In vitro and in vivo susceptibility of Leishmania major to some medicinal plants

Objective To evaluate the efficacy of some medicinal plants and systemic glucantime in a comparative manner against the causative agent of cutaneous leishmaniasis both in vitro and in BALB/c mice. Methods For in vivo testing, inbred mice were challenged with Leishmania major parasites and the resultant ulcers were treated with extract based-ointments applied topically two times per day for a period of 20 days. A group of 56 mice were randomly divided into 7 subgroups. The control group received the ointment void of extracts, whereas the reference group received glucantime only. The efficacy of treatments was evaluated by measuring ulcer diameter, parasite burden and NO production. Results Our results indicated that plant extract based-ointments were effective in reducing ulcer size and parasite burden in spleens, but their effects did not differ significantly from that of glucantime. The plant extracts tested in this study were able to increase NO production that helped parasite suppression. Conclusions Our findings indicate that the tested plant extracts are effective against Leishmania major both during in vitro and in vivo experiments, but further researches are required to recommend a potential plant extract as an alternative drug.

Effectiveness of group training based on acceptance and commitment therapy on anxiety and depression of women with breast cancer

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women that as a sudden event has profound effects on all aspects of patients' lives. Psychosocial interventions may play important roles in reducing anxiety and depression among breast-cancer survivors. Therefore, group training based on acceptance and commitment therapy may help women to cope better with their condition, and decrease their anxiety and depression. In a quasi-experimental study, 30 patients with breast cancer were selected by convenience sampling method and randomly assigned to 2 experimental and control groups. The experimental group attended acceptance and commitment training classes for 8 weeks continuously [each class lasting 90 minutes]. Participants in both the experimental and control groups completed Beck Anxiety Inventory [BAI] and Beck Depression Inventory [BHI-II] as a pretest and posttest. Analysis of Covariance was used as the statistical method. In acceptance and commitment group training, anxiety and depression significantly decreased [p<0/05]. These changes were not observed in the control group. The results showed that group training based on acceptance and commitment therapy is an effective method in reducing anxiety and depression. Hence psychological interventions can be used to reduce psychological difficulties of women with breast cancer

[Comparison of microsporidiosis distribution in clinical samples of immunocompromised patients and healthy persons in Tehran [2010-2011]]

Background and purpose:Microsporidia infections occurvirtually in all in vertebrate and vertebrate hosts, in cluding humans. The this study is aimed atcomparison of distribution of microsporidiosis in various samples of Iranian immunocompromised patients and healthy individuals by molecular methods.

Materials and Methods: Inthiscase - control study, 258stool, blood, bronchoalveolar lavage [BAL] and urine sampleswere obtained fromimmunocompromisedpatients [bone marrowtransplant, kidney transplant and respiratory complications] referred to Masih Daneshvari and Shariati Hospitalduring 2010-2011.

After recording clinical data, DNA extraction was performed on all samples. To identifyhuman related microsporidiosis [Encephalitozoon spp. And Enterocytozoon spp.], polymerase chain reactionwas performedusingspecific primers andmultiplex-PCR on allsamples.

Results: Overall, the prevalence of microsporidiosis in immunocompromised patients were 4.3 and 3.9 percent in cases and control group, respectively.Incidence of microsporidiosis in patients undergoing bone marrow transplantation [5 isolates from 70 samples] was 7.1%, in patients with respiratory complications [4 isolates from 150 samples] 2.7 percent and patients undergoing renal transplantation [2 isolates from 38 samples] 5.3 percent. In the case group, most cases of infection occurred among men at the age of40-60 years. In bronchoalveolar lavage samples 3 isolates of Encephalitozoon [2%] and one isolate of Entrocytozoon [0.7%], were identified, respectively. In cancer patients undergoing bone marrow transplantation 4 isolates of Encephalitozoon [5.7%], 1 isolate of Enterocytozoon [1.4%] and in patients with renal transplants 2 isolates of Enterocytozoon [5.3%]were detected. 4 isolates of Enterocytozoon [2.2%] and 3 isolates of Encephalitozoon [1.7%] were identified in the control group that most infections occurred among menat the age of30-45years.

Conclusion:The most cases of human microsporidiosis are associated with human immunodeficiency virus infection or other states of immunosuppression, particularly in organ transplant recipients; The obtained results confirm this claim.