Duffy blood group genotypes among malaria Plasmodium vivax patients of Baoulch population in Southeastern Iran

OBJECTIVE@#To determine the distribution of Duffy blood group genotypes in Balouch population as a major ethnic group that living in a sub-tropical area in south East of Iran.@*METHODS@#In this study, the Duffy blood group FY phenotypes were determined using indirect anti-globulin technique and also genotype by PCR-RFLP in 160 vivax malaria patients and 160 control individuals.@*RESULTS@#The results showed that the most common Duffy genotype was FYA/FYB (46.6%) followed by FYA/FYA (15.3%), FYA/FYO (14.4%), FYB/FYO (11.9%), FYB/FYB (10%) and FYO/FYO (1.9%). In case individuals, frequency of FYA, FYB and FYO alleles were 0.471, 0.431 and 0.097, respectively compaired to 0.444, 0.353 and 0.203, respectively in control (non-infected) group.@*CONCLUSIONS@#This data provide evidence that individuals with the FYA/FYB genotype have higher susceptibility to malaria and there are significant associations between Duffy blood group variants and susceptibility or resistance to vivax malaria.

Antibacterial effect of teucrium polium on the bacteria causing urinary tract infections

The present investigation was conducted to study the antibacterial effect of aqueous, ethanolic and ethyl acetate extracts of Teucrium polium plant on the bacteria isolated from urine samples of those with UTI and to compare it with the effect of commonly used antibiotics in treating UTIs. The antibiotic resistance of 147 strains of bacteria causing UTIs to the antibiotics selected through Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method was determined. In the meantime, the aqueous, ethanolic and ethyl acetate extracts of T. polium plant were prepared. The antibacterial activity of these extracts was examined using Disk Diffusion Method. Finally, Minimum Inhibitory Concentration [MIC] and Minimum Bactericidal Concentration [MBC] of antibacterial were determined using serial dilution method. T. polium extracts were merely effective in enterococcus and pseudomonas bacteria. In general, the MIC rate of aqueous extract in enterococcus was 1.25-5 mg/ml. The MIC rate of ethanolic extract for enterococcus was calculated as 10 mg/ml. The MIC of aqueous and ethyl acetate extracts for pseudomonas bacteria were achieved as 5 and 20 mg/ml, respectively. The MBC contents of aqueous and ethyl acetate extracts of teucrium for pseudomonas bacteria was 10 mg/ml in aqueous and 20 mg/ml in ethyl acetate extracts. The MBC content of extracts for enterococcus bacteria were 10 mg/ml in aqueous extract and 20 mg/ml in ethanolic extract. T. polium extract can be effective in some bacteria causing urinary tract infection, especially enterococcus

In vitro antibacterial properties of aqueous garlic extract [AEG] against multidrug-resistant enterococci

As relatively avirulent enteric bacteria, enterococci usually cause infections in immune-compromised patients. The antimicrobial treatment, however, is quite challenging, since enterococci are intrinsically resistant to many antibiotics. Objective of the present study was to examine the antibacterial activity of aqueous garlic extract on isolates of enterococci. In this descriptive research, a total of 120 enterococcus isolates including 70 multidrug-resistant isolates causing different infections were collected from three hospitals in Zahedan. The susceptibility of isolates to different antibiotics was measured by agar diffusion test and antibacterial activity of garlic extract was measured using disc-diffusion and microbroth dilution methods. Among 120 enterococcus samples, 95 [79.2%] and 25 [20.8%] isolates were E. faecalis and E. faecium respectively. The highest resistance was observed in erythromycin [95.8%] and the lowest resistance [6.7%] in chloramphenicol, while 88.3% and 65.8% of the isolates were resistant to tetracycline and ampicillin respectively. Moreover, 58% of the isolates were Multi-Drug Resistant [MDR] and showed resistance to at least three antibiotics. Antibacterial activity of AGE was characterized by inhibition zones of 16.8+/-1.8 mm and Minimum Inhibitory Concentration [MIC] ranged from 4 to 32 mg/ml. The present study suggests that AGE has a significant anti-enterococcal effect and therefore, supports the use of garlic as an herbal remedy in Zahedan