Geopolitics and environmental issues in the Caspian Sea

Nowadays, a noticeable part of the relations among the states turn around the environment protection. Therefore, the right for ever-creasing use of the existing resources of this inland sea cannot be exclusive to any Caspian State and the aftermath involves all countries of this basin. In this respect, agreement on political border and boundaries with the Caspian Sea’s ecosystem is a difficult issue. The unstable resources of fish reserves, underground oil pools, migratory animals and instability of resources that so often seem to be harmful, particularly for their potential power of passing through borders, are the subject of geopolitical disputes among the states of this basin. According to the above-mentioned points, the basic question in the present article is: “What is the role of the environmental issues in geopolitical relations of the Caspian States?” Therefore, it is supposed that a consideration of environmental issues in exploiting different resources of the Caspian Sea can set up peace among the Caspian countries

Integron-Mediated Antibiotic Resistance in Acinetobacter baumannii Isolated from Intensive Care Unit Patients, Babol, North of Iran

Background. We investigated the integron types and their relation with antibiotic resistance among A. baumannii isolates collected from intensive care unit patients, Babol, north of Iran. Methods. In this cross-sectional study, a total of 73 bronchoalveolar lavage samples were obtained from patients in ICU. Susceptibility testing was performed by disk diffusion method. Types of integrons were identified by an integrase gene PCR. Results. In total, 47.9% A. baumannii isolates were recovered from the BAL samples. All isolates were resistant to ceftazidime. 91.4% and 58.3% of isolates were MDR and XDR, respectively. The rate of colistin resistance with the E-test was 5.7%. Molecular analysis of class I, II, and III integrons showed that 25.7%, 88.6%, and 28.6% of the isolates carried the intI, intII, and intIII genes, respectively. Discussion. Our results show that different classes of integrons are commonly spread among A. baumannii strains and these genomic segments can play an important role in the acquisition of MDR and XDR phenotypes. So monitoring drug resistance in A. baumannii isolates with the use of int gene PCR is very important to plan specific infection control measures to prevent the spread of MDR-AB and XDR-AB in Iran’s hospitals

Isolation and typing of the influenza viruses in the Caspian littoral of Iran

Present study introduces results of common influenza virus strains in the north of Iran. Samples collected from 65 patients with acute respiratory illness by throat washing and swabs, randomly from north of Iran (Mazandaran, Golestan and Guilan provinces). The patients suffered from fever (high), cough, sore throat, general malaise, chill and myalgia. Viruses were isolated by cell culture and confirmed with HA (Hemagglutination) test and then typed by and HI (Hemagglutination Inhibition) test. Out of 65 throat samples, 12 influenza viruses were isolated and typed. Isolated viruses belonged to A (H1N1), A (H3N2) and B influenza viruses. This study showed that Influenza viruses displayed identical pattern to other provinces in Iran and to other countries. To fight against epidemics and pandemics, we should collect enough data about status of influenza each year and data of exact vaccine formulation application for use in different areas of the world. Acquired data has shown that the vaccine for above viruses that confirmed by WHO can result in decreased risks of influenza in at risk cases in provinces of north Iran

Molecular characterization of carbapenem-resistant acinetobacter baumannii isolated from pediatric burns patients in an Iranian hospital

Purpose: To survey the molecular characteristics of imipenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii obtained from pediatric burns patients in a teaching hospital in Tehran, Iran. Methods: Over a 10-month period, 73 non-duplicate A. baumannii strains were collected from pediatric burns patients admitted to Motahari Burn and Reconstruction Center, Tehran, Iran. The resistance profile of several antimicrobials was determined. Metallo-β-lactamase (MBL)-producing isolates were identified using double-disk synergy and an MBL E-test. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was carried out to detect the following β-lactamase-encoding elements: blaVIM, blaIMP, blaSIM, blaSPM, blaGIM, blaNDM, blaAIM, blaDIM, blaKPC, blaOXA-23/24/51, and blaOXA-58. The types of integrons were also identified using PCR. Results: Out of the 73 collected strains, 92.4 and 38.3 of the isolates were multidrug-resistant (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR), respectively. Colistin was the most effective antibiotic. It was found that 94.5 of the strains were resistant to imipenem, as determined both by disk agar diffusion and MIC E-test methods. Based on double disk synergy and E-test, 78.1 and 83.5 of the isolates, respectively, were MBL producers. The prevalence of blaOXA-23 and blaOXA-24 were 75.4 and 39.1 , respectively. The results also indicate that 62.3, 30.4, and 4.3 of the isolates were positive for blaVIM, blaIMP and blaNDM genes, respectively. Furthermore, 16.4, 76.1, and 7.5 of the isolates carried intI, intII, and intIII genes, respectively. Conclusion: The increased frequency of carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii in burns cases underlines the importance of choosing an appropriate antibacterial regimen based on antibiotic susceptibility profile. Rapid identification of carbapenemase-producing strains would be helpful for selecting suitable antimicrobial therapy and preventing further spread of their encoding genes. © Pharmacotherapy Group, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Benin, Benin City, 300001 Nigeria

