THE PREVALENCE OF CUTANEOUS LEISHMANIASIS IN EAST OF AHVAZ COUNTY, SOUTH-WESTERN IRAN

Objectives: Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (CL) is a zoonotic parasitological disease. This disease cause always important health challenges for the human communities. It is common in many parts of the globe. This research was designed to determine the epidemiology of CL in East of Ahvaz County during 2003- 2013. Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study. The disease was diagnosed based on clinical examination and microscopic observation of the parasite in the ulcer site. The patient's Information such as age, gender, number and sites of ulcer (s) on the body, month and residence area were recorded. Data analysis was performed using SPSS software. Results: Totally, 2287 cases were detected during 2003 2013. About 53.4 patients were male and 46.4 female. The highest frequency infected age groups were observed in 10-19 years old (n=550 ,24). Nearly 37 of the patients had one and 38.1 had three ulcers. The most common location of ulcers were on hands (n=1022, 44.7) and then on feet (n=501, 21.9). Totally 1877 of the patients were infected in rural areas. Based on the appearance of the lesion it was found that 410 cases (17.9) were of the dry type and 1877 cases (82.1) were wet type. Concluaions: Such high prevalence and incidence rates are alarming and require control and prevention measures. Further epidemiological studies of CL are suggested

Survey on Epidemiological Status and Incidence Rate of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in Abadan County, Khuzestan Province, Southwestern Iran

Cutaneous Lieshmaniasis (CL) has been considered as a large hygienic challenge, and the epidemiological studies have been useful in controlling this problem, and also taking prevention stages. Khuzestan Province is one of the common foci of the wet or rural zoonotic CL in Iran. Due to the lack of data about the epidemiology and prevalence of CL in Abadan County (30 degrees 16'N 48 degrees 34'E), this study was conducted in this area within 2011-2015. This descriptive-analytical study was based on 179 cases of CL submitted to the medical and health centers of Abadan County (30 degrees 42'02''N 49 degrees 49'53''E) during the past years. The study was done by extracting the demographic and epidemiologic data from a standard information questionnaire as well as analyzing the study data via SPSS software with chi-square and T tests. Demographic information-epidemiologic features, such as the number and location of lesions on the body, job, month, season, age, gender was collected. The patients were diagnosed by direct microscopic examination of the samples and clinical information. All ethical issues were also addressed. The average incidence rate was reported to be 0,15 / 1000 person. The results revealed that the number of the infected cases in Abadan was 179 people during the study. The most frequent age group was 21-30 years old (24.6). Meanwhile, about 54.7 of CL patients were male and 45.3 were female. Housekeepers had the highest incidence (29.1) of CL. The analysis of the lesions on the different parts of the body showed that 24.3 of the lesions occurred on the hand, 20.1 on the foot, 14.5 on the hand as well foot, and 11.7 on the face. The maximum number of CL cases was reported in the autumn with 34.1. Most of the cases were seen in October (14.5) and November (12.3). About 59.2 of the patients had one ulcer. The findings showed an increasing and decreasing trend of the incidence and prevalence rate of CL over the period study in this area. Also, CL has been remaining a health threat in the future. Therefore, it is recommended that the regional authorities pay more attention to control the spread of the disease

THE PREVALENCE OF CUTANEOUS LEISHMANIASIS IN EAST OF AHVAZ COUNTY, SOUTH-WESTERN IRAN

Objectives: Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (CL) is a zoonotic parasitological disease. This disease cause always important health challenges for the human communities. It is common in many parts of the globe. This research was designed to determine the epidemiology of CL in East of Ahvaz County during 2003- 2013. Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study. The disease was diagnosed based on clinical examination and microscopic observation of the parasite in the ulcer site. The patient's Information such as age, gender, number and sites of ulcer (s) on the body, month and residence area were recorded. Data analysis was performed using SPSS software. Results: Totally, 2287 cases were detected during 2003 – 2013. About 53.4% patients were male and 46.4% female. The highest frequency infected age groups were observed in 10-19 years old (n=550 ,24%). Nearly 37 % of the patients had one and 38.1% had three ulcers. The most common location of ulcers were on hands (n=1022, 44.7%) and then on feet (n=501, 21.9%). Totally 1877 of the patients were infected in rural areas. Based on the appearance of the lesion it was found that 410 cases (17.9%) were of the dry type and 1877 cases (82.1%) were wet type. Concluaions: Such high prevalence and incidence rates are alarming and require control and prevention measures. Further epidemiological studies of CL are suggested. Key words: Epidemiology, Cutaneous Leishmaniasis, Iran

A checklist of scorpions in Iran (by 2017)

