[Molecular study of Clostridium difficile isolated from beef in Isfahan, Iran]

Background: clostridium difficile [C. difficile] infection is one of the most important diseases in healthcare facilities and community. Ribotypes 027 and 078 are known as hyper- virulent strain of C. difficile in molecular study. PCR-ribotyping is a suitable method to interpret the relation of C. difficile isolated from food and hospital

Objectives: in the present study, the clostridim difficile binary toxin [cdtB] and ribotype pattern evaluated in toxigenic C. difficle isolated from beef

Methods: detection of cdtB in 12 toxigenic C. difficile [encoding tcdA and tcdB gene] isolated from 100 beef samples was determined through PCR. Afterwards, PCR-ribotyping was performed to examine the ribotype patterns of C. difficile

Results: cdtB gene was not detected in any positive isolate. Ten different patterns were observed in 12 toxigenic isolates. No similarity existed in the ribotypes of our study with ribotypes 027 and 078

Conclusions: albeit ribotyp 027 and 078 were not found in our study, the isolation of toxigenic C. difficile with new ribotypes in Iran may indicate the probable hazard of this bacterium in public health. Comprehensive research about C. difficile in different food sources is recommended on a national level

[Identification and isolation of rumen fungi of baluchi sheep in Sistan]

Background: based on the information no research has been done on the identification and isolation of anaerobic fungi in the Baloochi sheep's rumen in the dry climate up to now

Objectives: the purpose of this research was the separation and study of the appearance morphology of anaerobic fungi in the Baloochi sheep's rumen in Sistan region

Methods: the semi-defined medium environment was used in this research for cultivation, separation and purification of anaerobic fungi. Sampling from the solid and liquid contents of 50 Baloochi sheep was done randomly in Zabol slaughterhouse and these samples were used as the source of fungus to inoculation to culture. The roll bottle method was used for purification of rumen fungi. The antibiotic solutions [ampicillin, penicillin, streptomycin, oxytetracycline and chloramphenicol] were used for inhibiting growth of bacteria. Samples of pure fungi were transferred to culture and were observed after growth in glass slide with light microscope. The separated fungi were all monocentric and had rhizoid

Results: with regard to morphologic characteristics the genera of Neocallimastix and Piromyces and species of Piromyces communis, Piromyces minutus, Piromyces rhizinflata, Caecomyces communis was isolated in rumen of Baloochi sheep

Conclusions: with identification of these fungi species in rumen of Baloochi sheep, it is recommended to perform molecular test and enzyme extraction for further survey of characteristics in future research

effect of all-trans retinol on in vitro mouse embryo's developmental competence

All-trans retinol is a biological antioxidant scavenging the ROS in the cell culture. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of all-trans retinol in fertilization and culture medium on mouse embryo's developmental competence. This study was designed into two experiments. In the first experiment, in vitro mature oocytes were co-cultured with sperm in fertilization medium containing different concentrations of all-trans retinol [0, 1, 5, and 10 micro M]. After fertilization, zygotes in each group were separately cultured in CZB culture medium for 5 days to the blastocyst stage. In the second experiment, in vitro produced zygotes were cultured in CZB culture medium containing different concentrations of all-trans retinol [0, 1, 5, and 10 micro M] for 5 days to the blastocyst stage. In the first experiment, the blastocyst formation rate significantly increased by 5 micro M in all-trans retinol, which was more than those of the other groups. Also, percentage of grade one embryos was significantly higher in the presence of 5 micro M all-trans retinol than those in the presence of 0 and 1 micro M all-trans retinol. In the second experiment, different concentrations of all-trans retinol could not alter blastocyst formation rate; however, the percentage of grade one embryo was higher in the presence of 10 micro M all-trans retinol than that of the control group. These results showed that supplementation of fertilization medium with 5 micro M alltrans retinol could improve mouse embryo's development and morphology. On the other hand, supplementation of embryo culture medium can improve mouse embryo morphology without any effect on embryo developmental competence

Serial tumour markers serum carcinoembryonic antigen and cancer antigen 15-3 assays in detecting symptomatic metastasis in breast cancer patients

The value of serum tumour markers in the prognosis of patients with breast cancer is controversial. This prospective study in Yazd, Islamic Republic of Iran, assessed the value of the tumour markers carcinoembryonic antigen [CEA] and cancer antigen [CA] 15-3 in 159 patients with primary breast cancer. CEA and CA15-3 assays [mean 14 per patient] were performed at diagnosis, end of surgery and chemotherapy and every 3 months in the first 2 years and every 6 months in second 2 years of the follow-up period. During follow-up, 33 patients [20.8%] presented symptomatic metastasis. A significant relationship was seen between metastasis status and positive CEA and CA15-3 levels. The sensitivity and specificity were 66.7% and 98.4% for CEA respectively and 84.8% and 91.3% for CA15-3 respectively. Optimum cut-offs were 4.95 ng/mL and 30.5 U/mL for CEA and CA15-3 respectively