deficiency results in phenotypic fiber-specific modulation of skeletal muscle necessary for compensatory fuel utilization adaptations in lipodystrophy.


1963 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald M. Christie ◽  
Helen I. Battle

Larvae of the lamprey, Entosphenus lamottei (Le Sueur), and rainbow trout, Salmo gairdneri Richardson, were exposed to the sodium salt of 3-trifluormethyl-4-nitrophenol (TFM) in concentrations of 0.75 p.p.m., 3.00 p.p.m., and 6.00 p.p.m. Microscopic examination of changes induced in the gills, liver, cloacal region, and musculature were made on 7-micron sections stained with Harris' haematoxylin and Bowie's eosin, and in the gill region with periodic acid Schiff reagent. A comparison of the degree of the effects in the two species was made by planimetry of the vascular, cellular, and edematous areas from enlarged drawings of sections.Upon exposure to lethal concentrations of TFM, the body of the larval lamprey becomes distended at the pharyngeal level and heavy cords of mucus emerge from the external gill clefts. A deep red coloration is evident in the pharyngeal region consequent upon vasodilatation of the arterioles and capillaries of the gill filaments. Trout exhibit a similar vasodilatation of the gills together with increased mucous secretion. Edema in the connective tissue between the respiratory epithelium and the vascular endothelium is induced in both species. After prolonged exposure to TFM, the mucous cells in the lining of the branchial chamber and covering the tips of the gill filaments are actively discharging their secretions or completely spent.Certain effects induced by TFM in the larval lamprey are not evident in the trout. The cloacal region takes on a deep red coloration due to dilatation of the venous sinuses and the liver becomes reddish because of sinusoidal dilatation. Extensive edema of the fibrous connective tissue of the skeletal musculature is characteristically present. A slightly increased secretory activity of mucous-secreting cells may occur in the epidermis.With the techniques employed in this study, there was no evidence in either species of cytological or histological changes in the nervous tissue, cardiac musculature, notochord, alimentary canal (including the haemopoietic typhlosole of the lamprey), or mesonephros.


1990 ◽  
Vol 152 (1) ◽  
pp. 265-279
Author(s):  
A. Corsi ◽  
A. L. Granata ◽  
O. Hudlicka

Muscle performance and structure was studied in rat soleus muscle with limited blood supply in combination with chronic muscle stimulation. Blood supply to the lower leg was restricted by ligation of the common iliac artery, electrodes were implanted in the vicinity of the sciatic nerve and ankle flexors were denervated. Three days later, soleus and gastrocnemius muscles were stimulated at 4 Hz four times a day for a period of 20 min with 2 h intervals between stimulations; this procedure was continued for 4 days. Muscle performance, histochemistry and ultrastructure were studied on the eighth day after operation in these muscles and in ischaemic unstimulated muscles with denervated ankle flexors. Both were compared with control animals. Muscles with limited blood supply developed less isometric twitch tension than control muscles (peak twitch tension in ischaemic muscle was 60.3 +/− 4.8 g g-1 muscle, mean +/− S.E.M., compared to 79.7 +/− 6.9 g g-1 in control muscle; tensions after 5 min contraction were 54.5 +/− 5.5 g g-1 in ischaemic muscle compared to 70.6 +/− 6 g g-1 in controls). Stimulated muscles with limited blood supply had higher peak (85 +/− 16.6 g g-1) and final (87 +/− 12 g g-1) tensions, and also fatigued less than muscles with limited blood supply but no stimulation. Histochemical estimation of capillary density (by staining for alkaline phosphatase) and slow (SO) and fast (FOG) fibres (by myosin ATPase staining) revealed similar capillary to fibre ratios (2.5) and a similar proportion of FOG fibres (around 18%) in all muscles. The proportion of glycogen-depleted fibres (estimated from the periodic acid Schiff reaction, PAS) in muscles removed from animals 10 min after a 5 min period of isometric twitches was significantly lower in ischaemic muscles (45.1 +/− 1.9%) than in control (80.5 +/− 1.5%) or chronically stimulated ischaemic muscles (67.3 +/− 4.0%). Electron microscopy showed disorganised myofibrils with Z-line streaming in 7.48 +/− 3.04% of fibres in muscles with limited blood supply. Swollen and degenerated mitochondria, dilated sarcoplasmic reticulum and areas of disrupted sarcolemma were also observed. Stimulated ligated muscles showed a significantly lower proportion of fibres with disorganised filaments (0.65 +/− 0.32%) and other signs of damage were much less frequent. The reduced damage and improved performance of chronically stimulated slow muscle may be the result of improved microcirculation, preventing accumulation of lactate.


