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Abdallah E Abdallah,1 Reda R Mabrouk,1 Mohamed R Elnagar,2 Amel Mostafa Farrag,3 Mohamed H Kalaba,4 Mohamed H Sharaf,4 Esmail M El-Fakharany,5 Dina Abed Bakhotmah,6 Eslam B Elkaeed,7 Maged Mohammed Saleh Al Ward1 1Pharmaceutical Medicinal Chemistry & Drug Design Department, Faculty of Pharmacy (Boys), Al-Azhar University, Cairo, 11884, Egypt; 2Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, 11884, Egypt; 3Pharmaceutical Chemistry Department, Faculty of Pharmacy (Girls), Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt; 4Botany and Microbiology Department, Faculty of Science, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, 11884, Egypt; 5Protein Research Department, Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Research Institute, City of Scientific Research and Technological Applications, New Borg El Arab, Egypt; 6Chemistry Department, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; 7Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, AlMaarefa University, Riyadh, 13713, Saudi ArabiaCorrespondence: Abdallah E Abdallah; Maged Mohammed Saleh Al Ward, Pharmaceutical Medicinal Chemistry & Drug Design Department, Faculty of Pharmacy (Boys), Al-Azhar University, Cairo, 11884, Egypt, Email Abdulla_emara@azhar.edu.eg; majed1000ward@hotmail.comBackground: Cancer is still a major world health threat, causing a high rate of mortality. VEGFR-2 inhibitor anticancer agents are of great significance. However, they showed some serious side effects.Purpose: To discover new effective and safer anticancer agents, a new series of piperazinylquinoxaline-based derivatives was designed and synthesized on the basis of the pharmacophoric features of VEGFR-2 inhibitor drugs.Methods: The new candidates were evaluated against A549 lung cancer cells, HepG-2 hepatoma cells, Caco-2 colon cancer cells, MDA breast cancer cells, and VEGFR-2 kinase. Moreover, cell cycle kinetics and apoptosis rates were studied in HepG-2 cells treated with compound 11, which was the most promising candidate.Results: The new derivatives revealed better antitumor results (IC50 from 6.48 to 38.58 μM) against the aforementioned cancer cell lines than sorafenib. Also, the new candidates showed VEGFR-2 inhibition with IC50 values ranging from 0.19 to 0.60 μM compared to 0.08 μM for sorafenib. Compound 11, meanwhile, showed IC50 values equal to 10.61, 9.52, 12.45, 11.52, and 0.19 μM against the cancer cell lines and VEGFR-2, respectively. Moreover, compound 11 raised the apoptosis rate in HepG-2 cells from 5% to 44% and caused 4, 2.3, and 3-fold increases in BAX/Bcl-2 ratio, caspase-3 level, and P53 expression, respectively, compared to control untreated cells. Finally, the new derivatives displayed the correct binding mode into VEGFR-2 kinase pocket, giving interactions with the essential residues.Conclusion: This work suggests that compound 11 is a very significant anticancer candidate, and piperazinylquinoxaline is an important scaffold in the development of new potential effective and safer VEGFR-2 inhibitor agents.Keywords: anticancer, apoptosis, molecular modeling, piperazinylquinoxaline, VEGFR-2 kinase, Western blot

