[ survey on fauna of ixodid ticks and their enterobacteriaceae infection in livestock in Amol city in north of Iran]

Ticks are one of the important external parasites in livestock that can transmit viral, ricketsia and bacterial agents. The aim of this study was to determine the rate of contamination of the livestock by ixodid ticks and harboring of enterobacteriaceae by the ticks in Amol City. In this descriptive study, we collected the livestock's ticks [cattle, buffalo, sheep, and goats] and after fauna identification, they were sent for culture. In this study, 650 ticks were collected which belonged to 8 species. Hyalomma asiaticum asiaticum was the most and Rhipicephalus bursa was the least prevalent species. Cattles and buffaloes had the highest tick infestation [38.5%]. The bacteriological results showed that the ticks were infected by 13 bacterial species such as Ecoli, Klebsiella, Salmonella, Proteus, Serratia, Shigella, Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermis. The most and the least prevalent species were Ecoli and Serratia respectively. Considering the high prevalence of ixodid ticks in our study and presence of bacterial infection in hard ticks, appropriate training for stock breeders for improvement of their knowledge of the health problems, stock breeding and common methods of zoonotic disease prevention such as spraying and anti-tick bath, is recommended

Evaluation of the expression of self renewal genes [Oct-4, Nanog, Sox2, Nucleostemin, Bmi and Zfx] in bladder, colon and prostate cancers and in cancer cell lines [LNCaP, HepG2, HT-29, CaCo[2], HT-1376]

Uncontrolled self renewal plays a direct function in different types of carcinoma progression. Here we examined the expression of self renewal regulatory factors such as Oct4, Nanog, Sox2, Nucleostemin, Zfx, Bmi-1 in colon, prostate, bladder and liver cancers in human samples and cancer cell lines. We used RT-PCR to examine the expression of these genes in 10 tumors of bladder, 5 tumors of prostate, 5 tumors of colon, 5 normal tissues of colon, and cancer cell lines. The expression of Oct-4 and Nucleostemin at protein level was further determined by immunocytochemical [ICC] analysis in cancer cell lines. We designed specific primers to amplify a segment of Oct4, Nanog, Sox2, Nucleostemin, Bmi and Zfx. As expected DNA fragment of these genes based on designated primer was amplified in the PCR reaction. We detected the expression of these genes in almost all of the examined tumor samples and cancer cell lines that we used. Oct4 and Nucleostemin proteins were expressed in both nuclear and cytoplasmic in cancer cell lines. No immunoreactivity was observed in negative controls, which were incubated in the absence of primary antibody. Collectively, our results indicated that in a tumor population a rare subpopulation of cells within the tumor cell mass has the potential of self renewal, and suggested that their expression can be used as potential tumor markers in diagnosis and/or prognosis of tumors. These results confirm the potential value of the cancer stem-cell theory in cancer therapy

[Gerbillid rodents fauna [muridae: gerbillinae] and detection of reservoir host[s] of zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis using a nested-PCR technique in Jask city in Hormozgan province in 2008]

Gerbillid rodents [Rodentia: Muridae: Gerbillinae] are the most important reservoir hosts of Leishmania major which is the causative agent of zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis [ZCL]. Different gerbil species are reservoirs of ZCL in different parts of Iran. Since Jask City is the most important endemic area in Hormozgan Province and eastern part of Iran, the present study was designed to identify the gerbils' fauna in this city and detect the reservoir hosts of ZCL in Jask City. This was a descriptive study and the rodents were caught in rectangular wire-mesh traps from different areas of the city. The trapped animals were euthanized under choloroform anesthesia. Duplicate impression smears were prepared from the external ears and their morph metric characteristics were measured and recorded. After dissection of the abdomen of the animals by a scalpel liver and spleen of each animal were removed and preserved in a tube containing 70% ethanol and the whole body was incubated in another tube containing 10% formalin and sent to zoology lab for taxidermy and identification of different species. Impression smears were examined for leishman body by means of a light microscope after Giemsa staining. Small parts of spleen and liver of the animals were homogenized and used for DNA extraction. Whole DNA extracted using Proteinase K and Phenol/Chloroform/Isoamyl alcohol methods. The variable segment of minicircles of kinetoplast DNA was proliferatied by means of nested-PCR techniques using species-specific primers [LIN R4-LIN 17 - Lin 19]. All the 106 rodents in this study belonged to five species. Meriones persicus was the dominant species [27.35%]. Microscopic examination detected the leptomonads in a female specimen of Tatera indica [3.7%], a female specimen of Meriones hurricane [3.85%] and a male specimen of Gerbillus nanus species [5.88%], while leishmania kinetoplast DNA was detected in one femalespecimen of T.indica, 2 female specimens [7/69%] of M. hurrianae, and one female and one male specimen [11/76%] of G.nanus species. The parasites were identified as L. major. Different species of gerbil rodents are active and abundant in the vicinity of human residential areas in Jask City. T. indica, M. hurricane and G. nanus species are reservoir hosts of ZCL in this endemic area. In this study we used molecular assay for detection of ZCL reservoir hosts for the first time in south east part of the country. Infection of G. nanus by L. major was detected for the first time in the world