Aim: The present study aimed at compiling an updated checklist of scorpion species in 2017. Methods: scorpion, species, classification, Iran, and family were taken as keywords and were searched in the websites related to credible academic journals and scientific databases such as Web of Science, Ovid, PubMed, Systematic Review, SID, Iran Medex, Scirus, Google Scholar, and Medline. The search was more focused on species identification and included all articles published by 2017. A total of 150 articles were examined, of which 75 were selected as they involved the scorpion species found in Iran. Results and Discussion: Scorpions have attracted a great degree of attention, owing to possess a painful sting, poisonous venom, and sometimes fatal venom. In the past 50 years, scorpions have been studied from different biological and toxicological aspects in Iran. These efforts have been more focused on identifying different species of this animal. From among the 64 scorpion species reported in Iran, 86 belonged to the Buthidae family, 9.5 to the Hemiscorpiidae family, and 4.5 to the Scorpionidae family. The species were mainly reported to inhabit southern and southwestern Iran. The number of scorpion species reported in Iran has increased in the past 50 years. This trend will continue as more accurate studies are going to be conducted in this field. Conclusion: Iran is among the countries which have been reported to have a great number of species especial the dangerous ones. © 2018 BRNSS Publication Hub. All rights reserved

Pharmacological and cell-specific genetic PI3Kα inhibition worsens cardiac remodeling after myocardial infarction

BACKGROUND: PI3Kα (Phosphoinositide 3-kinase α) regulates multiple downstream signaling pathways controlling cell survival, growth, and proliferation and is an attractive therapeutic target in cancer and obesity. The clinically-approved PI3Kα inhibitor, BYL719, is in further clinical trials for cancer and overgrowth syndrome. However, the potential impact of PI3Kα inhibition on the heart and following myocardial infarction (MI) is unclear. We aim to determine whether PI3Kα inhibition affects cardiac physiology and post-MI remodeling and to elucidate the underlying molecular mechanisms. METHODS AND RESULTS: Wildtype (WT) 12-wk old male mice receiving BYL719 (daily, p.o.) for 10 days showed reduction in left ventricular longitudinal strain with normal ejection fraction, weight loss, mild cardiac atrophy, body composition alteration, and prolonged QTC interval. RNASeq analysis showed gene expression changes in multiple pathways including extracellular matrix remodeling and signaling complexes. After MI, both p110α and phospho-Akt protein levels were increased in human and mouse hearts. Pharmacological PI3Kα inhibition aggravated cardiac dysfunction and resulted in adverse post-MI remodeling, with increased apoptosis, elevated inflammation, suppressed hypertrophy, decreased coronary blood vessel density, and inhibited Akt/GSK3β/eNOS signaling. Selective genetic ablation of PI3Kα in endothelial cells was associated with worsened post-MI cardiac function and reduced coronary blood vessel density. In vitro, BYL719 suppressed Akt/eNOS activation, cell viability, proliferation, and angiogenic sprouting in coronary and human umbilical vein endothelial cells. Cardiomyocyte-specific genetic PI3Kα ablation resulted in mild cardiac systolic dysfunction at baseline. After MI, cardiac function markedly deteriorated with increased mortality concordant with greater apoptosis and reduced hypertrophy. In isolated adult mouse cardiomyocytes, BYL719 decreased hypoxia-associated activation of Akt/GSK3β signaling and cell survival. CONCLUSIONS: PI3Kα is required for cell survival (endothelial cells and cardiomyocytes) hypertrophic response, and angiogenesis to maintain cardiac function after MI. Therefore, PI3Kα inhibition that is used as anti-cancer treatment, can be cardiotoxic, especially after MI

Endothelial and cardiomyocyte PI3Kβ divergently regulate cardiac remodelling in response to ischaemic injury

