[Evalution of antileishmanial activity of the hydroalcoholic extract of medicago lupulina' leaves against leishmania major [MHOM/IR/75/ER] promastigotes by using MTT and microscopy method and GC/MS for hydroalcoholic extract of this plant' leaves]

Background: Leishmaniasis, has created enormous global health problem. Side effects, drug resistance and the lack of effective vaccines and to make the new compounds effective due to plant

Objective: The traditional medical plants such as black alfalfa can be a valuable source of new pharmaceutical agents against leishmaniasis

Methods: Alcoholic extracts were prepared by maceration method. L. major promastigotes [Leishmania major] in Schneider and then were cultured in RPMI- 1640. Then, using MTT [Methyl Thiazole Tetrazolium], the IC50 [Inhibitory Concentrations 50%] for extract and Glucantime was determined. MTT assay did for each sample, 3 times

Results: IC50 for alcoholic extract of alfalfa black against L. major promastigotes in vitro after 24, 48 and 72 hours, respectively 165, 98 and 45 micrograms per ml and for Glucantime also equal to 27, 12 and 8 mg l respectively. IC50 between Extract and Glucantime after 24, 48 and 72 hours there was a significant difference [P <0.05]. Morphological changes after challenge with meglumine and alcoholic extracts including cell shrinkage, round, dense cytoplasm and the cell was smaller. Presence of alkaloids and flavonoids in alcoholic extracts have been proved

Conclusion: As regards, plant extract had anti- leishmanial effects in vitro, further works are required to appraise the exact effect on Leishmania agent in animal models

[Molecular study of Clostridium difficile isolated from beef in Isfahan, Iran]

Background: clostridium difficile [C. difficile] infection is one of the most important diseases in healthcare facilities and community. Ribotypes 027 and 078 are known as hyper- virulent strain of C. difficile in molecular study. PCR-ribotyping is a suitable method to interpret the relation of C. difficile isolated from food and hospital

Objectives: in the present study, the clostridim difficile binary toxin [cdtB] and ribotype pattern evaluated in toxigenic C. difficle isolated from beef

Methods: detection of cdtB in 12 toxigenic C. difficile [encoding tcdA and tcdB gene] isolated from 100 beef samples was determined through PCR. Afterwards, PCR-ribotyping was performed to examine the ribotype patterns of C. difficile

Results: cdtB gene was not detected in any positive isolate. Ten different patterns were observed in 12 toxigenic isolates. No similarity existed in the ribotypes of our study with ribotypes 027 and 078

Conclusions: albeit ribotyp 027 and 078 were not found in our study, the isolation of toxigenic C. difficile with new ribotypes in Iran may indicate the probable hazard of this bacterium in public health. Comprehensive research about C. difficile in different food sources is recommended on a national level

Comparison of HBs-antibody serum levels between patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and controls following vaccination against hepatitis B

Diabetic patients are at risk to viral hepatitis. It is reported that vaccination with routine doses is not sufficient for diabetic patients especially those with type I, but there is some controversies. The aim of this study was to the assessment and compare of HBs-Ab titer in type II diabetics and controls after vaccination against hepatitis B. In a semi-experimental study, 91 patients with type II diabetes mellitus and 55 non diabetic healthy individuals matched in age, sex, body mass index and smoking were selected by simple non-random sampling. The positive cases for HBs-Ag, HBs-Ab and HBc-Ab were excluded. Vaccination against hepatitis B was carried in 3 times [0, 1, 6 month] with a dose of 20 microg. Then, 3 and 6 months after the last dose, Hb-A1C and HBs-Ab were tested. HBs-Ab titers were compared between two groups using Mann-Whitney U test and the correlation between HBs-Ab and Hb-A1C in two groups. Three months after vaccination, both in diabetics and controls, the mean HBs-Ab level was 335.8 +/- 275.7 and 420.1 +/- 348.4 mIU/ml, and 6 months after vaccination it was 530.7 +/- 387.9 and 552.5 +/- 410.7 mIU/ml respectively [p > 0.05]. There was an inverse but non-significant correlation between HB A1C and HBs-Ab in diabetics. The findings of the current study confirm that the routine vaccination is sufficient for patients with type II diabetes