[ overview on rapid diagnosis of invasive aspergillosis by galactomannan antigen detection]

Invasive aspergillosis [IA] is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in severely immuno-compromised patients. Despite the advances made in diagnostic methods, accurate diagnosis of IA is not easy. At the present time, in Iran, the diagnosis is most often made based on a combination of clinical and abnormal radiologic findings, which are nonspecific, and the treatment is often given without establishing the diagnosis. Considering the invasive and progressive nature of the disease, if proper diagnostic methods are not used, control of the disease will be difficult. Therefore establishing the diagnosis of IA at an early stage by non-invasive and specific methods is necessary for early successful treatment. The detection of circulating galactomannan [GM] antigen in serum, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, urine, and cerebrospinal fluid and tissue has become an important method for the early diagnosis of IA. Recent data have indicated that this test has a high specify and sensitivity and is more valuable than other methods such as culture and CT scan. In general this method is non-invasive, time-saving and specific which permits early treatment of the disease and helps physicians to select the proper treatment and other clinical measures. Certainly, well designed prospective studies with systematic sampling and use of accepted definations are required to compare the efficiency of antigen detection in different samples and population

[Comparison of Atorvastatin with placebo in the treatment of paederus dermatitis]

Paederus dermatitis is a blistering disorder of skin caused by a small insect called paederus transmitted by displaced beetles of order Coleoptera. There are limited studies on classical treatment of this disease. The aim of this study was to compare therapeutic effects of atorvastatin with placebo in the treatment of paederus dermatitis. This was a randomized double-blind clinical trial and was carried out in the hospital and clinics of Sari and Neka cities for 6 months. Experimental group [15 patients] received atorvasatin and control group [15 patients] received placebo. All the patients were examined at the first, seventh and fourteenth days after treatment. Data were recorded in a questionnaire for every patient. Complete recovery and failure of treatment were compared in both groups. Data were introduced into SPSS software and analyzed by means of X2 test. A total of 15 patients were treated, 10 patients from Sari and 5 from Neka cities. Most of the patients were between 26-45 years of age. Most of patients were married; all of them educated, and were civil servants or had private jobs. Full recovery rate of the patients was 93.33% in the second visit [seventh day]. The rest of the patients recovered in the third visit [fourteenth day]. 30.43% of the patients had lesions on the neck, and size of the lesions was between 6-10 cm2 in 42.85% of cases. There was a significant difference in recovery rate between experimental and placebo groups [P<0.05]. In this study, all patients were recovered completely within 14 days, whereas only 13.3 percent were recovered in control group

Frequency of resistance and susceptible bacteria isolated from houseflies

In this study, we determine the vector competence of Musca domestica with reference to the transmission of susceptible and resistance bacterial strains in hospitals and slaughter house in Sanandaj City, west Iran. Totally 908 houseflies were collected to isolate bacteria from their external body based on standard procedures. Antibiotic susceptibility testing was performed by Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method on Mueller Hinton agar based on recommendations of CLSI [formerly the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards]. From collected houseflies. 366 bacteria species were isolated. The most common isolated bacterium at hospitals was Klebsiella pneumoniae 43.3% [n= 90] followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa 37% [n= 77], while that of slaughterhouse was Proteus mirabilis. 29.1% [n= 46] followed by Citrobacter freundii 28.4% [n= 45]. Among all the isolates from hospitals, cephalexin, chloramphenicol, ampicillin, and tetracycline, resistance rates were above 32.5% and gentamicin expressed the highest susceptibility among all the isolates from hospitals. It is worth to note that K. pneumoniae showed 61% and 44.5% resistance to cephalexin and chloramphenicol respectively. Similarly, all isolates from slaughterhouse were more than 28% and 30% resistant to cephalexin and chloramphenicol respectively. Surprisingly, among all the isolates, Citrobacter freundii were highly resistant to gentamicin. Houseflies collected from hospitals and slaughterhouse may be involved in the spread of drug resistant bacteria and may increase the potential of human exposure to drug resistant bacteria

