Efficacy of a PP2A vaccine for Angiostrongylus costaricensis against rat lungworm disease caused by Angiostrongylus cantonensis in wild-caught rats (Rattus rattus) in Hawaii.

The nematode Angiostrongylus cantonensis is a rat lungworm, a zoonotic pathogen that causes an emerging infectious disease known as neuroangiostrongyliasis or rat lungworm disease. This study evaluates the efficacy of a vaccine developed for a related species, Angiostrongylus costaricensis, to A. cantonensis in the definitive rat host.

Fh15 Reduces Colonic Inflammation and Leukocyte Infiltration in a Dextran Sulfate Sodium-Induced Ulcerative Colitis Mouse Model.

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is the most prevalent inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in the USA. Current treatments present clinical limitations, underscoring the need for innovative therapeutics that promote an anti-inflammatory immune response. This study evaluates the anti-inflammatory potential of Fh15, a recombinant fatty acid binding protein, in a DSS-induced UC mouse model.

New data on the life cycle of Nippostrongylus brasiliensis (Travassos, 1914) (Nematoda: Heligmosomidae): development of eggs and larval stages in the intestine of naturally infected Rattus norvegicus (Berkenhout, 1769).

Nippostrongylus brasiliensis is an intestinal parasite of rodents with a worldwide distribution. Due to the similarities between its life cycle and that of the human hookworms Ancylostoma duodenale and Necator americanus, N. brasiliensis has been widely used as a model in experimental research.

Analysis of the mitochondrial genome to determine the origins and pathways of entry of in continental Europe (Valencia, Spain).

, the rat lungworm, is a zoonotic parasite mainly of rats which act as definitive hosts. If humans become accidentally infected, the nematode is capable of migrating to the brain causing meningoencephalitis. Intermediate hosts are snails and slugs.

Circulating extracellular vesicles in sera of chronic patients as a method for determining active parasitism in Chagas disease.

Background: Chagas disease, once restricted mainly to the Americas, Chagas disease has become a global health problem due to migration from endemic to non-endemic areas. In non-endemic regions, transmission is limited to vertical transmission from infected mothers to newborns or through blood and organ donations. A major challenge in the management of the disease lies in the diagnosis of chronic cases, as blood-borne parasites are often absent and antibodies persist for life, complicating the evaluation of treatment.

Subclinical peripheral inflammation has systemic effects impacting central nervous system proteome in budgerigars.

Regulation of neuroimmune interactions varies across avian species. Little is presently known about the interplay between periphery and central nervous system (CNS) in parrots, birds sensitive to neuroinflammation. Here we investigated the systemic and CNS responses to dextran sulphate sodium (DSS)- and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced subclinical acute peripheral inflammation in budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus).

Local terrestrial snails as natural intermediate hosts of the zoonotic parasite Angiostrongylus cantonensis in the new European endemic area of Valencia, Spain.

Aim: The rat lungworm, Angiostrongylus cantonensis, has recently been found in the city of Valencia, parasitizing rats, Rattus norvegicus and Rattus rattus, its natural definitive hosts. This is the first finding of this zoonotic nematode in continental Europe. After informing local and national health authorities, the collection of local terrestrial snails took place with the aim of elucidating their potential role as intermediate hosts of A.

Parasite Fauna and Coinfections in Urban Rats Naturally Infected by the Zoonotic Parasite .

When the zoonotic parasite of rodents that can cause human neuroangiostrongyliasis, i.e., is found in its natural definitive hosts, it is usually reported in isolation, as if the rat lungworm were the only component of its parasite community.

Nearly (?) sterile avian egg in a passerine bird.

During early ontogeny, microbiome affects development of the gastrointestinal tract, immunity, and survival in vertebrates. Bird eggs are thought to be (1) initially sterile (sterile egg hypothesis) and (2) colonized after oviposition through horizontal trans-shell migration, or (3) initially seeded with bacteria by vertical transfer from mother oviduct. To date, however, little empirical data illuminate the contribution of these mechanisms to gut microbiota formation in avian embryos.

Peripheral inflammation-induced changes in songbird brain gene expression: 3' mRNA transcriptomic approach.

Species-specific neural inflammation can be induced by profound immune signalling from periphery to brain. Recent advances in transcriptomics offer cost-effective approaches to study this regulation. In a population of captive zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata), we compare the differential gene expression patterns in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-triggered peripheral inflammation revealed by RNA-seq and QuantSeq.

Use of sera cell free DNA (cfDNA) and exovesicle-DNA for the molecular diagnosis of chronic Chagas disease.

