Change in Attitude in Renal Function in Major Beta Thalassemia

Thalassemia is a multisystemic disease in the field of hemolysis and chronic anemia caused by the erythropoietic disorder. The severe effects of iron overload from continuous blood transfusion iron chelators side effects, and involvement of multiple organs in thalassemias such as heart failure, liver, and endocrine dysfunction can all affect kidney function. Although there has been much debate about changes in renal function in thalassemia for many years, the presence of hyperfiltration and ultimately, decreased renal function in almost all studies. It seems for the researchers to look beyond kidney function in a thalassemia perspective, because of secretory biomarkers of proximal tubular renal cells that are sensitive to pathologic agents, which may be a good indicator of the courses of treatment and prognosis of patients. Future studies will be sooner or later. *Corresponding Author: Malihe Najafpour; Email: [email protected] Please cite this article as: Malaki M, Najafpour M, Talebi M, Azimi A. Change in Attitude in Renal Function in Major Beta Thalassemia. Arch Med Lab Sci. 2020;6:1-5 (e24). https://doi.org/10.22037/amls.v6.3305

Increased Isolation and Characterization of Shigella sonnei Obtained from Hospitalized Children in Tehran, Iran

Shigella flexneri has been the most frequent cause of shigellosis in children in Iran. To evaluate the changes in frequency of serogroups, 302 Shigella species were isolated in 2003 from hospitalized children, aged less than 12 years, with acute diarrhoea in Tehran, Iran. The number of collected S. sonnei, S. flexneri, S. boydii, and S. dysenteriae isolates was 178 (58.9%), 110 (37.4%), 10 (3.3%), and 4 (1.3%) respectively. Most (94%) S. sonnei isolates were resistant to co-trimoxazole. They were, however, relatively or completely sensitive to 15 commonly-used antibiotics. The extracted plasmids showed 12 different profiles with two closely-related patterns constituting 70% of the total isolates. Ribotyping, using PvuII, HindIII or SalI restriction enzymes, generated a single pattern for all S. sonnei isolates. Data suggest that S. sonnei has become the predominant serogroup in children in the hospitals of Tehran

Evaluation of Brucellosis Vaccines: A Comprehensive Review

Brucellosis is a bacterial zoonosis caused by Brucella spp. which can lead to heavy economic losses and severe human diseases. Thus, controlling brucellosis is very important. Due to humans easily gaining brucellosis from animals, animal brucellosis control programs can help the eradication of human brucellosis. There are two popular vaccines against animal brucellosis. Live attenuated Brucella abortus strain 19 (S19 vaccine) is the first effective and most extensively used vaccine for the prevention of brucellosis in cattle. Live attenuated Brucella melitensis strain Rev.1 (Rev.1 vaccine) is the most effective vaccine against caprine and ovine brucellosis. Although these two vaccines provide good immunity for animals against brucellosis, the expense of persistent serological responses is one of the main problems of both vaccines. The advantages and limitations of Brucella vaccines, especially new vaccine candidates, have been less studied. In addition, there is an urgent need for new strategies to control and eradicate this disease. Therefore, this narrative review aims to present an updated overview of the available different types of brucellosis vaccines

Exploring the interplay between Fusobacterium nucleatum with the expression of microRNA, and inflammatory mediators in colorectal cancer

BackgroundFusobacterium nucleatum has been recognized as an important key bacterium in the cause and spread of colorectal carcinogenesis. Nevertheless, the clinical relevance of F. nucleatum in colorectal cancer (CRC) and its effect on immune factors and the tumor microenvironment have not been fully elucidated.Materials and methodsThe frequency of F. nucleatum was measured in 100 paired tumor and normal tissue specimens by TaqMan quantification Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR). The mRNA expression levels of cytokines (IL-6, IL-10, IL-12β, IL-17, TNF-α, TLR-2, and TLR-4), and miRNAs (miR-21, miR-31) were examined. Eventually, any potential correlations between the molecular and clinicopathological features of the neoplastic samples and the abundance of F. nucleatum were analyzed.ResultsThe relative frequency of F. nucleatum was significantly increased in cancerous tissue compared to adjacent non-tumor tissues. Furthermore, the high level of F. nucleatum was significantly associated with histological grade III and IV CRC tissues (P = 0.027 and P = 0.022, respectively) and perineural invasion-positive patients (P = 0.037). In addition, the expression levels of IL-6, IL-17, TNF-α,IL-12β, TLR-2, and TLR-4 as well as miR-21 and miR-31 showed a significant increase in the cancer group. A notable correlation was also observed between the high status of F. nucleatum and the expression of IL-6, TNF-α and miR-21.ConclusionOur results emphasize the importance of F. nucleatum and changes in the expression of genes involved in CRC. Studying the microbial profile and gene expression changes in CRC patients may be a promising approach to improve screening methods and provide therapeutic strategies

The Antioxidant And Anti-inflammatory Properties Of Chamomile And Its Constituents

