Qazvin University of Medical Sciences
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Use of a new multiplex quantitative polymerase chain reaction based assay for simultaneous detection of Neisseria meningitidis, Escherichia coli K , Streptococcus agalactiae, and Streptococcus pneumoniae
Get PDFBackground and Objectives: Neisseria meningitidis, Escherichia coli K , Streptococcus agalactiae, and Streptococcus
pneumoniae cause 90% of bacterial meningitis. Almost all infected people die or have irreversible neurological complications. Therefore, it is essential to have a diagnostic kit with the ability to quickly detect these fatal infections.
Materials and Methods: The project involved 212 patients from whom cerebrospinal fluid samples were obtained. After
total genome extraction and performing multiplex quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), the presence or absence
of each infectious factor was determined by comparing with standard strains.
Results: The specificity, sensitivity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value calculated were 100%, 92.9%,
50%, and 100%, respectively. So, due to the high specificity and sensitivity of the designed primers, they can be used instead
of bacterial culture that takes at least 24 to 48 hours.
Conclusion: The remarkable benefit of this method is associated with the speed (up to 3 hours) at which the procedure could
be completed. It is also worth noting that this method can reduce the personnel unintentional errors which may occur in the
laboratory. On the other hand, as this method simultaneously identifies four common factors that cause bacterial meningitis,
it could be used as an auxiliary method diagnostic technique in laboratories particularly in cases of emergency medicine.
Keywords: Cerebrospinal fluid; Meningitis; Quantitative polymerase chain reaction; Simultaneous detection; Diagnosis
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Immunoinformatic Analysis of Calcium-Dependent Protein Kinase 7 (CDPK7) Showed Potential Targets for Toxoplasma gondii Vaccine
Get PDFApicomplexan parasites, including Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii), express different types of calcium-dependent protein kinases
(CDPKs), which perform a variety of functions, including attacking and exiting the host cells. In the current bioinformatics
study, we have used several web servers to predict the basic features and specifications of the CDPK7 protein. The findings
showed that CDPK7 protein has 2133 amino acid residues with an average molecular weight (MW) of 219085.79 D. The
aliphatic index with 68.78 and grand average of hydropathicity (GRAVY) with -0.331 score were estimated. The outcomes of
current research showed that the CDPK7 protein included 502 alpha-helix, 1311 random coils, and 320 extended strands with
GOR4 method. Considering the Ramachandran plot, the favored region contains more than 92% of the amino acid residues. In
addition, evaluation of antigenicity and allergenicity showed that CDPK7 protein has immunogenic and nonallergenic nature.
The present research provides key data for more animal-model study on the CDPK7 protein to design an efficient vaccine
against toxoplasmosis in the future
Assessment of Propolis Supplementation on Serum Concentrations of Liver Enzymes in Endurance Athletes with Four Weeks Aerobic Training
Get PDFBackground: Aerobic and intense exercises with an increase in free radicals cause damages at
the cellular level, heart disease, cancer, and the development of aging processes, which one of its
symptoms is increased serum concentrations of liver enzymes.
Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the concurrent effect of four weeks of
aerobic training and propolis supplementation on the activity of liver enzymes, including ALT,
AST, and SOD in endurance athletes.
Methods: Thirty-two male athletes (age: 21±1.4 years) in track and field were randomly divided
into three groups: exercise group, exercise with placebo group, and exercise with supplement
group. Propolis supplementation was taken as two tablets (500 mg) twice a day and aerobic
exercise was performed for 4 weeks and in 24 sessions with an intensity of 60 to 65% of heart
rate. The statistical method was done using one-way ANOVA and Tukey post hoc test by SPSS
v. 18 software.
Findings: The results showed that there was a statistically significant difference between
groups in serum levels of SOD, AST, and ALT (P<0.05). There was not a statistically significant
difference between the exercise group and placebo+exercise group in serum levels of SOD, AST,
and ALT (P>0.05).
Conclusion: The results showed that aerobic exercise alone can increase SOD levels and
propolis supplementation with aerobic exercise can reduce AST and ALT serum levels and lead
to improved liver cell function
Anxiety disorder of 3-6 year-old children
Get PDFContext: Anxiety is the most common disorder in childhood. Several factors may play a role in anxiety, such
as child’s emotional and social behavior and mother employment.
