Prevalence and subtype identification of Blastocystis isolated from humans in Ahvaz, Southwestern Iran

Aim: The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence and subtype distribution of Blastocystis and its relation with demographic data and symptoms in humans referred to medical centers in Ahvaz 2014-2015

Background: Infections with intestinal parasites are one of the most important threats to human health worldwide, especially in tropical and subtropical areas. Blastocystis sp. is a common parasite of humans with a vast variety of non-human hosts. We aimed to study the prevalence and subtypes of Blastocystis sp. in individuals referred to medical laboratories in Ahvaz city, southwest Iran

Methods: From September 2014 to September 2015, 618 stool samples were collected from 16 medical laboratories in Ahvaz, and examined using direct wet mount, formalin-ether concentration, a modified version of the Ziehl-Neelsen staining technique, and cultivation in xenic HSr + S medium. Subtypes of positive Blastocysts sp. were obtained using the "barcoding" method. The results were analyzed using SPSS software, version 16, with Chi-square and Fisher's exact test

Results: Totally, 325 [52.6%] of the referred individuals were men and 293 [47.4%] were women. Blastocystis sp. was observed in 146 [23.6%] samples. Co-infections with other intestinal parasites were found in 32 [5.17%] cases. Out of the 146 positive isolates, 20.83%, 20.83% and 58.34% belonged to ST1, ST2, ST3 respectively

Conclusion: Blastocystis sp. was quite common in the study population, with a carrier rate corresponding to nearly one in every four individuals. The subtype distribution identified in the present study was largely identical to that reported from other studies in Iran, with ST3 being the most common

Effect of olive leaf extract on cytokines secreted by macrophage

Background: herbal medicines in compared with chemical drugs have fewer side effects and can be a good medicinal alternative. The olive includes 20 different species of the family Oleaceae, with Olea europaea as the most recognized. Several studies have shown the immunomodulating effects of olive leaf extract. This study aimed to identify the immunoregulatory effect of olive leaf Sevillana variety on interleukins 12 and 10 which resulted from the murine macrophages in vitro

Materials and Methods: in order to isolate macrophages, peritoneal macrophages BALB/C were used. To determine the cytotoxic effect of different concentrations of the olive leaf extract on macrophages, MTT assay was performed. Concentrations of 200, 100, 50, 25, 12.5, 6.25, and 3.1[micro]g/ml in the time intervals of 12, 24, and 48 hours were evaluated. Three appropriate concentrations were selected to commence with the study of the determination of the amount of cytokines. Cell culture supernatant growth medium supernatant was collected at 12, 24, and 48 hours after adding the extract in order to examine the amount of cytokines. ELISA test was conducted using interleukins 12 and 10 measurement kits

Results: CC50 of the olive leaf extract at 12, 24, and 48 hours was 260.3, 170.5, and 150 [micro]g/ml, respectively. According to the results, an increase in the concentration and duration of the study resulted in observable significant differences in the production of interleukins 10 and 12. As a result, the production of IL-10 and 12 experienced decreases and increases, respectively

Conclusion: it seemed probable that the olive leaf extract had the capability to increase the production of IL-12 through activation of the classic macrophages and also deactivate the regulatory macrophages with an increase in IL-12 and a decrease in IL-10. Therefore, this can strengthen the immune system of the host in the early stages of infection. The other immunomodulatory effects of olive leaf must be considered by appropriate research

[Sero-prevalence study of visceral leishmaniasis using Direct Agglutination Test (DAT) in children up to 12 years old in Delphan City, Lorestan Province: introduce a new focus of VL In Iran]

Background and Objectives: Two clinical forms of leishmaniasis exist in Iran: cutaneous and visceral. According to the sporadic reports of new cases of Visceral Leishmaniasis [VL] in Lorestan province, real status of VL is not clear, so this study aimed to describe the seroprevalence of VL in Delphan city

Materials and Methods: In this descriptive analytic study, blood samples were collected from children /= 1/3200 accompanied with clinical symptoms was considered as VL diseas

Results: 800 collected serum samples, 21[2.62%] showed anti-Leishmania antibodies at titers of 1/800 and 1/1600, whereas 5[0.62%] showed anti-Leishmania antibodies at titers of ?1/3200. But just one of them showed clinical symptoms [anemia and large abdominal] which is under treatment with miltefosine

Conclusion: A new focus of VL with low endemicity is going to be formed in our region, which showed that further studies on vector and reservoirs is necessary in the region and other parts of Lorestan province

Molecular diagnosis and characterization of Bacillus subtilis isolated from burn wound in Iran

Bacillus subtilis refers to stretched and sometimes curved, gram-positive, aerobic, and catalase-positive bacilli, which has thermo-resistant endospores. It has been known as a normal flora in the human but can be pathogens In the case of opportunistic. Also, it can be the pathogen of nosocomial infections such as wound among hospitalized patients. Purpose of this study was to identify the type of nosocomial infections in a burn patient suffering from wound infections and septicemia. In November 2012, sampling was made from the burn wound of a 26- year-old woman infected with septicemia using a sterile swab. The wound sample was cultured on a blood agar medium. Various routine biochemical tests were performed for species detection and identification. Eventually, PCR was used to increase the reliability and accuracy in the identification of the isolated bacterium. The PCR product was then sequenced. According to the results of different biochemical tests and molecular identification, the bacteria separated from B. subtilis wound were reported. The mentioned gene was recorded under access number AB894357 in the gene bank. According to the conducted studies, although B. subtilis is known as a commensal bacterium, it can be considered a pathogen of nosocomial infection, which subsequently causes secondary infections. Considering that B. subtilis is known as a nonpathogenic bacterium, it is recommended to pay more attention to its diagnosis and treatment as an opportunistic pathogen among hospitalized patients