Chagas disease, a neglected tropical disease, is now considered a worldwide health concern as a result of migratory movements from Central and South America to other regions that were considered free of the disease, and where the epidemiological risk is limited to transplacental transmission or blood or organ donations from infected persons. Parasite detection in chronically ill patients is restricted to serological tests that only determine infection by previous infection and not the presence of the parasite, especially in patients undergoing treatment evaluation or in newborns. We have evaluated the use of nucleic acids from both circulating exovesicles and cell-free DNA (cfDNA) from 50 samples twice randomly selected from a total of 448 serum samples from immunologically diagnosed patients in whom the presence of the parasite was confirmed by nested PCR on amplicons resulting from amplification with kinetoplastid DNA-specific primers 121F-122R.

Extracellular vesicles of and immune complexes they form with sialylated and non-sialylated IgGs increase small peritoneal macrophage subpopulation and elicit different cytokines profiles.

American trypanosomiasis, or Chagas disease, is caused by the protozoan parasite and is characterized by the presence of cardiac or gastrointestinal symptoms in a large number of patients during the chronic phase of the disease. Although the origin of the symptoms is not clear, several mechanisms have been described involving factors related to and the host immune response. In this sense, the extracellular vesicles (EVs) secreted by the parasite and the immune complexes (ICs) formed after their recognition by host IgGs (EVs-IgGs) may play an important role in the immune response during infection.

Update on the First Finding of the Rat Lungworm, in spp. in Continental Europe, Valencia, Spain, 2022.

The rat lungworm, , is an emerging parasite that can cause eosinophilic meningitis in humans. Over the past 60 years, the worm has greatly expanded its original Asian distribution to most tropical and subtropical areas of the world, mostly by traveling on ships with its definitive hosts, rats. was recently found for the first time in Continental Europe, specifically in 3 (2 and 1 ) out of 27 rats trapped in the sewer system of the city of Valencia, Spain.

Cannabinoid receptor 2 evolutionary gene loss makes parrots more susceptible to neuroinflammation.

In vertebrates, cannabinoids modulate neuroimmune interactions through two cannabinoid receptors (CNRs) conservatively expressed in the brain (CNR1, syn. CB1) and in the periphery (CNR2, syn. CB2).

Autochthonous Angiostrongylus cantonensis Lungworms in Urban Rats, Valencia, Spain, 2021.

To determine the role of rats as potential reservoirs of zoonotic parasites, we examined rats trapped in urban sewers of Valencia, Spain, in 2021. Morphologic and molecular identification and sequencing identified autochthonous Angiostrongylus cantonensis nematodes, the most common cause of human eosinophilic meningitis, in pulmonary arteries of Rattus norvegicus and R. rattus rats.

Absence of Toxoplasma gondii in 100% Iberian products from experimentally infected pigs cured following a specific traditional process.

Infection with Toxoplasma gondii in humans has usually been related to the consumption of raw, undercooked or cured meat. Our study is based on the detection of T. gondii in cured legs and shoulders made from 100% Iberian sows fed mainly with acorn and raised as outdoor livestock in Aracena (Spain), which having been elaborated following a specific curing process (time period and location).

Leishmaniasis in Norway Rats in Sewers, Barcelona, Spain.

We detected Leishmania infantum in 98 Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) trapped in parks and sewers of Barcelona, Spain. The 84 rats from the sewers showed a prevalence of 33.3% and up to 2,272 estimated parasites.

Nest predation risk modifies nestlings' immune function depending on the level of threat.

Predation risk is thought to modify the physiology of prey mainly through the stress response. However, little is known about its potential effects on the immunity of animals, particularly in young individuals, despite the importance of overcoming wounding and pathogen aggression following a predator attack. We investigated the effect of four progressive levels of nest predation risk on several components of the immune system in common blackbird () nestlings by presenting them with four different calls during 1 h: non-predator calls, predator calls, parental alarm calls and conspecific distress calls to induce a null, moderate, high and extreme level of risk, respectively.

Functionalized immunostimulating complexes with protein A via lipid vinyl sulfones to deliver cancer drugs to trastuzumab-resistant HER2-overexpressing breast cancer cells.

Background: Around 20%-30% of breast cancers overexpress the proto-oncogene human epidermal growth receptor 2 (HER2), and they are characterized by being very invasive. Therefore, many current studies are focused on testing new therapies against tumors that overexpress this receptor. In particular, there exists major interest in new strategies to fight breast cancer resistant to trastuzumab (Tmab), a humanized antibody that binds specifically to HER2 interfering with its mitogenic signaling.

Intranasal immunization of lambs with serine/threonine phosphatase 2A against gastrointestinal nematodes.

Seven 3-month-old, female, helminth-free lambs were immunized intranasally with three doses (1 mg total) of a recombinant part of the catalytic region of the serine/threonine phosphatase 2A (PP2Ar) (group 1 [G1]). In addition, four lambs were used as an adjuvant control group (G2), four as unimmunized, infected controls (G3), and four as unimmunized, uninfected controls (G4). Fifteen days after the last immunization, lambs from G1, G2, and G3 were challenged with 10,000 larval stage 3 (L3) organisms in a plurispecific nematode infection composed of ca.