Overview of Human Papillomavirus Infection.

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a DNA oncogenic virus. HPV infection is the most common sexually transmitted disease, and is capable of infecting mucosal and cutaneous membranes of the anogenital, upper aerodigestive tract, and other head and neck mucosal regions. Although HPV infection is generally asymptomatic and can be easily resolved by the immune system, if it persists and progresses, it can lead to cancer. HPV is permanently responsible for 5% of human cancers. Malignant lesions related to HPV include oral and respiratory squamous cell carcinomas, and cervical and anogenital cancers. Currently, no specific treatment is available for HPV infection, and therapeutic procedures (tissue ablation, chemotherapy, cryotherapy, and immunomodulation) cannot eliminate the virus completely. Vaccination and cervical screening are two methods that have been developed to provide protection against oncogenic HPV. Unfortunately, no effective protocol for vaccination, prevention, testing, or treatment has yet been proposed in the developing countries. In this review, we have reviewed the knowledge gained from recent studies on virology, pathogenesis, clinical manifestations, epidemiology, prevention, and treatment of HPV infection.

Efficacy of Red Blood Cell Exchange as Adjunctive Treatment for Hypoxemia and Survival Rate of Patients With Severe Coronavirus-2 Disease: An Open-Labeled Phase 2 Randomized Clinical Trial.

Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus-2 may infect red blood cells (RBCs) and impact oxygenation. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy of RBC exchange as an adjunctive treatment for hypoxemia and the survival rate of patients with severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Methods: In a randomized clinical trial, we divided sixty patients with severe COVID-19 into two groups. The intervention group received the standard treatment of severe COVID-19 with RBC exchange three to four times in 2 days. The control group only received the standard treatment. Our primary outcomes were improving hypoxemia in 7 days, recovery or discharge, and death in 28 days. We conducted Chi-square test, independent samples t-test, and Fisher's exact test to analyze the results. The ethical committee of Aja University of Medical Sciences approved the study (IR.AJAUMS.REC.1399.054), and the Iranian clinical trial registration organization registered it (IRCT20160316027081N2). Results: Twenty-nine men and thirty-one women with a mean age of 67.5 years entered the study. The frequency of hypertension and diabetes mellitus was 86.7 and 68.3%, respectively. The most common symptoms of severe COVID-19 were dyspnea (91.6%), cough (75%), and fever (66.6%). Our results showed that hypoxemia improved in 21 of the 30 patients (70%) in the intervention group and 10 of the 30 patients (33.3%) in the control group (P < 0.004). The recovery and discharge rates were 19 of 30 patients (63.3%) in the intervention group and 2 of 30 patients (6.7%) in the control group (P < 0.001). Conclusion: The RBC exchange improved the oxygenation and survival rate in patients with severe COVID-19.

Periodic fever, aphthous stomatitis, pharyngitis, and cervical adenitis syndrome (PFAPA) or recurrent urinary tract infections: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Fever is the most frequent reason for medical consultation in children, and makes up 15-25% of all consultations in primary care and emergency departments. In here we report a case of a 13 year-old girl who referred with an unusual presentation of fever and was misdiagnosed with recurrent urinary tract infection for 8 years. CASE PRESENTATION: This is a Clinical Reasoning Cycle case study. A 13 year-old girl was referred with a chief complaint of recurrent fevers from 8 years. During her first febrile episode, she had a 5-day high-grade fever associated with loss of appetite. Her physical examination at that time was unremarkable. Blood tests showed leukocytosis with a shift to the left and urine examination was in favor of pyuria. The urine culture was positive for bacterial growth. The episodes of fever were repeated every 45 days. Accordingly, the patient was diagnosed as a case of recurrent urinary tract infection. In the intervals between her febrile episodes, the patient was healthy and laboratory tests were normal. Ultrasonography, voiding cystourethrogram and dimercaptosuccinic acid scans were normal. During her last visit, the patient mentioned difficulty in swallowing and on examination cervical lymph nodes, exudative tonsillitis and painful aphthous stomatitis were detected. All antibiotics were stopped and corticosteroids were started. The patient's symptoms were relieved and the interval between her febrile episodes became longer. CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows that a patient should never be marked, particularly when the symptom and signs aren't completely justifying a patient's condition.

