[Molecular investigation of mtDNA A1555G, A3243G and A7445G mutations among the non syndromic hearing loss cases in Fars, Iran]

Hearing loss is a sensorineural disorder occuring in 1 out of 500 births. It happens due to some genetic/environmental causes or both. More than 60% of cases are noninherited and 80% non syndromic with autosomal recessive inheritance. In the present study we investigated the frequency of mtDNA A1555G, A3243 and A7445G mutations among the patients in Fars province. Seventy two non syndromic hearing loss subjects were studied. DNA was extracted using standard phenol-chloroform method. The screening of the mitochondrial gene mutations were performed using PCR-RFLP procedure. Finally, the possible mutations were confirmed by direct sequencing. None of the A1555G, A3243G and A7445G mutations was detected in this study. However, destroying a MTTL1 restriction site for the investigation of A3243G mutation, revealed a G3316A with allelic variant of 1.4% in the deaf subjects. Our data indicated that the mitochondrial A1555G, A3243 and A7445G mutations have no role in auditory deficits in patients studied

In vitro study ofantifungal effects of selected herbal extracts on standard and wild strains of Candida albicans

The study aim was to evaluate antifungal effects of Artemisia absinthium, Eucalyptus spp, Allium cepa, Cinnamomum zelanicum, Curcuma longa, Salvia officinalis, Mentha Piperita, and Calendula officinalis mouthwashes. Standard species of Candida albicans by the PTCC number 5027 was prepared from Pathogenic and Industrial bacteria and fungi collection center of Iran. Ten wild species were also prepared from the palatal mucus or buccal mucus of patients submitted to one of the clinics in Kerman. Extracts from the plants were made using percolation method with hydro alcoholic solvent followed by evaporation of the organic solvent under vacuum and then drying in a 50 °C oven. Then 0.5 McFarland suspensions from all fungi species were prepared. These suspensions were used by both small well and tube methods. All the extracts had antifungal activity against Candida albicans. However, this property in the first four plant-extracts was more powerful than the others. According to the results of this study, the extracts of Curcuma longa, Eucalyptus spp, Artemisia absinthium, Cinnamomum zelanicum had considerable antifungal effects

Comparison of antifungal and antibacterial and lralwex effects of persica with Chlorhexidine mouthwashes [an in vitro study]

Global approach to the herbal medicine has resulted in research activities to be focused on the findings of scientific documents in this field. The aim of this study was to investigate the antibacterial and antifungal effects of three herbal mouth washes [Persica, Matrica, Iralwex] and two chlorohexidine - based commercially available mouth washes. The microbial ssp tests were performed using catalase, optochin, bacitracin and gram staining. Cellular suspensions with a concentration of 0.5 Me Farland were prepared. The inhibition zone was assessed by Disk diffusion method. The minimum inhibitory concentration [MIC] of each mouth wash for each micro-organism was determined by using Dilution Tube Technique. The results were analyzed and compared using ANOVA at a significance level of [p<0.05]. The results showed that the effect of the herbal mouth washes on the micro- organism was less than the two other chlorhexidine-based mouth washes [P<0.01]. The antibacterial effect of the herbal Matrica compared to the two other herbal mouth washes was more but not significant. The comparison between the herbal and chlorehexidine-based mouth washes showed that the antibacterial etfect of the herbal Matrica compared to the two other herbal mouth washes was more but not significant. More research is needed for improvement of the herbal mouth washes