A case of Anthracis bacteremia and Meningoencephalitis

سیاه زخم یک باکتری مشترک بین انسان و حیوان است و عامل آن باسیلوس آنتراسیس می باشد. موارد انسانی بیماری در اثر تماس با حیوان آلوده ایجاد می شود و اغلب (95) بصورت فرم جلدی است که 20-10 موارد درمان نشده آن منجر به مرگ می شود. شکل های نادرتر بیماری نوع گوارشی و استنشاقی است. مننژیت معمولا به دنبال یکی از سه فرم ذکر شده ایجاد می شود و کمتر از 5 موارد آنتراکس را تشکیل می دهند. فرم جلدی بیماری با درمان، بهبودی کامل دارد و در صورت عدم درمان می تواند ایجاد باکتریمی و مننژیت کند. خانم 38 ساله ای از عشایر چادرنشین یک هفته پیش از مراجعه دچار ضایعه جلدی روی دست راست شده بود که زخم تدریجا نکروزه و سیاه رنگ و متورم شده بود. پس با اضافه شدن تب و لرز و Confusion به اورژانس آورده شد. در هنگام مراجعه بیمار در وضعیت کومای عمیق، درجه حرارت بدن 38.5 درجه سانتی گراد و روی دست راست ضایعه سیاه رنگی به اندازه cm 4×3 همراه با ادم اطراف بود. CT اسکن مغز التهاب نسج مغز و خونریزی ساب آ‌راکنوئید را نشان داد. پس از اسمیر و کشت زخم و همچنین کشت خون بیمار تحت درمان با دگزامتازون و پنی سیلین قرار گرفت. در پونکسیون نخاع (Lumber puncture) انجام شده، مایع CSF خونی بود. بیمار 10 ساعت پس از پذیرش با تشخیص مننگوانسفالیت آنتراکس ناشی از فرم پوستی درمان نشده فوت کرد. در آزمایش اسمیر، کشت زخم و کشت خون باسیل گرم مثبت آنتراکس مشاهده شد، این شکل بیماری براساس گزارشات نادر است

The effect of zinc sulphate syrup on children's respiratory tract infections

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: After Iron, zinc is the second most abundant trace element in the body that is present in all organs, tissues and body fluids. It is a necessary component for maintaining immunological integrity antioxidant activity, and has critical role in the control and prevention of infection. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of zinc sulphate syrup in treatment of children with respiratory tract infection. METHODS: In this randomized clinical trial study, one hundred and twenty four children with respiratory infection (62 in case and 62 in control group) from pediatric ward of Hajar hospital of Sharekord university enrolled. Both groups received standard treatment. In addition to, zinc sulphate syrup was given to case group and placebo to control group. Respiratory rate, bed and cough and fever duration were compared between the case and control groups (IRCT: 201103025951N1). FINDINGS: The mean duration of fever in the case group was 2.6±0.82 days and in the control group 4±1.5 days (p<0.001). The mean of bed duration in the case group was 4.7±1.5 days and in the control group 5±1.8 days (p=0.42). The mean of cough duration in the case and control groups was 3.4±1.3 and 4.7±1.6 days respectively (p=0.09). Respiratory rate in the case group was 28.3±4.3 and in the control 28.1±4.9 (p=0.77). CONCLUSION: The study showed that zinc supplementation has a beneficial effect in decreasing the fever duration in children with respiratory infection. But there was no significant effect on respiratory rate, duration of bed and cough

The effect of Aloe vera extract on humoral and cellular immune response in rabbit

Some plant polysaccharides are well known to possess immunostimulatory effects. Aloe vera possesses confirmed curative or healing actions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the administration of A. vera plant extract on cellular and humoral immune response in rabbits. 20 healthy male New Zealand white rabbits were randomly divided into five treatment groups: Groups consisted of: 1) control group (normal saline); 2) A. vera control; 3) vaccine control; 4) 50 mg A. vera extract + vaccine; 5) 150 mg A. vera extract + vaccine. The used vaccine was for myxomatosis. Blood samples were obtained at four time points: days 0, 7, 14 and 21 of the study. CD4+ and CD8+ lymphocytes frequency and serum immunoglobulin concentrations were evaluated. According to the results, oral administration of A. vera affected the composition of lymphocyte subsets and serum immunoglobulins positively. These findings demonstrated that A. vera may stimulate both cellular and humoral immune responses after immunization.Key words: Aloe vera, cellular and humoral immune, immunization, rabbits

