Prevalence of TEM-1 type beta-lactmase genes in Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains isolated from burn infections using Duplex PCR in Shahrekord, 2008

Background: Existence of extended spectrum B-lactamase (ESBL) genes plays an important role in spreading B-lactam antibiotic resistance in the producing strains of these enzymes. The resistance of gram-negative bacteria, such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, to different antimicrobial agents, especially B-lactam and carbapenem, has increasingly been reported. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of TEM-1 beta-lactamases in Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates through Duplex PCR. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive-analytic study, 175 Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates collected from burn patients were subjected to bacteriological tests. The samples were cultured and identified according to standard methods. Then the frequency of ESBL producing strains was determined via the combined disk method. Using boiling method, DNA was extracted and examined for the existence of TEM-1 gene by Duplex PCR. Results: Out of the 175 Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates, 66 (37.7%) were ESBL positive, 15.15% of which were positive for TEM-1 B-lactamases resistance gene. Conclusion: Noticing the increasing rate of the ESBLs producing strains, using the appropriate treatment protocol based on the antibiogram pattern of the strains is highly recommended

Prevalence of constitutive and inducible resistance to clindamycin in staphylococci isolates from Hajar and Kashani hospitals in Shahrekord 2008

زمینه و هدف: مقاومت به کلیندامایسین در استافیلوکوک به دو صورت بنیادی و القایی است. این مطالعه با هدف بررسی شیوع مقاومت بنیادی و القائی نسبت به کلیندامایسین در سویه های استافیلوکوک جدا شده از بیماران در بیمارستان های هاجر و کاشانی شهرکرد انجام شد. روش بررسی: این تحقیق توصیفی- تحلیلی بر روی 230 ایزوله استافیلوکوک انجام شد. برای سویه های با فنوتیپ مقاوم به اریترومایسین و حساس به کلیندامایسین، تست D انجام گردید. در این تست دو دیسک اریترومایسین (15μg) و کلیندامایسین (2μg) با فاصله مراکز 15 میلی متر، بر روی پلیت قرار داده شدند. پس از انکوباسیون، وجود هاله عدم رشد به شکل D بررسی گردید. داده ها به کمک آزمون های آماری کای دو و فیشر تجزیه و تحلیل گردید. یافته ها: از بین 230 ایزوله استافیلوکوکی، 6/55 حساس به کلیندامایسین بودند و 5/37 مقاومت بنیادی و 2/5 مقاومت القایی به کلیندامایسین داشتند. میزان مقاومت بنیادی و القایی به کلیندامایسین در ایزوله های استافیلوکوک مقاوم به متی سیلین (MRSA) به ترتیب 66 و 9 و در ایزوله های حســــاس به متی سیلین (MSSA) به ترتیب 4/15 و 3/2 بود. میــــزان مقـــاومت القایی در سویه های MRSA 2/4 برابر نسبت به سویـــه های حساس بود )]9/15-1/1OR=4.2 CI95%( (05/0(

Comparison of Real-Time PCR with Disk Diffusion, Agar Screen and E-test Methods for Detection of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a nosocomial pathogen. Our main objective was to compare oxacillin disk test, oxacillin E-test, and oxacillin agar screen for detection of methicillin resistance in S. aureus, using real-time PCR for mecA as the ``gold standard'' comparison assay. 196 S. aureus isolates were identified out of 284 Staphylococcus isolates. These isolates were screened for MRSA with several methods: disk diffusion, agar screen (6.0 mu g/ml), oxacillin E-test, and real-time PCR for detection of mecA gene. Of the 196 S. aureus isolates tested, 96 isolates (49%) were mecA-positive and 100 isolates (51%) mecA-negative. All methods tested had a statistically significant agreement with real-time PCR. E-test was 100% sensitive and specific for mecA presence. The sensitivity and specificity of oxacillin agar screen method were 98 and 99%, respectively and sensitivity and specificity of oxacillin disk diffusion method were 95 and 93%, respectively. In the present study, oxacillin E-test is proposed as the best phenotypic method. For economic reasons, the oxacillin agar screen method (6.0 mu g/ml), which is suitable for the detection of MRSA, is recommended due to its accuracy and low cost

Comparison of the performance of Disk diffusion, Agar screening and E-test methods with Real- time PCR for the detection of methicillin resistant coagulase negative Staphylococcus strains isolated from clinical samples of Shahrekord university hospitals, 2008

