Survey of hydatid cyst surgeries in hospitals affiliated to Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences during 2004 to 2014

Background: Hydatidosis is one of the most important zoonotic diseases with global distribution. Due to the prevalence of the disease in country, the study aimed to determine the clinical and laboratory findings in patients with hydatidosis admitted to surgical departments of educational hospitals, Imam Khomeini and Golestan, in Ahvaz city during 2004-2014. Materials and Methods: Data of the patients including demographic characteristics, and clinical and laboratory findings were recorded in a prepared form and analyzed using descriptive statistics and Chi-square tests by the SPSS software. Results: From a total of all patients, 49 (55.7) and 39 patients (44.3) were females and males respectively; 25 patients were resident in rural areas and 62 in urban areas. The mean age of the patients was 30.6±2 years. Also, the maximum and minimum percentages of the disease were observed in the age group 20-29 and 80-89, respectively. Recurrence was observed in 9 patients. The highest prevalence of the hydatid cyst was in the right lobe of the liver (26.1). Among the methods of imaging, sonography and MRI had the highest and lowest use in the diagnosis of the disease, respectively. Conclusion: Findings of this study show that the most common organs affected are the liver and the younger age group and suburbs are more prone to hydatidosis. Due to the chronicity of the disease and the late diagnosis during the visit, screening for endemic areas and high-risk persons is recommended

Epigenetic changes in FOXO3 and CHEK2 genes and their correlation with clinicopathological findings in myelodysplastic syndromes

Objectives/background: Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDSs) are a heterogeneous disease in terms of clinical course and response to therapy. Epigenetic changes are the primary mechanism of MDS pathogenesis. FOXO3 and CHEK2 genes play significant roles in normal cellular mechanisms and are also known as tumor suppressor genes. We aimed to clarify the correlation of epigenetic changes in these genes with clinicopathologic findings in MDS. Methods: A total of 54 newly diagnosed MDS patients referred to Shariati and Firouzgar Hospitals (Tehran, Iran) were included in the study from 2013 to 2015, comprising the following cases: 26 with refractory cytopenia with unilineage dysplasia, 10 with refractory cytopenia with multilineage dysplasia, four refractory anemia with excess blasts-1 (RAEB-1), 11 refractory anemia with excess blasts-2 (RAEB-2), and three MDS associated with isolated deletion (5q-). Risk groups were determined according to the Revised International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS-R). The methylation status of CHEK2 and FOXO3 promoters were determined by methylation-sensitive high-resolution melting analysis of sodium bisulfite-converted DNA. Expressions of CHEK2, FOXO3, and GAPDH were measured by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and fold changes were calculated using the ��CT method. Results: Statistical analysis revealed no promoter methylation of CHEK2 and FOXO3 in healthy control specimens. FOXO3 promoter methylation was associated with high-risk World Health Organization subgroups (p = .017), high-risk IPSS-R (p = .007), high-risk cytogenetics (p = .045), and more than 5 blasts in bone marrow (p = .001). CHEK2 promoter methylation was correlated with more than 5 blasts in bone marrow (p = .009). Conclusions: Promoter methylation of CHEK2 and especially FOXO3 is associated with adverse clinicopathological findings and disease progression in MDS. © 2020 King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centr

Rapid Detection of Rifampicin- and Isoniazid-Resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis using TaqMan Allelic Discrimination

Objectives: Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is a global problem that many countries are challenged with. Rapid and accurate detection of MDR-TB is critical for appropriate treatment and controlling of TB. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the TaqMan allelic discrimination without minor groove binder (MGB) as a rapid, efficient, and low-cost method for detection of drug resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Methods: A total of 112 M. tuberculosis isolates from cases with diagnosed TB were subjected to drug susceptibility testing (DST), using the proportion method. Resistant isolates were tested for characterization of mutations in the rpoB and KatG genes by TaqMan genotyping. Results: Of 112 M. tuberculosis isolates for which DST was performed, three, one, and two isolates were MDR, rifampin (RIF) resistant, and isoniazid (INH) resistant, respectively. According to the threshold cycle (Ct) and curve pattern of mutants, TaqMan probes detect all of the mutations in the analyzed genes (katG 315, AGC�ACC, rpoB 531, TCG�TTG, and rpoB 531, TCG�TGG). Conclusion: The present study suggests that drug-resistant strains of M. tuberculosis can be detected by pattern's curve or Ct with TaqMan probes without MGB in real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). © 2016

Genotypic characterization of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from a burn centre by using agr, spa and SCCmec typing methods

Infections caused by Staphylococcus aureus remain a major global healthcare problem. We aimed to find the common lineages of S. aureus strains circulating in a burn hospital in Tehran. A total of 167 isolates of S. aureus obtained from patients, healthcare workers (HCWs) and environment in Shahid Motahari burn hospital were genotyped by using spa, agr and staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) typing methods. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed by using the disc diffusion method. The frequency of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) was 64.7 (n = 108), with distribution frequencies among patient, HCW and surface isolates of 64.2 (n = 79), 50 (n = 7) and 73.3 (n = 22), respectively. SCCmec type III (75, n = 81) was found to be the most frequent SCCmec type among MRSA isolates, followed by SCCmec type I (20.4, n = 22) and SCCmec type IV (1.8, n = 2). The remaining MRSA isolates (2.8, n = 3) were nontypeable by this method. About 78.4 (n = 131), 10.2 (n = 17) and 4.8 (n = 8) of all isolates were characterized as agr types I, II and III, respectively, and the other isolates (6.6) were nontypeable. spa types t030 and t037 constituted the first and second most predominant spa types found in 56.4 (n = 57) and 25.6 (n = 26) of isolates, respectively. We also report here a novel spa type, t16471. The most prevalent genotypes of the isolates found among patient, surface and HCW samples were SCCmec type III/t030, t037/agr type I. Continuous tracking of epidemic isolates and better hospital infection control policies are recommended to efficiently prevent the spread of bacteria to inpatients. © 201

Erratum: Corrigendum to �katG Ser315 and rpoB 81-bp hotspot region substitutions: Reliability for detection of drug-resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis� (J. Global Antimicrob. Resist. (2016) 5 (92�93) (S2213716515001332) (10.1016/j.jgar.2015.12.001))

The authors regret that the following sentence in this article was incorrect, �In this study, 205 clinical isolates of M. tuberculosis were collected from TB patients hospitalised in Baqiyatallah Hospital, which is one of the TB centers in Tehran, during January 2012 to December 2013.� The text �January 2012 to December 2013� should have read �December 2013 to January 2015�. The authors would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused. �© 2016 International Society for Chemotherapy of Infection and Cance