Graft hyper-branched dendrimer onto WS2 nanosheets modified Poly (N-Vinylcaprolactam) as a thermosensitive nanocarrier for Pioglitazone delivery using near-infrared radiation.

In this paper, graft-copolymerization of N-vinylcaprolactam and allylamine onto tungsten disulfide (WS2) in the presence of AIBN as initiator has been carried out to prepare the WS2@ (NVCL-co-AAm). Subsequent fifth-generation dendrimer was attached to their surface, and used as a nanocarrier for the pioglitazone (PG) drug delivery. The resulting polymer was characterized by FTIR, XRD, TEM, EDX, and TGA. We loaded PG onto polymer and evaluated the drug loading and release patterns in simulated human blood fluid (pH 7.4) for the treatment of diabetes in vitro. The thermosensitive nanocarrier indicated a maximum of 98 % PG release in the simulated human blood fluid at 50 °C within 6 h, and about 18 % of total PG was released from the nanocarrier within 6 h at 37 °C. Herein, we studied near-infrared (NIR) radiation as an irritant for inducing PG release from nanocarrier. Also, PG releasing was 100 % under NIR laser irradiation within 15 min, which was roughly four times of that without laser irradiation. NIR laser light heated the nanocarrier, causing shrinkage of the polymer, which increased the penetrability of the membrane and resulted in PG release. Following four adsorption isotherm models, the Langmuir model excellently explained the adsorption isotherm.

Ionic bond in hydrogen transferring of the ferrous and/or ferric human/mouse verdoheme oxygenase.

Formation of five coordinated ferric (ferrous) verdoheme oxygenase complexes have been investigated at ωB97X-D/6-31G(d) level of theory. This process was carried out by adsorption of imidazole and human/mouse verdoheme oxygenase (VO) compounds. Global reactivity indexes show electrophile and nucleophile roles of the VO complexes and Imidazole, respectively. This result confirms their interaction, molecular electrostatic potential (MEP) maps, and low HOMOFRVMO-LUMOImidazole gap. These interactions can cause in adsorption and five coordinated of the VO complexes. More negative value (-64.3 kJ mol-1) of adsorption energy (Eads) in the FRVMO complex shows better adsorption strength and stable configuration. Significant point of this interaction is hydrogen transfer from imidazole to the nearest oxygen of the VO complexes; this issue is approved using quantum theory of atom in molecule (QTAIM) and natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis. QTAIM calculations confirm ionic bonding between the transferred hydrogen and the oxygen atom of the VO. The 312.2-kcal mol-1 s order stabilization energies in this complex are confirmation for strong donation and better formation of five coordinated complex in electron view point.

Synthesis of multi-functionalized Fe3O4-NH2-SH nanofiber based on chitosan for single and simultaneous adsorption of Pb(II) and Ni(II) from aqueous system.

A multi-functionalized poly ether sulfone (PES)/ chitosan (CS)/Fe3O4-NH2-SH nanofiber was applied for single and simultaneous removal of Pb(II) and Ni(II) ions from water systems. The structure of nanofibers was evaluated using FTIR, FESEM, BET, BJH, TGA, EDX and XPS analyses. The characterization results showed that the structure of nanofibers was well maintained after adsorption process. The simultaneous effects of solution pH, adsorbent dosage and Fe3O4-NH2-SH content were studied using response surface methodology (RSM). The predicted optimum conditions were identified for both Pb(II) and Ni(II) ions. Furthermore, the influence of contact time, initial ion concentration and temperature were investigated to evaluate the adsorption kinetics, isotherms and thermodynamics, respectively. Kinetic data fitted well to the double-exponential model for both Pb(II) and Ni(II) ions. Also, the results of isotherm investigation showed that a monolayer adsorption onto the PES/CS/Fe3O4-NH2-SH nanofiber was dominant. The maximum adsorption capacity of CS/PES/Fe3O4-NH2-SH was 282.4 mg/g for Pb(II) ions and 95.3 mg/g for Ni(II) ions. The regeneration test of nanofiber adsorbent displayed that the adsorption capacity did not changed significantly after 4 desorption steps. In binary system, the adsorption capacity decreased with the increase of competitive ion concentration. The selectivity of different metal ions followed the order of Pb(II) > Cu(II) > Ni(II) > Co(II) > Zn(II).

