Sphingosine-1-phosphate (SPP), a bioactive lipid, acts both intracellularly and extracellularly to cause pleiotropic biological responses. Recently, we identified SPP as a ligand for the G protein-coupled receptor Edg-1 (Lee, M.-J., J.R. Van Brocklyn, S. Thangada, C.H. Liu, A.R. Hand, R. Menzeleev, S. Spiegel, and T. Hla. 1998. Science. 279:1552-1555). Edg-1 binds SPP with remarkable specificit...

Sarcocystis spp., Neospora spp., and Toxoplasma gondii are Apicomplexa protozoa that can infect horses. This study aimed to investigate the occurrence of antibodies against Sarcocystis spp., Neospora spp., and T. gondii in horses slaughtered in southern Brazil. The presence of histological lesions, tissue cysts, and Sarcocystis spp. DNA in the hearts of these horses was also investigated. A tot...

The ambient atmosphere is dominated with pollen and spores, which trigger allergic reactions and diseases and impact negatively on human health. A survey of pollen and fungal spores constituents of the atmosphere of Garki, Abuja (North-Central Nigeria) was carried out for 1 year (June 1, 2011-May 31, 2012). The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence and abundance of pollen and fungal ...

BACKGROUND Cats are the hosts for some zoonotic parasites such as Toxoplasma gondii and Toxocara spp. which are important in medicine and veterinary. Studies on the prevalence of intestinal parasites of cats have received little attention in south west of Iran. OBJECTIVES The current study aimed to investigate the prevalence of parasites in stray cats in Ahvaz. MATERIALS AND METHODS Random ...

In the framework of study on rust fungi of Fabaceae and based on the study of herbarium and newly collected specimens, six Uromyces species are recognized on Medicago spp. and Trifolium spp. from Iran. Among these species, U. fallens is recorded as new member for the Iranian rust flora. U. striatus is recorded as main causal agent of rust on lucerne (Medicago sativa) in Iran. Moreover, U. trifo...

Microbial biofilms has remained a major complication of tracheal intubation in patients requiring ventilator equipment. The aim of this study was to characterize bacterial and fungal biofilms in endotracheal tubes from intensive care unit (ICU) patients in Ahwaz, Iran. In this cross-sectional descriptive study, patients admitted to ICU that required mechanical ventilation for at least 24 hours ...

The present study characterized Argulus spp. infecting the cultured carps using 18S rRNA gene sequences, estimated the genetic similarity among Argulus spp. and established their phylogenetic relationship. Of the 320 fish samples screened, 34 fish (10.6%) had Argulus infection. The parasitic frequency index (PFI) was observed to be high (20%) in Hypophthalmichthys molitrix and Labeo bata. The f...

Sensitivities to gentamicin, sissomicin, tobramycin, and amikacin were compared in 196 gentamicin-resistant Gram-negative rods and in 212 similar organisms sensitive to gentamicin, mainly isolated from clinical specimens. Amikacin was the aminoglycoside most active against gentamicin-resistant organisms, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, klebsiella spp, Escherichia coli, Proteus spp, Providencia spp, and...

A total of 435 clinical isolates of anaerobes were tested with a broth microdilution method to determine the activity of BAY y 3118 compared with those of other agents against anaerobic bacteria. All strains of Bacteroides capillosus, Prevotella spp., Porphyromonas spp., Fusobacterium spp., Clostridium spp., Eubacterium spp., Peptostreptococcus spp., and Veillonella parvula were susceptible (MI...