Disseminated cryptococcal infection in a lymphoma suspected patient

Cryptococcus neoformans is an opportunistic pathogen, mainly responsible for meningitis in immunodeficient individuals. We report a rare case of dessiminated cryptococcosis in a six years old boy, patient was being evaluated for lymphoma. In the present case the causative agent was Cryptococcus neoformans. It was diagnosed through Bactec, aerobic blood culture bottle. The cause of hospitalization of the patient was fever with abdominal pain. Blood and CSF culture revealed the presence of Cryptococcus neoformans which was further confirmed by urease test and corn meal tween agar (CMT). In the present case fungus was unusually isolated earlier from blood culture rather than cerebrospinal fluid. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.38.ICON-2022.5784 How to cite this:Khursheed N, Umer A, Adnan F. Disseminated cryptococcal infection in a lymphoma suspected patient. Pak J Med Sci. 2022;38(2):430-432. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.38.ICON-2022.5784 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Performance and Feeding Behavior of Holstein and Holstein × Gyr Crossbred Heifers Grazing Temperate Forages

This study aimed to investigate the difference between Holstein and Holstein x Gyr breeds on feeding behavior and performance of heifers grazing temperate pasture. The experiment was carried out in 89 days, split into 14 days of adaptation and 3 periods of 25 days. Two treatments were used: Holstein (HOL; n = 7) and Holstein × Gyr (HG; n = 7). Heifers grazed a consortium of ryegrass and Bristle Oats and were supplemented individually daily with corn meal at 0.33% of body weight plus 5 kg/d of corn silage. For 3 consecutive days, feeding behavior was observed for individual animals from direct visual observation recording at 10 min intervals. The digestibility trial was performed on d16 to d24 of each period. Body measurements and weight were taken at d0 and at d23, 24, and 25 of each period. Grazing duration, grazing frequency, and bite rate were greater for HOL than HG. Rumination characteristics, intake, digestibility, body measurements were not affected by breed. Breeds had differences in grazing characteristics, but it did not influence performance or intake parameters. Therefore, HOL and HG heifers managed under temperate pasture in tropical countries have similar performance.

Biofilm formation by Candida albicans and Candida glabrata isolated from urine specimens of diabetic Iraqi women

Biofilms are multicellular communities where microorganisms are grown and form an extracellular matrix that protects the pathogenic microorganisms from the immunity system and antimicrobial agents. This study is aimed to identify Candida spp. isolated from urine specimens by using traditional techniques, germ tube, growth on corn meal agar medium and chromogenic medium then determine the ability of isolates to producing biofilm by tube method (TM) and congo red agar method (CRA). In our study urine specimens were obtained from 174 diabetic females in the period of six months at the Al-Wafa Specialized Center for Diabetes and Endocrinology, Mosul city, Iraq. Out of the total 174 specimens, yeast species were isolated from 56 (32.2 %) specimens. Out of the 56 isolates, 50 isolates were positive for Candida spp., especially C. glabrata which appeared maximum in 30 isolates (60 %) and followed by C. albicans 18 isolates (36%) and C. krusei 2 isolates (4 %). In the TM method for biofilm detection, C. albicans showed 16 isolates (88.9%) positive for biofilm formation followed by 29 isolates (96.7%) of C. glabrata. Furthermore, in the CRA method, all isolates (100%) of C. albicans were negative followed by 27 isolates (90%) of C. glabrata, whereas only 3 isolates (10%) of C. glabrata were positive. We can conclude that TM is the best conventional method and is sensitive to detect biofilm-forming yeast when compared with the CRA method.

Effects of by-products of peach palm and grape on nutritional, physico-chemical and sensory properties of extruded breakfast cereals

Extruded breakfast cereals they have low nutritional and high energetic values. The aim of this study was to develop extruded breakfast cereals by replacing part of corn meal by different proportions of by-products of grape (5-10%) and peach palm (7.5-15%). Samples were sweetened with xylitol while moisture was controlled with grape juice. Six formulations, which were produced in a 22 experimental design, were analyzed regarding their composition, besides their technological, mechanical, antioxidant and sensory properties. Addition of different amounts of flours, produced with the wastes of grape (GF) and peach palm (PF), increased the dietary fibers and antioxidant contents of cereals formulations. However, at the highest levels addition, there was a decrease in expansion and an increase in hardness and water solubility properties. Thus, the incorporation of grape and peach palm by-products at smaller proportions showed higher viability, since they exhibited satisfactory sensory acceptance, technological properties and bowl life.