Background: SARS-CoV-2 infection involves disturbing multiple molecular pathways related to immunity and cellular functions. PIM1 is a serine/threonine-protein kinase found to be involved in the pathogenesis of several viral infections. One PIM1 substrate, Myc, was reported to interact with TMPRSS2, which is crucial for SARS-CoV-2 cell entry. PIM1 inhibitors were reported to have antiviral activity through multiple mechanisms related to immunity and proliferation. This study aimed to evaluate the antiviral activity of 2-pyridone PIM1 inhibitor against SARS-CoV-2 and its potential role in hindering the progression of COVID-19. It also aimed to assess PIM1 inhibitor's effect on the expression of several genes of Notch signaling and Wnt pathways. In vitro study was conducted on Vero-E6 cells infected by SARS-CoV-2 "NRC-03-nhCoV" virus. Protein-protein interaction of the study genes was assessed to evaluate their relation to cell proliferation and immunity. The effect of 2-pyridone PIM1 inhibitor treatment on viral load and mRNA expression of target genes was assessed at three time points., Results: Treatment with 2-pyridone PIM1 inhibitor showed potential antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2 (IC 50 of 37.255 µg/ml), significantly lowering the viral load. Functional enrichments of the studied genes include negative regulation of growth rate, several biological processes involved in cell proliferation, and Interleukin-4 production, with interleukin-6 as a predicted functional partner. These results suggest an interplay between study genes with relation to cell proliferation and immunity. Following in vitro SARS-CoV-2 infection, Notch pathway genes, CTNNB1, SUMO1, and TDG, were found to be overexpressed compared to uninfected cells. Treatment with 2-pyridone PIM1 inhibitor significantly lowers the expression levels of study genes, restoring Notch1 and BCL9 to the control level while decreasing Notch2 and CTNNB1 below control levels., Conclusion: 2-pyridone PIM1 inhibitor could hinder cellular entry of SARS-CoV-2 and modulate several pathways implicated in immunity, suggesting a potential benefit in the development of anti-SARS-CoV-2 therapeutic approach., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Cancer is the world's foremost cause of death. There are over 100 different forms of cancer. Cancers are frequently named after the organs or tissues in which they develop. As a part of our aim to develop promising anticancer agents, a series of new indeno[1,2-b]quinoxaline derivatives were synthesized. All of the synthesized compounds were tested for anticancer activity in vitro in three human cancer cell lines: the HCT-116 colon cancer cell line, the HepG-2 liver cancer cell line, and the MCF-7 breast cancer cell line. Among the tested derivatives, 2, 3, 5, 12, 21, and 22 showed exceptional antiproliferative activities against the three tested cell lines compared to the reference standard imatinib. These compounds were, therefore, selected for further investigations. Evaluation of their cytotoxicity against a normal human cell line (WI-38) was performed, to ensure their safety and selectivity (IC 50  > 92 μM). Then, induction of apoptosis by the most active compounds was found to be accomplished by downregulation of Bcl-2 and upregulation of BAX and caspase-3. After that, the most promising apoptotic compound that increases the caspase-3 and BAX expression and downregulates Bcl-2 activity (3) was assessed for its impact on the cell cycle distribution in HepG-2 cells: The most potent derivative (3) induced cell cycle arrest at the G2/M phase. Finally, in silico evaluation of the ADME properties indicated that compound 3 is orally bioavailable and can be readily synthesized on a large scale., (© 2022 Deutsche Pharmazeutische Gesellschaft.)

One of the best ways to design new biocidal agents is synthesizing hybrid molecules by combining two or more bioactive moieties in a single molecular scaffold. So, new series of quinolines bearing a thiazole moiety were synthesized using thiosemicarbazones 2a-f. Cyclization of 2a-f with ethyl chloroacetate, ethyl 2-chloropropanoate or chloroacetone afforded the corresponding thiazoles 3-5. The antimicrobial activity of the new quinoline derivatives was evaluated. The most of tested compounds revealed potent both of the antibacterial and antifungal activities. Fourfold potency of amphotericin B for the inhibition the growth of the A. fumigatus was displayed by ccompound 5e. The latter compound displayed twofold potency of gentamycin for inhibition the growth of N. gonorrhoeae. Moreover, this compound showed equipotent potency of references drugs for inhibition of the growth of S. flexneri, S. pyogenes, P. vulgaris, A. clavatus, G. candidum and P. marneffei. So, quinolines bearing a thiazole moiety can be suggested as interesting scaffolds for the development both of the novel antibacterial and antifungal agents. Some new derivatives were studied as peptide deformylase enzyme inhibitors. Thiazolidin-4-one derivative 3d and 2,3-dihydrothiazole derivative 5c had shown good PDF inhibition activity, which had been supported by the docking results with highest binding affinity and lowest docking energy score. These results suggested that the most potent compounds might be possible agents as novel bacterial PDF inhibitor., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

