Parasitic Infections and MicroRNAs

Some parasites are innocuous or even beneficial to mammalian hosts. The gastrointestinal helminths modulate several important intestinal functions such as immunomodulation. In contrast, infections by pathogenic parasites are the cause of numerous epidemics and serious disease. The inflammatory response to infection must be tightly regulated in order to achieve pathogen clearance and at the same time avoid consequences of deregulated gene expression. The discovery in eukaryotic cells of small non-coding RNAs called microRNAs (miRNAs) has greatly expanded our understanding of the mechanisms that regulate gene expression. Recently, the miRNAs biosynthesis and mechanism of action are well documented. Regarding their mechanism of action, miRNAs most often silence gene expression following association with mRNA targets and Argonaute proteins (Ago), thereby forming the miRNA-induced silencing complex (miRISC). Numerous miRNAs can also be identified in extracellular compartments for example when associated with Ago in plasma, or when contained within exosomes, small membrane vesicles that bud off the cell surface into the extracellular space. These biofluid miRNAs have increasingly been validated as robust biomarkers for disease and organ damag

The health system approach to the complementary and alternative medicine

Since different nations have emphasized reusing their traditional methods in medicine over the last two decades, and the World Health Organization’s recent approach has also focused on restoring traditional medicine in different parts of the world, those methods that are more compatible with the popular culture of a country should be considered. In our country, the traditional medicine, with its rich resources and scientific support as well as its considerable compatibility with the health orders of Islam, and the recommendations of the Holy Prophet and Imams, has been regarded by scientists and people for a long time. Using Iranian traditional medicine and the rich and valuable treasures of this precious heritage has useful and researchable issues in order to enrich human knowledge and scientific advances, and to open new windows into the field of medicine. To be expanded, the traditional medicine needs to be organized, its education has to be centralized, and its educational content should be based on scientific documents and evidence so that academic communities could be satisfied and possible misuses in the field of complementary and traditional medicine could be prevented. Establishing the secretariat of the complementary and traditional medicine educational council in the Ministry of Health, medicinal herbs center, and traditional medicine school seems to be an effective measure to institutionalize and organize theses sciences in Iran. Necessary planning to employ the essential and efficient staff can be one of the important duties of this secretariat, and it can be operational by compiling educational planning for MSc and PhD courses on traditional medicine. The aim of this major is to train specialists familiar with popular principles and methods of prevention, treatment, education, and applicable researches in Iranian traditional medicine. Consequently, in addition to using the newest information of the classical medicine, this method can be used to provide, restore, and promote health in patients and societies when its application is useful for them and it promotes human knowledge. Ultimately, the three factors affecting organization and development include compiling the curriculum and teaching these sciences in universities considering academic standards, extracting results based on researches and reliable documents and evidences, and informing academic communities clearly, properly, and precisely

Detection of virulence genes in Escherichia coli isolated from patients with cystitis and pyelonephritis

SummaryBackgroundUropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) is a common cause of ascending urinary tract infections including cystitis and pyelonephritis. The purpose of this study was to investigate virulence genes among Escherichia coli isolated from patients with cystitis and pyelonephritis.MethodsBetween December 2012 and June 2013, 150 E. coli isolates from hospitalized patients with pyelonephritis (n = 72) and cystitis (n=78) were collected at Shahid Beheshti Hospital in Kashan. A PCR assay was used to evaluate the presence of virulence genes including pap, hly, aer, sfa, cnf, afa, traT, and pathogenicity island (PAI) markers in isolates.ResultsOf the total 150 UPEC isolates, 130 (86.7%) were found to carry the virulence genes studied. Nineteen different virulence patterns were identified. The most prevalent virulence pattern was UPEC including traT–PAI operons. The pap, traT, aer, hly, and PAI operons were more prevalent among patients with pyelonephritis than cystitis, and the sfa, afa, and cnf genes were not detected in any of the isolates.ConclusionsHigher virulence gene diversity was found among pyelonephritis UPEC isolates in comparison to cystitis UPEC isolates, showing that UPEC strains that cause pyelonephritis need more virulence factors

Economic and Environmental Impacts of Dietary Changes in Iran: An Input-Output Analysis

