Neospora caninum, Sarcocystis spp. and Toxoplasma gondii infections and their relationship with milk production in goats from Argentina.

The apicomplexan protozoa Neospora caninum, Sarcocystis spp. and Toxoplasma gondii are worldwide distributed. Goat infections with these protozoans are frequent, although the relationship with milk production is unknown.

A serological test based on mutated recombinant Fasciola hepatica cathepsin L protease for the diagnosis of equine fasciolosis.

Fasciola hepatica is a common trematode parasite of livestock in many regions, causing significant economic losses and affecting animal welfare. Horses rarely develop patent liver fluke infection. However, liver damage can affect animal health and welfare.

Development of an in vitro assay using abscisic acid to study Toxoplasma gondii infectivity.

The common parasite Toxoplasma gondii can infect all warm-blooded animals, including humans. Although most infections in humans remain asymptomatic, clinical toxoplasmosis can develop into a fatal disease. Infections are usually contracted by oral ingestion of tissue cysts or oocysts contained in cat feces.

Antifungal echinocandins: Historical discovery, comprehensive structure-activity relationships, resistance mechanisms and future developments.

Before the 2000s, the antifungal toolbox against invasive fungal infections (IFIs) was only composed of very toxic amphotericin B, weakly selective and nearly unused 5-fluorocytosine and azoles that have been massively used in agriculture and horticulture. The emergence of resistances followed their respective launch, so many antifungals became progressively inefficient whereas the antifungal research was left behind. In the 2000s, echinocandins (ECs) were introduced as a new antifungal class of natural origin and of unprecedented mechanism of action.

Same parasite, diverging fates: distinct responses of tenrecs to Angiostrongylus cantonensis infection.

Tenrecs (Afrosoricida: Tenrecidae) are insectivorous mammals endemic to Madagascar, currently facing population declines due to habitat loss and subsistence hunting. Emerging infectious diseases, including parasitic infections, may pose additional threats. A comparable situation has been observed in Algerian hedgehogs (Atelerix algirus) in Mallorca, where the invasive nematode Angiostrongylus cantonensis has been associated with severe neuropathology.

Cross-Trait Meta-Analysis Reveals a Genetic Link between Inflammation and Aging in Giant Cell Arteritis.

Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is a complex inflammatory disease affecting individuals over 50 suggesting a strong link with aging-related immune and vascular changes. However, the precise mechanisms underlying this age-related susceptibility remain poorly understood. Considering the relevance of aging in GCA, genetic factors influencing biological aging markers, such as telomere shortening and epigenetic age acceleration (EAA), might also contribute to its development.

Rethinking Blastocystis: ubiquity and cyclical abundance in the human gut.

Blastocystis, a prevalent eukaryote in human stool, may represent a core but cyclically abundant gut resident rather than a sporadic microorganism. Its fluctuating detectability might reflect host-microbe-environment dynamics and diagnostic limitations. Longitudinal sampling and advanced detection methods are essential to elucidate its ecological role and clinical significance.

Mettl15-Mettl17 modulates the transition from early to late pre-mitoribosome.

The biogenesis of the mitoribosomal small subunit involves a dynamic network of assembly factors. Conserved methyltransferases Mettl15 and Mettl17 act on the solvent-exposed surface of rRNA. Binding of Mettl17 is associated with the early assembly stage, whereas Mettl15 is involved in the late stage.

Antifungal Drugs for the Treatment of Invasive Fungal Infections-A Limited Therapeutic Toolbox Facing Growing Resistances.

Invasive fungal infections (IFIs) are one of the most significant public health challenges worldwide. Yet, research and communication thereof were left behind for a long time, until the WHO published a priority pathogens list to guide research, development, and public health action in October 2022. Indeed, due to the rising number of immunocompromised patients at risk and the high level of morbidity, mortality, and economic burden they entail, especially in low- and middle-income countries, IFIs are a serious public health threat.

Re-Evaluation of a Hyperendemic Focus of Metastrongyloid Lungworm Infections in Gastropod Intermediate Hosts in Southern Germany.

The metastrongyloid nematodes , , and can cause severe cardiopulmonary and respiratory symptoms in domestic dogs and cats and free-ranging canids and felids (e.g., foxes, wolves, wild cats, lynxes).

Canine Endometrial Mesenchymal Stem Cells: Characterization and Functional Assessment for Cartilage Repair.

Endometrial mesenchymal stem cells (eMSCs) are a novel and biologically potent source of multipotent stromal cells with potential beyond reproductive medicine. This study explored their phenotypic profile, trilineage differentiation, and the cytoprotective effects of their conditioned media (eMSCCM) on oxidatively stressed neonatal and adult chondrocytes. Canine eMSCs displayed typical fibroblast-like morphology and expressed high levels of mesenchymal surface markers CD29 and CD44, low hematopoietic markers CD34/CD45, and variable CD90, confirming a mesenchymal identity.

In Vivo Safety and Efficacy of Thiosemicarbazones in Experimental Mice Infected with Oocysts.

: is a globally widespread parasite responsible for toxoplasmosis, a zoonotic disease with significant impact on both human and animal health. The current lack of safe and effective treatments underscores the need for new drugs. Earlier, thiosemicarbazones (TSCs) and their metal complexes have shown promising activities against .