New 4-arylazo-3,5-diamino-1H-pyrazole derivatives substituted in the 4-aryl ring with the acetyl moiety were designed and synthesized. The antiproliferative activity of the novel arylazopyrazoles was examined against the MCF-7 cell line. Among all target compounds, 8b (IC 50 3.0 µM) and 8f (IC 50 4.0 µM) displayed higher cytotoxicity as compared with the reference standard imatinib (IC 50 7.0 µM). Further studies to explore the mechanism of action were performed on the most active hit of our library, 8b, via anti-CDK2 kinase activity. It demonstrated good inhibitory effects for CDK2 (IC 50 0.24 µM) with 62.5% inhibition, compared with imatinib. The cell cycle analysis in the MCF-7 cell line revealed apoptosis induction by 8b and cell cycle arrest at the S phase. Docking in the CDK2 active site and pharmacophore modeling confirmed the affinity of 8b to the CDK2 active site. Absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion studies revealed that our target compounds are orally bioavailable, with no permeation through the blood-brain barrier., (© 2020 Deutsche Pharmazeutische Gesellschaft.)

Two novel series of 6-(4-benzamido-/4-phthalimido)-3-cyanopyridine derivatives were designed and synthesized as inhibitors of PIM-1 kinase. Based on cytotoxicity results via MTT assay against prostate carcinoma PC3, human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 and breast adenocarcinoma MCF-7 cell lines, the most potent cytotoxic cyanopyridine hits, 6, 7, 8, 12 and 13 were 1.5-3.3 times more inhibitor of cell proliferation than the reference standard, 5-FU. Selectivity profile of the latter compounds on normal human cells (WI-38), was executed, indicating that they are highly selective (IC 50  > 145 μM) in their cytotoxic effect. The promising compounds were further evaluated as PIM-1 kinase inhibitors. These compounds elicited remarkable inhibition of PIM-1 kinase (76.43-53.33%). Extensive studies on apoptosis were conducted for these compounds; they enhanced caspase-3 and boosted the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio 27-folds in comparison to the control. Molecular docking study of the most potent compound, 13 in PIM-1 kinase active site was consistent with the in vitro activity. Finally, prediction of chemo-informatic properties released compound 13 as the most promising ligand., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

In this study, anti-proliferative effects of twenty-seven indeno[1,2-b]quinoxalin-11-one derivatives were investigated in three human cancer cell lines, namely: the colon cancer cell line HCT-116, the liver cancer cell line HepG-2, and the breast cancer cell line MCF-7. Among them, 5, 6, 13, 14a, b and 15d-f derivatives displayed excellent anti-proliferative activities against the three tested cell lines compared to the reference standard Imatinib. Therefore, they were selected for further studies. First, to ensure the safety of our hits, investigation of the IC 50 values on normal human cells (WI-38) was executed indicating that, they are highly selective (IC 50  > 107 μM) in their cytotoxic effect. Second, the induction of apoptosis by these active compounds was achieved by down-regulation of Bcl-2 and up-regulation of BAX and caspase-3. Further investigations have shown that 14b and 15f, the most potent derivatives, induced cell cycle arrest at G2/M phase. Moreover, in silico evaluation of ADME properties indicated that all the potent compounds are orally bioavailable with no permeation to the blood brain barrier., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

