ABSTRACT
Context: Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) were found to have the higher intestinal expression of Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme2 (ACE2) that could consequently increase susceptibility to COVID-19 infection.Objective: This study reports the outcomes of COVID-19 infection in a large cohort of IBD patients. We compare levels of serum ACE and IFN-α between COVID19 patients with and without IBD. We performed a cross-sectional retrospective multicenter study.Methods: We enrolled patients with IBD screened for SARS-COV-2 in six medical centres in Iran from June to November 2020. The blood samples were drawn to measure COVID-19 IgM and IgG, and serum levels of sACE2, sACE1, and interferon-α, regardless of suspicious symptoms have done the molecular test.Results: A total of 534 IBD patients were included in the study. Of these, 109 (20.0%) cases had detectable IgG and IgM against SARS-CoV-2. sACE2 levels were higher in IBD patients than controls, whereas ACE1and IFN-α levels were similar among groups.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Designing control and therapeutic policies for antibiotic resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae, which is an important causative agent of several invasive and noninvasive infectious diseases and its carriage rates, has been described as the main target in World Health Organization (WHO). The present study was conducted to determine antibiotic resistance pattern, evaluate biofilm forming ability in S. pneumoniae isolates, and find the genetic relationship between cultured strains. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Following the isolation and identification of S. pneumoniae strains from nasopharyngeal swabs, the ability of biofilm formation and susceptibility pattern of the isolates were screened using semi-quantitative microplate and disk diffusion procedures. Subsequently, Pulse field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) method was used to determine the clonal diversity of isolates. RESULTS: The pneumococcal colonization rate in this study was found to be 24%. A large number of our isolates had strong biofilm forming ability. However, there was variation in antibiotic resistance patterns of isolates in children who lived in nursery houses. The genetic similarity among the isolates in PFGE varied from 26.5% to 100% in our isolates. This was the first report of biofilm formation of nasopharyngeal colonized S. pneumoniae in Iran. Genetic variations were also noticeable, when the isolates were fingerprinted by PFGE. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study revealed the need for thoughtful use of antimicrobial agents, continued monitoring of pneumococcal resistance patterns, and prevention of the spread of multi-drug resistant clones.
