Assessment of the microbiological safety of salad vegetables from different Restaurants in Ilam

Vegetables, used in preparing salads, are most important part of the diet. These materials are often irrigated by untreated urban wastewater. Wastewater, contaminated with ova of parasites, bacteria and protozoa, are used as fertilizers and it can cause a variety of infectious diseases. The purpose of this study is detection of microbial contamination of salad used in Ilam’s restaurants.In this study, 42 samples were collected from all restaurants placed in Ilam city and transferred to the laboratory. Brilliant Green Medium, Trypton water and Coax reagent used for detection of Escherichia coli. Water broth, Selenit systein, Tetrationat, Salmonella-shigella agar and Briliant green was used for identification of salmonella. For detection of Enterococcus, KF agar medium containing a diphenyl Tetrazolium chloride was used. Sabro dextrose agar medium (SDA) was used for detection of mold and yeast and wet mount and concentration methods used for parasitology investigations. The results of this study indicate that about 66.66% of samples were infected with Enterococcus, 69% had E. coli contamination and 83.33% of samples were contaminated with yeast. Samples were negative for presence of Salmonella and mold (mold not more than 103). Parasites contamination of samples was (4 cases) 9.5% for Giardia lamblia, (10 cases) 23.8% for Taenia eggs, 31% (13 cases) for Hymenolepis nana 16.6% (7 cases) for Entamoeba coli. The results of this study showed that salads are contaminated with infectious agent and the use of appropriate disinfectants and washing the vegetables used in salad preparation is essential for controlling infectious diseases

Prevalence of Helminthes Infection of Stray Dogs in Ilam Province

    Stray dogs are considered as an important health problem in societies because they can carry dangerous diseases such as hydatidosis, toxocariasis and coenurus cerebralis to humans and animals. Therefore, the study of helminthes infections in all parts of Iran for evaluation of infection state, and provision of the infection control programs is essential. The aim of this study, was to determine the prevalence of parasitic cestodes in stray dogs around Ilam city. In this study, 65 stray dogs were killed by shooting with the municipality officers and were dissected considering health rules. After laparotomy, internal organs are inspected, and bowels completely collected in separate containers containing 10% formaldehyde. Transferring the samples to the parasitological laboratory, the bowels were cut using forceps, and its contents passed through the sieve, and the worms were separated. Azo carmine & carminic acid staining was used for diagnosis of isolated cestodes. The number of 65 dogs, 54 dogs (83%) had at least one species of cestodes; that 32% (21 dogs) infected by Taenia ovis, 9% (6 dogs) by Echinococcus granulosus, 15.4% (10 dogs) by Taenia hydatigena, 20% (13 dogs) by Taenia multiceps, 18.5 /% (12 dogs) by Dipylidium caninum and 10.8% (7 dogs) by Mesocestoides lineatus. In this study, it was shown that helminthic rate in stray dogs is very high around Ilam. These parasites are important in terms of health and economic aspects. Therefore, it is more essential that we note to parasitic infections, to develop control programs

9-(2,3-Dichloro­phen­yl)-4a-hydr­oxy-3,3,6,6-tetra­methyl-4,4a,5,6,9,9a-hexa­hydro-3H-xanthene-1,8(2H,7H)-dione

Mol­ecules of the title compound, C23H26Cl2O4, are linked by hydrogen bonds between the hydroxyl O atom and the carbonyl O atom of a neighboring mol­ecule. The central hydropyran and fused cyclohexanone rings adopt half-chair conformations, while the fused hydroxycyclohexanone ring adopts a chair conformation

Fever of Unknown Origin with Final Diagnosis of Imported Malaria: A Case Study

One of the most important infectious diseases in the world is Malaria. About half of the world populations are exposed to the risk of the disease. The program for controlling and eradication of Malaria has been being conducted in our country since many years ago. One of the public health problems in the endemic and non-endemic countries is Imported Malaria which can cause new and permanent infected foci. Population movement and travelling from endemic areas can transmit the disease to the clean areas and can also transmit the drug resistant Protozoa particularly Plasmodium Falciparum. Our case study describes a 30 year old person who has travelled to India for one month. He has visited a doctor in India because of fever, chills, malaise, and has received symptomatic treatment without any specific diagnosis .After returning to Iran, the symptoms appeared again after visiting by a doctor he has hospitalized with a diagnosis of Fever of unknown origin (FUO).He was checked for three days and on the fourth day, the blood smear of the patient showed Plasmodium Vivax. Ultimately he received the appropriate treatment and was discharged from the hospital in a good condition

Micro-RNAs, New performers in multiple myeloma bone marrow microenvironment

Abstract The established interaction between multiple myeloma cells and bone marrow microenvironment components provides malignant cells with various survival, growth and drug resistance signals. As a new concept, identification of miRNAs and their related gene/protein targets, signaling molecules and pathways in the context of bone marrow microenvironment will help understanding more deeply the pathogenesis of the disease and possible mechanisms underlying environment-induced drug resistance. Recent studies suggest that bone marrow stromal cells can modulate some miRNAs (miR-21, miR-15a/16) in multiple myeloma cells through direct adhesion, cytokine secretion or transfer of miRNA-containing exosomes, however; the specific miRNA targets are not clear. In spite of a remarkable progress in understanding myeloma biology and therapy, the disease persists to be hard to treat. This review will discuss the most recent findings on miRNAs expression and function in the context of bone marrow microenvironment highlighting the miRNAs as potential therapeutic targets in multiple myeloma

Characterization of the Toll-like receptor expression profile in human multiple myeloma cells.

