Evaluation of Toxoplasma gondii infection in western Iran: Seroepidemiology and risk factors analysis

Background: Toxoplasmosis is a parasitic infectious disease, and Toxoplasma gondii is the causative factor of this intracellular protozoan disease. Due to the lack of information about the rate of T. gondii in general papulation of Markazi Province in Iran, the current study was conducted to determine the prevalence of toxoplasmosis and the related risk factor analysis in the general population of Markazi Province. Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed within 6 months on individuals who were referred to diagnostic laboratories in Markazi Province. The demographic and background information of the subjects were collected using a questionnaire. Three milliliters of blood samples was collected from the participants under sterile conditions. The sera were separated and evaluated for levels of anti-Toxoplasma IgG antibody using a commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method. The collected data were analyzed by the SPSS software using descriptive statistics and chi-square test. Results: Out of 824 people from the general population of Markazi Province who were investigated in this study, 276 (33.5) had anti-Toxoplasma antibodies in their blood. According to the logistic regression model, gender variables, location, marital status, and having a cat at home do not affect the chances of contracting the parasite. Furthermore, the chance of contracting the parasite in 41- to 50-year-olds is 0.85 times the one in the 20- to 30-year-olds. The prevalence of toxoplasmosis in men and women in Markazi Province was 33 and 34.5, respectively. Conclusion: The mean prevalence of T. gondii infection in the age groups of 20-40, and � 40 years was estimated to be 24.7, and 40.8, respectively. These rates were significantly lower than the national results (44, and 55, respectively). Therefore, regarding to the health authorities, it is necessary to raise the level of awareness of people of the region, especially at-risk groups about the transmittance and prevention methods, and infection risk factors in order to prevent the occurrence of T. gondii infection and reduce the prevalence and incidence of the disease. © 2020 The Author(s)

Molecular detection of endophytic, myrothecium spp. by its-sequencing technique

Endophytic fungi are microorganisms with immense production secondary metabolites having biological activity features, which exist within plants without any hazard for their living. Ten isolates of endophytic Myrothecium verrucaria species, recovered from bark and twigs of Garcinia spp. in order to detection and identification of this fungus plant, and to analyze their genome fingerprints with help of ITSsequencing. ITS region is one of the most famous nuclear DNA sequences for genetic inference at the generic and genus levels in fungus. Hence, the target regions of rDNA, ITS 1, ITS 2 regions and 5.8S gene were amplified using primers ITS 1 and ITS 4. In this research, the phylogenetic evolutionary relationship of the desired endophyte were evaluated from the sequences of the ITS region. The amplification and subsequent sequencing of highly conserved ITS region showed genetic similarity among 10 isolates of Myrothecium spp (M), and based on the polymorphisms of the ITS region, the 10 isolates gave a length of ~550 bp amplico

Evaluating the effect of oral n-acetylcysteine as an adjuvant treatment on clinical outcomes of patients with rheumatoid arthritis: A randomized, double blind clinical trial

Objective: Oxidative stress and Overproduction of pro-inflammatory cytokines are contributed in Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) pathogenesis. N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent which demonstrated analgesic effects in some studies. This study is designed to assess the effects of oral NAC as an adjuvant therapy on the clinical outcomes of patients with active RA. Methods: In this randomized clinical trial, 51 RA patients with active RA were studied in 2 groups: NAC group (27 patients) received standard treatment of RA and 600 mg NAC twice a day for 12 weeks, and placebo group (24 patients) received the standard treatment of RA and placebo. Disease activity score (DAS28) was used to assess the activity of RA, Visual Analog Scale (VAS) for the severity of pain, Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) for the patients� physical performance, and Global Health (GH) parameter for the patients� assessment of their disease activity. The number of tender and swollen joints and Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR) were also determined for each patient. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 16.0 (Chicago, IL, USA). Results: After 12 weeks of intervention, there were no significant differences between two groups in DAS28 score and ESR (P values were 0.4 and 0.6, respectively). However, GH, VAS, and HAQ scores were improved significantly in the NAC group compared to the placebo group. Conclusion: Our findings indicate that oral administration of NAC may be associated with improving health status in RA patients and considered as an adjuvant therapy in these patients. Further studies with larger sample size, longer study duration and higher doses of NAC are needed to confirm the effects of oral NAC in RA patients. © 2018 Bentham Science Publishers

A pilot study to evaluate the effects of oral N-acetyl cysteine on inflammatory and oxidative stress biomarkers in rheumatoid arthritis