Background : Coagulase Negative staphylococci (CoNS) are nosocomial pathogens. The main objective of the study was to compare the performance of disk diffusion, E-test and agar screening methods with Real-time PCR technique for detection of methicillin resistance in coagulase negative staphylococci (MRCoNS), using Taqman® Real-time PCR for mecA DV WKH ³ JROG VWDQ GDUG´ FRP SDULVRQ DVVD\ � Methods : 88 coagulase negative Staphylococcus isolates were identified out of 284 Staphylococcus isolates collected from Hajar and Kashani hospitals-shahrekod, Iran. Methicillin resistance strains were identified by several methods: Disk diffusion, Agar screening, E-test and Real-time PCR. The results of the tested methods ZHUH FRP SDUHG ZLWK WKRVH RI WKH 5 HDO� WLP H 3& 5 E\ & KL VTX DUH RU ) LVKHU¶ V H[ DFW WHVWV� Results : Of the 88 coagulase negative Staphylococcus isolates tested, 46 isolates (52.3%) were mecA - positive and 42 isolates (47.7%) were mecA-negative. The results of all the tested methods had a statistically significant agreement with those of Real-time PCR. The E-test was 100% sensitive and specific for mecA presence. The sensitivity and specificity of oxacillin agar screen (6.0 µg/ml) method were 96% and 98%, respectively and the sensitivity and specificity of oxacillin Disk diffusion method were 91% and 90%, respectively. Conclusion: In the present study, E-test is proposed as the best phenotypic method. In case economic issue matters, the oxacillin agar screening method (6.0 µg/ml), which is suitable for the detection of MRCoNS due to its accuracy and low cost, is recommended. Keywords : methicill

A novel pathogenic variant in an Iranian Ataxia telangiectasia family revealed by next-generation sequencing followed by in silico analysis

Ataxia telangiectasia (A-T) is a neurodegenerative autosomal recessive disorder with the main characteristics of progressive cerebellar degeneration, sensitivity to ionizing radiation, immunodeficiency, telangiectasia, premature aging, recurrent sinopulmonary infections, and increased risk of malignancy, especially of lymphoid origin. Ataxia Telangiectasia Mutated gene, ATM, as a causative gene for the A-T disorder, encodes the ATM protein, which plays an important role in the activation of cell-cycle checkpoints and initiation of DNA repair in response to DNA damage. Targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS) was performed on an Iranian 5-year-old boy presented with truncal and limb ataxia, telangiectasia of the eye, Hodgkin lymphoma, hyper pigmentation, total alopecia, hepatomegaly, and dysarthria. Sanger sequencing was used to confirm the candidate pathogenic variants. Computational docicing was done using the HEX software to examine how this change affects the interactions of ATM with the upstream and downstream proteins. Three different variants were identified comprising two homozygous SNPs and one novel homozygous frameshift variant (c.80468047delTA, p.Thr2682ThrfsX5), which creates a stop codon in exon 57 leaving the protein truncated at its C-terminal portion. Therefore, the activation and phosphorylation of target proteins are lost. Moreover, the HEX software confirmed that the mutated protein lost its interaction with upstream and downstream proteins. The variant was classified as pathogenic based on the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics guideline. This study expands the spectrum of ATM pathogenic variants in Iran and demonstrates the utility of targeted NGS in genetic diagnostics. (C) 2017 Published by Elsevier B.V

The investigation of prevalence of methicillin and vancomycin resistance in coagulase negative Staphylococci isolated from clinical samples of Shahrekord university hospitals, 2009

Background: Vancomycin has been widely used in the treatment of infections caused by methicillin-resistant coagulase negative Staphylococci (MRCoNS). The emergence of vancomycin-intermediate and -resistant coagulase negative Staphylococci (VICoNS and VRCoNS, respectively) in various parts of the world, has caused great concern. In this study we investigated the prevalence of MRCoNS and Emergence of VICoNS and VRCoNS in Shahrekord Hospitals. Methods: Eighty eight coagulase negative Staphylococcus isolates were identified out of 284 Staphylococcus isolates collected from Shahrekod’s hospitals, Then, antimicrobial susceptibility pattern was determined for 12 antibiotics with Disk Diffusion method. Methicillin resistant strains were identified by several methods: Disk diffusion, E-test and Real-time PCR. Vancomycin resistant strains were also identified by several methods: Disk diffusion, Agar screening, E-test and Duplex PCR. Results: Using the disk diffusion test, 100% of isolates were resistant to penicillin while the lowest resistance (33%) was found for ofloxacin. Fourty six CoNS strains were methicillin resistant and none of these isolates were vancomycin resistant and none had vanA/vanB genes demonstrated by PCR. Conclusion: This study showed a high prevalence of MRCoNS at Shahrekord hospitals, but, vancomycin resistance was not found

