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Prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii and Neospora caninum contaminations in poultry eggs: molecular surveillance in three different geographical regions of Iran
No full textBackground: Toxoplasma gondii and Neospora caninum are important protozoan parasites with worldwide distribution among warm-blooded animals. Moreover, T. gondii is a zoonotic parasite that infects humans. Poultries are important intermediated hosts of T. gondii and N. caninum. However, little is known about the contamination of poultry eggs with these parasites. We aimed to investigate the molecular frequency of T. gondii and N. caninum among the eggs of chicken, domestic duck, and quail from three different geographic regions of Iran. T. gondii and N. caninum were detected by PCR targeting the RE and Nc5 genes, respectively. Findings: Overall contamination rates with T. gondii and N. caninum were 10.7 and 5.9, respectively. The overall contamination rates of T. gondii among chicken, duck, and quail were 12.2, 15.5, and 4.4, respectively; while N. caninum was detected in 11.1, 3.3, and 1.1 of the same samples, respectively. The contamination rates were increased with increasing humidity across three different regions. Conclusions: Taken together, this study indicates the contamination of poultry eggs with T. gondii and N. caninum. The possibility of egg-born transmission of T. gondii should not be neglected by consuming raw soft-boiled eggs. Furthermore, contamination of poultry eggs could be an indicator for environmental contamination by these parasites. © 2023, The Author(s)
Prevalence of Pediatric Atopic Dermatitis in Iran: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
No full textBackground: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is one of the skin diseases, which is characterized as a chronic inflammation of the skin with itchy red rashes. This systematic review study was performed with the aim of determining the prevalence of AD in children and adolescents in Iran. Method: The search keywords included Atopic dermatitis, Child, Children, pediatrics, adolescent, Preschool children, School-age children, eczema, and Iran, in the domestic databases of Iran and international databases. After the initial search of the articles and studying their titles and abstracts, those that did not match the purpose of the research were removed from the study, and then the methodology and results of the papers were studied. Then the data was analyzed using CMA version 3 software.Result: The results of 30 articles were analyzed. Based on the results, the prevalence of AD in girls was 8.5 (confidence interval (CI) = 5.3-13.4), in boys it was 8.1 (confidence interval (CI) = 5.5-11.7), and the overall prevalence was 7.4 (confidence interval (CI) = 5.3-10.3). Conclusion: AD is found to have a considerable prevalence among children, though the prevalence found in this study is, generally, lower than those suggested in other studies. Overall, more efforts are necessary to reduce its prevalence
Molecular Characterization of Resistance to Second-Line Anti-Mycobacterial Drugs among Clinical Isolates of Multidrug-Resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis
No full textBackground: The emergence of multidrug resistance and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis is a serious public health crisis. Using rapid and inexpensive molecular methods such as HRM assay in the detection of second-line drugs resistance in M. tuberculosis would be helpful in the treatment and control of XDR tuberculosis cases. Methods: MDR-TB isolates were collected from Iranian tuberculosis laboratories. Drug susceptibility test performed via the indirect proportion method utilizing LJ Medium. Susceptibility to ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin, amikacin, kanamycin, and capreomycin, as second-line anti-tuberculosis agents were assessed. Single point mutations in gyrA, rrs and eis genes were detected via HRM assay and DNA sequencing. Results: A DST test was performed for 56 MDR isolates and at least 27 (48.2) isolates were resistant to CIP or OFL. Also, 14 (25), 12 (21.4), and 15 (26.7) isolates were resistant to capreomycin, amikacin, and kanamycin, respectively. D94G, A90V, and G88C mutations were the most frequent mutations in gyrA gene. Also, A1401G mutation was detected more than the other mutations in rrs gene. Conclusions: The frequency of CIP/OFL and AMK/CAP/KAN-resistant TB is considerable among Iranian tuberculosis cases. HRM assay is a rapid and inexpensive test and can detect important mutation-based drug resistance in MDR-TB and XDR-TB isolates
Modeling and investigating the effect of parasol installation on solar radiant temperature reduction using COMSOL Multiphysics
