• commercial immunoassay
• Cryptosporidium
• Giardia
• horses
• Tuscany

Considering the lack of data about Cryptosporidium and Giardia infections in Italian horses, the aims of this thesis has been to evaluate:

1. the prevalence of Cryptosporidium and Giardia in mares and foals and the possible role of these two parasites in foal heat diarrhoea, by using both stained faecal smears and one of the immunoassay more used in the world for the diagnosis of cryptosporidiosis and giardiasis in human and animals (Alexon-Trend ProspecT® Giardia /Cryptosporidium Microplate Assay, Ramsey, MN, USA);

2. the prevalence of Cryptosporidium and Giardia infections in asymptomatic yearlings and adult horses reared in Pisa (Tuscany), by using both stained faecal smears and a commercial immunochromatographic assay (RidaQuick® Cryptosporidium/Giardia Combi cassettes - R-Biopharm Italia srl), a rapid Cryptosporidium/Giardia test available for the diagnosis of cryptosporidiosis and giardiasis in Human Medicine, never used before in horses.

3. the diagnostic performance (sensitivity) of one of the more used commercial immunoassay kit for cryptosporidiosis in humans and animals (Remel ProspecT® of Cryptosporidium Microplate Assay, Lenexa, KS, USA).

Section 1 – Aim 1
In this Section, it has been evaluated the possible role of Cryptosporidium and Giardia in foal heat diarrhoea by using respectively modified Ziehl-Neelsen (mZN) and Giemsa staining techniques and the Alexon-Trend ProspecT® Giardia/Cryptosporidium Microplate Assay (Ramsey, MN, USA), one of the more used immunoassay worldwide for the diagnosis of cryptosporidiosis and giardiasis both in human and in animals.

Section 2 – Aim 2
In this Section, the prevalence of Giardia and Cryptosporidium infections in healthy yearlings and adult horses reared in Tuscany was evaluated by using faecal smears stained with modified Ziehl-Neelsen (mZN) for Cryptosporidium and Giemsa for Giardia and a commercial immunoassays, the RIDAQUICK® Cryptosporidium/Giardia Combi cassettes (R-Biopharm Italia srl), a rapid immunoassay for the diagnosis of cryptosporidiosis and giardiasis in humans used the first time in horses in the present study.

Section 3 – Aim 3
In this Section, the diagnostic performance of one of the commercial Enzyme Immunoassay more used worldwide for the diagnosis of cryptosporidiosis both in human and in animals, i.e. Remel ProspecT® Cryptosporidium Microplate Assay (Lenexa, KS, USA), was evaluated in a neonatal mouse model. More precisely, they were used data obtained in another study, partially already published (Perrucci et al., 2006), in which the anti-cryptosporidial efficacy of some plant-derived compounds (mangiferin at 50 and 100 mg/kg/die and an Artemisia extract at 50 mg/kg/day) on Cryptosporidium parvum was evaluated and compared to treated (paromomycin at 100 mg/kg/die) and untreated controls.