2018 ◽  
Vol 399 (9) ◽  
pp. 1009-1022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shihui Guo ◽  
Peter Briza ◽  
Viktor Magdolen ◽  
Hans Brandstetter ◽  
Peter Goettig

Abstract Human kallikrein-related peptidases 3, 4, 11, and KLK2, the activator of KLK3/PSA, belong to the prostatic group of the KLKs, whose major physiological function is semen liquefaction during the fertilization process. Notably, these KLKs are upregulated in prostate cancer and are used as clinical biomarkers or have been proposed as therapeutic targets. However, this potential awaits a detailed characterization of these proteases. In order to study glycosylated prostatic KLKs resembling the natural proteases, we used Leishmania (LEXSY) and HEK293 cells for secretory expression. Both systems allowed the subsequent purification of soluble pro-KLK zymogens with correct propeptides and of the mature forms. Periodic acid-Schiff reaction, enzymatic deglycosylation assays, and mass spectrometry confirmed the glycosylation of these KLKs. Activation of glycosylated pro-KLKs 4 and 11 turned out to be most efficient by glycosylated KLK2 and KLK4, respectively. By comparing the glycosylated prostatic KLKs with their non-glycosylated counterparts from Escherichia coli, it was observed that the N-glycans stabilize the KLK proteases and change their activation profiles and their enzymatic activity to some extent. The functional role of glycosylation in prostate-specific KLKs could pave the way to a deeper understanding of their biology and to medical applications.


1974 ◽  
Vol 22 (10) ◽  
pp. 986-991 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. E. REID ◽  
C. F. A. CULLING ◽  
W. L. DUNN

The histochemical use of methylation has complex results; particularly in respect of the periodic acid-Schiff reaction, these are analyzed and discussed. Methods are described which allow the separate study of the following effects: (a) the removal of the KOH/periodic acid-Schiff effect; (b) removal of sialic acid from a potential vicinal diol; and (c) the removal of O-sulfate ester from a potential vicinal diol. The use of the Smith degradation technique, in addition to the above, also allows inferences to be drawn in respect of the structure of the mucins (glycoproteins) being investigated.


Blood ◽  
1986 ◽  
Vol 68 (2) ◽  
pp. 406-411 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Fradera ◽  
E Velez-Garcia ◽  
JG White

Abstract The classification of the acute leukemias depends mainly on the morphologic and cytochemical evaluation of the blast forms. One of the main accepted morphologic criteria in the differentiation between acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and acute myeloblastic leukemia (AML) is the absence of granules in the blast cells of ALL. We evaluated a patient with ALL in whom granules were present in the cytoplasm of 35% of the blast cells, as seen in AML. Cytochemical evaluation was performed, including periodic acid-Schiff reaction, Sudan black B, alpha-naphthyl acetate, alpha-naphthyl butyrate, naphthol AS-D chloroacetate, and acid phosphatase stains. The results of these studies confirmed the morphologic impression and diagnosis of ALL. Ultrastructural evaluation revealed that the granules consisted of many tiny vesicles closely packed together in a proteinaceous matrix, resembling to some extent the inclusions described in lymphocytes in the Chediak-Higashi syndrome, but clearly different. The morphologic, cytochemical, and ultrastructural studies of this unique case are presented in detail. To our knowledge, this is the first time that such granules have been described in blast cells of ALL.


1960 ◽  
Vol 121 (5) ◽  
pp. 351-368 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronan O'Rahilly ◽  
David B. Meyer

1995 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 719-721 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. N. M. Khan ◽  
J. E. Sagartz ◽  
G. Koenig ◽  
K. Tanaka

Systemic mastocytosis was diagnosed in a 4-year-old, female Nubian goat. Clinically, the animal was depressed and had severe macrocytic hypochromic anemia and leukopenia. Postmortem examination revealed neoplastic mast cells invading the heart, lung, liver, spleen, lymph nodes, and bone marrow. Eosinophils were frequently admixed with infiltrating mast cells in all organs. Using routine light microscopy, histochemistry, and transmission electron microscopy, metachromatic and periodic acid—Schiff–positive granules were identified within the cytoplasm of neoplastic mast cells. Erythrophagocytosis was observed in some neoplastic cells, although its contribution to the anemia was not clear. This report represents the first description of mast cell neoplasia in the goat.


1972 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 368-384 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANITA C. BEEN ◽  
ELLEN M. RASCH

Proteins extracted from individual pairs of salivary glands or other larval tissues of Sciara coprophila (Diptera) were separated in a vertical microsystem for discontinuous electrophoresis using thin sheets of polyacrylamide gel cast in multiple layers of varying pore size. After electrophoresis at 150 volts for 40 min, gels were stained ( a) for total proteins with Coomassie brilliant blue, ( b) for glycoproteins with the periodic acid-Schiff reaction, ( c) for lipoproteins with Sudan black B or ( d) for nonspecific esterases with fast blue RR as coupler and α-naphthol acetate as substrate. Sequential application of these reactions to individual gel sectors permitted direct comparisons of protein profiles for 15-20 different samples of tissue extracts carried on a single gel sheet in adjacent lanes and thus subjected to identical conditions of electrophoresis. Representative photographs and densitometric scans are presented to show the suitability of thin gel sheets for autoradiography and for both qualitative and quantitative evaluation of tissue-specific differences in patterns of protein banding found for salivary gland cells, the gastric ceca, or the hemolymph of individual Sciara larvae sacrificed at particular stages of fourth instar development. Innovative details of methodology are presented, including the use of a microspectrophotometer to scan electropherograms of insect proteins and several types of human blood serum.


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