One of the many methods of treating cancer is to terminate the uncontrolled growth of cancer cells. So, aiming the apoptotic pathway is an exciting approach to finding new anticancer agents. A novel series of cyanopyridines was designed and synthesized for antiproliferative evaluation. 2-Amino-6-(4-(benzyloxy)phenyl)-4-(4-(dimethylamino)phenyl) nicotinonitrile 10f was the most potent inhibitor against the growth of PC-3, and HepG-2 cancer cell lines with IC 50 values of 2.04 uM (selectivity index, SI = 78.63, 43, respectively). Also, 10f was safe against the growth of normal human diploid lung fibroblasts cell line (WI-38) with an IC 50 value of 160.04 uM. Its analogs, 10b, 10d, 10g, and 11b, were also active against the growth of PC-3, and HepG-2 while against MCF-7 cell line, they displayed good cytotoxic activity compared to the reference standard 5-FU. Remarkably, mechanistic studies indicated that compounds 10b, 10d, 10f, 10g, and 11b stimulated the level of active caspase 3 and boosted the BAX/BCL2 ratio 20-95 folds in comparison to the control. Our results have also indicated that 10b, 10d, 10f, 10g, and 11b exhibited a very potent inhibitory activity against PIM-1 kinase enzyme, where the IC 50 values unraveled very potent molecules in the micromolar range (0.47-1.27 μM). Further investigations have shown that 10f, the most potent PIM-1 kinase inhibitor, induced a cell cycle arrest at the G2/M phase. Moreover, in silico evaluation of ADME properties indicated that all the cyanopyridine compounds are orally bioavailable with no permeation to the blood brain barrier., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

A series of twenty five new thiobarbituric acid derivatives, viz. 3a-h, 4-7, 8a-c, 9, 10a-c, 11 and 12a-d, were designed and synthesized as potential cytotoxic agents. In-vitro screening of the new compounds against the three human cancer cell lines Caco-2, HepG-2 and MCF-7 was performed to assess their intrinsic activity. Compound 12d exhibited potent sub-micromolar activity against HepG-2 and MCF-7 (IC 50  = 0.07 and 0.08 μM, respectively). In-silico pharmacophore modelling of this chemotype compounds disclosed a five features' pharmacophore model representing essential steric and electronic fingerprints essential for activity. Finally, a 2D-QSAR model was devised to quantitatively correlate the 2D molecular feature descriptors of this series of thiobarbiturates with their cytotoxic activity against MCF-7. Finally, in silico evaluation of the physicochemical and ADME properties of these derivatives was performed., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: The existence of drug-resistance and lack of selectivity encourages scientists to search for novel and more selective cytotoxic agents., Objectives: In this work, novel 1,3,4-triarylpyrazole derivatives were synthesized to study their cytotoxicity on MCF7 (human breast Cell Line). In addition, QSAR studies were performed to show the relation between the cytotoxic activity and the structural features of our new synthesized pyrazole derivatives., Methods: Pyrazole-4-carbaldehyde derivative 3 was utilized as a starting material for the preparation of the new pyarazole derivatives. These target compounds were screened for their cytotoxic activity against MCF-7 followed by study cell cycle of the most active compounds. Finally, pharmacophore modeling and QSAR Studies was carried out., Results: Among these compounds; 5d and 8b showed the highest anti-proliferative activity (IC50 = 4.9 and 2.11 µM, respectively). Flow cytometric analysis showed that, compounds 5d and 8b arrested the cell cycle in addition to induction of apoptosis in MCF7 cells. Moreover, their stimulation effect on caspases 3/7 was examined to explore their mechanism of induction of apoptosis and the results showed that their proapoptotic activity could be due to the activation of caspases 3/7., Conclusion: Pyrazole derivatives 5d and 8b displayed potent bioactivities, indicating that these compounds could be considered as a new lead for more investigation in the future., (Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.net.)

