Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a serious health challenge at the global level due to Leishmania tropica. This study was conducted to evaluate the risk factors associated with anthroponotic CL (ACL) in unresponsive (patient who does not heal and remains with an active lesion, despite receiving two courses of intra-lesional Glucantime along with cryotherapy and one cycle of systemic Glucantime) and responsive patients in a major focus in southeastern Iran. A case-control study was conducted from April 2015 to October 2016 in the southeast of Iran. Patients were recruited in a major ACL focus from unresponsive and responsive cases. These patients were compared for environmental, clinical, and demographic characteristic factors. Twenty-five risk related factors were analyzed using multivariate logistic regression and backward elimination stepwise models. P<0.05 was defined to be statistically significant. In general, 340 patients with ACL comprising 72 (21.2%) unresponsive cases and 268 (78.8%) responsive cases with active lesions or scars were analyzed by estimating odds ratio (OR). All isolates from 15 responsive and 15 unresponsive patients were characterized as Leishmania tropica based on the BLAST and phylogenic analyses by PCR sequences of the Hsp70 and ITS1 loci. Among the 25 variables, 4 major risk factors including poor interior housing conditions (OR = 1.99, confidence interval (CI) = 1–3.93, P<0.04), history of chronic diseases (OR = 6.22, CI = 2.51–15.44, P≤0.001), duration of lesion in the patients referred ≥13 months (OR = 74.99, CI = 17.24–326.17, P≤0.001), and 5–12 months (OR = 7.42, CI = 3.07–17.92, P≤0.001) than lesions with ≤4 months of age and age groups ≥51 years (OR = 3.85, CI = 1.04–14.22, P<0.04) than those ≤7 years, were significantly associated with unresponsive forms. Improving interior house construction protecting high risk individuals and those with debilitating diseases from being bitten by sand flies, together with the early detection and effective treatment of older age groups with history of chronic diseases are highly important measures for preventing unresponsive forms in patients with ACL in southeastern Iran.

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Cystic echinococcosis (hydatid cyst, CE) as a zoonotic parasitic infection caused by the larval stage of the dog tapeworm Echinococcus granulosus is still an important economic and public health concern in the world. One of the treatment options for CE is surgical removal of the cysts combined with chemotherapy using albendazole and/or mebendazole before and after surgery. Currently, many scolicidal agents, which have some complications, have been used for inactivation of the cyst contents. Therefore the development of new scolicidal agents with low side effects and more efficacies is an urgent need for surgeons. The present study was aimed to investigate the in vitro scolicidal effect of selenium nanoparticles biosynthesized by a newly isolated marine bacterial strain Bacillus sp. MSh-1 against protoscoleces of E. granulosus. Protoscolices were aseptically aspirated from sheep livers having hydatid cysts. Various concentrations (50-500 μg/ml) of Se NPs (in size range of about 80-220 nm) were used for 10-60 min. Viability of protoscoleces was confirmed by 0.1% eosin staining. The results indicated that biogenic Se NPs at all concentrations have potent scolicidal effects especially at concentrations 500 and 250 μg/ml after 10 and 20 min of application, respectively. In conclusion, the findings of present study proven that Se NPs have potent scolicidal effects, therefore may be used in CE surgery. However, the in vivo efficacy of these NPs remains to be explored.

Grass waste was used for transform an inexpensive waste into health. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have been synthesized using waste material (dried grass). The average size of silver nanoparticles observed in transmission electron images was estimated to be about 15 nm. The anticancer, antifungal and antibacterial effect of AgNPs were studied in vitro. The minimum inhibitory concentration of AgNPs against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter baumannii was calculated about 3 µg/ml. The highest level of inhibitory effect of AgNPs against Fusarium solani was close to 90% at a concentration of 20 μg/ml of AgNPs. An inhibitory effect on the cancer cell growth is reach, by increasing the concentration of AgNPs to 5 µg/ml; the cancer cells' survival decreases about 30%. Western results showed that the expression of Cyclin D1 protein of MCF-7 cell line decreased after treatment with the effective concentration of AgNPs.

Background The control of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is facilitated by knowledge of factors associated with the treatment failures in endemic countries. The aim of this evaluation was to identify the potential risk determinants which might affect the significance of demographic and clinical characteristics for the patients with anthroponotic CL (ACL) and the outcome of meglumine antimoniate (MA) (Glucantime) treatment. Methodology/Principal findings This current was executed as a cohort spanning over a period of 5 years which centered in southeastern part of Iran. Altogether, 2,422 participants were evaluated and 1,391 eligible volunteer patients with ACL caused by Leishmania tropica were included. Overall, 1,116 (80.2%) patients received MA intraleisionally (IL), once a week for 12 weeks along with biweekly cryotherapy, while 275 (19.8%) patients received MA alone (20 mg/kg/day for 3 weeks) (intramuscular, IM). The treatment failure rate in ACL patients was 11% using IL combined with cryotherapy plus IM alone, whilst 9% and 18.5% by IL along with cryotherapy or IM alone, respectively. Multivariate logistic regression model predicted 5 major associated-risk determinants including male (odds ratio (OR) = 1.54, confidence interval (CI) = 1.079–2.22, p = 0.018), lesion on face (OR = 1.574, CI = 1.075–2.303, p = 0.02), multiple lesions (OR = 1.446, CI = 1.008–2.075, p = 0.045), poor treatment adherence (OR = 2.041, CI = 1.204–3.46, p = 0.008) and disease duration > 4 months (OR = 2.739, CI = 1.906–3.936, p≤0.001). Conclusions/Significance The present study is the original and largest cohort of ACL patients who treated with MA. A comprehensive intervention and coordinated action by the health authorities and policy-makers are crucial to make sure that patients strictly follow medical instructions. Early detection and effective therapy < 4 months following the onset of the lesion is critical for successful treatment of the patients. Since a significant number of patients are still refractory to MA, reducing man-vector exposure and development of new effective alternative drugs are essential measures against ACL due to L . tropica .