Search

Ticks are obligate blood-feeding arthropods that cause significant economic losses in domestic animal husbandry and threaten public health. However, information about soft ticks (Acari: Argasidae) and tick-borne pathogens in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR) of China is scarce.

Ticks are blood-sucking arthropods that have negative economic impacts and can spread a variety of diseases through their bites. There are few reports on soft ticks (Acari: Argasidae) and tick-borne pathogens in southern Xinjiang, China. This investigation supplements the available information for this region and is concerned with an argasid tick, apicomplexan parasites of the Babesia and Theileria genera and a bacterium of the Anaplasma genus.

Background: Besides of transmitting several diseases to animals, and tick paralysis, Ornithodoros lahorensis induce skin lesions. This experiment was done to determine histopathological features of adult O. lahorensis bite on rat.Methods: In this investigation adult male rats were infested with O. lahorensis ticks. Animals were divided into two groups and euthanized two days and two weeks after infestation. The skin samples were fixed in 10% buffer formal saline and processed and sections were stained with hematoxylin & eosin.Results: The lesions reflected the clinical and gross findings, with hyperemia, edema and vacuolation in the early stages, cellular infiltrations, principally lymphocyte accompanied vascular changes. Newly formed fibrous tissue with large number of hyperemic capillaries and active inflammatory process in which lymphocytes and eosinophils were the predominant cells, were seen after two weeks. Foci of necrosis in the epithelium with remnant of infiltration of polymorphonucular cells with sever hemorrhages were also evident. Vascular changes included prevascular infiltration of lymphocyte and fibrinoied ne­crosis on the vessel walls.Conclusion: This study well documented the different pathological changes of skin of rats with O. lahorensis.

Background: Besides of transmitting several diseases to animals, and tick paralysis, Ornithodoros lahorensis induce skin lesions. This experiment was done to determine histopathological features of adult O. lahorensis bite on rat. Methods: In this investigation adult male rats were infested with O. lahorensis ticks. Animals were divided into two groups and euthanized two days and two weeks after infestation. The skin samples were fixed in 10% buffer formal saline and processed and sections were stained with hematoxylin & eosin. Results: The lesions reflected the clinical and gross findings, with hyperemia, edema and vacuolation in the early stages, cellular infiltrations, principally lymphocyte accompanied vascular changes. Newly formed fibrous tissue with large number of hyperemic capillaries and active inflammatory process in which lymphocytes and eosinophils were the predominant cells, were seen after two weeks. Foci of necrosis in the epithelium with remnant of infiltration of polymorphonucular cells with sever hemorrhages were also evident. Vascular changes included prevascular infiltration of lymphocyte and fibrinoied ne­crosis on the vessel walls. Conclusion: This study well documented the different pathological changes of skin of rats with O. lahorensis.

Abstract: Ethnopharmacological relevance: The roots of Rubia tibetica are chewed as an antidote to anaphylaxis caused by bites of the tick Ornithodoros lahorensis by the Wakhi people in Afghanistan. Aims of the study: To test whether Rubia tibetica possess anti-histamine effect. Materials and methods: Water and ethanol extracts of roots of Rubia tibetica were tested for anti-histamine effect on the H1-receptor in the guinea pig ileum assay. Fixed concentrations of plant extract with increasing concentrations of histamine were examined. Mepyramine was used as control. Results and conclusion: The ethanol extract of Rubia tibetica showed dose-dependent anti-histamine effect, whereas the water extract had little activity. The chewing of Rubia tibetica roots may alleviate the fatal swelling of the tongue during anaphylaxis. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Theileria spp. are tick-transmitted, intracellular apicomplexan protozoan parasites that infect a wide range of animals and, as such, can cause significant economic losses. The aim of the present study was to detect and analyze apicomplexan parasites from two different ectoparasites that were collected from Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China. The PCR-based detection of 18S rRNA indicated that Ornithodoros lahorensis specimens from Kashgar, Xinjiang, and Aksu were positive for Theileria spp., as were Melophagus ovinus specimens from Aksu. Meanwhile, phylogenetic analysis, based on the 18S rRNA gene sequences, revealed that the four amplified Theileria sequences could be attributed to T. ovis. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to report the detection of T. ovis DNA in M. ovinus and the first molecular identification study to confirm the detection of T. ovis in O. lahorensis in China. Accordingly, the present study extends the known distribution of T. ovis., (© The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)