Cancer is a multi-step disease, and infection with a DNA virus could play a role in one or more of the steps in this pathogenic process. High-risk human papillomaviruses (HPV) are the causative agent of several cancers. In this study, we determined the prevalence and genotype distribution of HPV infection among Iranian patients with cervix lesions (CL) and breast cancer (BC). The study group consisted of postoperative tissues from patients diagnosed with cervix lesions and breast cancer. We analyzed 250 formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue blocks from 100 cervix lesions and 150 breast cancer samples. Verification of each cancer reported in a relative was sought through the pathology reports of the hospital records. Cervix lesions were collected from 100 patients with squamous metaplasia (SM, n=50), cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CINI, n=18, CINII or III, n=8), and cervical carcinoma (CC, n=24). In this study we evaluated the prevalence of HPV by multiplex PCR in cervix lesions and breast cancer. For paraffin-embedded tissues, DNA extracted by the simple boiling method yielded higher proportions of successful gene amplification (99%) for b-actin gene. Overall prevalence of HPV infection was 6% in the SM group, 34.61% in the CIN group, 75% in the CC group, and 34.66% in the BC group. Furthermore, MY09/11 consensus PCR failed to detect 44 (55.69%) of all HPV infections and interestingly, the predominant genotype detected in all cancers was the oncogenic variant HPV16/18; about 34% of women aged 24 to 54 were infected with at least one type of HPV. Our results demonstrate that DNA derived from archival tissues that archived for less than 8 years could be used successfully for HPV genotyping by multiplex PCR. Infection with HPV was prevalent among Iranian women with CC and BC. The results indicate a likely causal role for high-risk HPV in CC and BC, and also offer the possibility of primary prevention of these cancers by vaccination against HPV in Iran.

Type II diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is the prevalent type of diabetes, including 90% of the cases world-wide. Helicobacter pylori plays a pathogenic role in the development of T2DM. The host genetic factors have a significant impact on the clinical outcome and anatomical distribution of H. pylori infection and polymorphisms in several genes such as tumor necrotic factor (TNF)-α and mannose-binding lectin (MBL) and are considered to increase the risk for the development of T2DM. In this study, we investigate the prevalence rate of H. pylori infection and its relationship to MBL rs1800450 and TNF-α rs1800620 polymorphism in T2DM. In this case-control study, 174 patients with type II diabetes and 185 healthy controls were studied. Also, demographics, physical, and biochemical parameters were performed in all patients. The DNA extracted from blood specimens was amplified by H. pylori cagA-specific primers. The MBL rs1800450 and TNF-α rs1800620 genotyping were detected by amplification refractory mutation system-polymerase chain reaction (ARMS-PCR). The results show that H. pylori cagA positivity was detected in 42.82% of the diabetic patients and in 22.16% of the control group, and H. pylori infection was closely correlated with MBL rs1800450 AA genotype and TNF-α rs1800620 GG genotype when compared with healthy controls. Furthermore, these two genotypes were strongly associated with H. pylori cagA(+) samples when compared with cagA(-) samples. In addition, the presence of H. pylori cagA(+) infection was significantly associated with the elevated serum levels of total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. In general, it can be concluded that molecular analysis of MBL rs1800450 AA genotype and TNF-α rs1800620 AA genotype is important in the early detection and treatment of T2DM with H. pylori cagA(+) infection.

Erythromycin is a macrolide antibiotic with broad-spectrum activity against gram-positive bacteria that stops protein synthesis by binding to 50s ribosomal subunit. Classical and recombinant strain improvement, such as application of ultraviolet (UV) mutagenesis and selection of overproduction mutant, is the most important and convenient method in enhancement of antibiotic production. In the present study, Saccharopolyspora erythraea was mutagenized using UV lights and selection by tylosin resistance mutant to improve yield of erythromycin. In other sides, to improve the erythromycin yield in mutant, effects of various parameters such as carbon concentration and ermE gene expression were analyzed. In primary selection, high erythromycin producing strains and high erythromycin producer mutant were isolated by plaque agar, and an increase of 87% was observed in tylosin resistance mutant compared to wild-type strain. In secondary selection, a mutant strain (RHU233) with a production of 1.39 mg erythromycin per mL was isolated in fermentation process, which was 20 times more productive than the wild type. In contrast, it was found that glycerol can be used as an alternate carbon source in enhancement of erythromycin production. Comparison of ermE gene expression in mutants RHU233 high producer mutant RHU233 and wild type in Escherichia coli detected in accumulation of soluble hexahistidine-ermE was up to 45% of total cell protein after 18 h in mutants RHU233. Metal-chelation chromatography yielded 126 mg of hexahistidine-ermE per liter of culture with a purity slightly >95% in mutants RHU233. Finally, these optimized conditions could be used for the commercial production of this unique antibiotic.

Breast cancer (BC) is the leading cause of death among Iranian women. Development of BC is a multistep process, arising from genetic changes such as methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) polymorphism and infection with human papillomavirus (HPV). In this study, we investigated HPV genotypes associated with BCs and its relation with MTHFR C677T polymorphism for early detection of familial BCs. A total of 84 archival BC samples from Iran were collected. Verification of each cancer reported in a relative was sought through the pathology reports of the hospital records. Then, DNA was extracted from all samples by standard methods and HPV genotypes and MTHFR C677T polymorphism genotypes were analyzed using multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and amplification-refractory mutation system (ARMS)-PCR. Finally, data analysis was performed using version 7 of the Epi Info™ 2012 software and test chi-square (x2) for trend. The frequencies of the CC, TC, and TT genotypes of MTHFR (C677T) were 0.53, 0.38, and 0.09 in familial BC patients, and 0.46, 0.51, and 0.03, respectively, in nonfamilial BC patients. Furthermore, HPV DNA typing identified 29 infections and C677T TT genotype was significantly associated with an increased risk of familial BC in the study population. Our results demonstrate that infection with HPV was prevalent among Iranian women with familial BC. Finally, the testing of C677T GG genotype in combination with HPV genotyping as molecular markers can be helpful in the early diagnosis of Iranian familial BCs by PCR.

The present paper aims to determine the frequency and antibiotic resistance patterns of pathogenic bacteria, the virulence factor profile of Escherichia coli and mannose-binding lectin (MBL) gene polymorphism in individuals with diabetes mellitus (DM) and urinary tract infection (UTI). The population under study was 130 individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and UTI. The patients' clinical characteristics and urine and blood samples (5 mL) were collected. Antibiotic resistance was determined using a disc diffusion method, and the results were interpreted according to CLSI. The presence of virulence genes was detected by multiplex PCR. To detect the MBL gene polymorphism, PCR and restriction fragment length polymorphism methods were applied. The predominant Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria included E. coli and Streptococcus spp.viridans group, respectively. Women were more susceptible to the incidence of UTI than men. The E. coli isolates showed a high level of resistance to amoxicillin-clavulanic acid (87.35%), and nitrofurantoin and ceftizoxime were the most effective antimicrobial agents for E. coli . Cefotaxime and ceftizoxime were the most effective antimicrobial agents for Enterobacter spp., norfloxacin and ciprofloxacin were the most effective antimicrobial agents for Staphylococcus epidermidis and Staphylococcus saprophyticus. papGII (52.87%) and papEF (1.14%) had the highest and lowest frequency among examined genes in E. coli isolates, respectively. The GG genotype had the highest frequency among patients with T2DM and UTI. Results showed that the detection of E. coli in individuals with an AA genotype, codon 54 of the MBL gene, can play an important role in the molecular diagnosis and timely treatment of bacterial infections in individuals with diabetes.