International Journal of Molecular and Clinical Microbiology
Year:2017 | Volume:7 | Issue:1|Papers Count:8

Human papillomavirus (HPV) has been associated with several disorders of the genital tract, skin and esophagus squamous cell carcinoma. The aims of the present study were to evaluate the prevalence of HPV infection in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma in Mazandaran province, northern Iran, to identify the prevalence of HPVs. We examined 170 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded samples from esophageal squamous cell carcinoma patients. All subjects live in Mazandaran province, a region with high incidence rate of esophageal cancer and have become known as the -Asian Esophageal Cancer Belt‖ Samples were tested for HPV-DNA by MY09/11 and Gp5+/6+general primers using nested PCR. Of the 170 ESCC samples, 86 (50.6%) were male and 84 (49.4%) were female. The mean age of the subjects was 66.5±11.1 and ranged from 35 to 91 years. Totally, HPV-DNA was detected in 62 (36.5%) of the esophageal squamous cell carcinoma samples by HPV L1 consensus primers. Considering the location of esophagus specimens, of 62 positive samples, 16 (25.8%) samples were in the upper third, 28 (45.2%) in the middle third, and 18 (29.0%) in the lower third. The current study showed a relatively substantial prevalence of HPV infection in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma samples in Mazandaran province.

The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of virulence and Cytolethal Distending Toxin (CDT) genes in the Campylobacter isolates from intestinal contents and gall bladders of broilers and, to evalute their cytotoxic effects on HeLa cell cultures. These genes play important roles in bacterial adherence to intestinal mucosa, flagella-mediated motility, invasive capability and the ability to produce toxins in Campylobacter pathogenesis. A total of 121 Campylobacter isolates (106 C. jejuni, 11 C. coli, 2 C. lanienae, and 2 C. lari) were used in this study. The frequency of virulence genes in all the isolates were detected in different proportions ranging from 34-93% using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) assay. Cytolethal Distending Toxin A (CDTA), Cytolethal Distending Toxin B (CDTB) and Cytolethal Distending Toxin C (CDTC) genes were found in 66.1%, 65.3% and 66.9% of the Campylobacter isolates tested, respectively (P>0.05). Of the 19 isolates, only two (one C. jejuni, one C. coli) showed morphological changes such as cell swelling, expansion, growth, and cell shape change in HeLa cell cultures. CDT and virulence genes were detected at low frequencies in C. jejuni, C. coli and C. lari isolates that were obtained from clinically healthy broilers. Although valuable information was attained about the pathogenicity of C. lanienae, additional studies using animal models are necessary for clarification.

Aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) is a metabolite of the aflatoxin B1 found in the liver of livestock, as a result of feeding livestock with contaminated food. Certain species of Aspergillusare responsible for producing aflatoxin. The present study was performed to evaluate the measurement of AFM1, by ELISA method, in milk samples collected from dairy farms of Shahre Ghods, Shahriar (Tehran, Iran). In this study, during autumn (2016), 82 samples of milk from 41 dairy farms in Shahre Ghods, Shahriar provinces, were randomly selected and assessed AFM1 contamination using the ELISA. On centrifugation of milk, the supernatant including the milk fats was separated and the pellet lacking the milk fat was analyzed through competitive ELISA test, and the amount of aflatoxin was determined. The results obtained from ELISA assay revealed that 90% of samples were contaminated by AFM1 to a measurable amount and only 8 samples (9.7%) crossed the Iran Standard Level of aflatoxin contamination (50 ng/l). Milk and dairy products may be contaminated, and since AFM1 is a serious form of threat for human health and is potentially dangerous, it is essential to constantly assess the livestock feed for aflatoxin contamination to minimize or eliminate its amount in milk or dairy products.

Various chemical drugs have been used for leishmaniasis treatment, but their side effects and drug resistance have led to look for new effective compounds. Crataegus microphylla the traditional and medicinal herb is a valuable source of new Pharmaceutical agents. The extract was prepared The extract obtained by maceration method, and diluted with 5% DMSO. Leishmania major promastigotes were cultured RPMI- 1640, enriched with 10% fetal calf serum and Penicillin- Streptomycin. Then the biological activity of herb extract and drug susceptibility was evaluated onL.major promastigotes compared to Glucantime (Sb III) drug using MTT colorometry. The optical density was measured with Eliza reader set, and the IC50 value was calculated. In this study, we used the GC / mass. IC50 of Glucantime (Sb III) was 616.18mg/ml, and alcoholic extracts of Crataegus microphylla 1094mg/ml. Although Glucantime was more effective than plant extracts, all extracts had profound effects on promastigotes of L.major. The studied herb extract had considerable antileishmanial effects compared to Glucantime (Sb III) In vitro, the necessity of conducting more experiments to investigate its effect on the parasite in animal model is also appreciated.