The molecular structure of indomethacin was used as a starting scaffold for the synthesis of 20 novel analogs and to study their effects on the proliferation of three human colon cancer cell lines, HCT-116, HT-29, and Caco-2, by MTT assay. The synthesized indomethacin analogs were characterized on the basis of IR, 1 H NMR, 13 C NMR, mass spectral data, and elemental analysis results. Cytotoxicity assay results showed that the indomethacin amide analog 2 was the most potent anticancer agent (IC 50  = 0.78, 0.09, and 0.0127 μg/mL) against the three colon cancer cell lines, respectively, being more potent than the standard 5-fluorouracil (IC 50  = 1.8, 0.75, and 5.45 μg/mL). Interestingly, the indomethacin oxazin analog 3 and the indomethacin amide analog 8 displayed very potent anticancer activity against the HCT-116 cell line with IC 50  = 0.421 and 0.27 μg/mL, respectively, much better than the reference (IC 50  = 1.8 μg/mL). Additionally, analogs 3, 4b, 11, 12c, and 13a exhibited excellent antitumor activity against Caco-2 cells, with IC 50 ranging from 1.5 to 4.5 μg/mL. Furthermore, analogs 2 and 8 were additionally examined for their effect on the cell cycle of HCT-116 and HT-29 cells, respectively, using flow cytometric analysis. Analog 2 arrested the cell cycle of HT-29 cells at the S phase, while 8 was found to arrest the cell cycle of HCT-116 cells at the G0/G1 phase., (© 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

As a part of ongoing studies in developing new potent anti-inflammatory and analgesic agents, a series of novel 6-methoxy naphthalene derivatives was efficiently synthesized and characterized by spectral and elemental analyses. The newly synthesized compounds were evaluated for their anti-inflammatory activities using carrageenin-induced rat paw edema model, analgesic activities using acetic acid induced writhing model in mice and anti-pyretic activity using yeast induced hyperpyrexia method as well as ulcerogenic effects. Among the synthesized compounds, thiourea derivative (6a, e) exhibited higher anti-inflammatory activity than the standard drug naproxen in reduction of the rat paw edema (88.71, 89.77%) respectively. All of the non-carboxylic tested compounds were found to have promising anti-inflammatory, analgesic and antipyretic activity, while were devoid of any ulcerogenic effects., (© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.)

Group A streptococci (GAS) are known to be responsible for a wide range of human diseases. GAS pathogenesis is caused by several virulence factors including several pyrogenic exotoxins (Spes) such as SpeA, SpeB, SpeF, and SpeC. Spes are members of the superantigen (SAg) family that induces massive secretion of inflammatory cytokines. So far no direct evidence-has been reported on the participation of GAS proteins in the pathogenesis of acute rheumatic fever (ARF). In the present study the presence of neutralizing antibodies and total ELISA anti Spes antibodies were determined in plasma of 45 ARF patients in order to clarify the role of GAS SpeA, SpeB, SpeC and SpeF in Egyptian ARF patients. No difference was recognized in the level of total ELISA anti-Spes antibodies between ARF patients and healthy controls. On the other hand, percent inhibition to SpeA, by neutralizing antibodies, was significantly higher in plasma of ARF patients with arthritis than with carditis, while no SpeA neutralizing antibodies were recognized in plasma of healthy controls. It is concluded that antibody response to GAS Spes seems to have no direct role in the pathogenesis of RF/RHD. However, detection of neutralizing antibodies might help in identifying the Spes causing RF in a specific population.

Fasciola gigantica is one of the parasites which affect the liver by producing biliary tract lumen syndrome. Soluble adhesion molecules namely soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1) and soluble E-selection (sELAM-1) were assayed in human fascioliasis cases with or without complications. It was found that sICAM-1 and sELAM-1 were significantly increases in complicated cases more than the control group, while only sICAM-1 was significantly increased in complicated cases more than non complicated ones. However, non of both soluble adhesion molecules were significantly elevated in non complicated cases as compared to controls suggesting that sICAM-1 is a useful marker for differentiation between complicated and non complicated cases of human fascioliasis.

