Evaluation of prevalence, homology and immunogenicity of dispersin among enteroaggregative Escherichia coli isolates from Iran

Background: Diarrhea, caused by enteroaggregative Escherichia coli [EAEC], is an important infection leading toillness and death. Numerous virulent factors have been described in EAEC. However, their prevalence was highly variable among EAECs of distinct geographic locations. Studies have shown that dispersin [antiaggregation protein, aap] is one of the important and abundant virulent factors in EAEC. In this study, we aimed to determine the presence, conservation, and immunogenicity of aap gene in EAEC isolated from Iranian patients

Methods: PCR amplification of aap gene in the EAEC isolates was performed, and the aap gene was cloned in pBAD-gIIIA vector. The sequence of aap gene was analyzed using the ExPASy and BLAST tools. The expression of aap gene was performed in E. coli Top10, and expression confirmation was carried out by SDS-PAGE and Western-blot techniques. Rabbits were immunized with purified dispersin protein emulsified with Freund's adjuvant. Sera were collected and examined for antibody response. Finally, in vitro efficacy of dispersin and anti-dispersin was evaluated

Results: The results of PCR showed the presence of aap gene in all of the EAEC isolates with significant homology. Finally, the significant difference between the levels of IgG response in dispersin-injected rabbits and control group was observed

Conclusion: Our results were in accordance with other studies that reported the presence of dispersin in the EAEC isolates with high conservation and immunogenicity. Hence, dispersin could be a promising candidate for any probable prevention against EAEC infections

Comparative study of sedative and anxiolytic effects of herbal extracts of hypericum perforatum with nardostachys jatamansi in rats

Nardostachys and hypericum due to the effects of sedation, anticonvulsant, analgesic and anti-depressants has especial place in traditional medicine. Principal component and the alkaloid extract of valerian and isovalerate, valeric acid and the extract of hypericum is hypersin and hyperforin. We conducted this study, valerian rhizome by chloroform: methanol [70:30] was extracted in order to obtain total extract produced the N-hexane and studied chemically have been took by Gc-Ms. Hydro-alcoholic extract of aerial valerian tea was prepared for study. In order to study the comparative effects of soothing extracts of valerian and hypericum in different groups of female rat extract of valerian with doses of 100 mg/kg, 200 mg/kg, 400 mg/kg, and extracts of hypericum with a dose of 250 mg/kg, 500 mg/kg and DMSO [control] with the same volume of 15 minutes prior to the assessment of sedative and sleep [sleep duration induced with ketamine dose and 40 mg/kg were injected intraperitoneally]. The results indicate a significant increase in sleep time induced by ketamine in the treatment groups with high and low doses of valerian extracts and the hypericum is significant at the 0.01 level. The results show that the extract of valerian in the dose of 200 mg/kg in compress of dose of hypericum 500 mg/kg contains the significant anesthetic effects

Effect of vaccinium arctostaphylos L. ointment in contrast of zinc oxide in secondary healing of postsurgical wound

Skin wound healing is very significant physiological procedure. It is quite obvious that promoting this healing is important too. One of the most popular compounds used ever for skin care is Vaccinium arctostaphylos essential oil. In this study we tried to compare the effects of V. arctostaphylos and zinc oxide on secondary intentioned open-wound healing in rats. In this experimental study, 75 male rats included in 5 groups: eucerin, zinc oxide, Vaccinium extract 10 and 20%, not treated. The whole operation was taking place under general anesthesia circumstances. Took photos continuously 21 days after wound creation and catch biopsy intervals were 3, 7, 14 and 21 days. Wounds areas are measured by Scion Image[TM] software. At last, all data were analyzed using SPSS-17. As a result V. arctostaphylos with dose of 20% has significant healing properties compared to zinc oxide. These data were validating under confidence surface of 99% [p<0.01]. Base on earned data it will be suitable to use of zinc oxide ointment for healing reason but there is opportunity to researcher to survey higher dose of this plant extraction in contrast of zinc oxide

Correlation of revised trauma score with mortality rate of traumatic patients within the first 24 hours of hospitalization

