Bulinus species from Egypt : Molecular characterization, immunological markers and compatibility with Schistosoma haematobium parasite / Shereen Mahfouz Mansour ; Supervised Abdelhakim Saad Eldin , Hanaa Mohamed Abueleinin , Rewaida Abdelhakem Abdelgaber

Thesis (Ph.D.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Science- Department of Zoology

Schistosomiasis is a major health concern in many parts of the world Planorbid freshwater snails that belong to the genus Bulinus act as the intermediate hosts for Schistosoma haematobium and related species. In the present study, the examination of shells revealed that all specimens collected from Damietta and Giza Governorates, in addition to those obtained from Schistosome Biological Supply Center, identified as Bulinus truncatus snail. The parameters of shells from the studied sites presented variations. Heterogenecity could be detected within all three populations, revealed by amplification of one additional fragment, in addition to exhibition of intra-specific variations within the same species. The infection rate and mean number of cercariae/ snail/ week were higher in summer as compared to winter. Histological sections of non- infected snails enabled us to observe details of the main area of the head- foot region, which is the area usually invaded by sporocysts. Electron microscopic studies showed that the sporocysts of S. haematobium one hour after infection of Damietta group were similar in appearance to SBSC group, the transformed sporocysts showed very clearly characteristic morphology of this parasite stage. While, the group from Giza showed several sporocysts had hemocytes attached over their surface. Electron microscopic studies showed that the structures found in the amoebocytes producing organ (APO) cells of infected snails were also observed in this organ of non-infected control. Calcium content was significantly higher in the shells than the soft parts of the snails, regardless infected or non-infected

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