The IgG4 response against antigen extracts from Wuchereria bancrofti microfilariae and Dirofilaria immitis adult worms was determined by ELISA in 65 Egyptian adult male patients suffering from different clinical manifestations of W. bancrofti infection. They were divided into microfilaremic (n-35) and amicrofilaremic (n = 30) and these divisions were subdivided into early asymptomatic, hydrocele and late chronic elephantiasis subgroups. The IgG4 responses were significantly higher in early asymptomatic patients whether microfilaremic or amicrofilaremic than in hydrocele or in chronic elephantiasis (P < 0.05) & (P < 0.001) respectively. The IgG4 response was slightly higher in microfilaremic than in amicrofilaremic subjects. The mean OD value of IgG4 among the microfilaremics against the microfilaria antigen in early asymptomatic patients (0.840 nm) was lower than the IgG4 response against the adult antigen in the same group (0.960 nm), while among the early asymptomatic amicrofilaremics it was the same (0.690 nm) in both microfilaria and adult antigens.

The morphology of the trichostrongylid nematode Heligmosomoides polygyrus is described by light and scanning electron microscopy. In light microscope, the present material agrees with the original description given by Baylis (1926), except for the addition of more details about the structure of the genital cone and the synlophe. The scanning electron microscopy of the present nematode revealed that the oral opening of the immature worm (L5) is rounded and its cuticular surface is loosely attached to the body, while the oral opening of the mature worm is triangular, the two copulatory spicules of the male are alate and closely adhering to each other and the right lobe of the male bursa is longer than the left one. Male prebursal and bursal papillae are described. The female posterior extremity is characterized by crescent vulval and anal openings and a terminal spike.

Generally speaking, chironomids contain potent inhalant allergens. The skin prick tests with chironomid crude extract (Chironomus (C.) calipterus) were positive in 20 out of 25 children with respiratory allergy. The skin prick tests with house dust mite crude extract (Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus) were positive in 3 of these 20 chironomoid positive skin tests. Chironomid-specific IgE-ELISA were demonstrated in the sera of 17 (85%) of the chironomid skin positive patients. These 17 patients gave negative skin prick test to house dust mite crude extract. It is concluded that chironomid allergens should be considered when dealing with human respiratory allergy caused by arthropods.

Five doses (1, 0.5, 0.25, 0.125 and 0.0625) of the chitin inhibitor BaySir-8514, and anti-juvenoid precocene II were topically applied to the third larval instar of the grey flesh fly Parasarcophaga dux. Toxicity of both compounds were recorded against different developmental stages at the different dose levels. The lowest dose (0.0625) of both compounds caused a low toxicity percent (0.1). On the other hand, the highest dose (1mg) increased the larval, pupal and adult malformations after larval treatment by both compounds. Highest percentage of larval deformations was obtained by the maximal dose-level (1mg), which in turn did not lead to the highest percentage of adult deformations. Shortening of larval-pupal durations and adult longevities were observed. Sterilizing action of precocene II on P. dux could be remarkably detected by the effect of higher doses (0.5 and 1%) on the 3rd larval instar because no larvae were deposited by the emerging adult females. Doses of 0.125 and 0.0625 mg inhibited the female natality.

Birds are a marvelous group of creatures. Their beautiful coloration, singing, dancing and their attractive ways of life offer great pleasure to birdwatcher. Egypt is one of the most important countries of migratory birds. Not less than 300 species of birds visit Egypt annually from allover the world. The mite fauna of two migratory birds was studied in North Sinai Governorate and Suez Canal Zone. Thirty-one species of mites were recovered from quail and 39 from starling. Both types of birds serve hosts for 26 species of mites. Besides, five species were only recovered from quail and 13 species from starling. These totaled 44 species belonging to 30 families of three suborders (Mesostigmata, Trombidiformes and Sarcoptidiformes). The mite index on quail ranged between 1.0 to 5.0 in North Sinai G. and 1.0 to 17.0 in Suez Canal Z. The mite index on starling ranged between 1.0 to 4.75 in North Sinai G. and 1.0 to 4.5 in Suez Canal Z. Sixteen of the recovered species of mites were not recorded before on the Egyptian resident birds (house sparrow and laughing dove). The medical and veterinary importance of avian zoonosis was discussed. It is hoped to stimulate the awareness to migratory birds as reservoir hosts for microorganisms and parasites from allover the world. Besides, there is an urgent need to protect the resident and the visiting birds.