Interleukin-1 β gene polymorphisms in Iranian patients with uterine fibroid, a case-control study

Uterine leiomyoma (UL) or fibroid is the most common estrogen- dependent tumor of the reproductive system. Almost a quarter of women at reproductive age are affected with this benign tumor. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the possible association of IL-1β-511and IL-1β 3954 polymorphisms with UL in the women of Charmahal & Bakhtiari province of Iran. Totally, 276 patients with UL and 157 healthy control women were studied. The genetic polymorphisms for IL-1β-511and IL-1β 3954 were analyzed by PCR-RFLP method. The results were analyzed with SPSS software using χ2 test. The TC genotypes of the IL-1β -511C/T polymorphism showed a decreased risk of UL (OR = 0.232, P = 0.01, 95 % CI = 0.11 - 0.48). A significant difference was found for the C allele frequencies of the IL-1 β -511 C>T polymorphism between the two groups (OR = 0.232, P = 0.01, 95% CI = 0.11 - 0.48). However, no significant difference was found for the IL-1 â -3954 polymorphism between the two groups. Our findings indicated that IL-1 â -511C>T promoter polymorphism affects the risk of UL in the women of our study and this polymorphism might be involved in the pathogens of this disease

Genetic Linkage Analysis of 15 DFNB Loci in a Group of Iranian Families with Autosomal Recessive Hearing Loss

Background: Hearing loss (HL) is the most frequent sensory birth defect in humans. Autosomal recessive non-syndromic HL (ARNSHL) is the most common type of hereditary HL. It is extremely heterogeneous and over 70 loci (known as DFNB) have been identified. This study was launched to determine the relative contribution of more frequent loci in a cohort of ARNSHL families. Methods: Thirty-seven Iranian families including 36 ARNSHL families and 1 family with Pendred syndrome each with >= 4 affected individuals, from seven provinces of Iran, were ascertained. DFNB1 contribution was initially studied by DNA sequencing of GJB2 and linkage analysis using the relative STR markers. The excluded families were then subjected to homozygosity mapping for fifteen ARNSHL loci. Results: Sixteen families were found to be linked to seven different known loci, including DFNB I (6 families), DFNB4 (3 families +1 family with Pendred syndrome), DFNB63 (2 families), DFNB2 (1 family), DFNB7/11 (1 family), DFNB9 (1 family) and DFNB21 (1 family). DNA sequencing of the corresponding genes is in progress to identify the pathogenic mutations. Conclusion: The genetic causes were clarified in 43.2% of the studied families, giving an overview of the causes of ARNSHL in Iran. DFNB4 is ranked second after DFNB1 in the studied cohort. More genetic and epigenetic investigations will have to be done to reveal the causes in the remaining families

A comprehensive review on novel targeted therapy methods and nanotechnology-based gene delivery systems in melanoma.

Melanoma, a malignant form of skin cancer, has been swiftly increasing in recent years. Although there have been significant advancements in clinical treatment underlying a well-understanding of melanoma-susceptible genes and the molecular basis of melanoma pathogenesis, the permanency of response to therapy is frequently constrained by the emergence of acquired resistance and systemic toxicity. Conventional therapies, including surgical resection, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and immunotherapy, have already been used to treat melanoma and are dependent on the cancer stage. Nevertheless, ineffective side effects and the heterogeneity of tumors pose major obstacles to the therapeutic treatment of malignant melanoma through such strategies. In light of this, advanced therapies including nucleic acid therapies (ncRNA, aptamers), suicide gene therapies, and gene therapy using tumor suppressor genes, have lately gained immense attention in the field of cancer treatment. Furthermore, nanomedicine and targeted therapy based on gene editing tools have been applied to the treatment of melanoma as potential cancer treatment approaches nowadays. Indeed, nanovectors enable delivery of the therapeutic agents into the tumor sites by passive or active targeting, improving therapeutic efficiency and minimizing adverse effects. Accordingly, in this review, we summarized the recent findings related to novel targeted therapy methods as well as nanotechnology-based gene systems in melanoma. We also discussed current issues along with potential directions for future research, paving the way for the next-generation of melanoma treatments.Sección Deptal. de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular (Biológicas)Fac. de Ciencias BiológicasTRUEEuropean UnionNextGeneration (EU/PRTR)Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN)/Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI)Ministerio de UniversidadesUniversidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)pu