Expression and function of Toll-like receptors (TLRs) in multiple myeloma (MM) has recently become the focus of several studies. Knowledge of expression and biology of these receptors in MM will provide us with a new insight into the role of an inflammatory environment in disease progression or pathogenesis of MM. However, to date a quite heterogeneous expression pattern of TLRs in MM particularly at gene level has been described while information on the TLR expression at the protein level is largely unavailable. In this study, we investigated the TLR expression in human myeloma cell lines (HMCLs) Fravel, L363, UM6, UM9, OPM1, OPM2, U266, RPMI 8226, XG1, and NCI H929 and primary cells from MM patients at both mRNA and protein level (western blot and flow cytometry). We found that all cell lines and primary cells expressed TLR1, TLR3, TLR4, TLR7, TLR8, and TLR9 mRNA and protein. TLR2 and TLR5 were expressed by the majority of HMCLs at mRNA but were not detectable at protein level, while primary samples showed a low level of TLR2, TLR3 and TLR5 protein expression. Our results indicate that MM cells express a broad range of TLRs with a degree of disparity between gene and protein expression pattern. The clear expression of TLRs in MM cells indicates a propensity for responding to tumor-induced inflammatory signals, which seem inevitable in the MM bone marrow environment

Role of epigenetics-microRNA axis in drug resistance of multiple myeloma

Abstract Despite administration of novel therapies, multiple myeloma (MM) remains incurable with resistance to drugs leading to relapse in most patients. Thus, it is critical to understand the detailed mechanisms underlying the drug resistance of MM and develop more effective therapeutic strategies. Genetic abnormalities are well known to play a central role in MM pathogenesis and therapy resistance; however, epigenetic aberrations mainly affecting the patterns of DNA methylation/histone modifications of genes (especially tumor suppressors) and miRNAs have also been shown to be involved. Importantly, while epigenetic silencing of miRNAs in MM is well documented, some epigenetic markers are known to be direct targets of miRNAs particularly the recently described “epimiRNAs”. Drugs targeting epigenetic modifiers (e.g., HDACs, EZH2) can sensitize MM-resistant cells to anti-myeloma drugs and reversibility of epigenetic changes makes these drugs promising therapeutic agents. Therefore, combination of miRNA mimics with inhibitors of epigenetic modifiers would be a more potent therapeutic strategy in MM patients in relapse or refractory to treatments. In this review, we will discuss the findings of recent investigations on epigenetics/miRNA regulatory axis in development of drug resistance in MM and highlight possible approaches for therapeutic applications of such interaction

Toll-like receptor (TLR)-1/2 triggering of multiple myeloma cells modulates their adhesion to bone marrow stromal cells and enhances bortezomib-induced apoptosis.

In multiple myeloma (MM), the malignant plasma cells usually localize to the bone marrow where they develop drug resistance due to adhesion to stromal cells and various environmental signals. Hence, modulation of this interaction is expected to influence drug sensitivity of MM cells. Toll-like receptor (TLR) ligands have displayed heterogeneous effects on B-cell malignancies and also on MM cells in a few recent studies, but effects on adhesion and drug sensitivity of myeloma cells in the context of bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) have never been investigated. In the present study, we explored the modulatory effects of TLR1/2 ligand (Pam3CSK4) on adhesion of human myeloma cells to BMSCs. It is shown that TLR1/2 triggering has opposite effects in different HMCLs on their adhesion to BMSCs. Fravel, L363, UM-6, UM-9 and U266 showed increased adhesion to BMSC in parallel with an increased surface expression of integrin molecules α4 and αVβ3. OPM-1, OPM-2 and NCI-H929 showed a dose-dependent decrease in adhesion upon TLR activation following a downregulation of β7 integrin expression. Importantly, TLR1/2 triggering increased cytotoxic and apoptotic effects of bortezomib in myeloma cells independent of the effect on stromal cell adhesion. Moreover, the apoptosis-enhancing effect of Pam3CSK4 paralleled induction of cleaved caspase-3 protein in FACS analysis suggesting a caspase-dependent mechanism. Our findings uncover a novel role of TLR activation in MM cells in the context of bone marrow microenvironment. Stimulation of TLR1/2 bypasses the protective shield of BMSCs and may be an interesting strategy to enhance drug sensitivity of multiple myeloma cells