Myiasis is a problem of Medical and Veterinary importance worldwide. It affects human welfare both directly and indirectly. ELISA kit hypodermosis was evaluated in detecting antibodies against two oestrid larvae, Przhevalskiana silenus in goats and Cephalopina titillator in camels. Both animals were parasitologically proved to have oestrid myiasis infestation. Antibodies against P. silenus were detected in 38 out of 40 (95%) infested goats and negative results among the control group. With C. titillator, antibodies were detected in 39 out of 40 (97.5%) infested camels. But one of the control (10%) gave false seropositivity. ELISA kit hypodermosis diagnosed antibodies against P. silenus in goats and C. titillator in camels. Consequently, there are cross reactions between anti-hypoderma antibodies and antibodies against both Przhevalskiana and Cephalopina. ELISA is confirmed to be an easy and economic tool in diagnosing myiasis infestation when direct examination is not a simple mean and/or for epidemiological studies. The whole results were discussed. Focusing on the clinical pictures and pathogenesis of human myiasis was included to clarify the zoonotic importance of myiasis in Egypt.

The changes that occur in cell mediated and humoral immunity in patients suffering from chronic renal failure associated with schistosomiasis were studied. There was a decrease in T3%, T4% and T4/T8 ratio. IgG, IgM and IgE levels were found to be increased in such cases. It was concluded that there was a reciprocal relationship between cell mediated immunity and IgE levels in cases with chronic renal failure associated with bilharzial hepatosplenomegaly.

Babesiosis is a protozoal disease caused by members of the genus Babesia transmitted by the ixodid ticks. It is a parasite of various mammalian hosts as bovine (B. bovis), equine (B. equi), rodent (B. microti), canine (B. canis) and others. Human cases of babesiosis have been reported from several countries including Egypt. It is now well established that man may become infected (Fulminating or Subclinical) with several species of Babesia without prior splenectomy. In this paper, a total of 398 Rattus rattus and 90 R. norvegicus were trapped in Suez, Ismailia, Port Said, North Sinai and South Sinai Governorates. Blood films were taken from the atil after a simple cut of its end. The films were fixed in acetone free methyl alcohol and stained with Giemsa stain as usual. The results showed that all rats trapped in Ismailia had Babesia infection, then decreased in North Sinai, Port Said, South Sinai and was zero in Suez. As double infection. Trypanosoma lewisi was found in rats trapped in Port Said, North Sinai and South Sinai. But none had Theileria infection. The medical and veterinary importance of these results were discussed.

Chronic liver diseases mainly due to schistosomiasis is a common clinical feature in Egypt. On the other hand, Toxoplasma latent infection is another common feature. In this paper, it was aimed to study the role of Toxoplasma latent infection in patients with chronic liver diseases mainly due to schistosomiasis. The latent Toxoplasma infection was measured by the positivity of IgG to ELISA and the negativity of IgM to DS-ELISA. The cellular immunity was assessed by the dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB) skin test. The clinical and the laboratory studies showed that latent Toxoplasma infection had no marked effect on the progression of the chronic liver diseases.

The Human Leucocytic Antigen (HLA) and the histochemical reaction of microfilaria were studied by using cytotoxicity test and microfilarial acid phosphatase activity respectively to evaluate the role of the genetic factors and the parasitic factor in the pathogenesis of filariasis. Statistical significant association was found between HLA-B7 and the susceptibility for retaining microfilariae in blood and the development of clinical manifestations of filariasis. Histochemical study reported more or less the same results obtained in Egypt in elsewhere.

