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Background: Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is one of the most important neglected diseases and a public health concern worldwide. Due to the poor efficacy of current drugs, novel therapeutic approaches are urgently needed. Objectives: This study evaluated the scolicidal effects of the hydroalcoholic extract of Urtica dioica and the chloroformic extract of Pyrus boissieriana on protoscoleces of CE cysts. Methods: Protoscoleces were aseptically aspirated from the livers of sheep naturally infected with CE cysts. To assess the scolicidal effect of these herbal extracts, various concentrations of both extracts (5, 10, 20, 40, and 80 mg/mL) were added to a suspension of 3 x 10³ washed protoscoleces. After 10, 20, 30, 60, and 120 minutes of exposure, eosin stain was added to each tube, and the viability of protoscoleces was evaluated by flame cell motility under a light microscope, as well as impermeability to 0.1% eosin solution. All experiments were performed in triplicate. Results: The scolicidal effects of U. dioica extracts at a concentration of 80 mg/mL were 81% and 89% after 60 and 120 minutes of exposure, respectively. Almost the same results were obtained for P. boissieriana extracts at a concentration of 80 mg/mL (81.33% and 89% after 60 and 120 minutes of exposure, respectively), which were significantly different from the negative control group (P < 0.001). However, the extract of U. dioica exhibited stronger scolicidal effects compared to the extract of P. boissieriana at concentrations lower than 40 mg/mL (P < 0.001). Conclusions: The present findings indicate that both U. dioica and P. boissieriana extracts possess high protoscolicidal activities and could be used as alternative natural medicines in the treatment of CE. However, further studies are required to verify these findings through assessment in animal models and clinical subjects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Toxocariasis is a zoonotic disease caused by the larvae of Toxocara canis or Toxocara cati. Patients with schizophrenia may be at higher risk of infection, possibly due to their cognitive and personal self-care impairments. We aimed to assess the association between Toxocara spp. exposure and schizophrenia. Methods: This case-control study was conducted on 109 patients with schizophrenia admitted to Ibn Sina Hospital, Shiraz, Iran, and 104 age- and gender-matched healthy controls from May to September 2021. A questionnaire was obtained and serum samples were tested for IgG antibodies to Toxocara excretory/secretory (TES) antigens using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results: Anti-Toxocara IgG was detected in 12 schizophrenic patients and 10 control subjects, giving respective seroprevalences of 11.0% (95% confidence interval [95% CI]=5.8-18.4%) and 9.6% (95% CI=4.7-17.0%). Univariate logistic analyses estimated an odds ratio (OR) of 1.16 (95% CI=0.44-3.16); however, it was not statistically significant (P=0.915). Individuals with a history of eating unwashed vegetables or fruits (23.1%, 95% CI=9.0-43.6, crude odds ratio [COR]=3.21, 95% CI=1.13-9.13) and rural residency (19.5%, 95% CI=8.8-34.9, COR=2.74, 95% CI=1.06-7.05) had significantly higher rates of seropositivity using the univariate logistic analyses. After multivariate logistic analyses, the differences were not statistically significant. Conclusion: The toxocariasis seroprevalence among schizophrenic and healthy participants was not significantly different (11% vs. 9.6%). Since the disease severity, onset, and cognitive sequelae are not the same among schizophrenic patients, clinically matched studies with larger samples are required to address the current inconsistency between the studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The secondary sex ratio can be affected by various factors such as stress, immunosuppression, and age of parents in addition to mother infectious disease (Maternal infections). Toxoplasmosis is one of the critical maternal parasitic infections during pregnancy. Besides the complications of the acute form of the disease, hormonal shifts, and even alterations in the secondary sex ratio can be induced by the manipulative activity of the chronic form of the disease. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the correlation between Toxoplasma gondii infection in mothers and neonate's gender. In this case-control study, 137 seropositive mothers to Anti-Toxoplasma IgG(case) was compared to 137 age-matched subject Toxoplasma-seronegative mothers(control) in terms of their neonate's gender. These individuals were randomly selected based on exclusions and inclusions criteria of the study from among 2014 mothers who had been tested for Toxoplasma infection during pregnancy from 2015 to 2018 in Shiraz, Iran. From a total of 2014 studied pregnant mothers, 326 (16.2%) mothers were seropositive to anti-Toxoplasma IgG, and 1688 (83.8%) were negative for IgG. It was found that the numbers of female and male neonates were 136 (45.48%) and 163 (54.51%) in the control group whereas, they were 165 (49.84%) and 166 (50.15%) in the case group, respectively. The sex ratio was 1.006:1 in Toxoplasma-seropositive and 1.2:1 in Toxoplasma-seronegative mothers. The number of male and females offsprings indicated a significant difference in Toxoplasma-seronegative mothers (54.5%, p =.015). Moreover, comparing the number of males and females between the two randomly selected groups showed that female gender is significantly more than male gender in seropositive mothers to Toxoplasma (54.8%, p =.014), which means that of 301 females, 165 offspring were born to seropositive mothers. No significant difference was observed for the sex ratio of aborted fetuses between groups. However, in the Toxoplasma-seropositive group, the sex ratio of aborted fetuses showed that the aborted male fetuses were significantly higher in number. (31 male vs 13 female, p <.001). Comprehensively, a significant relationship was found between chronic Toxoplasma infection and secondary sex ratio. However, it is suggested that this relationship be investigated in further studies as well as an animal study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Domestic dogs have been implicated as the main reservoir host of Mediterranean type of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) that is endemic in some parts of Iran. This study was performed about role of dogs in canine VL (CVL) epidemiology in Jiroft District, south of Kerman Province, southeastern Iran. Methods: Totally, 165 dogs including 100 stray and 65 sheepdogs were randomly selected. After complete clinical examination blood sample was taken from each dog. All the collected samples were examined following the serum separation by direct agglutination test (DAT) for detection of anti-Leishmania infantum antibodies. The titers of =1:320 were defined as positive. Results: Overall, of 165 serum samples, 13 samples (7.9%) were positive by DAT at titers of =1:320. The seroprevalence was 11% among the stray dogs and 3% among the sheepdogs. There was no significant difference between stray and sheepdogs in CVL infection. The highest seroprevalence rate (14.3%) was found in seven-year old dogs. Conclusion: The present finding indicates the role of stray and sheepdogs in CVL epidemiology in this area. Further investigations are needed to evaluate the status of VL infection in human subjects in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (CL) is a protozoan disease caused by Leishmania spp. and is endemic in the Americas, the Mediterranean basin, Middle East, and Central Asia. There are reports regarding the co-infection of CL with other diseases, especially immune system disorders. Herein, we presented a patient with several leishmania lesions who suffered from Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE). He was a 22-year-old man from Fars province, southern Iran who was treated with corticosteroid drugs to control the manifestations of SLE. The presence of leishmanial bodies was confirmed by microscopic and molecular methods. Treatment was performed based on sodium antimony gluconate (1.5 mg/5ml) for three weeks, resulting in acceptable outcomes. However, recurrence of the lesions was observed after two months when the medication was discontinued. This was the first report of Zoonotic Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (ZCL) in an SLE patient.