In vitro screening of the open-access Pandemic Response Box reveals ESI-09 as a compound with activity against Echinococcus multilocularis.

Alveolar echinococcosis (AE) is a life-threatening disease caused by the metacestode stage of the fox tapeworm Echinococcus multilocularis, primarily in the liver. Current drug treatments rely on benzimidazoles, which are not parasiticidal, requiring life-long therapy with significant side effects. Therefore, novel drug treatments are urgently needed.

Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii infection in urban client-owned cats in Kazakhstan.

Toxoplasma gondii is the causative agent of one of the most important parasitic zoonoses. Cats and other felids, as definitive hosts, play a central role in the epidemiology of this protozoan parasite. However, current knowledge about the occurrence of toxoplasmosis in cats in the Central Asian countries of the former Soviet Union remains limited.

Modulation of Amyloid-β Aggregation by Surface Proteins from Pathogens Associated with Alzheimer's Disease.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a prevalent neurodegenerative disorder. Despite substantial research efforts, our understanding of its pathogenesis remains incomplete, limiting the development of effective treatments and preventive strategies. The potential role of microbial pathogens in AD etiology has gained increasing attention.

Unraveling the molecular landscape of Erdheim-Chester disease: new insights from methylome and transcriptome integration.

Erdheim-Chester Disease (ECD) is a rare histiocytosis characterized by a wide spectrum of clinical manifestations. Although somatic mutations have been involved in ECD, its etiology remains poorly understood. This study aimed to identify novel molecular mechanisms involved in ECD through the first integrated methylome and transcriptome analysis.

Proteomic Insight into the Ontogeny of Blood-Meal Digestion in the tick Ixodes ricinus.

Ticks are important ectoparasites and vectors of variety of pathogens in both animals and humans, and their increasing global distribution poses a growing health risk. Unlike other blood-feeding vectors, ticks feed for an extended period of time at each life stage and rely exclusively on blood for development and reproduction. Blood digestion in ticks is mediated by a complex multienzyme network within the endo-lysosomal system of the midgut epithelial cells.

Occurrence and the first molecular genotyping of and (Cestoda: Diphyllobothriidea) in salmonids from Iceland.

The occurrence of and (Cestoda: Diphyllobothriidea) in salmonids from lakes Hafravatn, Thingvallavatn, Másvatn, and Ytra-Hólavatn in Iceland was studied. The exact taxonomic identification of plerocercoids was performed by a recently validated molecular discriminatory PCR-based approach using -specific Dd_8 primers. Of 1684 plerocercoids isolated from 58 fish (40 Arctic charrs , and 18 brown trout ), 318 (18.

Influence of the pre-membrane and envelope proteins on structure, pathogenicity, and tropism of tick-borne encephalitis virus.

Unlabelled: Tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) is a neurotropic flavivirus that causes thousands of human infections annually. Viral tropism in the brain is determined by the presence of necessary receptors, entry factors, and the ability of the virus to overcome host defenses. The viral structural proteins, pre-membrane (prM), and envelope (E) play an important role in receptor binding, membrane fusion, particle maturation, and antibody neutralization.

Genome-wide DNA methylation study reveals specific signatures in the affected arterial tissue of giant cell arteritis patients.

Objectives: Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is a large-vessel vasculitis, potentially causing complications such as blindness and strokes. This study aims to gain insights into the pathogenesis of GCA by identifying specific DNA methylation signatures in the arterial tissue of patients with this vasculitis.

Methods: DNA methylation profiling was analyzed in 79 temporal artery biopsy samples (69 patients with GCA and 10 controls) by performing an epigenome-wide association study (EWAS).

Characterization of the bacterial ocular surface microbiota of European bison (Bison bonasus) and their association with infectious keratoconjunctivitis.

Numerous cases of infectious keratoconjunctivitis (IKC) have been recently observed in European bison in Poland. The present study aimed to identify the ocular surface microbiota of European bison and determine if bacterial communities differed between animals with and without IKC. Ocular swabs were collected from the conjunctiva and cornea of 57 European bison with IKC and 30 healthy animals, from southern and northeastern Poland.

Comprehensive Tools for Culturing Blastocystis: A Standardized Resource for Research and Diagnostics.

Blastocystis spp. is a widely prevalent anaerobic protozoan of uncertain pathogenicity found in the gastrointestinal tracts of over 1 billion people worldwide. Despite its potential significance in health and disease, Blastocystis spp.

Antimicrobiota vaccine induces lysine-mediated modulation of tick immunity affecting Borrelia colonization.

Tick microbiota influences Borrelia colonization, but changes in the microbiota-derived metabolite and how this affects tick physiology and vector competence is unclear. We investigated whether microbiota-induced metabolite modifications influence tick physiology and pathogen transmission. Using an antimicrobiota vaccine (live Escherichia coli) to immunize mice, we generated host antibodies that modulated the tick microbiome, decreasing bacterial abundance and increasing lysine levels in ticks.

Vector competence of European mosquito species for Japanese encephalitis virus under fluctuating temperature conditions.

The Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) is a mosquito-borne flavivirus endemic to much of Asia and the Western Pacific, both temperate and tropical regions. Globalisation and the expansion of invasive mosquito species raise concerns about their potential establishment in Europe and other currently non-endemic regions. However, limited knowledge exists regarding the vector competence of European mosquitoes, particularly under the region's characteristic fluctuating temperatures.