A total of 154 samples of marine (n=51) and freshwater fish (n=103) were obtained from fish markets in Elazig Province of eastern Turkey. These samples were tested for Campylobacter, Listeria and Salmonella using culturing and biochemical methods. Campylobacter failed to be detected in any freshwater or marine fish samples. Listeria was detected in 22 and 14 of gill and skin samples from freshwater fish, respectively. L. innocua was isolated at a higher prevalence (14.6%) than L. ivanovii (5.8%) and L. monocytogenes (1%) from the gill samples of freshwater fish. In skin samples, L. innocua was detected at higher prevalence (9.7%) than L. ivanovii (2.9%) and L. welshimeri (1%). However, two (1.9%) of the intestine samples of freshwater fish were found to be positive for L. innocua. In addition, L. monocytogenes isolate yielded a positive band by PCR. Listeria murrayiwas the most commonly isolated species with a prevalence of 9.8% and 5.9% from the skin and gill samples of marine fish, respectively. However, the lowest prevalence (3.9%) of L. innocua was found from skin samples of marine fish only, but none of the intestine samples of marine fish were tested positive for Listeriaspp. L. monocytogenes was not isolated in any marine fish samples. The results indicate that fish can carry a pathogenic Listeria species. However, Campylobacter and Salmonella were not detected in marine fish samples suggests that fish pose no or little risk to the human population in Elazig Province in eastern Turkey.

An ecological and benevolent route for the fabrication of copper oxide nanoparticles (CuONPs) using Leucaena leucocephala L. leaves extracts at room temperature is reported. Phytochemical screening of the fresh aqueous leaves extract revealed the presence of tannins, saponins, coumarins, flavonoids, cardial glycosides, steroids, phenols, carbohydrates and amino acids. The prepared copper oxide nanoparticles are in Nano scale and their morphology and size is characterized by using field emission scanning electron microscopy, energydispersive X-ray spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform Infra-red spectroscopy, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller, Barrett-Joyner-Halenda and Photoluminescence analysis. Furthermore, CuO-NPs evinced remarkable antimicrobial, antimalarial and antimycobacterial activity against the selected human pathogens.

In this study, the production of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and cyclopiazonic acid (CPA) was investigated in toxigenic and non-toxigenic Aspergillus flavus with respect to expression of aflR, veA and laeA genes that are involved in toxin production. A. flavus strains were cultured in YES broth at 28 °C for 4 days and AFB1 and CPA were measured by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The expression of aflR, veA and laeA was assessed in toxigenic and non-toxigenic strains by Real-Time PCR. The results showed that the highest concentrations of AFB1 and CPA were 9450.56 and 403.85mg/g fungal dry weight, respectively. A. flavus isolates were AFB1 and CPA producer (9450.56 and 377.52 mg/g; chemotype I), AFB1 producer (2024.80 mg/g; chemotype II), CPA producer (403.85 mg/g; chemotype III), and non-producer (chemotype IV). The results of the analysis of aflR, veA and laeA gene expression between toxigenic and non-toxigenic A. flavus isolates did not show any significant correlation between the expression of these genes and AFB1 and CPA production. Since the incidence of AFB1 and CPA producing Aspergillus in the environment is important from the view point of public health, further evaluation of distribution and expression of different genes of aflatoxins biosynthetic pathway in A. flavus strains is recommended in a larger population from different geographic locations of Iran.

Shigella is a major cause of dysentery across the world. Appropriate antibiotic treatment of shigellosis depends on resistance patterns. The present study was conducted to identify Shigella species and their antibiotic resistance patterns among dysenteric patients in Rezaei Hospital of Damghan. Isolation of Shigella species was conducted by specific culture medium and biochemical tests. The Shigella species were determined by specific antiserum with agglutination on slide. Then, susceptibility to different antibiotics, i. e. nalidixic acid, ciprofloxacin, ampicillin, tetracycline, co-trimoxazole and ceftriaxone, was tested. The antibiotic susceptibility tests were carried out using the Kirby-Bauer standard method on Mueller-Hinton agar. In this study, 29 Shigella species were found in 91 stool samples of the patients. Determination of Shigella spp. by specific antiserum showed S. flexneri (group B) in 13 cases, S. dysenteriae (group A) in 10 cases, and S. sonnei (group D) in 6 cases, while no case of S. boydii (group C) was found. The antibiotic resistance tests indicated that resistance to co-trimoxazole, tetracycline, ampicillin, nalidixic acid, ciprofloxacin and ceftriaxone was 75.8%, 65.5%, 55.1%, 6.8%, 3.4% and 0% respectively. According to lower resistance to ciprofloxacin and ceftriaxone, it seems that the fluoroquinolone antibiotic, as the first choice, and the third-generation cephalosporin, as the second choice, were suitable for treatment of shigellosis, but regarding the multidrug-resistance likelihood and antibiotic resistance patterns variation in Shigella strains, it is recommended to perform the organism susceptibility test to the antibiotic before treatment.