AIMS: Cardiac remodeling in the ischemic heart determines prognosis in patients with ischemic heart disease (IHD), while enhancement of angiogenesis and cell survival has shown great potential for IHD despite translational challenges. Phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt signaling pathway plays a critical role in promoting angiogenesis and cell survival. However, the effect of PI3Kβ in the ischemic heart is poorly understood. This study investigates the role of endothelial and cardiomyocyte PI3Kβ in post-infarct cardiac remodeling. METHODS AND RESEARCH: PI3Kβ catalytic subunit-p110β level was increased in infarcted murine and human hearts. Using cell type-specific loss-of-function approaches, we reported novel and distinct actions of p110β in endothelial cells versus cardiomyocytes in response to myocardial ischemic injury. Inactivation of endothelial p110β resulted in marked resistance to infarction and adverse cardiac remodeling with decreased mortality, improved systolic function, preserved microvasculature, and enhanced Akt activation. Cultured endothelial cells with p110β knockout or inhibition displayed preferential PI3Kα/Akt/eNOS signaling that consequently promoted protective signaling and angiogenesis. In contrast, mice with cardiomyocyte p110β-deficiency exhibited adverse post-infarct ventricular remodeling with larger infarct size and deteriorated cardiac function, which was due to enhanced susceptibility of cardiomyocytes to ischemia-mediated cell death. Disruption of cardiomyocyte p110β signaling compromised nuclear p110β and phospho-Akt levels leading to perturbed gene expression and elevated pro-cell death protein levels, increasing the susceptibility to cardiomyocyte death. A similar divergent response of PI3Kβ endothelial and cardiomyocyte mutant mice was seen using a model of myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury. CONCLUSIONS: These data demonstrate novel, differential, and cell-specific functions of PI3Kβ in the ischemic heart. While loss of endothelial PI3Kβ activity produces cardioprotective effects, cardiomyocyte PI3Kβ is protective against myocardial ischemic injury

Introducing of a new sting agent of velvet ant dentilla sp. (hymenoptera: Mutillidae) in Kashan, centerl of Iran (2014-2015)

Background: Velvet ants (Mutillid wasps) are among the venomous and stinging insects, which their existence has been reported from different areas of Iran. Objectives: Since no study has been done so far in Iran in regards to their sting, their clinical complications and their sting are studied for the first time in Kashan. Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study that was performed during 2014-2015, 49 individuals stung by velvet ants in the residential areas in Kashan were assessed. Identification of the sting agent was according to the morphologic specifications of the collected samples of the insect in the houses of the injured. Sting complications in the individuals were studied according to the clinical manifestation and the time of the sting, which was from June to September. Results: In this study, the sting agent was identified as velvet ants, Dentilla genus. Most sting cases were in the age group of 11-20 years with 30.5 and the lowest belonged to the age groups of 31-40 and 41-50 years. The first sign of the sting was a severe and sharp pain. The highest percentage of redness in the individuals was 47 in the first day, and the lowest belonged to four or five days after the sting with 2. Intense itching was one of the main symptoms of velvet ant stings. In the final stages of pain and itching, hemolysis and bruise signs were observed as brown spots. Conclusions: Velvet ant stings have not been reported so far from Kashan. Due to the high cases of stinging in the women carpet weaving workshops, their sitting rooms, and bed rooms, it can be concluded that this arthropod is a domestic pest. Therefore, control and prevention of its potential damages must be programmed accordingly. © 2018, Archives of Clinical Infectious Diseases

Inhibition of Soluble Epoxide Hydrolase Limits Mitochondrial Damage and Preserves Function Following Ischemic Injury

Aims: Myocardial ischemia can result in marked mitochondrial damage leading to cardiac dysfunction, as such identifying novel mechanisms to limit mitochondrial injury is important. This study investigated the hypothesis that inhibiting soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH), responsible for converting epoxyeicosatrienoic acids to dihydroxyeicosatrienoic acids protects mitochondrial from injury caused by myocardial infarction. Methods: sEH null and WT littermate mice were subjected to surgical occlusion of the left anterior descending (LAD) artery or sham operation. A parallel group of WT mice received an sEH inhibitor, trans-4-[4-(3-adamantan-1-y1-ureido)-cyclohexyloxy]-benzoic acid (tAUCB; 10 mg/L) or vehicle in the drinking water 4 days prior and 7 days post-MI. Cardiac function was assessed by echocardiography prior- and 7-days post-surgery. Heart tissues were dissected into infarct, peri-, and non-infarct regions to assess ultrastructure by electron microscopy. Complexes I, II, IV, citrate synthase, PI3K activities, and mitochondrial respiration were assessed in non-infarct regions. Isolated working hearts were used to measure the rates of glucose and palmitate oxidation. Results: Echocardiography revealed that tAUCB treatment or sEH deficiency significantly improved systolic and diastolic function post-MI compared to controls. Reduced infarct expansion and less adverse cardiac remodeling were observed in tAUCB-treated and sEH null groups. EM data demonstrated mitochondrial ultrastructure damage occurred in infarct and peri-infarct regions but not in non-infarct regions. Inhibition of sEH resulted in significant improvements in mitochondrial respiration, ATP content, mitochondrial enzymatic activities and restored insulin sensitivity and PI3K activity. Conclusion: Inhibition or genetic deletion of sEH protects against long-term ischemia by preserving cardiac function and maintaining mitochondrial efficiency