 Iran's simple and environmentally extended commodity by commodity input-output (IO) model was used to determine the impacts of dietary changes on the Iranian economy and on the environmental load. The original model is based on the status-quo diet and was modified to include the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) and Mediterranean alternative dietary scenarios. A range of impacts occurred depending upon the relative changes in food items. The direction of changes was similar in the three alternative scenarios. The greatest and smallest impact occurred in the WHO and the Mediterranean scenarios respectively. Total changes in output in WHO, WCRF and Mediterranean dietary scenarios were calculated to be 7010.1, 4802.8 and 3330.8 billion Rials respectively. The outputs of rice, vegetables, fruit, bread and macaroni decreased, but those of live and other animal products increased. The output of non-food commodities and services increased as well. The environmental load increased for three dietary scenarios in comparison with the status-quo diet. The greatest and smallest environmental load occurred in WHO and Mediterranean dietary scenarios respectively. Thus, although dietary changes can have positive effects on economic output, in order to avoid negative environmental effects, it is necessary to consider strategies such as applying capabilities, particularly natural resources in an optimal healthy and environmentally diet, planning for improving forest covering and green space simultaneously with increasing economic activities and using indirect incentives, such as taxes and insurance, for promoting sustainable and healthy foods and reducing greenhouse gas emissions

Investigation of Soil Contamination With Cryptosporidium spp. Oocysts in DifferentRegions of Yazd, Central Iran

Background: Cryptosporidium species are coccidian parasites that cause gastrointestinal disorders in humans and other animals worldwide.Objective: The aim of this study was to demonstrate the rate of contamination with Cryptosporidium spp. oocysts in soils collected from public parks, primary schools, green areas, kindergartens, suburban areas, streets, residential complexes, backyards and a passenger terminal in Yazd, central Iran.Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from September 2014 to February 2015, and the samples were collected from 9 different study sites and 56 regions. Soil samples were investigated by flotation technique and modified Ziehl–Neelsen staining for Cryptosporidium spp. oocysts. Finally, the slides were examined with a light microscope. The data were analyzed using SPSS software version 20.0 and chi-square statistical test.Results: Of a total of 220 soil samples, 47 (21.36%) were found to contain Cryptosporidium spp. oocysts. Statistical analysis showed that there was no significant difference between the contamination rate and different study sites in Yazd, central Iran (P > 0.05). The highest contamination rate was observed in public parks (38.3%) and the lowest in passenger terminal, kindergartens and streets (4.25%) (P = 0.934).Conclusion: The results of the present study show that the contamination of soil with Cryptosporidium spp. can be considered a serious problem in Yazd, central Iran. It should be considered particularly in public parks

Genotype Characterization of Human Hydatid Cyst Isolates From Patients in Karaj, Iran, Using COX1 Gene Sequence

Background: Cystic echinococcosis is a main zoonotic infection. It can cause serious clinical problems for human health around the world. Genotypic specification of Echinococcus granulosus in human is important due to control and prevention programs.Objective: In this investigation, genetic characteristics of human isolates of E. granulosus in Karaj, Iran, were studied.Materials and Methods: In this review, 3 isolates of surgically removed hydatid cysts were obtained from patients in Shahid Madani hospital, Karaj, Iran in 2014. DNA was extracted from the protoscolex of the cyst, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay was done on the COX1 gene.Results: DNA fragments were sequenced and the results were aligned and analyzed. Among the isolates, 3 (100%) were E. granulosus (G1) strain.Conclusion: The G1 genotype was the most superior strain from human isolates of hydatid cyst in Karaj

Scolicidal Effects of Olea europaea and Satureja khuzestanica Extracts on Protoscolices of Hydatid Cysts

Treatment of hydatid disease is mainly surgical, with medical treatment being reserved as a coadjuvant treatment. Use of effective scolicidal agents during surgery of cystic echinococcosis is essential to reduce the recurrence rate. The goal of this study was to evaluate the in vitro scolicidal effects of hydroalcoholic extracts of Satureja khuzestanica leaves and aqueous extracts of Olea europaea leaves on hydatid cyst protoscolices. Echinococcus granulosus protoscolices were collected from the liver of sheep infected with the hydatid cyst. Various concentrations of plant extracts were used in different exposure times for viability assay of protoscolices. Among the olive leaf extracts tested, 0.1% and 0.01% concentrations had strong scolicidal effects in 120 min. S. khuzestanica 0.1% had very strong scolicidal effects in 30, 60, and 120 min of exposure times and the mortality rate decreased with the lower concentration. The finding have shown that the scolicidal activity of S. khuzestanica against cystic echinococosis protoscolices were more effective, while the O. europaea extract showed less effects