ABSTRACT
Aims@#Non-thermal atmospheric-pressure plasma (cold plasma), is described as a partly ionized gas. Cold plasma is a new method of medicine for killing the bacteria, treatment of cancer diseases, accelerates the healing of infectious ulcers, especially in infection caused by Meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). This study aimed to investigate the impact of Non-thermal atmospheric-pressure plasma on MRSA S. aureus organism isolated from burn wound infection in vitro and in vivo. @*Methodology and results@#Five MRSA S. aureus strains were recovered in burn patients from Shahid Motahari Burns Hospital, Tehran, Iran. They confirmed by microbiology and biochemical tests. Antibiotic susceptibility testing was performed using Kirby Bauer Disk Diffusion Method with selected antibiotics. Then, the antibacterial impact of atmospheric non-thermal plasma on MRSA in vitro and in vivo at different times was assessed. After that, the tissue was randomly separated from control and treated mice with plasma and transferred to the Histopathology Laboratory for further evaluation. Results of the inactivation of MRSA by non-thermal atmospheric plasma showed no bacterial growth. Also, results of the impact of non-thermal helium plasma in vivo environment revealed that, in addition to healing in the animal wound, the burn wounds infection was healed and treated according to the histological results. @*Conclusion, significance and impact of study@#Our results confirmed the inactivation of MRSA S. aureus, healing of animal burn wound and complete treatment by non-thermal atmospheric plasma. It recommended that cold plasma can be used for the treatment of burn wounds infection due to the gentle on the human skin.
ABSTRACT
Staphylococcus aureus is one of the most common pathogens in nosocomial infections. Vancomycin is the most important therapeutic drug of choice for treatment of infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus [MRSA] strains. Therefore, vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus [VRSA] or vancomycin-intermediate Staphylococcus aureus [VISA] strains are warnings for the medical community. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of vancomycin resistance in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolated from the nose of patients hospitalized in Imam Reza Hospital, Kermanshah, Iran. In the present study, 85 strains of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus were isolated from patients in Imam Reza Hospital and evaluated for vancomycin resistance with microdilution test, Epsilometer test [E-test], and polymerase chain reaction [PCR]. None of the strains were completely resistant to vancomycin; however, 39 strains [45.9%] were diagnosed as hetero-VRSA [hVISA] strains. VISA and VRSA strains were not observed in this study which is a promising finding in the treatment of clinical infections due to Staphylococcus aureus in our society. However, in our study, the prevalence of hVISA strain was 45.9%, which is perhaps a sign of the appearance of more resistant strains [VISA and VRSA] in our country in the future
ABSTRACT
The human amniotic membrane is the inner most layer of placenta and has antimicrobial effect, due to the presence of human beta-defensins and elafins. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of dilution reduction of 0.5 McFarland prepared from standard bacterial strains of Salmonella enterica BAA-708, Escherichia coli ATCC25922, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC27853, Klebsiella pneumoniae ATCC7881, and Enterococcus faecalis ATCC29212 on antibacterial effect of human amniotic membranes in vitro. Amniotic membranes were obtained from the bank of organ transplantation in Imam Khomeini hospital, of women with elective cesarean section whose HIV, HBV, HCV and VDRL serological tests were negative. They were cut to 1.5x1.5 cm pieces. Then 0.5 McFarland suspensions of 1.5x10[8], 0.5x10[7] and 1.5x10[6] dilutions were prepared from bacteria which then were spread on Mueller Hinton medium agar and a piece of membrane was put in the center of each plate. After 24 hours incubation at 37[degree]C, the results were observed. In 0.5 McFarland standard dilution an inhibition zone was created in three standard strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, and Salmonella enterica unlike the other two strains. There was no change in the above results with two other dilutions and inhibition zone of sensitive strains was not created. Dilution reduction of microbial strains does not affect the antibacterial impact of amniotic membrane and dilution reduction does not yield to a false positive response and the conversion of resistant to sensitive strains
ABSTRACT
Tuberculosis is one of the most important causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Approximately 10-20% of tuberculosis is Extrapulmonary tuberculosis [EPTB], which is much higher [50%] in patients suffering from immunity defects such as AIDS. EPTB diagnosis is difficult mostly because of various clinical manifestations and aggressive procedures needed for its diagnosis. The main goal of this study was to determine the prevalence of EPTB in the north west of Iran and also to investigate the different clinical characteristics of the studied population, the various clinical manifestations and organ involvement of EPTB, as well. This study was carried out retrospectively using the data from Tabriz Tuberculosis and Lung Disease Research Center from 2007 through 2011. Questionnaires were designed to extract relevant information to describe characteristics of EPTB affected population and also various clinical manifestations and organ involvement of the disease among the patients. The study included 203 EPTB cases notified from 2007 through 2011 including, 91 [44.83%] males and 112 [55.17%] females. The mean age of the patients was 46.55 +/- 18.3. The main extra pulmonary involvements of the studied population were lymphadenitis [9.35%], pleural [7.39%] and spinal [5.42%] among males and lymphadenitis [17.24%], ocular [7.88%], pleural [6.40%] and spinal [5.91%] among females, respectively. Since EPTB diagnosis is a challenging and time sparing attempt even by the expert physicians, there is a need to perform further researches in order to identify the main clinical manifestations and organ involvement of EPTB in patients.
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Female , Infant, Newborn , Infant , Child, Preschool , Child , Adolescent , Young Adult , Adult , Middle Aged , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Retrospective Studies , Tuberculosis/diagnosis , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
Nocardiosis is a rare and potentially life-threatening infection caused by several species of the Nocardia genus. The objective of this study was to develop and evaluate a rapid and new method to clinically identify relevant Nocardia species. Rapid and accurate diagnosis of Nocardia species is essential for the treatment of severe infections and prevention of cerebral abscess. One hundred and eighty patients, 103 [57.22%] male and 77 [42.78%] female, with severe symptomatic pulmonary infection were studied in the course of a 12-month period in Dr. Shariati Teaching Hospital affiliated to Tehran University of Medical Sciences in 2010. The specimens were cultured and identified using microbiological and biochemical tests. Polymerase chain reaction [PCR] was used to directly identify the organism in the broncoalveolar lavage samples collected from the patients. NG1 and NG2 primers were used to amplify a Nocardia genus-specific 598-bp fragment of 16S rRNA. Nineteen samples [10.56%] were positive with PCR and 5 samples [2.78%] with conventional methods. All samples with positive cultures were also positive by PCR. The results of this study showed that PCR has a high sensitivity and accuracy for the detection of Nocardia compared with culture and biochemical tests. Considering the rapidity, precision, high sensitivity and specificity of molecular techniques, use of these techniques is suggested in conjunction with conventional methods for the detection of Nocardia phenotypes in clinical laboratories and research centers