Frequency of cytomegalovirus in fertile and infertile men, referring to afzalipour hospital IVF research center, Kerman, IRAN: A case-control study

Background: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) virus can hide in urinary genital tract cells and affect male infertility disorders. Objective: To evaluate frequency of CMV in the semen samples of men with infertility problems referring to a in vitro fertilization (IVF) center in Kerman, Iran and its association with the parameters of semen. Materials and Methods: In this case-control study, Real time polymerase chain reaction test was performed for detection of human cytomegalovirus in 100 fertile men compared to 100 infertile men referred to the IVF center of Afzalipour Hospital, Kerman, Iran. Results: Out of 200 samples, 30 samples (15%) were positive for CMV DNA virus (23/100 men (23%) in case group and 7/100 men (7%) in the control group). Sperm counts and motility in the control group were more than the case group (p˂0.0001). There was a significant relationship between the prevalence of CMV infection and male infertility (p˂0.001). Conclusion: Our finding showed that, prevalence of CMV infection was higher in infertile men compared to fertile men and CMV infection can be considered as an important part of male infertility. So; antiviral treatment of positive cases can be effective in improving sperm quality and successful IVF. The relationship between CMV infection in semen and infertility was obtained in previous studies and was confirmed by our study

Frequency of coronavirus NL63 infection in children with upper respiratory infection by real-time PCR

Background: Human coronavirus NL63 (HCoV-NL63) is a new respiratory virus associated with acute respiratory infection in children. Infection with this virus is usually accompanied by upper and lower infections of the respiratory tract in adults. Objectives: In a retrospective study, we investigated the incidence of coronavirus infection in children under the age of five years. Methods: We collected 138 specimens (nasal and throat swabs) from children less than five-years-old with acute respiratory infection from October 2018 to December 2019. Then, HCoV-NL63 was investigated using real-time PCR. Results: Out of 138 samples, 33 (23.9) were positive for coronavirus NL63, including 21 (63.6) male samples and 12 (36.4) female samples. There was no significant correlation between gender and positivity for coronavirus infection (P > 0.05). However, the association of clinical symptoms with the virus was statistically significant (P < 0.05). Conclusions: This study was conducted for the first time in Kerman Province. In this study, the frequency of coronavirus NL63 was evaluated among children with acute respiratory infection with a highly sensitive method, real-time PCR. The prevalence of this virus was 33, which was more frequent than in similar studies. © 2020, Author(s)

Prevalence of JC and BK viruses in patients with colorectal cancer: A systematic review and meta- analysis

Introduction: Polyomaviruses including BK virus (BKV) and JC virus (JCV) are widespread in human and have been associated with colorectal cancer (CRC) in some studies. The aim of present systematic review and meta-analysis article is to calculate the pooled prevalence of BKV and JCV in patients with CRC and assessing their association with this malignancy. Materials and Methods: Domestic databases and Sciences Direct, PubMed, ProQuest, Web of Sciences and Scopus were searched for relevant articles up to 2nd June 2019Two independent reviewers extracted the related data from eligible articles. The pooled prevalence and pooled odds ratio (POR) and their 95 confidence interval (95 CI) were calculated using "metaprop" and "metan" commands in Stata 14. Where I2 statistics were >50, the random effect model was used. Results: From 1461 relevant studies, 24 articles were eligible and included in the qualitative while 19 articles included in quantitative analysis. The pooled prevalence based on diagnostic methods varies from 29 using immunohistochemistry to 52 using nested-PCR method. The likelihood of being infected with JCV was significantly higher in CRC patients compared to healthy (POR: 4.41, 95 CI: 2.13 - 9.13) controls, normal adjacent mucosa (POR: 2.79, 95 CI: 1.3-5.9) and colorectal adenoma (POR: 3.1, 95 CI: 1.5-6.5) but was not significant when non-CRC patients used as control group. Conclusion: The prevalence of JCV in colorectal patients was substantially variable by different methods and targets. The significant association between JCV and CRC that was observed in the present study is not indicative of causation and should be studied more in large-scale prospective designs. © 2020 Asian Pacific Organization for Cancer Prevention

Combination of 5-azaytidine and hanging drop culture convert fat cell into cardiac cell

