A new Myxozoa, Kudoa quraishii n. sp., is reported in the striated muscle of the Indian mackerel Rastrelliger kanagurta from the Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf in Saudi Arabia. Mean prevalence of infection is about 20 % and varies between localities. The parasite develops whitish and oval or rounded pseudocysts of 0.2–3 mm in the striated muscles of the body. Pseudocysts are filled with mature spores. Myxospores are quadrate in shape in apical view with rounded edges and ovoid in side view. Each spore is formed by four equal shell valves and four symmetrical polar capsules.

The role of either mTOR system/enzyme sirtuin1 (SIRT1) or transcription factor NF-κB in the direct control of ovarian function has not been estabished. The aim of our in vitro experiments was to examine the involvement of SIRT1 and the p65 and p50 subunits of NFκB in control of porcine ovarian granulosa cell functions and the interrelationships between SIRT1, NFκB (p65, p50) 30 and FSH in the ovary. Monolayers of primary granulosa cells were transfected with gene constructs encoding either SIRT1 or p65 and p50, and thereafter cultured with, or without, addition of FSH.

Boswellia papyrifera and Boswellia carterii, known as Arabian incense, diffuses smoke, contaminating the air, which adversely affects human health. Therefore, this study was designed to ascertain the effect of these plants on histopathological and ultrastructure changes in cauda epididymis of Albino rats. Animals were exposed to 4 g/kg body weight of B. papyrifera and B. carterii daily for 120 days along with suitable controls. Our study indicates a significant reduction in epithelial heights. Cells showed signs of degeneration.

Objectives Studies of the placenta in pregnancies complicated by pre-eclampsia have led to the suggestion that tissue along the length and breadth of its surface has different functions. A recent study in Saudi Arabia showed that the body size of newborn babies was related to the breadth of the surface at birth but not to its length. We have now examined whether the association between placental breadth and body size reflects large size of the baby from an early stage of gestation or rapid growth between early and late gestation.

Up to now in Tunisia, freshwater Hirudinida are represented by two mainly haematophagous families: Hirudinidae and Glossiphonidae, and a predatory one: the family Erpobdellidae. The present study provides new information on the diversity and taxonomy of erpobdellid leeches. Identification was based, in addition to morphological data, on the length of sperm ducts and the lengths of ovisacs in relation to the neurosomite (ns) and on the shape and size of the male atrium. Five taxons are found.

Objectives

We have reported that changes in the lifestyle of pregnant women during Ramadan affect more than one generation. In a series of newborn babies in Saudi Arabia, those whose mothers had been in utero during Ramadan differed from those whose mothers had not been in utero during Ramadan. These were unexpected findings and require replication.

Methods

We examined body size at birth in 1,321 babies (682 boys and 639 girls) born in Gafsa, a small city in Tunisia.

Results

We present new data on the distribution, reproductive strategies, karyology, and taxonomic status of populations of freshwater planarians from Yemen. Nine populations were sampled and significant differences in their reproductive strategies and karyology are reported. The present study presents the first fully documented record of a naturally sexual, diploid (2n = 18) population of a Dugesia-species in the eastern part of the Afrotropical region.

A new species Kudoa azevedoi sp. n. (Myxozoa, Multivalvulida) is described in Trachurus trachurus Linnaeus, 1758 (Carangidae) from fishing harbors in Tunisian coasts using spore morphology and SSU rDNA sequence data. The parasite occurs only in ovaries within oocytes of mature and immature specimens. Spores are quadrate in shape in apical view with rounded edges, having four shell valves and four symmetrical polar capsules. They are of small sizes and measure 3.5 ± 0.41 (3–4.2) × 4.5 ± 0.44 (4–5.2) length by width.

The ultrastructure of the ovary and the female atrium during cocoon formation was investigated in the subterranean freshwater planarian Dendrocoelum constrictum. In the peripheral portion of the ovary, the oogonia are recognized as undifferentiated germ cells, which are morphologically similar to neoblasts that have a high nucleus/cytoplasm ratio. Oocyte maturation is characterized by a marked growth of the cytoplasm because of the accumulation of cytoplasmic organelles and inclusions.

Studies of pregnancies complicated by preeclampsia led to the suggestion that the surface of the placenta is aligned along two axes, measured by its breadth and length. It was hypothesised that tissue along the breadth serves as a nutrient sensor, responding to the mother's nutritional state and fetal nutritional demands, while tissue along the length has different functions. To develop this hypothesis we measured the breadth and length of the placental surface in 401 neonates born in the King Khalid Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and related these measurements to the baby's body size.