Background: Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a common inflammatory disease of the joints. Due to the importance of inflammation and oxidative stress in the pathogenesis of RA, drugs that have anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, such as N-acetyl Cysteine (NAC), can be used as adjunctive therapy in patients with RA. Aims: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of oral NAC on inflammatory cytokines and oxidative stress in patients with RA. Methods: Adjunct to standard treatment, the NAC group (23 patients) received 600 mg of NAC twice daily and the placebo group (19 patients) received identical placebo twice daily for 12 weeks. Serum levels of Total Oxidant Status (TOS), Total Antioxidant Capacity (TAC), nitric oxide (NO), Total Thiol Groups (TTG), Malondialdehyde (MDA), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), C-reactive Protein (CRP), and Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR) were measured at baseline and at the end of the study. Results: Results showed that in the NAC group, the serum levels of MDA, NO, IL-6, TNF-α, ESR and CRP were significantly lower than the baseline. Also, the serum level of TAC and TTG, as antioxidant parameters, increased significantly. However, only NO, MDA and TTG showed a significant difference in the NAC group �as compared to the placebo group at the end of study. Conclusion: According to the results of this study, oral NAC can significantly reduce the several oxidative stress factors and inflammatory cytokines. These results need to be confirmed in larger studies while considering clinical outcomes of RA patients. © 2019 Bentham Science Publishers

Evaluating the effect of oral n-acetylcysteine as an adjuvant treatment on clinical outcomes of patients with rheumatoid arthritis: A randomized, double blind clinical trial

Objective: Oxidative stress and Overproduction of pro-inflammatory cytokines are contributed in Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) pathogenesis. N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent which demonstrated analgesic effects in some studies. This study is designed to assess the effects of oral NAC as an adjuvant therapy on the clinical outcomes of patients with active RA. Methods: In this randomized clinical trial, 51 RA patients with active RA were studied in 2 groups: NAC group (27 patients) received standard treatment of RA and 600 mg NAC twice a day for 12 weeks, and placebo group (24 patients) received the standard treatment of RA and placebo. Disease activity score (DAS28) was used to assess the activity of RA, Visual Analog Scale (VAS) for the severity of pain, Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) for the patients� physical performance, and Global Health (GH) parameter for the patients� assessment of their disease activity. The number of tender and swollen joints and Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR) were also determined for each patient. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 16.0 (Chicago, IL, USA). Results: After 12 weeks of intervention, there were no significant differences between two groups in DAS28 score and ESR (P values were 0.4 and 0.6, respectively). However, GH, VAS, and HAQ scores were improved significantly in the NAC group compared to the placebo group. Conclusion: Our findings indicate that oral administration of NAC may be associated with improving health status in RA patients and considered as an adjuvant therapy in these patients. Further studies with larger sample size, longer study duration and higher doses of NAC are needed to confirm the effects of oral NAC in RA patients. © 2018 Bentham Science Publishers

Long non-coding RNA expression patterns in lung tissues of chronic cigarette smoke induced COPD mouse model

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have critical regulatory roles in protein-coding gene expression. Aberrant expression profiles of lncRNAs have been observed in various human diseases. In this study, we investigated transcriptome profiles in lung tissues of chronic cigarette smoke (CS)-induced COPD mouse model. We found that 109 lncRNAs and 260 mRNAs were significantly differential expressed in lungs of chronic CS-induced COPD mouse model compared with control animals. GO and KEGG analyses indicated that differentially expressed lncRNAs associated protein-coding genes were mainly involved in protein processing of endoplasmic reticulum pathway, and taurine and hypotaurine metabolism pathway. The combination of high throughput data analysis and the results of qRT-PCR validation in lungs of chronic CS-induced COPD mouse model, 16HBE cells with CSE treatment and PBMC from patients with COPD revealed that NR_102714 and its associated protein-coding gene UCHL1 might be involved in the development of COPD both in mouse and human. In conclusion, our study demonstrated that aberrant expression profiles of lncRNAs and mRNAs existed in lungs of chronic CS-induced COPD mouse model. From animal models perspective, these results might provide further clues to investigate biological functions of lncRNAs and their potential target protein-coding genes in the pathogenesis of COPD.National Key R&D Program of China [2016YFC0903700]; National Natural Science Foundation of China [81520108001, 81220108001, 81770043]; 973 Key Scheme of China [2015CB553406]; Guangzhou Science and Technology Programs for Science Study [201607020030]; Guangdong Province Universities and Colleges Pearl River Scholar Funded Scheme; Guangzhou Department of Science and Technology programs [201607020030]; Guangzhou Department of Education grant [1201620007]Open access journal.This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]