[Comparison of therapeutic and anti-inflammatory effects of topical triamcinolon with placebo in the treatment of paederus dermatitis in guinea pig]

Dermatitis caused by paederous insect is considered a public health problem in many parts of the northern, and some of the southern areas of Iran. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of topical triamcinolone on the treatment of linear dermatitis in animal model. 20 male guinea pigs [Cavia porcellus] were divided into treatment and control groups [N=10]. Animals had free access to food and water and were kept at 25§C and 50% humidity. Paederus beetles caught from the city of Neka, transferred to the School of Public Health in Tehran. Guinea pigs developed linear dermatitis on contact with peaderus beetles. Triamcinolone ointment [0.1%] was applied on the skin of the pigs for 14 days after shaving their hair. The recovery rate was assessed on the first, third, fifth, seventh, ninth, eleventh and fourteenth days after drug administration in the treatment and control groups. The control group used placebo without alcohol base. The mean weight of the guinea pigs was 700 +/- 10 gr. At the end of the ninth day all the guinea pigs in the treatment group improved while 10% of the guinea pigs in the control group showed improvement [P>0.05]. There were no serious medical complications during and one month after the treatment course. This study showed that triamcinolone had significant beneficial effects on the treatment of linear paederus dermatitis in animal models and it can be considered as an effective drug for the treatment of this dermatitis in human models in the future studies

[Ecological study of culex pipiens, the dominant species of culicidae mosquitoes and its control solutions in Yazd province]

Culex pipiens is extremely active in blood feeding in the urban areas. The role of this species in causing annoyance to the people, in addition to transmission of fillers, and viruses has increased their importance. Building of towns without proper principles of health and improvement of sewage systems is considered as the essential factor for producing larval habitat. The present study was carried out for ecological identification of Culex pipiens as the most prevalent mosquito and planning control programs. In this experimental study were selected two cities that had the highest problem of mosquitoes. Suitable shelters were selected for sampling after survey on resting sites and larval breeding places of mosquitoes. Sampling carried out eleven times from May to December in 2009. Different sampling methods carried out such as larval collection, pyrethrum space spray collection, hand collection, light trap, and collection of mosquitoes from pit shelters. In this study, the samples were of three genera Anopheles, Culex and Culiseta and five species of mosquitoes. Totally, 19054 mosquito larvae were caught from different breeding places. Cx. pipiens was predominant and consisted of 82.2% of the larvae. From 523 adult mosquitoes, 118 were collected by pyrethrum space spray collection. Cx. Pipiens with a 90% frequency was the most abundant mosquito, and Cx. sinaiticus was reported for the first time from Yazd Province. Culex pipiens was the predominant species and its seasonal peak activity was from late June to early July. Comparison of abdominal physiological states of the species caught by pyrethrum space spray collection with pit shelter collection showed the exophilic behavior of this species

Effect of fipronil on permethrin sensitive and permethrin resistant strains of blattella germanica

Strategies to manage resistance to insecticides have usually been designed when resistance has already been developed. However, if the likelihood of resistance development to novel insecticides can be predicted before their use, it should be possible to establish an effective resistance management program. The current study was designed to investigate the effect of fipronil against permethrin sensitive and permethrin resistant strains of Blattella germanica [L.] for effective control of this pest in Iran in the future. In order to conduct this study eleven feral German cockroach strains were collected from infested student dormitories of Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Sanatee Sharif, Tarbiat Modares and Tehran Universities and also residential Saman Apartments, and two infested hospitals in Tehran. Their sensitivity to permethrin and fipronil were compared with that of a standard susceptible strain. Tests were conducted on newly emerged adult males [ultimately 21 years old] by topical application. LD[50]'s of permethrin and fipronil for the susceptible strain were 0.43/micro g and 0.96 ng respectively. The resistance of feral strains to permethrin was 8.6 to 17.7 times as much as that of the susceptible strain. According to this investigation all strains are resistant to permethrin, whereas resistance rates of the strains from Bustan-10, Zanjan Fatemiyeh dormitories and residential Saman Apartments were 2 to 2.6 times more than that of the susceptible strain. Other strains were completely susceptible to fipronil. According to the results of this study and considering ever-increasing infestation of human habitations by German cockroach and the resistance to insecticides; fipronil especially its toxic bait formulations can be regarded as the appropriate candidate to control this pest in Iran