First Report of Root Rot Caused by Calonectria montana on Sugar Beet in Heilongjiang Province, China

Sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) is an important crop that has significant economic value in northern regions of China, especially in Heilongjiang Province. In October 2019, root rot was discovered on the sugar beet cultivar HDW09 in Hulan (126°64′ E, 46°00′ N), Heilongjiang Province, China. Typical symptoms included lesions on root tissues, which were initially small and dark brownish, then gradually turned into irregular shapes and black in color. As the disease progressed, the extent of necrosis penetrated from external layers into inner tissue. Root tissues suffered from severe decay, which resembles symptoms of several previously reported root rot diseases of sugar beet(Harveson 2006). To identify the pathogen, pieces of the transition zones (3-5mm) between asymptomatic and symptomatic tissues were surface sterilized for 15 seconds in 1% NaClO, rinsed twice with sterilized distilled water， plated on corn meal agar supplemented with penicillin G (50 mg/L), and incubated at 25 ± 2°C in the dark. Isolates belonging to a Calonectria sp. were recovered and purified using the hyphal tipping technique. Four isolates including A1, A5, A6, and A7 were used for morphological characterization and identification by DNA sequencing. The seven-day-old colonies on malt extract agar produced buff and wooly aerial mycelia. They were sienna to umber in color. Chlamydospores and microsclerotia were produced abundantly throughout the medium. For further identification, the isolates were cultured on potato dextrose agar (PDA) at room temperature(25°C) under near-ultraviolet light irradiation. Macroconidiophores comprised of a stipe, a penicillate arrangement of fertile branches, a stipe extension, and a terminal vesicle. Stipe extension were septate, straight to flexuous, 61–117 μm long, 2–4 μm wide at the apical septum, terminating in a sphaeropedunculate vesicle, 5–9 μm diam. Conidiogenous apparatus were 31–177 μm long, and 16–110 μm wide(n=30). Primary branches of conidiogenous apparatus were aseptate or 1-septate, 16–51 × 3–7 µm; secondary branches aseptate, 6–31 × 2–7 µm; tertiary branches aseptate, 8–19 × 2–6 µm, each terminal branch producing 1–6 phialides. Conidia cylindrical were rounded at both ends, straight, 32–53 × 3–5 µm, (mean = 47 × 4 µm), 1–septate, lacking a visible abscission scar, held in parallel cylindrical clusters by colorless slime(n=100). Partial sequences of calmodulin (Carbone et al. 1999), histone H3, the translation elongation factor 1-alpha, and beta-tubulin 2 (Crous et al. 2004) genes of the four isolates were obtained and deposited into GenBank under accession numbers MW118652 to MW118667. BLAST results showed that the calmodulin, histone H3, the translation elongation factor 1-alpha and beta-tubulin 2 sequences of A1, A5, A6 and A7 were highly identical to the sequences of Ca. montana strain CERC 8957 MF527082.1 (CAL) (99–100%), CERC 8930 MF527061.1 (HIS) ( 98–99%), HSP4 MN356465.1 (EF1-alpha) (100%) and HSP4 MN356460.1 (tub2) (98–99%), respectively. A phylogenetic tree using the maximum likelihood algorithm and sequences of the four concatenated genes was reconstructed in RAxML and revealed that the four isolates clustered in the clade of Ca. montana. The pathogen was identified as Ca. montana based upon these morphological and molecular traits(Liu et al. 2017; Stępniewska et al. 2020). Ten eight-week-old sugar beet plants without root rot symptoms were selected for pathogenicity test. The roots near the ground were carefully cleaned with hands. One mycelial plug (5 mm in diameter) from a seven-day-old colony of isolate A1 were used to inoculate each sugar beet root. Ten plants inoculated with plugs of noncolonized PDA served as the control plants. Pathogenicity tests were repeated three times. Plants were incubated under greenhouse conditions at 25 ± 2°C and watered when the surface soil appeared dry. All inoculated plants showed symptoms that resembled those in the field after 30 days, while the control plants remained healthy. The symptomatic tissues were plated in corn meal agar for 7 days at 25°C. Ca. montana was reisolated from 100% of the inoculated tissues, and identification was confirmed by molecular sequencing, validating Koch’s postulates. This is the first report of Ca. montana in China causing root rot on sugar beet. The study suggests its broader host range and wider geographical distribution than ever known and lays a basis for further monitoring and managing this important pathogen.