This paper dealt with the studies of flea fauna as collected on the rodent hosts over one year. The collected rodents (499) in a descending order of abundance in the collection were Rattus rattus, R. norvegicus, Mus musculus, Gerbillus pyramidum and Arvicanthis niloticus. The collected fleas in a descending order in the collection were X. cheopis, P. irritans, N. jasciatus, C. felis, L. segnis and E. gallinacea. The total flea index reached the maximum (0.76) in May and it was zero in December and January. The highest number of fleas was on R. norvegicus and A. niloticus and the lowest was on G. pyramidum. The highest number of rodents and their flea ectoparasites was during the Spring and the lowest was during Autumn. The medical importance of the collected fleas and the whole results were discussed.

Lymphatic leishmaniasis was reported as an indigenous infection in a 30 year old male from Abo Hamad, Sharkia, Egypt. Cervical lymphadenopathy was the only clinical sign and no visceral involvement. Diagnosis was based on histopathological examination of needle biopsied material. The patient was successfully treated with sodium stibogluconate as shown clinically and parasitologically. It was concluded that lymphatic leishmaniasis should be in mind when dealing with lymphanopathy of unknown aetiology.

The aim of this work was to study the possibility of lice allergy among Egyptian asthmatic patients. Sixty asthmatic patients were examined by prick skin tests as compared to ten normal subjects as controls using HD, CD, MP, MM, CH, DH, F, W, and two lice extracts: one was prepared from head and salivary glands and the second was prepared from the abdomen. Precipitin tests with the 2 lice extracts were done using the double immunodiffusion test for both patients and controls. Out of the sixty asthmatic patients only six gave positive skin reactions to both lice extracts. All the controls gave negative skin reactions. There was statistically insignificant difference between both groups and there was no difference between reactivity to different parts of lice body used as skin test antigens at the dilutions 1/10 and 1/100. On the other hand, 25 reacted to H.D., of whom two patients gave positive skin reactions to lice extracts. Twelve asthmatic patients (20%) gave positive skin reactions to M.M. of whom 2 patients (16.7%) gave positive skin reactions to lice extracts. Thirteen asthmatic patients reacted to C.D. of whom 3 cases gave positive skin reactions to lice extracts. These results were statistically insignificant. The precipitin tests were negative in both asthmatic and control groups. It was concluded that the lice allergens have insignificant role in asthmatic bronchitis.

Myiasis is a subject of medical and veterinary importance. This paper reports two human cases of ophthalmomyiasis due to Oestrus ovis and Wohlfahrtia magnifica.

Ecto and endoparasites are still one of the public health problems in Egypt. This is particularly true among school students who are exposed to the parasitic infections or infestations by autoinfection or by contagious. In this paper, two primary schools were selected in Qualyob City, Qualyobia Governorate (in the Nile Delta). Examination of 486 school children (6-12 years old) revealed pediculosis (16.04), schistosomiasis (8.8%), amoebiasis (7.81%), giardiasis (9.05%), taeniasis saginata (0.41%), ascariasis (9.05%), enterobiasis (0.9%) and hymenolepiasis nana (9.87%). It was found that ectoparasites (lice) represented 17.8% of the total parasites detected in the children. Endoparasites transmitted by autoinfection represented 43.02%, those transmitted by skin penetration represented 9.84%, those transmitted by meat consumption represented 0.45% and by other modes of infection represented 28.8%. It was concluded that school children are the group of individuals at risk. They spend long time outside their homes in a crowd area. Besides, they convey the parasites, particularly those transmitted by contagious and autoinfection to their family members.

Sputum examination for detection of P. carinii can be substituted for more invasive techniques especially in debilitated patients. There was an increase level of IgG and IgM in patients with P. carinii pneumonia (PCP) in the serum and sputum. But the high frequency of these immunoglobulins among the general human population limits their value in the diagnosis of pneumocystosis.