Aminoglycosides are potent bactericidal agents that play an important role in antistapylococcal therapy. In this study, we used a multiplex polymerase chain reaction assay to investigate the prevalence of aac(6')-Ie/aph(2''), ant(4')-Ia, and aph(3')-IIIa, the genes encoding the most clinically prevalent aminoglycoside-modifying enzymes, and simultaneous detection of the methicillin resistance gene, mecA, in Staphylococcus aureus isolates. A total of 100 S. aureus clinical isolates were collected and tested by disk diffusion and agar dilution method for susceptibility testing. All isolates were screened for the presence of the three aminoglycoside-modifying enzyme genes and the methicillin resistance gene. The ant(4')-Ia was the most frequent gene (58%), and aac(6')-Ie/aph(2'') and aph(3')-IIIa genes were found in 46% and 6% of the isolates, respectively. All isolates harboring the aac(6')-Ie/aph(2'') gene were resistant to gentamicin (100% concordance). Seventy-one percent of the isolates demonstrated resistance to at least one of the aminoglycosides tested. PCR results showed that 53% of all isolates harbored the mecA gene. Aminoglycoside resistance was closely associated with oxacillin resistance (p < 0.05). In conclusion, because of the high rate of aminoglycoside resistance among S. aureus clinical isolates observed in this study, periodic surveillance on the resistance prevalence should be performed.

Several virulence factors contribute to the pathogenesis of Proteus mirabilis. This study determined the inhibitory effects of allicin on urease, hemolysin and biofilm of P. mirabilis ATCC 12453 and its antimicrobial activity against 20 clinical isolates of P. mirabilis. Allicin did not inhibit hemolysin, whereas it did inhibit relative urease activity in both pre-lysed (half-maximum inhibitory concentration, IC50 = 4.15 μg) and intact cells (IC50 = 21 μg) in a concentration-dependent manner. Allicin at sub-minimum inhibitory concentrations (2-32 μg mL(-1)) showed no significant effects on the growth of the bacteria (P > 0.05), but it reduced biofilm development in a concentration-dependent manner (P < 0.001). A higher concentration of allicin was needed to inhibit the established biofilms. Using the microdilution technique, the MIC90 and MBC90 values of allicin against P. mirabilis isolates were determined to be 128 and 512 μg mL(-1), respectively. The results suggest that allicin could have clinical applications in controlling P. mirabilis infections.

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Aim:To address the association between the duration of using oral contraceptives and cervical cancer, excluding HPV-DNA positive women. Methods: The sample consisted of 300 women over 30 years of age with newly diagnosed invasive cervical cancer who were admitted to the seven general hospitals in Tehran between 1 January 2005 and 31 December 2006. The control group consisted of 319 women in the same age group admitted to the same hospitals with conditions judged to be unrelated to any of the known or suspected risk factors for cervical cancer. The main outcome measures were the duration of using oral contraceptives and risk of cervical cancer. Results: Forty-five patients versus 48 controls had ever used oral contraceptives, and the corresponding unadjusted odds ratio (OR) was 0.9 (0.6-1.2). The OR of cervical cancer increased with the duration of using oral contraceptives, being 3.4 (1.2-11) for more than 20 years of use and 2.3 (1.2-5) for a use of 15-20 years, compared with less than a use of oral contraceptives for 10 years. The adjusted OR for parity and less than 8 years since they had last used oral contraceptives were 1.2 (1.08-1.4) and 1.4 (1.01-2.1) respectively. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that parity and a duration of less than 8 years since the women last used oral contraceptives increase their risk of cervical cancer.

Background:It is of great importance to quickly and accurately detectMethods:The current study describes a new method for the detection of brucellosis in clinical samples using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and high-resolution melt (HRM) curve analysis. This study was conducted on 70 human and 55 animal isolates with more than 1/80 serum antibody titers. Additionally, the accuracy and specificity of the methods were compared.Results:The mean range [cycles threshold±standard deviation (CConclusions:The results of HRM analysis can be used for species differentiation and bacterial genotyping according to nucleotide polymorphism. This molecular method could help in diagnosing