No full textObjectives. Occupational activities in open spaces can experience excessive heat exposure caused by sunlight and other artificial sources in these professional environments can be one of the current and future challenges of occupational safety and health due to increasing global warming. Use of lightweight portable parasols is the first available control measure to reduce the radiation emitted by the sun in outdoor workplaces, which has been used for a long time. Methods. Due to the lack of study and results on the effect of using parasols in scientific literature, this modeling study was conducted to investigate the effect of sunshade installation on radiant temperature reduction of the sun in outdoor work using COMSOL Multiphysics version 5.5. Results. In general, six different shapes of portable parasols in different positions were modeled and the average radiant temperature reduction effectiveness (TRE) was about 30 in the presence of different parasols. The designed conical, simple and pyramidal sunshades showed the most effectiveness, respectively. Conclusions. The results show that changing variables such as the axis, installation height and shape is more effective for improving parasol efficiency to reduce the radiant temperature below it
Immune response induced by recombinant pres2/S-protein and a pres2-S-protein fused with a core 18-27 antigen fragment of hepatitis B virus compared to conventional HBV vaccine
No full textAlthough comprehensive vaccination is the cornerstone of public health programs to control hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections, 5 of people who receive the existing vaccine do not develop proper immunity against HBV. To overcome this challenge, researchers have tried using various protein fragments encoded by the virus genome to achieve better immunization rates. An important antigenic component of HBsAg called the preS2/S or M protein has also received much attention in this area. The gene sequences of preS2/S and Core18-27 peptide were extracted from the GenBank (NCBI). Final gene synthesis was conducted with pET28. Groups of BALB/c mice were immunized with 10 mu g/ml of recombinant proteins and 1 mu g/ml CPG7909 adjuvant. Serum levels of IF-gamma, TNF-alpha, IL-2, IL-4, and IL-10 were measured by ELISA assay method on spleen cell cultures on day 45, and IgG1, IgG2a, and total IgG titers obtained from mice serum were quantified on days 14 and 45. Statistical analysis did not show any significant difference between the groups regarding IF-gamma level. There were, however, significant differences in terms of IL-2 and IL-4 levels between the groups receiving preS2/S-C18-27 with and without adjuvant and the groups receiving both preS2/S and preS2/S-C18-27 (Plus Recomb-Plus Recomb: the group of mice that received both preS2/S and preS2/S-C18-27 simultaneously). The strongest total antibody production was induced by immunization with both recombinant proteins without CPG adjuvant. The groups that received both preS2/S and preS2/S-C18-27, whether with or without adjuvant, were significantly different from those that received the conventional vaccine considering most abundant interleukins. This difference suggested that higher levels of efficacy can be achieved by the use of multiple virus antigen fragments rather than using a single fragment
Evaluation of morphine, methadone, digoxin, and dronabinol poisoning during the years 2017 to 2019 in Ilam, Iran
No full textBackground: Every year, drug poisoning is the most prevalent reason for referring patients to medical centers. This study aimed to evaluation of morphine, methadone, digoxin, and dronabinol poisoning in Shahid Mostafa Khomeini Hospital in Ilam.Methods: In this In this Cross-sectional study, patient samples suspected of morphine, methadone, digoxin, and dronabinol poisoning referred to the toxicology laboratory of Ilam University of Medical Sciences were analyzed using the HPLC method, and the results were analysed using SPSS software.Results: Results showed that the percentage of drug use is greater in men than in women. The highest percentage of morphine and methadone poisonings were detected in those under the age of 40, whereas the highest percentage of digoxin poisonings were recorded in those over the age of 80. As a result, the average age of digoxin users was substantially greater in men than in women. Methadone consumers showed significantly greater blood levels than others. In addition, there was a significant difference (P<0.01) in blood levels between men and women who used morphine.Conclusion: In general, it is important to understand the status of drug poisoning with drugs such as morphine, methadone, digoxin, and dronabinol, as well as the prognosis associated with the treatment process of such poisoning
Exposure to atrazine by drinking water and the increased risk of neonatal complications in consequence: a meta-analysis
