To evaluate the prevalence of infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) type 4/91 in Iran, tracheal swabs from 77 broiler flocks in 16 provinces were collected at the slaughterhouse. Swabs were subjected to RNA extraction and tested by RT-PCR, followed by a type-specific nested PCR. The viral RNA was detected in 33 samples (42.8%) from different provinces. The results indicate a relatively high prevalence of IBV type 4/91 in Iran and necessitate revising the vaccination programme against this disease.

Infectious Bronchitis (IB) is an acute, highly contagious disease associated with respiratory signs in young chickens and reduced egg production and quality in layers. The purpose of this study was to isolate and identify the infectious bronchitis virus in broiler flocks with respiratory diseases in four provinces of Iran. The specimens from forty IB suspected flocks from different regions of Isfahan, East Azerbaijan, Golestan, and Khuzestan provinces were collected, and the trachea, lung, and cecal tonsils were sampled. The samples were inoculated into 9-to 11-day-old embryonated chicken eggs. After collecting the allantoic fluid, RT-PCR was carried out to detect IB viruses. The results showed that IBVs were isolated from 30% of the flocks in these four provinces. The positive samples, according to a partial S1 gene sequence, were more investigated. Comparing nucleotide and amino acid sequences showed that the four isolates had the most similarity to the Pakistani 793/B strain (GI-13 lineage). The three isolates had the most considerable similarity in amino acid and nucleotide sequences to Iraqi and Iranian QX-like viruses (GI-19 lineage). Two isolates had 96 to 98% resemblance to Iranian variant-2 (GI-23 lineage) isolates. One isolate was found to belong to the Massachusetts serotype (GI-1 lineage) having 100% similarity in its amino acid sequence to the Massachusetts serotypes in GenBank. The phylogenetic relationship of the isolates shows complexity and diversity concerning different sequences and geographical regions.

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The aim of this study was to investigate the immunogenicity of a plasmid deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) vaccine encoding the G1 epitope of bovine ephemeral fever virus (BEFV) G glycoprotein in mice. A plasmid DNA carrying the G1 gene was constructed and designated as pcDNA3.1-G1. The expression of the target gene was confirmed in human embryonic kidney 293 (HEK 293) cells transfected with pcDNA3.1-G1 by indirect immunofluorescent staining. Immunisation experiments were intramuscularly carried out by vaccinating 6-week-old female mice in four groups, including the pcDNA3.1-G1 construct, pcDNA3.1 (+) plasmid alone, BEF-inactivated vaccine and phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) (1X) three times with 2-week intervals. Fourteen days after the last immunisation, the animals were bled and the resulting sera were tested for anti-G1-specific antibodies by immunoblotting analysis, indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and virus neutralisation (VN) test. Serological assays showed that the pcDNA3.1-G1 construct expressing G1 protein was able to elicit specific antibodies against this antigen. Virus neutralisation test showed that pcDNA3.1-G1 could induce anti-BEFV-neutralising antibodies in mice. Our findings indicated that a new dimension can be added to vaccine studies for bovine ephemeral fever (BEF) using eukaryotic expression plasmids encoding the G1 antigen in the future.

Background:Cervical cancer is one of the important reasons of mortality among females. Prevention, early diagnosis and immediate treatment can affect the rate of mortality in this cancer and several epidemiological studies have shown a strong relationship between human papilloma viruses (HPVs) and cervical cancer. Objectives:The present study was conducted to survey HPV infections in a women population with cervical cancer and cervical dysplasia/metaplasia in southwest of Iran.Materials and Methods:72 paraffin-embedded cervical biopsies which had been previously archived from women with cervical cancer and cervical dysplasia were examined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Afterward, the detected HPV strains were typed by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of PCR amplicons.Results:60 out of 72 samples had necessary requirements and HPV DNA was detected in 43.3% of these samples. Most HPV positive samples belonged to women aged from 48 to 63 years. On the other hand, HPV infection among patients with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) was 48.78% and in women with dysplasia/metaplasia was 26.66%. The most prevalent type of the human papilloma virus was HPV16 (100%).Conclusions:Knowing the most prevalent type of the human papilloma viruses circulating in the population (HPV16) can be applied in the future screening and managing programs of this major disease and also in vaccination against the prevalent types of the virus. Meanwhile, it seems that more studies should be performed to determine the role of different risk factors involved in development of the disease, especially those related with social behaviors and traditions with respect to different areas.