Gossypol Exhibited Higher Detrimental Effect on Ruminal Fermentation Characteristics of Low-Forage in Comparison with High-Forage Mixed Feeds

Gossypol is a key anti-nutritional factor which limits the feeding application of cottonseed by-products in animal production. A 2 × 4 factorial in vitro experiment was conducted to determine the effect of gossypol addition levels of 0, 0.25, 0.5, and 0.75 mg/g on ruminal fermentation of a high-forage feed (HF, Chinese wildrye hay/corn meal = 3:2) in comparison with a low-forage feed (LF, Chinese wildrye hay/corn meal = 2:3). After 48 h of incubation, in vitro dry matter disappearance was greater in the LF than the HF group, while the cumulative gas production and asymptotic gas production were greater in the HF than the LF group (p < 0.05). Regardless of whatever ration type was incubated, the increasing gossypol addition did not alter in vitro dry matter disappearance. The asymptotic gas production, cumulative gas production, molar percentage of CO2 and H2 in fermentation gases, and microbial protein in cultural fluids decreased with the increase in the gossypol addition. Conversely, the gossypol addition increased the molar percentage of CH4, ammonia N, and total volatile fatty acid production. More than 95% of the gossypol addition disappeared after 48 h of in vitro incubation. Regardless of whatever ration type was incubated, the real-time PCR analysis showed that the gossypol addition decreased the populations of Fibrobactersuccinogenes, Ruminococcus albus, Butyrivibrio fibrisolvens, Prevotella ruminicola, Selenomonas ruminantium, and fungi but increased Ruminococcus flavefaciens, protozoa, and total bacteria in culture fluids in comparison with the control (p < 0.01). Additionally, the tendency of a smaller population was observed for R. albus, B. fibrisolvens, and fungi with greater inclusion of gossypol, but a greater population was observed for F. succinogenes, R. flavefaciens, S. ruminantium, protozoa, and total bacteria. In summary, the present results suggest that rumen microorganisms indeed presented a high ability to degrade gossypol, but there was an obvious detrimental effect of the gossypol addition on rumen fermentation by decreasing microbial activity when the gossypol inclusion exceeded 0.5 mg/g, and such inhibitory effect was more pronounced in the low-forage than the high-forage group.

Nutrient Digestibility of a Vegetarian Diet with or without the Supplementation of Feather Meal and Either Corn Meal, Fermented Rye or Rye and Its Effect on Fecal Quality in Dogs

Cereals with low environmental input like rye and animal by-products which cannot be used for human food like feather meal are receiving growing interest as sustainable feed sources. Thus, eight Beagle dogs were included in a 4 × 4 Latin Square design and received a vegetarian basic diet or the same diets supplemented with hydrolyzed feather meal (2.7%) and either 20.1% of corn meal, 60.4% of fermented rye or 20.1% of rye as is basis (moisture content of the diets about 42%). Compared to other groups the dry matter (DM) content of feces from dogs fed the basic diet was higher (30.0%, p < 0.05), while dogs fed the basic diet + rye had the lowest DM-content (26.5%, p < 0.05). However, the fecal scores were considered to be within an acceptable range (well-formed and firm). Starch digestibility was lower (p < 0.05) for dogs fed the basic diet + corn meal. The dogs showed a high and identical acceptance (scoring of food intake) of the experimental diets. As a comparable quality of feces and a high nutrient digestibility were observed when rye was used in the experimental diets—it can be considered an alternative carbohydrate source in dog foods.