24 research outputs found
Isolation, Characterization and in vitro Evaluation of Specific Bacteriophages Targeting Extensive Drug Resistance Strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Isolated from Septic Burn Wounds
Background: Antibiotic resistant bacteria and various infections caused by them especially
extensive drug resistance (XDR) strains and worrying statistics of mortality due to these
strains and also the lack of a clear vision for development and production of new effective
antibiotics have made the necessity of using alternative therapies more apparent.
Materials and Methods: In this study, specific phages affecting the Pseudomonas aeruginosa
XDR strain were extracted from hospital wastewater and their laboratory characteristics
along with lysis effect on 40 XDR strains of P. aeruginosa were investigated.
Results: The results indicated that three isolated phages (PaB1, PaBa2 and PaBa3) belonged
to the Myoviridae and Pododoviridae families and were specific to Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains.
More than 98% of phages absorbed their host in less than 10 minutes (Adsorption time <10
min) and completed their lytic cycle after 40 minutes (latent time = 40 min). Burst size of
PaBa1, PaBa2 and PaBa3 was 240, 250 and 220 pfu/cell, respectively. PaBa1 lysed 62.5% of the
XDR strains with the highest efficiency. The three Phage cocktail was effective against 67.5%
of the studied strains.
Conclusion: The results of this study indicate the significant potential of these phages for
therapeutic use and prophylaxis of infections caused by this bacterium.
Keywords: Bacteriophage; Pseudomonas aeruginosa; Drug resistance; Antibiotic resistanc
Isolation of new Klebsiella pneumoniae phage PSKP16
Background and Objectives: Klebsiella pneumoniae is a clinically relevant opportunistic pathogen belonging to the Enterobacteriaceae family. It is in the top three bacteria associated with antimicrobial resistance deaths globally, and one of the most dangerous bacteria causing nosocomial infections. Phage therapy offers a potential option for the treatment of drug-resistant bacterial infections.
Materials and Methods: Phage PSKP16 was isolated against K. pneumoniae, capsular type K2 (isolated from a wound infection). PSKP16 is a new lytic phage with a Siphovirus-like morphology.
Results: PSKP16 is a linear double stranded DNA phage with a GC content of 50% and genome size of 46,712 bp, for which we predicted 67 ORFs. PSKP16 belongs to the genus Webervirus and shows high evolutionary proximity to Klebsiella phages JY917, Sushi, and B1.
Conclusion: Phage isolation is fast, cheap and efficient, but it requires time and characterization (which adds expense) to ensure that the isolated phages do not pose a health risk, which is essential to safely use phage therapy to treat life-threatening bacterial infections
Development of multiplex real-time quantitative PCR for simultaneous detection of Chlamydia trachomatis, Mycoplasma hominis, Ureaplasma urealyticum, and Mycoplasma genitalium in infertile women
Purpose: Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) can cause sterility and many other problems for women planning
pregnancy. Currently, almost 340 million people worldwide suffer from Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs). This
study made attempts to quickly identify STDs' most critical infectious agents using dedicated primers and probes.
Methods: The present study was done on the cervical samples of 200 infertile women. After extracting the total
DNA of Chlamydia trachomatis, Mycoplasma hominis, Ureaplasma urealyticum, and Mycoplasma genitalium, quantitative methods were employed to determine the rate of target bacteria using multiplex real-time PCR.
Results: The multiplex qPCR showed the rates of 47%, 16%, 46%, and 16.5% for Chlamydia trachomatis, Mycoplasma hominis, Ureaplasma urealyticum, and Mycoplasma genitalium in infertile women, respectively. In some
patients, there were co-infections with two or three bacteria. The diagnostic approach used in our research could
be employed as an alternative detection tool to identify the four most common STD-associated bacterial agents
while detecting mixed infections.
Conclusions: Infertile women with no biological problems could have their genital tract checked using this newly
designed identification technique and get proper treatment for their infections as quickly as possible
The effect of antimicrobial activity of Teucrium Polium on Oral Streptococcus Mutans: A randomized cross-over clinical trial study
Background: The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of a mouthwash containing Teucriumpolium herb
on Streptococcus mutans in mouth.
Methods: This study was a randomized, crossover, double-blind clinical trial, where we selected 22 volunteers
(dental students) randomly and we divided them into two groups. The study had two phases. In each phase, one
group acted as the intervention group, while the other one was the control group. Both the intervention and
control groups were given the mouthwash with and without Teucriumpolium, respectively. S. mutans of saliva were
measured before and after each phase to compare the effects of the mouthwashes. A three-week washout period
was considered between the two phases. An independent two-sample t-test was utilized to compare the mean of
S. mutans colonies. Additionally, we used a standard AB/BA crossover model to find the results of the treatment
and the impact of carryover on the residual’s biological effects. The significance level was considered 0.05 in this
experiment.
Results: There is no significant difference observed between the two groups in the number of S. mutans before
using the mouthwashes. When the mouthwash containing Teucriumpolium was used, there was a significant
decrease in the number of S. mutans colonies in both phases’ extract (P = 0.002). Conclusion: The results of this
study indicate the mouthwash containing aqueous extract of Teucrium polium can majorly reduce the colonization
of S. mutans in human saliva