Aims: the present study aims to evaluate the anxiety disorders of 3–6‑year‑old children of nurses working
in the educational hospitals in the city of Qazvin.
Settings and Design: This cross‑sectional study was performed in September 2018.
Materials and Methods: This is a descriptive‑analytical study. Spence anxiety scale for preschool children was
used to collect data. In this self‑report instrument, parents are asked to rate the frequency of child behavior
on a 5‑point Likert scale from Never (0) to Ever (4). The children with a score above 34 were rated as having
anxiety disorder. One hundred and fifty‑five nurses were willing to participate in the study. Inclusion criteria
for children were 3–6 years of age, for nurses were being employed in educational hospitals of Qazvin
University of Medical Sciences and the exclusion criteria of this study moving from Qazvin to another city.
Statistical Analysis Used: Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20 ( SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA), univariate
and multivariate regression coefficients. P < 0.05 were considered as significant levels.
Results: The results showed that 32.9% of children of the nurses had anxiety disorder and there was a
significant positive relationship between child gender (P = 0.008), child care during hospital shifts (P = 0.013)
and anxiety among in these children. Furthermore, the prevalence of anxiety disorder in girls and child care
by other family members were associated with the anxiety.
Conclusions: Nurses are exposed to work‑family conflicts due to their occupational conditions, which
play an important role in children’s anxiety and it declares the need to pay more attention to this large
segment of society. To generalize the results, it is suggested that this study be conducted on the statistical
population of other regions of the country
ANTICANCER EFFECT OF PROBIOTIC SACCHAROMYCES BOULARDII SUPERNATANT ON HUMAN CACO-2 CELLS; AN IN VITRO STUDY
Get PDFColon cancer is an important worldwide cause of death in human which is treated commonly by chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery methods with different side effects. Natural treatment such as microbial cell wall extract is suggested to be used as an effective alternative of chemical drugs for treatment of colon cancers without any side effect. Saccharomyces boulardii
is used in probiotic foods and supplement capsules in viable and yeast cell wall extract forms. At the present study, we in vitro investigate the anticancer properties of S. boulardii supernatant (SBS) on colon cancer cells. We found that, SBS without dilution after 72 hours successfully killed the colon cancer cells. Also, this treatment induced apoptosis and downregulated the expression of survivin gene significantly. However, effects of SBS without dilution after 24 and 48 hours were considerable. Downregulation of survivin gene expression by functional compounds in SBS induced apoptosis and killed the colon cancer cells successfully. However, future in vivo and in vitro investigation of anticancer effects of SBS on other cancer cells are suggested to be implemented
Investigating the Criminals Exposed to Inter‑partner Violence and Child Abuse: A Case–control Study
Get PDFBackground: Decreasing hospitalization as a result of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
exacerbations is a major objective in an effective process of the disease management. This study aimed to
investigate the association between physical activity level in COPD patients, and specifc-cause
hospitalization in a prospective study of patients referred to a pulmonologist offce in Qazvin, Iran..
Methods: A prospective study was conducted among 150 patients with COPD from the population of
Qazvin, a North West, industrialized city of Iran, from December 2017 to December 2018. Participants
were enrolled among patients who referred to an outpatient respiratory care center to undertake respiratory
function tests. Patients were followed up for 1 year and their related measures were gathered and recorded
at two phases including baseline and 12 months. To assess the effect of several covariates on the response
variable, a multivariate regression analysis was applied. Results were reported in the form of odds ratios,
incident rate ratio (IRR), and their 95% confdence intervals (CIs)
Results: The study fndings revealed that individuals with severe pulmonary obstruction (<30%) were 4.21
times more likely to be hospitalized than those with a mild level of disease. Furthermore, the likelihood of
hospitalization was ≥3 times higher among current smokers compared with nonsmokers. The history of
hospitalization due to COPD 1 year before the enrolment was another significant factor which increased
21% the odds of being hospitalized during follow-up. In a multivariate model with the number of
hospitalizations as an outcome variable, patients who reported moderate level of physical activity
encountered a lower risk of COPD hospitalization compared to those who had a very low level of physical
activity (IRR = 0.66; 95% CI = 0.44–0.92; P = 0.001).
Conclusion: To decrease the risk of hospitalization among COPD patients, it is recommended to include
regular physical activity in their integrated care program.
Keywords: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, exacerbation, hospitalization, physical activit
