First report of tinea corporis caused by Trichophyton quinckeanum in Iran and its antifungal susceptibility profile

Background and Purpose: Trichophyton quinckeanum, a known zoophilicdermatophyte responsible for favus form in rodents and camels, is occasionally reported to cause human infections.Case Report: This study aimed to report a case of tinea corporis caused by T. quinckeanum that experienced annular erythematous pruritic plaque with abundantpurulent secretions. In June 2021, a 15-year-old girl with an erythematous cup shape lesion on the right wrist bigger than 3 cm in diameter was examined for tinea corporis. Since March, 2016 her family has kept several camels at home. Direct examination of skin scraping and purulent exudates revealed branching septal hyaline hyphae and arthrospore. Morphological evaluation of the recovered isolate from the culture and sequencing of ITS1-5.8S rDNA-ITS2 region resulted in the identification of T. quinckeanum. Antifungal susceptibility testing showed that this isolate had low minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values for luliconazole,terbinafine, and tolnaftate, but high MICs to itraconazole, fluconazole, posaconazole, miconazole, isavuconazole, ketoconazole, clotrimazole, andgriseofulvin. However, the patient was successfully treated with oral terbinafine andtopical ketoconazole.Conclusion: It can be said that T. quinckeanum is often missed or misidentified due to its morphological similarity to T. mentagrophytes/T. interdigitale or other similar species. This dermatophyte species is first reported as the cause of tinea corporis in Iran. As expected, a few months after our study, T. quinckeanum was detected in other areas of Iran, in a few case

Thermodynamic Property Measurements Of Solid Chromium-sesquioxide And Chromium In Solid Alloys With Iron And Nickel.

PhDMetallurgyUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/187398/2/7229140.pd

Green synthesis of silver nanoparticles: Another honor for the yeast model Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Background and Purpose: Microorganism-based synthesis of nanostructures has recently been noted as a green method for the sustainable development of nanotechnology. Nowadays, there have been numerous studies on the emerging resistant pathogenic bacteria and fungal isolates, the probable inability of bacteria and fungi to develop resistance against silver nanoparticles’ (SNPs) antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral and, particularly antibacterial activities. In this study, we aim to use the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae model for synthesis of SNPs and to investigate its antifungal activity against some isolates of Candida albicans. Materials and Methods: A standard strain of S. cerevisiae was grown in liquid medium containing mineral salt then, it was exposed to 2 mM AgNO3. The reduction of Ag+ ions to metal nanoparticles was virtually investigated by tracing the color of the solution, which turned into reddish-brown after 72 hours. Further characterization of synthesized SNPs was performed afterwards. In addition, antifungal activity of synthesized SNPs was evaluated against fluconazolesusceptible and fluconazole-resistant isolates of Candida albicans. Results: The UV-vis spectra demonstrated a broad peak centering at 410 nm, which is associated with the particle sizes much less than 70 nm. The results of TEM demonstrated fairly uniform, spherical and small in size particles with almost 83.6% ranging between 5 and 20 nm. The zeta potential of SNPs was negative and equal to -25.0 (minus 25) mv suggesting that there was not much aggregation. Silver nanoparticles synthesized by S. cerevisiae, showed antifungal activity against fluconazole-susceptible and fluconazole-resistant Candida albicans isolates, and exhibited MIC90 values of 2 and 4 &mug/ml, respectively. Conclusion: The yeast S. cerevisiae model demonstrated the potential for extracellular synthesis of fairly monodisperse silver nanoparticle

Effects of kefir on liver function tests and histopathological changes in rats exposed to aflatoxin B1

Seyed ahmad Sajjadi1 , Zahra Moosavi2 , Farhad Niknejad3 , Abdollah Jamshidi 4 Background: Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is one of the most important mycotoxins that contaminate food worldwide. Long-term consumption of foods contaminated with AFB1 endangers human health. Detoxification of AFB1 from food improves community health. A Specific approach to aflatoxin reduction is the use of probiotics. Kefir drink is a strong probiotic. The purpose of this study was to investigate the protective effect of kefir drink on AFB1-induced hepatic injury in adult male rats Methods: In this experimental study, 24 adult rats weighing between 150 and 200 g were used. The rats were randomly divided into 4 groups: 1) control, 2) AFB1 (50 μg/kg body weight), 3) kefir drink (10 mL/kg body weight), and 4) AFB1 + kefir drink. Aflatoxin and kefir drink received through oral gavage. At the end of the experiment (8 weeks), blood and liver samples were collected for different assays. Liver function tests and histopathological examinations were performed. Data were analyzed using 1-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and at a significance level of <0.05. Results: Aflatoxin B1 significantly increased serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and total bilirubin (T.Bili), as well as decreased total protein (T.P) content, compared to the control group (P < 0.05). Aflatoxin B1 induced histological changes in the liver. The results obtained from the groups treated with kefir drink with and without AFB1 were not significantly different from the control group. Histopathological changes were not found in groups treated with kefir drink with and without AFB1. Conclusion: The consumption of kefir drink reduced AFB1-induced disruptions in rats’ livers

Diagnostic value of serum Adenosine deaminase and its isoenzymes in the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis

Background & Objective: Adenosine deaminase is an enzyme which catalyses adenosine to Inosine. The determination of adenosine deaminase in body fluids is important for the diagnosis of tuberculosis. There are contradictory reports about the diagnostic value of serum adenosine deaminase in pulmonary tuberculosis. This study was set up to investigate the diagnostic value of serum adenosine deaminase and its isoenzymes activities on pulmonary tuberculosis. Materials & Methods: In this descriptive study, blood samples were obtained from 26pulmonary tuberculosis patients (group 1), 17 suspected tuberculosis with negative in both smear and culture tests (group 2), and 67 healthy subjects (group 3). Total ADA and ADA2 determination was carried out by kinetic method and EHNA Inhibitor, respectively. Results: ADA and ADA2 activities are as follow: 19.35±5.04, 13.35±5.34 (group 1) 17.24±6.20, 11.47±3.92 (group 2) and 13.96±4.25, 7.36±2.91(group 3). The mean differences of ADA and ADA2 activity between group 1 and 2 with group 3 was meaningful. The sensitivity and specificity for ADA and ADA2 tests were (26.9%, 94 %) and (50%, 97 %) respectively. The PPV for ADA and ADA2 were 63.6% and 86.7% and the NPV were 76.8% and 83.3%, respectively. Conclusion: This study indicated that the assessment of these enzymes in serum to some extend can be a useful method for differentiation of healthy subjects from respiratory disease, but these tests do not have enough sensitivity to assist in the diagnoses of tuberculosis patients from other respiratory diseases