Browsing by Author "Balcioglu, C"

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    Plastic detection comb better than visual screening for diagnosis of head louse infestation
    Balcioglu, C; Burgess, IF; Limoncu, ME; Sahin, MT; Ozbel, Y; Bilaç, C; Kurt, O; Larsen, KS
    Finding lice can be difficult in head louse infestation. We compared a new louse detection comb with visual inspection. All children in two rural Turkish schools were screened by the two methods. Those with lice were offered treatment and the results monitored by detection combing Children with nits only were re-screened to identify latent infestations. Using visual inspection we found 214 461 children (46%) with nits but only 30 (6.5%) with live lice. In contrast detection combing found 96 (21%) with live lice. of whom 20 had no nits. Detection combing was 3.84 times more effective than visual inspection for finding live lice. Only 10/138 (7.2%) children with nits and no lice were Found to have active infestation by day 16. We found that the detection comb is significantly (P<0.001) more effective than visual screening for diagnosis, that nits are not a good indicator of active infestation; and that treatment with 1% permethrin was 89.6% effective.
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    Effect of trimethoprim-sulfamethaxazole in Blastocystis hominis infection
    Ok, ÜZ; Girginkardesler, N; Balcioglu, C; Ertan, P; Pirildar, T; Kilimcioglu, AA
    OBJECTIVE: Blastocystis hominis (B. hominis) is a common intestinal parasite that has long been considered nonpathogenic. Recently there have been many reports supporting a role for the organism as a potential pathogen. We performed a study to examine the pathogenicity of B. hominis and the effect of trimethoprim-sulfamethaxazole (TMP-SMX) on this organism. METHODS: Stool samples of patients, who came to the Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Celal Bayar University, were examined by direct wet-mount, trichrome staining, formalin-ethyl acetate concentration, and Kinyoun acid fast techniques for intestinal parasites, and bacteriological stool cultures were performed. Fifty-three symptomatic patients (38 children and 15 adults) with two consequent stool samples positive for abundant B, hominis (five or more organisms per x400 field! and negative for other parasitic and bacterial pathogens were treated with TMP-SMX for 7 days, children 6 mg/kg TMP, 30 mg/kg SMX, and adults 320 mg TMP, 1600 mg SMX, daily. On the seventh day, at the end of treatment, stool samples of all patients were examined by same methods, and clinical symptoms were again evaluated. RESULTS: B. hominis was eradicated in 36 of 38 (94.7%) children, and 14 of 15 (93.3%) adults. Clinical symptoms disappeared in 39 (73.6%), decreased in 10(18.9%), and no change was observed in one (1.9%) patient, whereas symptoms persisted in all three (5.7%) patients in whom B. hominis could not be eradicated. Mean number of stools per day was significantly decreased from 4.3 to 1.2 in the 33 children (p < 0.001), and decreased from 3.5 to 1.0 in the four adults (p = 0.06) With diarrhea. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggested that B. hominis may be pathogenic, especially when it is present in large numbers, and TMP-SMX is highly effective against this organism. Although there are some anecdotal reports, to our knowledge this is the first study examining the effect of TMP-SMX on B. hominis in humans. (C) 1999 by Am. Coil. of Gastroenterology.
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    Genotyping of Giardia lamblia in a Cohort of Turkish Patients: A Search for a Relationship between Symptoms and Genotypes
    Balcioglu, C; Kurt, O; Sevil, N; Dagci, H; Tetik, A; Ergunay, K; Yereli, K; Ozbilgin, A; Turgay, N; Toz, SO
    Recent surveys investigating the molecular biology of Giardia lamblia revealed two distinct assemblages with different clinical outcomes. However, there is not a universal compromise about the clinical effects of each assemblage, warranting further studies. Here, we report the results of the first analyses of the assemblages of G. lamblia in Manisa province located in western Turkey, together with their relationships with the symptoms and DNA sequence analyses of the PCR products. DNA samples were isolated from the stools of 63 patients infected with G. lamblia and 54 DNA samples, amplified successfully with PCR, were digested with the enzyme Xho I for RFLP. Thirty-eight of 54 samples (70.4%) were found to be in Assemblage A, while the remaining 16 samples (29.6%) were found to be in Assemblage B. The number of female patients was found significantly higher in Assemblage B (P=0.18). There was a statistically significant relationship between the occurrence of both abdominal pain and diarrhea and Assemblage B (chi-square, 10.52; P<0.05). No other statistically significant relationship was detected between the assemblages and neither with the symptoms nor with the age groups of the patients. The comparison of the DNA sequences of the PCR products from two assemblage B (one subtype B1 and one B) and one assemblage A samples both with each other and with other DNA sequences in the NCBI website by multialignment analyses, revealed specific regions for assemblages B (B1-B) and A on tpi gene region. Further studies with more patients are required to assess these initial results. Now, our aim is to design a probe for tpi gene region to set up a real-time PCR assay that is easier to conduct and requiring shorter time for the analyses.
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    Antileishmanial Activity of Selected Turkish Medicinal Plants
    Ozbilgin, A; Durmuskahya, C; Kayalar, H; Ertabaklar, H; Gunduz, C; Ural, IO; Zeyrek, F; Kurt, O; Cavus, I; Balcioglu, C; Toz, SO; Ozbel, Y
    Purpose: To determine the in vitro and in vivo anti-leishmanial activities of extracts obtained from Centaurea calolepis, Phlomis lycia, Eryngium thorifolium, Origanum sipyleum and Galium incanum ssp. centrale. Methods: To estimate the cytotoxicity of plant extracts, WST-1 assay was used. Parasite inhibition in the presence of plant extracts (25 - 500 mu g/ml) in comparision with control group and reference group (glucantime, 25 mu g/ml) at 12 - 72 h were determined in vitro on L. tropica promastigotes. The in vivo leishmanicidal activity of the extracts was evaluated against L. tropica-infected mice with glucantime as reference drug. Results: The chloroform extract of Galium incanum ssp. centrale showed the highest cytotoxicity with IC50 value of 0.0316 +/- 0.005 mu g/ml. In vitro parasite inhibition by the plant extracts ranged between 16.7 +/- 0.01 % and 100 +/- 0.00 % at 25 mu g/ml concentration. The methanol extract of Eryngium thorifolium possessed the highest activity on promastigotes of L. tropica with 100 % inhibition at 25 mu g/ml. The water and chloroform extracts of C. calolepis and water and methanol extracts of E. thorifolium at a dose of 100 mg/kg reduced parasitaemia in L. tropica infected mice. Conclusion: Parasite viability results suggest that the methanol extract of Eryngium thorifolium, regarded as non-cytotoxic, is a promising candidate drug for treating L. tropica infection.