Antiviral activity of Holothuria sp. a sea cucumber against herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1)

BACKGROUND: Finding the new bioactive compounds with antiviral activity from the natural resources are in interest of many drug discovery scientists. Sea cucumber is among the marine organisms a traditional food item in Asia with different applications in traditional medicine. METHODS: In current study, a cold water extract of the Holothuria sp, one type Persian Gulf’s sea cucumber was evaluated for its antiviral effects against KOS strain of Herpes Simplex Virus tyoe 1 (HSV-1) in cell culture. The half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) values were calculated for anti-adsorption activity and intracellular antiviral activity of the crude extract separately. RESULTS: The extract exhibited antiviral activity not only against the virus adsorption to the cells, but also on virus intracellular replication.The CC50 for sea cucumber extract was 32.57 mg/ml. The IC50 values for the inhibition of the virus adsorption to the cells and virus intracellular replication were 120.2 and 189.9 μg/ml respectively. Selectivity index (SI) value for anti-adsorption activity was 189 while that value for the extract’s intracellular antiviral activity was 172. CONCLUSIONS: The results showed that Holothuria sp, water extract has remarkable antiviral effect against HSV-1 in cell culture and it is crucial to investigate the mechanism(s) of action of extract. Moreover, identification of the effective compound(s) within the extract would be necessary for future studies towards developing the new natural antiviral agent against HSV-1

Early Childhood Caries among a Bedouin community residing in the eastern outskirts of Jerusalem

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>ECC is commonly prevalent among underprivileged populations. The Jahalin Bedouin are a severely deprived, previously nomadic tribe, dwelling on the eastern outskirts of Jerusalem. The aim of this study was to assess ECC prevalence and potentially associated variables.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>102 children aged 12–36 months were visually examined for caries, mothers' anterior dentition was visually subjectively appraised, demographic and health behavior data were collected by interview.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Among children, 17.6% demonstrated ECC, among mothers, 37.3% revealed "fairly bad" anterior teeth. Among children drinking bottles there was about twice the level of ECC (20.3%) than those breast-fed (13.2%). ECC was found only among children aged more than one year (p < 0.001); more prevalent ECC (55.6%) was found among large (10–13 children) families than among smaller families (1–5 children: 13.5%, 6–9 children: 15.6%) (p = 0.009); ECC was more prevalent among children of less educated mothers (p = 0.037); ECC was more prevalent among mothers with "fairly poor" anterior dentition (p = 0.04). Oral hygiene practices were poor.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>ECC levels in this community were not very high but neither low. This changing population might be on the verge of a wider dental disease "epidemic". Public health efforts clearly need to be invested towards the oral health and general welfare of this community.</p

Homing and Long-Term Engraftment of Long- and Short-Term Renewal Hematopoietic Stem Cells

Long-term hematopoietic stem cells (LT-HSC) and short-term hematopoietic stem cells (ST-HSC) have been characterized as having markedly different in vivo repopulation, but similar in vitro growth in liquid culture. These differences could be due to differences in marrow homing. We evaluated this by comparing results when purified ST-HSC and LT-HSC were administered to irradiated mice by three different routes: intravenous, intraperitoneal, and directly into the femur. Purified stem cells derived from B6.SJL mice were competed with marrow cells from C57BL/6J mice into lethally irradiated C57BL/6J mice. Serial transplants into secondary recipients were also carried out. We found no advantage for ST-HSC engraftment when the cells were administered intraperitoneally or directly into femur. However, to our surprise, we found that the purified ST-HSC were not short-term in nature but rather gave long-term multilineage engraftment out to 387 days, albeit at a lower level than the LT-HSC. The ST-HSC also gave secondary engraftment. These observations challenge current models of the stem cell hierarchy and suggest that stem cells are in a continuum of change