Ehrlichia canis (E. canis) is a tick-borne disease, affect dogs in different areas. Traditional diagnostic techniques including hematology, cytology and isolation are valuable diagnostic tools for E. canis, however a definitive diagnosis of E. canis infection requires molecular investigation techniques. An epidemiological study of E. canis infection among dogs in Egypt was carried out using microscopic examination and molecular tools techniques. A total of 170 canine blood samples were collected from different breed of dogs admitted to veterinary clinics in three governorates (Cairo, Giza and Qalyubia). Microscopic examination revealed that 25 out of 170 (14.7%) was positive for E. canis. Molecular screening by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed using genus-specific primers followed by PCR using E. canis speciesspecific primers. PCR assay can be detected 27 out of 170 dogs for E. canis from examined animals. These results emphasize that serological and molecular studies are needed to clarify the epidemiological feature of the infection in different governorates of Egypt.

Background: Astrocytoma is the most common type of glioma. Fli-1 is a nuclear transcription factor that increase cellular proliferation and tumorigenesis providing a prognostic tool for many human tumors. Therefore, Fli-1 may have a role in astrocytoma. Aim: To study the expression of Fli-1 in astrocytoma and its correlation to clinicopathological aspects. Subjects and methods: This is a retrospective study performed upon 45 cases grouped as 22.2 % of grade I astrocytoma, 26.7% of grade II astrocytoma, 13.3 % of grade III astrocytoma and 37.8% of grade IV astrocytoma. Immunohistochemical staining of Fli-1 antibody was applied on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded blocks. The correlation between Fli-1 expression and clinicopathologic parameters was statistically studied. Results: High expression of Fli -1 was seen in 60% of astrocytoma, while low expression was seen in 40 % of astrocytoma cases. Fli -1 expression showed highly significant associations with age, tumor size, tumor site, tumor grade, tumor type, progression free and overall survivals of studied cases (P value <0.01). There was significant correlation between the Fli-1expression and recurrence (P value <0.05). No significant correlations were found between Fli-1 expression and sex or type of biopsy in studied cases (p value >0.05). Conclusion: Fli-1 score >2 is better to discriminate between low and high grade astrocytoma. Fli-1 score can be diagnostic to differentiate between low and high grade astrocytoma. Fli-1 may be a prognostic marker in astrocytoma to predict recurrence & patient survival.