High-Risk and Low-Risk Human Papillomavirus in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma at Mazandaran, Northern Iran

Cancers are the second most common cause of nonaccidental deaths in Iran, following cardiovascular deaths. Mazandaran, near the Caspian Littoral at north of Iran have identified as a several-high incidence area for Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma (ESCC) in the world. Several associated risk factors, such as dietary and cultural habits, infectious agents, nutritional deficiencies, too much use of tobacco and alcohol and infection to certain DNA tumor viruses (HPVs), including environmental and genetic factors are attributed to this disease. To explore this issue, we analyzed HPV DNA prevalence and HPV types together in relation to tumor sites a high-incidence population. Archived tissue blocks from 46, 69 and 62 upper, middle and lower third of esophagus, respectively from ESCC patients were evaluated for the presence of HPV DNA by PCR using the degenerate HPV L1 consensus primer pairs MY09/MY11. The positive specimens were evaluated by Real-time PCR to determine HPV genotypes. From the 49 HPV positive cases, of ESCC patients, 5 (23.1%), 11 (55 %) and 9 (56.3 %) of upper, middle and lower third of ESCC specimens, respectively were positive by at least one high and one low-risk HPV genotypes. In general, HPV45 and HPV11 were the most common high- risk and low-risk HPV genotypes in HPV L1 positive cases, respectively, followed by HPV6, HPV52 and HPV39. Therefore, the high prevalence of HPV DNA in different anatomical sites of ESCC patients from the Mazandaran region in North of Iran provides more evidence for a role of HPV in this cancer

Merkel cell polyomavirus and non-Merkel cell carcinomas: Guilty or circumstantial evidence?

Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV) is the major causative factor of the rare but aggressive cancer, Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC). Two characteristics of MCPyV‐positive MCCs are integration of the viral genome and expression of a truncated version of one of its oncogenic proteins, namely large T antigen. The strong association of MCPyV with MCC development has incited researchers to further investigate a possible role of this virus in other cancers. However, many of the examples displaying the presence of the virus in the various non‐MCC cancers are not able to clearly demonstrate a direct connection between cellular transformation and the presence of the virus. The prevalence of the virus is significantly lower in non‐MCC cancers compared to MCCs, with a lower level of viral load and sparse viral protein expression. Moreover, the state of the viral genome, and whether a truncated large T antigen is expressed, has rarely been investigated. Nonetheless, considering the strong oncogenic potential of MCPyV proteins in MCC, the plausible contribution of MCPyV to transformation and cancer growth in non‐MCC tumors cannot be ruled out. Furthermore, the absence of MCPyV in cancers does not exclude a hit‐and‐run mechanism, or the oncoproteins of MCPyV may potentiate the neoplastic process mediated by co‐infecting oncoviruses such as high‐risk human papillomaviruses and Epstein–Barr virus. The current review is focusing on the available data describing the presence of MCPyV in non‐MCC tumors, with an aim to provide a comprehensive overview of the corresponding literature and to discuss the potential contribution of MCPyV to non‐MCC cancer in light of this

Seroprevalence of Hepatitis A and Hepatitis E Viruses Among Blood Donors in North of Iran

Background and Aim: Hepatitis A virus (HAV) and hepatitis E virus (HEV) are both transmitted by the fecal-oral route and are known as leading causes of acute viral hepatitis in the world, especially in developing countries. There is a lack of updated data on HAV and HEV seroprevalence in the north of Iran. This study aimed to determine the seroprevalence of HAV and HEV among blood donors in Babol, Iran. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed in 2018 on 491 blood donors referred to the Babol Blood Transfusion Center. The serum samples were tested for anti-HAV and anti-HEV IgG using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results: The mean age of blood donors was 40.92 ± 9.86 years. An anti-HAV antibody was found in 385 (78.4), and an anti-HEV antibody was detected in 8 (1.6) blood donors. The seroprevalence of HAV was a significant correlation to age, marital and educational status (P0.05). Conclusion: This study showed that the incidence of HAV in the age group of <33 years is low, and the incidence of HEV has not changed compared to the past and HEV was lower than in other regions in Iran, and it needs more investigation in the north of Iran to obtain detailed information in anti-HEV seroprevalence © 2021. This is an original open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-noncommercial 4.0 International License which permits copy and redistribution of the material just in noncommercial usages with proper citatio