Liquid chromatographic determination of trace levels of nitrophenols in water samples after dispersive magnetic solid phase extraction.

An efficient and fast dispersive magnetic solid phase extraction method was developed using MIL-101(Cr)/poly (mercaptobenzothiazole)@magnetite nanoparticles for the preconcentration and determination of nitrophenols in river and rain water samples. High-performance liquid chromatography-Ultraviolet instrument was applied for the analysis of target nitrophenols. The effect of several variables on the extraction performance was explored via design of experiment approach. Limits of detection and linear dynamic ranges were attained in the range of 0.05-0.10 µg/L and 0.2-250 µg/L, respectively. The enrichment factors were in the range of 317-363. The precision (n = 3) of dispersive magnetic solid phase extraction method was in the range of 5.3-6.8%. Eventually, the method was utilized for the analysis of target nitrophenols in river and rain water samples.

Characterization of Occult Hepatitis B Infection Among Injecting Drug Users in Tehran, Iran.

BACKGROUND: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a major health problem worldwide. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to investigate the frequency of occult hepatitis B infection (OBI) and its associated risk factors, together with the molecular characterization of the virus in injecting drug users of Tehran. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study consisted of 229 injecting drug users. Serum samples were collected and tested for the presence of hepatitis B core antibody (HBcAb) and hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). HBV B virus DNA was extracted from the serum samples, and a fragment of the S gene was amplified using the nested polymerase chain reaction. The genotype, subgenotypes, subtype, and S gene mutation of HBV were determined by direct sequencing. A phylogenetic tree was constructed using the neighbor-joining method. RESULTS: Sixty-four (28%) participants were HBcAb positive, 59 cases were HBcAb positive and HBsAg negative, and 5 cases were HBsAg positive. Hepatitis B DNA was found in three HBsAg-positive cases. Thirteen of 59 (22%) individuals were hepatitis B DNA positive. The phylogenetic tree of hepatitis B DNA showed the existence of genotype D. The only significant correlation was between sharing a syringe and OBI. CONCLUSIONS: In comparison with the rate of HBcAb positivity reported in other Iranian studies, the rate was higher in the present study. There were a few variations, genotypes, and subtypes among the infected injecting drug users. Further investigations are needed to unravel the molecular characterization of OBI.

Synthesis of a novel supermagnetic iron oxide nanocomposite hydrogel based on graft copolymerization of poly((2-dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate) onto salep for controlled release of drug.

In this research, a novel supermagnetic iron oxide nanocomposite hydrogel was prepared using simultaneous in situ formation of iron oxide nanoparticles (IONs) and three-dimensional cross-linked polymer networks based on graft copolymerization of poly((2-dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate) (PDMA) onto salep (PDMA-g-salep). The prepared ION-PDMA-g-salep hydrogel was systematically characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM-EDAX), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). In addition, the ION-PDMA-g-salep hydrogel exhibits favorable swelling properties that are sensitive to temperature, pH, and external magnetic field (EMF). The drug release behavior of the prepared hydrogel under EMF, different temperatures and pHs was also studied for the evaluation of the release mechanism and determination of diffusion coefficients. Finally, the antibacterial activity and cytotoxicity studies of the prepared hydrogel were examined. These results suggested that the ION-PDMA-g-salep hydrogel could be a promising candidate for biological dressing applications.