Echinococcus granulosus sensu lato GENOTYPES IN DOMESTIC LIVESTOCK AND HUMANS IN GOLESTAN PROVINCE, IRAN

Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is a globally parasitic zoonosis caused by larval stages of Echinococcus granulosus. This study investigated E. granulosus genotypes isolated from livestock and humans in the Golestan province, northern Iran, southeast of the Caspian sea, using partial sequencing data of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (cox1) and NADH dehydrogenase 1 (nad1) mitochondrial genes. Seventy E. granulosus isolates were collected from animals in slaughterhouses: 18 isolates from sheep, 40 from cattle, nine from camels, two from buffaloes and one from a goat, along with four human isolates (formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues) from CE patients of provincial hospitals. All isolates were successfully analysed by PCR amplification and sequencing. The sequence analysis found four E. granulosus genotypes among the 74 CE isolates: G1 (78.3%), G2 (2.7%), G3 (15%) and G6 (4%). The G1-G3 complex genotype was found in all of the sheep, goat, cattle and buffalo isolates. Among the nine camel isolates, the frequency of G1-G3 and G6 genotypes were 66.7% and 33.3%, respectively. All four human CE isolates belonged to E. granulosus sensu stricto. This study reports the first occurrence of the G2 genotype in cattle from Iran and confirms the previously reported G3 genotype in camels in the same country

Relationship between Maternal Blood Vitamin D Levels and Pregnancy Outcomes: A Review Article

Background & Objective: Vitamin D deficiency is common during pregnancy and at delivery. Recent data suggest that vitamin D deficiency in mothers is associated with some adverse pregnancy outcomes. This study is designed to determine the relationship between the low maternal serum vitamin D levels and several pregnancy outcomes such as: pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes, bacterial vaginosis and caesarean section. Material & Methods: This study is a review of the observational study (descriptive and analytic) articles published during 10 years (2000-2014) in English with full text which were indexed in PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, Iranmedex, Science Direct and and the SID databases. Results: A collection of 25 observational study from 168 articles which were related to 25-hydroxyvitamin D and adverse pregnancy outcomes were studied. The results indicated that the low levels of serum 25(OH)D in pregnant women is a risk factor for pre-eclampsia, bacterial vaginosis and cesarean section, but in relation to preeclapsia this indication is focuse on the second and the third trimester of pregnancy and there is no agreement about the risk for gestational diabetes and vitamin D deficiency among all the researches. Conclusion: Several pregnancy outcomes may be related to mothers’ serum 25(OH)D levels. However there is a significant need to perform more researches such as randomized clinical trials to investigate the effect of supplementation and screening on the maternal and neonatal outcomes

Comparing Theory of Mind Skills and Language Performance between Children with Developmental Language Disorder, High-Functioning Autism, and Typically Developing Children

Background and purpose: Theory of Mind (TOM) is a cognitive ability to understand the beliefs, emotions, and desires of oneself and others, and its development is associated with proper development of other cognitive skills, including language. This study aimed at investigating the relationship between language and TOM and comparing the grammatical and lexical performances and TOM skills between children with high-functioning autism (HFA) and developmental language disorder (DLD) and typically developing (TD) children. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in 50 children aged 6-11 years old, native speakers of Persian language, with DLD (n= 14) and HFA (n= 11), and in TD (n= 25) children. Assessment of language skills was done by lexical and syntactic indicators obtained from the analysis of narrative speech sample and Persian grammar expression test (PEGT) and TOM skills using Persian mind theory test. Data were analyzed in SPSS V22 using ANOVA, Pearson Correlation, Kruskal-Wallis test, and Spearman correlation. Results: There were no significant differences in most grammatical, lexical, and TOM scores between children with DLD and HFA (P0.05). Significant correlation was observed between overall scores and TOM and PEGT scores in all three groups (P< .05). Conclusion: The current study revealed that children with HFA and DLD have weaker TOM skills than TD children which could be due to their language deficits