No full textThis meta-analysis evaluates the association between atrazine (ATR) exposure and small for gestational age (SGA), preterm birth (PTB), and low birth weight (LBW). A comprehensive search was done on academic databases (e.g. PubMed, Scopus, Embase, and Google Scholar) to achieve all pertinent studies up to May 2023. A pooled odd ratio (OR) and corresponding 95 confidence interval (CI) were applied to evaluate this correlation. As a result, five eligible studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in our study, and the result of the present meta-analysis showed that ATR exposure increased the risk of SGA (OR = 1.11; 95 CI = 1.03-1.20 for highest versus lowest category of ATR), PTB (OR = 1.16; 95 CI = 1.03-1.30), and LBW (OR = 1.26; 95 CI = 1.10-1.44). This meta-analysis suggests that ATR in drinking water may be a risk factor for SGA, PTB, and LBW
Oropharyngeal microbiome composition as a possible diagnostic marker for true psychosis in a forensic psychiatric setting: A narrative literature review and an opinion
No full textThe malingered psychosis has increasingly occurred over the past few years due to the tendency towards care in the community and the closures of long-stay psychiatric institutions. Thus, it is required to identify malingered psychosis to reach accurate forensic assessments and inhibit misuse of restricted healthcare resources and miscarriages of justice. Despite the fact that some practical psychometric tools and strategies have been proposed for diagnosing true psychosis over the past decades, the differentiation between true psychosis and malingered psychosis is still sometimes challenging. Accordingly, it seems crucial to identify innovative and reliable diagnostic alternatives. Hence, the present article summarizes a collection of evidence that can be used by researchers to improve future assessment of oropharyngeal microbiome composition as a feasible diagnostic marker for true psychosis in a forensic psychiatric setting
Factors influencing quality of life among the elderly: An approach using logistic regression
No full textBACKGROUND: Improving the physical, psychological, and social factors in the elderly significantly increases the QoL(1) among them. This study aims to identify the crucial factors for predicting QoL among the elderly using statistical methods. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study, 980 samples related to the elderly with favorable and unfavorable QoL were investigated. The elderly's QoL was investigated using a qualitative and self-assessment questionnaire that measured the QoL among them by five Likert spectrum and independent factors. The Chi-square test and eta coefficient were used to determine the relationship between each predicting factor of the elderly's QoL in SPSS V 25 software. Finally, we used the Enter and Forward LR methods to determine the correlation of influential factors in the presence of other variables. RESULTS: The study showed that 20 variables gained a significant relationship with the quality of life of the elderly at P < 0.05. The study results showed that the degree of dependence (P = 0.03), diabetes mellitus (P = 0.03), formal and informal social relationships (P = 0.01 and P = 0.02), ability to play an emotional role (P = 0.03), physical performance (P = 0.01), heart diseases and arterial blood pressure (P = 0.02), and cancer (P = 0.01) have favorable predictive power in predicting the QoL among the elderly. CONCLUSION: Attempts to identify and modify the important factors affecting the elderly's QoL have a significant role in improving the QoL and life satisfaction in this age group people. This study showed that the statistical methods have a pleasant capability to discover the factors associated with the elderly's QoL with high performance in this regard
Aspirin-Exacerbated Respiratory Disease Polymorphisms; a review study
No full textAspirin exacerbated respiratory disease (AERD) is a condition caused by increased bronchoconstriction in people with asthma after taking aspirin or another NSAID. Molecular analysis of the human genome has opened up new perspectives on human polymorphisms and disease. This study was conducted to identify the genetic factors that influence this disease due to its unknown genetic factors. We evaluated research studies, letters, comments, editorials, eBooks, and reviews. PubMed/MEDLINE, Web of Sciences, Cochrane Library, and Scopus were searched for information. We used the keywords polymorphisms, aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease, asthma, allergy as search terms. This study included 38 studies. AERD complications were associated with polymorphisms in ALOX15, EP2, ADRB2, SLC6A12, CCR3, CRTH2, CysLTs, DPCR1, DPP10, FPR2, HSP70, IL8, IL1B, IL5RA, IL-13, IL17RA, ILVBL, TBXA2R, TLR3, HLA-DRB and HLA-DQ, HLA-DR7, HLA-DP. AERD was associated with heterogeneity in gene polymorphisms, making it difficult to pinpoint specific gene changes. Therefore, diagnosing and treating AERD may be facilitated by examining common variants involving the disease