Trauma is a major health problem throughout the world, leading to death and disability especially in the first four decades of victims' life. In Iran also, accident-related death has a critical situation with an increasing rate of 10-15% per year. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between revised trauma score and mortality rate of traumatic patients within the first 24 h of hospitalization. A prospective cross-sectional study was conducted to investigate the association between revised trauma score and the mortality rate of traumatic patients within the first 24 h of hospitalization on 240 traumatic patients admitted to Khatam al-Anbia hospital. The obtained data were analyzed with SPSS software-15, using logistic regression, chi-square, and descriptive statistics. Seventy four point tow percent of patients were referred due to accident, of which 38.3% had multiple traumas. Fifty point eight percent of traumatic patients died within the first 24 h of hospitalization. The minimum and maximum revised trauma score in injured patients were 7 and 12, respectively. Also, 80% of mortality was seen in victims with a score of 9-10. Both the chi[2] test and logistic regression showed a significant relationship between the first revised trauma score and the mortality rate of traumatic patients within the first 24 h of hospitalization [p=0.001]. The results of this study indicate that the revised trauma score can be used as a tool to predict the mortality rate of traumatic patients

[Anxiolytic effect of L-carnitine in adult male rats]

The beneficial effect of L-carnitine for treatment of neurological diseases has been investigated in various studies. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of L-carnitine supplement on anxiety behavior in adult male rats by elevated plus maze. In this experimental study, the studied groups were divided into normal, saline, and experimental groups. L-carnitine was administered intraperitoneally at doses of 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 mg/kg were, and saline control group received saline as vehicle. The data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA and Dunnett's test. The significance level was considered as p<0.05. In this study, the anxiolytic response of the drug was evaluated by elevated plus maze 30 minutes after treatment. L-carnitine treatment increase time spent in open arms, number of entries into open and dark arms or locomotor activity,%OAE, while decreased%OAT [p<0.01]. The results of this study indicated that L-carnitine has anxiolytic effect on male rats

In-vitro activity of 10 antifungal agents against 320 dermatophyte strains using microdilution method in Tehran

Dermatophyte fungi are the etiologic agents of skin infections commonly referred to as ringworm. These infections are not dangerous but as a chronic cutaneous infections they may be difficult to treat and can also cause physical discomfort for patients. They are considered important as a public health problem as well. No information is available regarding the efficacy of antifungal agents against dermatophytes in Tehran. Therefore, in this study we evaluated the efficacy of 10 systemic and topical antifungal medications using CLSI broth microdilution method [M38-A]. The antifungal agents used included griseofulvin, terbinafine, itraconazole, ketoconazole, fluconazole, voriconazole, clotrimazole, ciclopiroxolamine, amorolfine and naftifine.Fifteen different species of dermatophytes which were mostly clinical isolates were used as follows; T. mentagrophytes, T. rubrum, E. floccosum, M. canis, T. verrucosum, T. tonsurans,M. gypseum, T. violaceum, M. ferruginum,M. fulvum, T. schoenleinii, M. racemosum, T. erinacei,T.eriotriphon and Arthrodermabenhamiae. The mean number of fungi particles [conidia] inoculated was 1.25 x 10[4] CFU/mL. Results were read after 7 days of incubation at 28 °C. According to the obtained results,itraconazole and terbinafine showed the lowest and fluconazole had the greatest MIC values for the most fungi tested. Based on the results, it is necessary to do more research and design a reliable standard method for determination of antifungal susceptibility to choose proper antibiotics with fewer side effects and decrease antifungal resistance and risk of treatment failure

molecular epidemiological survey of clinically important dermatophytes in Iran based on specific RFLP profiles of betatubulin gene