Introduction: Chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla L.), as widely used as a medicinal herb and is brewed beverages, and has been used for the treatment of several conditions. The evidence from in vitro, in vivo, and clinical studies suggests that chamomile and its many flavonoid components have anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. This review aimed to provide an overview of the chemical constituents of chamomile and the effectiveness of the chamomile preparations and several of its constituents for the treatment of several medical conditions. Methods: The present comprehensive review study was conducted by searching electronic databases including Scopus, Web of Sciences, Embase, and PubMed, using relevant keywords. Results: Both animal and human studies indicate the positive effects of chamomile on the antioxidant enzyme activity. However, the mechanisms involved in the action of chamomile against the production of ROS remain still unknown. When it comes to its anti-inflammatory properties, a number of in vitro, in vivo, and clinical investigations have been reported regarding to the selective inhibition of COX-2, suppression of NO production, prevention of IL-1β, IL-6 and TNFα-induced NO levels, reduction of iNOS mRNA and protein expression, impediment of leukocyte adhesion and adhesion protein up-regulation in human endothelial cells, and blockage of IL-1 α-induced prostaglandin production, TNF-α-induced IL-6 and IL-8 release. Conclusions: Current studies suggest that chamomile and its flavonoid components have anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. On the basis of the existing evidences, chamomile appears to ameliorate several diseases caused by oxidative stress as well as inflammatory reactions

Incidence of Recurrent Urinary Tract Infection after Renal Transplantation

Background: The pathologies classified as urinary tract infections (UTI) can have a deleterious effect on patients who have undergone a renal transplantation.  Often recurrent UTIs will occur, leading to high morbidity, failure of the grafting process overall and even death.  The study presented here seeks to expand the knowledge of recurrent UTIs in the context of renal transplantation, what risks recurrent UTIs pose to transplant patients and evaluate possible treatments. Methods: Renal transplantations were performed on 94 patients.   For six months post-surgery the patients were evaluated for the presence of recurrent UTIs.  The criteria for determining a patient as having a UTI was given as finding   more than 103    and 105  pure colonies within one ml of urine for asymptomatic and symptomatic patients, respectively.   The criteria of recurrent UTI was defined as two or more conclusive UTIs within the first six months after the surgery or three more within a year after renal transplantation. Results: Of the 94 hospitalized patients, 29 UTIs were diagnosed (30.8%). The majority of diagnosed UTIs were in female patients (11.15, 73.3% vs.4.15, 26.7%; p-value = 0.003).   Those patients with diabetes mellitus correlated with a better chance of having a UTI (p-value = 0.019; CI = 1.2-12.2). The incidence rate of UTI was 51.7%, female predominant 73.3%. No  other  pathologies  were  shown  to  affect  the  chance  of  developing recurrent UTIs.   Typically Escherichia coli was the bacterium isolated from urine  cultures  (48.3%)  from  those  who  developed  recurrent  UTI.    The isolates tended to possess resistance to TMP / SMX and piperacillin but were susceptible to imipenem. Conclusion:   Recurrent UTIs in renal transplant patients can be mitigated with proper identification of risk factors

Investigated of ampC in Carbapenem Resistant Gram-Negative Bacteria Isolated from Burned Patients

Background: Gram-Negative bacteria are the most cause of nosocomial infection especially in burned patients. Carbapenem resistant strains can limit seriously the choice of antibiotic therapy. AmpC can make resistance to carbapenem and detection of that can be useful for identification of carbapenem resistant. The aim of this study was identification of ampC in most prevalent cause of nosocomial infection. Methods: boronic acid combined with meropenem in combination disc method was used for phenotypic method and PCR was used for molecular identification of ampC. Results: Fifty one strains showed positive results in phenotypic method but 119 strains were harbored ampC gene. Combination disc method with meropenem and boronic acid showed 34.4% sensitivity and 78.5% specificity according to the results of this study. Conclusions: the results of this study were indicated the more prevalent of ampC in carbapenem resistant Gram-Negative bacteria. On the other hand use of boronic acid combined with meropenem showed low sensitivity for detection of ampC

Diversity of Bacteria Isolated From Long- and Short-term Catheterized Patients

Background: The objectives of this study were to assess the antibiotic resistance and clonality of the bacteria isolated from patients with long- (LTC) and short-terms catheterizations (STC). Methods: A total of 31 clinical Staphylococcus aureus isolates were collected from Loghman Hospital of Tehran, Iran. In vitro biofilm formation ability was determined by microliter tissue culture plates. All clinical isolates were examined for determination the ica locus by using PCR method. Results: Ninety seven (62%) of the samples were bacterial positive. Positive samples were significantly higher in LTC (95%) than STC (61%) patients. Escherichia coli were the predominant microorganism (32%) followed by Klebsiella pneumoniae (15%), Pseudomonas aeroginosa (11%), Enterococcus faecalis (9.2%). From the total isolates, 42% were resistant to 5 or more antibiotics. Furthermore, high prevalence of resistance amongst all isolates to ciprofloxacin (49%) was observed. Conclusions: Diverse bacterial clones were observed for LTC and STC patients. Overall, the results suggested that catheterization could be a major source for growth and dissemination of highly resistant and diverse bacterial species in the hospitals