The Role of Liposomal CpG ODN on the Course of L. major Infection in BALB/C Mice

"nBackground: Historically, leishmanization is the most effective protective measure against Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (CL), CL lesion induced by leishmanization sometimes takes a long time to heal. Ma­nipulation of leishmanization inoculums needed to induce a mild and acceptable CL lesion. The aim of this study was to explore if liposomal form of CpG ODN (Cytosin phosphate Guanin Oligodeoxynu­cleotides) mixed with Leishmania major   would induce a milder lesion size in Balb/c mice."nMethods: This study was performed in Biotechnology Research Center, Mashhad, and Center for Re­search and Training in Skin Diseases and Leprosy, Tehran, Iran during 2008-2009.  mice were subcutaneously (SC) inoculated with L. major mixed with liposomal form of CpG ODN, or L. major plus free CpG ODN, or L. major mixed with empty liposomes or L. major in PBS. The lesion onset and the size of lesion were recorded; the death rate was also monitored. "nResult: Footpad thickness was significantly (P<0.01) smaller, death rate was also significantly (P<0.05) lower in the mice received L. major mixed with liposomal CpG ODN or free CpG ODN than control groups received L. major in PBS or L. major plus liposomes, also mice which received L. ma­jor mixed with CpG ODN in soluble form showed a significantly (P < 0.001) smaller lesion size than control groups."nConclusion: CpG ODN seems to be an appropriate immunopotentiator mixed with Leishmania stabi­late in leishmanization

DEPARTMENT OF INTERNAL MEDICINE, SCHOOL OF HEALTH, ISFAHAN UNIVERSITY OF MEDICAL SCIENCES AND HEALTH SERVICES, ISFAHAN, IRAN

Introduction: Cryptosporidium is a parasite from coccidian order and one of the most common causes of diarrhea in the world, which can lead to a severe and prolonged disease in immunodeficient patients. There is a discrepancy regarding the prevalence rate of this parastie in different studies in our country patients on dialysis are usually prone to infectious disease especially those caused by opportunistic organisms. We studied the prevalence rate of the cryptosporidium infection in a group of patients on dialysis who were considered to have acquired immunodeficiency.&#13; Methods: This is a descriptive analytic study which included 104 dialyzed patients on dialysis in Al-zahra, shariati and Ali-asghar hospital, Isfahan, Iran. Between January 2001 and October 2001. Cases were chosen according to convenience sampling standards. They were all tested for cryptosporidium infection. Test results in the case group were then compared with the rate of cryptosporidium infection. In the control group which included 91 healthy household family members of the patients in the case group and 140 healthy people from the society. At least two samples were collected from every subject on two different occasions. To detect cryptosporidium oocytes, modified acid-fast technique we used.&#13; Results: 12 (11/5%) out of the 104 cases were proved infected by cryptosporidium. This figure dropped to 3.9% in control group respectively. Based on X2 test, rate of infection for the case group was considerably greater than for the control group Infection in the case group didn't show any significant relation with such factors as sex, age and duration of dialysis, history if kidney transplantation and history of immunosuppressive drugs consumption. The rate of infection peaked in diabetic cases (19.4%), while compared with non- diabetic ones (8.3%) (p&lt;0.05).&#13; Conclusions: Our study showed that the prevalence rare of cryptosporidium infection in dialyzed patients was considerably higer than general population. The results were fully correspondent with those of other surveys on immunocompromized patients. Neither Our study nor the similar previously conducted ones revealed no significant association between age and sex and cryptosporidium infection.&#13; We couldn't show any relation between the rate of infection and duration of dialysis.&#13; This difference is likely due to either limited number of cases or a lack of proportional increase in susceptibility to infection atter a certain period of dialysis. Finally we found out that the rate of infection in dialyzed diabetic patients was extra ordinarily higher, which could be the product of acquired immunodeficiency of diabetes

Molecular and genotyping identification of Echinococcus granulosus from camel and dog isolates in Isfahan, Iran (2015-2016)

Background: Hydatidosis is one of the most important zoonotic parasitic disease worldwide caused by Echinococcus granulosus. Given the importance of parasite genotyping in disease control, this study was aimed to evaluate the genetic variation of the camel and dog isolates in Isfahan. Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study was done on infected livers and lungs of camels with hydatid cyst (n=51) during 2015-2016, collected from Zarinshahr and Najafabad industrial abattoir and 200 adult E. granulosus worms collected from stray dogs in different geographical regions of Isfahan for the molecular identification of mitochondrial genes (CO1, ND1). The DNA of protoscolices and adult worms were extracted, the PCR and sequencing were done using specific primers. Pairwise sequence alignment was used to identify the genetic similarity between the sequences and the registered ones in Gen bank using Clustalw2 software. Results: The PCR and sequencing of CO1 and ND1 genes on dog and camel samples showed different E. granulosus genotypes, including the common sheep strain (G1), bovid strain(G3) and camel strain (G6) in Isfahan region. The most frequent strains were the common sheep strain (G1). The genetic similarity between both ND1 and CO1 isolates taken from camel, dog and the isolates registered in Gene bank were 30.25-100% and 27.47-100% for camel and dog, respectively. Conclusion: Mitochondrial ND1 and CO1 genes are proper molecular markers for identifying the genetic variation of the camel and dog E. granulosus. The dominant strain of the worm in Isfahan, is the same as the other parts of the country, i.e., the G1 genotype (the most common sheep strain) belonged to the G1- G1 E. granulosus complex