Serological and Molecular Evidence of Bartonella henselae in Stray Cats from Southern Italy
Bartonella henselae is a slow growing and facultative intracellular pathogen mainly transmitted by arthropod vectors adapted to domestic and wild mammalian reservoir hosts. Since cats are the major source of the B. henselae infection, this study aimed to evaluate the seroprevalence and the DNA presence in randomly sampled stray cats. Blood samples of 429 cats were collected from shelter of Palermo (Southern Italy) and sera and whole blood were analyzed for the presence of antibodies against B. henselae by indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) and by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), respectively. Two hundred and three sera (47.3%) were positive to IFA and 148 blood samples (34.5%…
Seroprevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi in Stray Dogs from Southern Italy
Borrelia burgdorferi is a bacterial pathogen transmitted by Ixodes ticks and is responsible for Lyme disease in both humans and dogs. The aim of this work was to evaluate B. burgdorferi diffusion among stray dogs in Palermo (Sicily, Italy) by serological methods in order to study the risk factors associated with the infection. Serum and blood samples of 316 dogs were collected from a shelter in Palermo, and were analyzed for the presence of antibodies against B. burgdorferi by indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA), and of the ospA gene by real-time PCR, respectively. Seventeen sera (5.4%) were positive for the antibodies via IFA and one blood (0.3%) for ospA via real time PCR. On the basi…
Determination of stilbenes in Sicilian pistachio by high-performance liquid chromatographic diode array (HPLC-DAD/FLD) and evaluation of eventually mycotoxin contamination
In this work, we have investigated about the presence of several natural stilbenes in 12 samples of pistachios harvested from 10 different farms of Sicily (Bronte and Agrigento). At the same time, we have evaluated the relation between the stilbenes synthesis and the possible contamination of mycotoxin produced by Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus. We have found two types of stilbenes in the samples of pistachios examined: trans-resveratrol and trans-resveratrol-3-O-β-glucoside (trans-piceid). Their concentration ranged from 0.07 to 0.18 mg/kg (av. = 0.12 ± 0.03 mg/kg) for trans-resveratrol, from 6.20 to 8.15 mg/kg (av. = 6.97 ± 0.55 mg/kg) for trans-piceid and from 6.38 to 8.2…
Immune response to tick-borne hemoparasites: Host adaptive immune response mechanisms as potential targets for therapies and vaccines
This article belongs to the Section Molecular Immunology.
Recent Advances on the Innate Immune Response to Coxiella burnetii.
Coxiella burnetii is an obligate intracellular Gram-negative bacterium and the causative agent of a worldwide zoonosis known as Q fever. The pathogen invades monocytes and macrophages, replicating within acidic phagolysosomes and evading host defenses through different immune evasion strategies that are mainly associated with the structure of its lipopolysaccharide. The main transmission routes are aerosols and ingestion of fomites from infected animals. The innate immune system provides the first host defense against the microorganism, and it is crucial to direct the infection towards a self-limiting respiratory disease or the chronic form. This review reports the advances in understanding…