Surveillance of dermatophytosis is essential to determine the likely changes in etiological trends and distribution profile of this infection. In this study beta tubulin gene [BT2], was used as the first time in a PCR-RFLP format to clarify the distribution of dermatophytosis agents in some parts of Iran. A total of 603 clinical isolates was obtained from 500 patients in Tehran, Isfahan, Mazandaran and Guilan provinces. The isolates were identified using macro/micro-morphological criteria and electrophoretic patterns of PCR amplicons of BT2 after digestion with each of the restriction enzymes. FatI, Hpy CH4V, MwoI and Alw21L. Among the patients, 59.2% were male and 40.8% female. The most prevalent clinical form was tinea pedis [42.4%], followed by tinea cruris [24.2%], tinea unguium [12.3%], tinea corporis [10.8%], tinea faciei [4%], tinea manuum [3.14%], tinea capitis [3%] and tinea barbae [0.16%], respectively. Trichophyton interdigitale ranked the first, followed by T.rubrum, Epidermophyton floccosum, Microsporum canis, T. tonsurans, T. erinacei and T. violaceum [each 0.49%] and the less frequent species were T. schoenleinii, M. gypseum and T. anamorph of Arthroderma benhamiae [each 0.16%]. A case of scalp infection by E. floccosum was an exceptional event in the study. No case of T.verrucosum was found. Trichophyton species and E. floccosum are yet the predominant agents of infection in Iran, while Microsporum species are decreasing. T.interdigitale and Tinea pedis remain as the most causal agent and clinical form of dermatophytosis, respectively. it seems that BT2 can be a useful genetic marker for epidemiological survey of common pathogenic dermatophytes

[Effect of grape seed extract on cardiomyocyte apoptosis in streptozotocin induced diabetic rats]

Background: Apoptosis is a regulated, energy-dependent, cell suicide mechanism that has also been reported to play a critical role in the development of diabetic cardiomyopathy. In the present study, the effect of grape seed extract on cardiomyocyte apoptosis status in streptozotocin induced diabetic rats was investigated

Materials and methods: 40 male wistar rats with age of 12 weeks and 200-300g weight were randomly allocated into four equal groups namely normal vehicle treated rats, healthy rats received 40 mg/kg grape seed extract, diabetic rats and diabetic rats treated with grape seed extract [40 mg/kg] for 12 weeks. Diabetes was induced by a single intraperitoneal injection of STZ [50 mg/kg] in diabetic groups

Results: Significant increase of apoptotic cells was noted in diabetic rats. Oral administration of grape seed extract resulted in significant reduction of cardiomyocyte apoptosis in diabetic rats

Conclusion: These results provide confirmatory evidence of apoptosis in diabetes and point towards the possible anti-apoptotic effect of grape seed extract

Preparation and evaluation of diphtheria toxoid-containing microspheres

Preparation of chitosan [CS] microspheres as a novel drug delivery vehicle for intranasal immunization using high, medium and low CS molecular weight [MW] was investigated in this study. Diphtheria toxoid [DT] was used as a model antigen. The emulsion-solidification method was adopted for microencapsulation of DT. In the first step, following the purification of semi-crude DT by the ion-exchange column chromatography technique, the antigenicity and biological characteristics of DT were investigated by the bicinchoninic acid protein assay, ELISA and western blot techniques. Results showed that the purification process was successful and the purified toxoid gave an activity of 1500 Lf/ml; which was three times more than that of the semi-crude toxoid. Next, DT-loaded microspheres were prepared and characterized for their surface morphology, particle size distribution, loading efficiency and in-vitro antigenically active DT release. This study showed that the loading efficiency of CS microspheres depends on the MW, as well as the type of cross-linker used, such that, microspheres prepared by high MW CS and glutaraldehyde [cross-linking agent] had the highest DT loading level [95.61 +/- 3.57 percent]. Size distribution studies showed that the particle size of microspheres prepared by low and medium MW CS solutions with a concentration of 1%w/v was below 10 micro m. These microspheres also had a smoother surface morphology than those prepared using high MW CS solutions with concentrations above 1%w/v. In addition, by investigating the antigenicity of the prepared CS microsphere, no significant reduction in the activity of DT before and after microencapsulation was noted. Finally, in-vitro release studies showed an initial burst effect followed by an extended release of antigenically active DT over a period of 15 days