The association of interleukin-13 gene polymorphism withkala-azar patients

 Background& Objective: Host resistance towards Leishmania infection is mediated by cellular immune responses leading to macrophage activation and parasite killing. According to the important role of IL-13 in the defense against visceral leishmaniasis (VL) and the known effect of the IL-13 gene polymorphisms on its production, the aim of this study was to investigate the probable relationship between IL-13 gene polymorphisms and susceptibility to VL.   Materials & Methods: The patient group included 52 patients who had suffered from VL infection and the control group consisted of 104 non-relative healthy people from the same endemic areas the patients were from (southern part of Fars Province). IL-13 (position -1512 A/C) gene polymorphism was determined by polymerase chain reaction-restricted fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP).   Results: There was no significant association between the frequencies of IL-13 (-1512) alleles and genotypes in the patients with VL compared to the thenormal population.   Conclusion: This study indicated that the IL-13 (position -1512 A/C) genotypes cannot be considered as a genetic susceptibility factor for leishmaniasis.

Survey Effect of Peganum harmala, Thymus daenensis, Frulago angulata on wound infection caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa exotoxin A-producing in laboratory mice

Background and Aim: Burn wound is a susceptible site for incidence of resistant infections. Therefore, research for finding effective drugs against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the leading pathogen causing burn wound infection, is necessary. The current study aimed at investigating the antibacterial effect of herbs including: Daenensis thyme, Chavill (Frulago angulata), and Harmala on burn infection caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa and then comparing the obtained results with the results of selected antibiotics on the infection. Methods and Materials: Anti-Pseudomonas activity of plants’ extractions was evaluated by well diffusion method.  The evaluation of burn wound recovery treated with Peganum harmala and daenensis thyme on burn wounds of albinos. Wound area and recovery percentage was measured. The number of neutrophils and lymphocytes, from all infected groups the sample of blood was obtained. Results: The measurement results of the zone of inhibition against Pseudomonas aeruginosa showed better consequences for Thymus daenensis. The number of colonies in the treated group with plants and ciprofloxacin showed significant differences as compared with the control group and the group treated with gentamicin. In counting the white blood cells of infected control group and gentamicin treated group, the number of white blood cells was below the normal level while the number of blood cells in groups treated with medicinal plants and ciprofloxacin were normal. Conclusion: Based on the obtained results of this study on these plant species and their positive activity on treatment of infected burn wounds, it was concluded that these plants can be considered and used as an anti-Pseudomonas

Effect of Bacillus thuringiensis parasporal toxin on stimulating of IL-2 and IL-5 cytokines production

Introduction:Bacillus thuringiensis, is a Gram-positive spore-forming bacterium that produces crystalline parasporal protein (Cry) during sporulation. Some of these Cry toxins do not show cytotoxicity against insects but they are capable to kill some human and animal cancer cells. The aim of this study was to verify whether cytocidal parasporal of B thuringiensis strains have immunostimulatory activity on human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMNC) and to evaluate the ability of IL-2 and IL-5 production. Materials and methods: B. thuringiensis toxin with cytocidal activity was isolated and treated with proteinase K. PBMNC was cultured and treated with activated crystal proteins. We evaluated the ability of different cytokines production with Flow Cytometry. Results: In this study, immune stimulatory toxins Cry1 were distinguished. This toxin can stimulate production of cytokines IL-2 and stop production of IL-5. Discussion and conclusion: According to anti-cancer effect of B. thuringiensis toxins and also immune stimulatory effect, with more research these toxins can be introduced as immunotherapy drug in cancer treatment

Biofilm stimulating activity of solanidine and Solasodine in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Abstract Background Biofilm formation has reported as an important virulence associated properties of Pseudomonas aeruginosa that is regulated by quorum-sensing associated genes. Biofilm and quorum-sensing interfering properties of steroidal alkaloids, Solanidine and Solasodine were investigated in the present study. Results Biofilm formation capacity and relative expression level of five studied genes(lasI, lasR, rhlI, rhlR and algD) were significantly increased dose-dependently after treatment with sub-inhibitory concentrations (32 and 512 µg/ml) of the both Solanidine and Solasodine. Biofilm formation capacity was more stimulated in weak biofilm formers(9 iaolates) in comparison to the strong biofilm producers(11 isolates). The lasI gene was the most induced QS-associated gene among five investigated genes. Conclusion Biofilm inducing properties of the plants alkaloids and probably medicines derived from them has to be considered for revision of therapeutic guidelines. Investigating the biofilm stimulating properties of corticosteroids and other medicines that comes from plant alkaloids also strongly proposed

