No abstract

Interferon-gamma (IFN-g) is a pro-inflammatory cytokine that plays a pivotal role in the defense mechanism against Brucella infection. It was hypothesized that the IFN-g in (þ874 A/T in intron 1) TT and þ5644 T/A, TT genotypes, which are reportedly associated with high IFN production, are associated with susceptibility to brucellosis in Iranian subjects. Genotyping of these IFN-g variants by an allele-specific polymerase chain reaction method was performed in 281 subjects, comprising 153 patients with active brucellosis and 128 healthy controls. It was found that the þ874 minor allele (A) and homozygote genotype (AA) were significantly more frequently present in brucellosis patients than in controls (OR ¼ 2.588; 95% CI, 1.313-5.104; P ¼ 0.006 for the AA genotype; OR ¼ 1.575; 95% CI, 1.124-2.216; P ¼ 0.010 for the A allele). However, the allelic and genotypic distribution of the IFN-g polymorphism at position UTR5644 A>T did not differ significantly between patients and controls (P > 0.05). The distribution of haplotypes in this study suggests that the T/A haplotype (þ874/ UTR5644), which was present more frequently in controls than in patients, may protect subjects against Brucella infection. It is suggested that IFN-g þ874 AA genotype and A allele are risk factors for developing brucellosis infection in Iranian subjects.

Background and Objectives: Leptospirosis is a zooanthroponosis caused by the genus of Leptospira. It is an emerging public health problem due to its increasing incidence. The achievement to a vaccine that prevent from entrance of Leptospira interrogans to the deeper tissues of the host is needed. This study aimed to investigate the immunogenicity of LcpA (rLcpA) and LenA (rLenA) recombinant proteins in combination with LTB (rLTB) recombinant protein as an adjuvant against lepto- spiral infection in hamsters. Materials and Methods: The genes encoding these proteins were cloned into pGH cloning vector and then lenA, lcpA and ltb genes subcloned into pET-15b and pET-28a expression vectors, respectively. The hamsters were immunized with the puri- fied recombinant proteins and challenged with Leptospira interrogans for evaluation of their survival. The antibody respons- es to the recombinant proteins were determined by ELISA. Then, data entered into SPSS software. Statistical Kruskal–Wallis test was used to compare the significant differences among different groups. The groups with significant differences were further analyzed by post hoc tests. The p value < 0.05 statistically was considered significant. Results: Immunized hamsters with rLenA-plus-rLTB, rLcpA-plus-rLTB and rLenA-plus-rLcpA-plus-rLTB proteins showed 60%, 74%, and 80% survival rates, respectively. A significant amount of interleukin-17 (IL-17), interleukin-4 (IL-4) and gamma interferon (IFNγ) cytokines were produced in immunized hamsters. Conclusion: Based on our findings, rLcpA and rLenA proteins in combination with rLTB can protect the hamsters against L. interrogans and effectively induce a protective antibody response. Thus, these proteins can be used as an additional pro- phylactic tool against leptospira.

BACKGROUND: Acinetobacter baumannii is an important opportunistic nosocomial pathogen. Class 1 integrons in A. baumannii plays a significant role in antibiotic resistance. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the prevalence of integrons and antibiotic resistance pattern in A. baumannii isolated from clinical samples of Iranian patients. METHODS: The Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) and the keywords with the help of Boolean operators ("AND" or "OR") were used alone or in combination to conduct the search. The searching process was conducted in the Web of Science, PubMed, Cochrane Library, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases and, also Iranian databases. The search was restricted to relevant English and Persian cross-sectional publications reporting the prevalence of Int1 in A. baumannii isolated from clinical samples from 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2018. The data were analyzed using Comprehensive Meta-Analysis software. Regarding the heterogeneity of studies, the random effects model was used. Cochrane Q and I 2 tests was used to evaluate statistical heterogeneity between the studies. RESULTS: Fifteen studies were included in the analysis. The combined prevalence of class 1 integrons in A. baumannii was 55.2% (95% CI: 44.8-65.1). The pooled prevalence of MDR A. baumannii isolates was 68.1%. The highest resistance belonged to Aztreonam, followed by Ciprofloxacin, and Ceftazidime with a resistance rate of 97.6%, 92.8%, and 91.6%, respectively. Tobramycin was reported as an effective antibiotic. CONCLUSIONS: The present study reported an alarmingly high prevalence of class 1 Integrons, and MDR isolates of A. baumannii recovered from clinical samples that should be considered.

Tuberculosis (TB) is further aggravated if it is accompanied with fungal co-infection. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of pulmonary fungal co-infection among Iranian patients with pulmonary TB using a systematic review and meta-analysis. The present study was a review of cross-sectional studies on the prevalence of pulmonary fungal co-colonization among Iranian patients with pulmonary TB with regard to the PRISMA Protocol. To this end, the articles published online in English and Persian were searched on the main databases and gateways such as Google Scholar,