Genetic diversity of human blastocystis isolates in khorramabad, central Iran

There are some genetic differences in Blastocystis that show the existence of species or genotypes. One of these genes that help in identifying Blastocystis is SSUrRNA. The aim of this study was assessment of genetic diversity of Blastocystis by PCR with seven pairs of STS primers. This study was done on 511 stool samples collected from patients referred to the health care centers of Khorramabad, Central Iran, in 2012. Ge-nomic DNA was extracted and in order to determine the Blastocystis subtype in contaminated samples, seven pairs of primers STS [subtype specific sequence-tagged site] were used. Out of 511 samples, 33 [6.5%] samples were infected with Blastocystis. Subtype [ST] of 30 samples was identified and three subtypes 2, 3 and 4 were determined. Mix infection was reported 10% which 3.33% of the infection was for the mixture of ST 3 and ST5 and 6.67% was for the mixture of ST 2 and ST 3. The predominant subtype was ST3 that is the main human subtype. The dominance of ST2 and 5 are important in this study. This superiority has been reported in some of the studies in ST 2 which is different from the studies in other countries, because they have announced priorities of the ST1 and ST6 after ST3

Scolicidal Effects of Black Cumin Seed (Nigella sativa) Essential Oil on Hydatid Cysts

Surgery remains the preferred treatment for hydatid cyst (cystic echinococcosis, CE). Various scolicidal agents have been used for inactivation of protoscolices during surgery, but most of them are associated with adverse side effects. The present study aimed to evaluate the in vitro scolicidal effect of Nigella sativa (Ranunculaceae) essential oil and also its active principle, thymoquinone, against protoscolices of hydatid cysts. Protoscolices were aseptically aspirated from sheep livers having hydatid cysts. Various concentrations of the essential oil (0.01-10 mg/ml) and thymoquinone (0.125-1.0 mg/ml) were used for 5 to 60 min. Viability of protoscolices was confirmed by 0.1% eosin staining. Furthermore, the components of the N. sativa essential oil were identified by gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy (GC/MS). Our study revealed that the essential oil of N. sativa at the concentration of 10 mg/ml and its main component, thymoquinone, at the concentration of 1 mg/ml had potent scolicidal activities against protoscolices of Echinococcus granulosus after 10 min exposure. Moreover, thymoquinone (42.4%), p-cymene (14.1%), carvacrol (10.3%), and longifolene (6.1%) were found to be the major components of N. sativa essential oil by GC/MS analysis. The results of this study indicated the potential of N. sativa as a natural source for production of a new scolicidal agent for use in hydatid cyst surgery. However, further studies will be needed to confirm these results by checking the essential oil and its active component in in vivo models.

First molecular identification of Leishmania species in a new endemic area of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Lorestan, Iran

OBJECTIVE@#To identify Leishmania using PCR.@*METHODS@#This study was conducted from April 2009 to March 2011 in order to identify Leishmania species in a new endemic area of CL in Lorestan, Iran. Samples were taken from 62 patients that referred to the health centers in different cities of Lorestan province, the presence of Leishmania was confirmed using direct smear and then grown in NNN media and mass cultured in RPMI 1 640 medium supplemented with 10% heat-inactivated fetal bovine serum. DNA was extracted from cultured promastigotes and used in ITS-PCR.@*RESULTS@#45(72.6%) samples out of 62 showed a band in the range of 485 bp and 17 (27.4%) with a band in the range of 626 bp which were similar to standard strains of Leishmania tropica(L. tropica) and Leishmania major(L. major), respectively. 50 (65.80%) of samples were collected from people with no history of travel in at least a year prior to the onset which shows that indigenous source of infection.@*CONCLUSIONS@#Since the vector and reservoir of the two species are different, so precise and extensive control and prevention methods should be designed and carried out.

Identification of leishmania species using PCR assay on giemsa-stained slides prepared from cutaneous leishmaniasis patients

Leishmaniasis is a group of diseases that are created by intracellular parasites of Leishmania. Cutaneous leishmaniasis is considered as one of the health problems in some provinces of Iran. In this study, a total of 178 Giemsa-stained slides from confirmed cases of cutaneous leishmaniasis were examined. The slides were prepared from the patients with cutaneous leishmaniasis that referred to health centers and infected during the epidemic of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Poldokhtar city, Lorestan Province, Iran in 2006.Genomic DNA from each slide was extracted. After DNA extraction, ITS-PCR was used. Out of 178 slides, 129 [72.47%] samples had a band in the range of 485 bp and 49 [27.53%] samples 626 bp that matched L. tropica and L. major standard samples, respectively. This study showed that Leishmania DNA could be efficiently ex-tracted and amplified even from old Giemsa-stained microscopic slides that were stored more than 6 yr. In this study was shown that both L. tropica and L. major species exist in Lorestan Province