Antimicrobial resistance pattern, genetic distribution of ESBL genes, biofilm-forming potential, and virulence potential of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from the burn patients in Tehran Hospitals, Iran

Introduction: according to the studies performed, researchers considered Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) as the major cause of infectious diseases like burn and wound infection that makes it one of the most threatening opportunistic pathogens. The present research aimed at investigating antimicrobial resistance, biofilm-forming abilities, and frequency of the genes contributed to blaVEB-1, blaPER-1, and blaPSE-1 genes and virulence of P. aeruginosa separated from the burn infections in Tehran, Iran. Methods: we evaluated the resistance of 156 P. aeruginosa isolates to fifteen antimicrobial agents and generation of the ESBL and MBL enzymes phenotypically based on the CLSI instructions. Moreover, the biofilm forming potential has been assayed in a microtitre plate. In addition, PCR has been used to examine the frequency of virulence-and biofilm-related genes. Furthermore, the PCR of blaVEB-1, blaPSE-1, and blaPER-1 genes has been amplified. Results: according to the results, 72.2% of P. aeruginosa isolates have been MDR and 35.6% and 55.5% have been positive for producing MBL and ESBL, respectively. Moreover, 67.8% have been positive for forming biofilms. It has been found that 15.3% isolates are ESBL-positive; from among them 60% belong to the females and 40% belong to the males. In addition, one and two isolates respectively harbored the blaVEB-1 and blaPER-1 genes. Conclusion: the present research outputs indicated the higher frequency of the multi drug resistance and higher percent of the virulence-related genes in the clinical P. aeruginosa isolates in Iran

Effect of gold nanoparticles on the expression of efflux pump mexA and mexB genes of Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains by Quantitative real-time PCR

Antibiotic-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections are usually difficult to treat, and there are limited antibiotics for treating them. Increased antibiotic resistance of this bacterium, especially in a multidrug form, has caused many problems for treatment. Nowadays, metal nanoparticles are considered as appropriate alternatives to antibiotics. The objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of gold nanoparticles on the expression of MexB and MexA genes in Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates.Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolate was identified using biochemical tests and an API kit. The antibiotic sensitivitytest for different antibiotics was performed withthe Kirby-Bauer test according to the CLSI standard. The presence of MexB and MexA genes was assessed by PCR. The effect of gold nanoparticles was investigated by microdilution to evaluate the minimum inhibitory concentration, and the expression of MexB and MexA treated genes was done with silver nanoparticles by the Real-Time PCR method.40 Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates were detected and identified. These isolates showed significant resistance to various antibiotics. All strains were carriers of MexB and MexA genes, and finally, in the expression of MexB and MexA genes,a significant decrease in the expression of these genes was observed in the samples treated with gold nanoparticles compared to non-treated samples.One of the mechanisms of antibacterial activity of gold nanoparticles is through reducing the expression of mexA and mexB genes and thus reducing the number of active efflux pumps at the cell surface

Investigation of Cytocidal Activity of Bacillus Thuringiensis Parasporal Toxin on CCRF-CEM Cell Line

Background & Objective: Parasporin is a parasporal protein of Bacillus thuringiensis and exhibits special cytocidal activity against human cancer cells. Similar to other insecticidal Bacillus thuringiensis crystal toxins, parasporin shows target specificity and damages the cellular membrane. In this study, different strains of Bacillus thuringiensis isolated from various regions of Iran and their cytocidal activity against CCRF-CEM cell line and human erythrocyte were investigated.   Materials & Methods: Fifty soil samples were collected from different Iranian provinces, and characterization was performed based on protein crystal morphology by phase-contrast microscope and variations of Cry protein toxin using SDS-PAGE. After parasporin was processed with proteinase K, the active form was produced and protein activity on the cell line was evaluated. Results: Parasporal inclusion proteins showed different cytotoxicity against acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells (ALL), but not against normal lymphocyte. Isolated parasporin demonstrated no hemolytic activity against human erythrocyte. It appears that these proteins have the ability to differentiate between normal lymphocytes and leukemia cells and have specific receptors on specific cancer cell lines. Conclusion: Our results provide evidence that the parasporin-producing organism is a common member in Bacillus thuringiensis populations occurring in the natural environments of Iran