One of the promising approaches for the treatment of cardiac disease is stem cell therapy. In this study, we compared the cardiomyogenic differentiation rate, from human adipose-derived stem cells (hADSCs) in a three-dimensional (3D) hanging drop (HD) spheroid culture system, versus a two-dimensional (2D) culture condition at different concentrations of 5-azacytidine (5-Aza). 5-Azaytidine (5-Aza) is a pyrimidine nucleoside analogue of cytidine that initiates cell differentiation programs through DNA demethylation. The hADSCs were isolated and cultured both in 2D and 3D HD conditions, with either 10 or 50 μM concentrations of 5-Aza. Then DNA content, gene expression, and protein content were analyzed. 3D HD culture resulted in a higher percentage of cells in G0/G1 and S phase in the cell division cycle, whereas 2D culture led to a greater percentage of cells in the G2/M phase. A significantly higher gene expression rate of HAND1, HAND2, cTnI, Cx43, βMHC, GATA4, NKX2.5, and MLC2V was observed in HD treated with 50 μM 5-Aza. This was confirmed by immunocytochemistry. These findings suggest that 50 μM concentration of 5-Aza can induce hADSCs to differentiate into cardiomyocytes. The differentiation rate was significantly higher when accompanied by the 3D HD culture system. This work provides a new culture system for cell differentiation for cardiovascular tissue engineering. © 2020 International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc

Comparison five primer sets from different genome region of covid-1for detection of virus infection by conventional rt-pcr

Background and Objectives: The new beta-coronavirus, which caused Severe Acute Respiratory Coronavirus-2 Syndrome (SARS-CoV-2), a major respiratory outbreak in Wuhan, China in December 2019, is now prevalent in many countries around the world. Identifying PCR-based viruses is a well-known and relatively stable protocol. Unfortunately, the high mutation rates may lead to widespread changes in viral nucleic acid sequences, and so using specific primers for PCR can be recom-mended. In this study, we evaluated the power of a conventional RT-PCR to detect SARS-CoV-2 RNA among the five set primer sets. Materials and Methods: The five genomic regions of the Coronavirus SARS-2 virus including Nucleocapsids (N), Enve-lope (E), RNA depended RNA Polymerase (RdRp), ORF1ab and Spike (S) were selected for primer designing. A conventional RT-PCR was performed to compare sensitivity, specificity and other analytical characteristics of primers designed against two Real Time PCR commercial kits. Results: The result of the comparative analysis showed that the ORF1ab, N and RdRp primers had a sensitivity, specificity and positive predictive value higher than other primers. A significant difference in the analytical sensitivity between the studied primer sets in RT-PCR kits was observed. Conclusion: In this study, the ORF1ab, Nucleocapsid and RdRp regions have the best primers for identifying the SARS-CoV-2 RNA between different genes that have been suggested. © 2020, Tehran University of Medical Science. All rights reserved

C-590T promoter polymorphism of the interleukin (IL)-4 gene is associated with an increased susceptibility to nasal polyposis

Background: Recent studies have shown interleukin 4 (IL-4) and 5 lipoxygenase (5-LO) to play an important role in development of nasal polyposis. Investigation into the genetic factors associated with allergic and nonallergic nasal polyposis has been examined for more than fifteen years. Despite these efforts, the genetic factors underlying the development of nasal polyposis have yet to be clearly understood. The current study examined the relationship between C-590T promoter polymorphisms of the IL-4 gene and the presence of nasal polyps. Additionally, we examined the levels of 5-LO expression in nasal polyp tissue and its association with the IL-4 promoter gene polymorphisms. Methods: A total of 320 subjects were enrolled in the study, of which 256 were healthy controls and 64 were patients with nasal polyps. The Real-Time PCR HRM-based method was used to determine the genotypes of IL-4 C-590T. The expression of 5-LO within the 64 samples of nasal polyp tissue was determined by immunohistochemical staining to examine the association of 5-LO with the IL-4 C-590T genotype. Results: Genetic analysis showed a significant difference in the frequencies of the IL-4 polymorphisms at C-590T in patients with nasal polyps as compared with controls (p < 0.001). No significant difference was seen in the expression of 5-LO among genotypes in patients with nasal polyps (p=0.139). Conclusions: The results suggest that the inheritance of TT and CT genotypes at the IL-4 C-590T promoter gene is associated with nasal polyps however, there is no association between the expression of 5-LO in nasal polyp tissues and IL-4 C-590T genotypes in patients with nasal polyps. © 2015 Reports of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology