The aim of this study was to investigate the association between dietary inflammatory index (DII) and metabolic syndrome (MetS) and its components using data of Ravansar non-communicable diseases (RaNCD) cohort study. Patients and Methods: The present cross-sectional study was performed using the information of 6538 participants in the RaNCD study in Iran. A validated 125-item food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) was used to acquire DII scores. MetS was defined based on national cholesterol education program-adult treatment panel III (NCEP-ATP III) criteria. The association between DII and MetS and its components was investigated by the logistic regression model using STATA software. Results: A significant association was found between DII and MetS (OR trend : 1.08, 95% CI: 1.01-1.15, P =0.017), triglyceride (TG) (OR trend : 1.06, 95% CI: 1.00-1.12, P=0.030), fasting blood glucose (FBG) (OR trend : 1.10, 95% CI: 1.01-1.20, P=0.018) and high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) (OR trend : 1.07, 95% CI: 1.02-1.12, P= 0.005) after adjustment for all covariates. Also, there was a significant relationship between DII score and waist circumference (WC) (OR trend : 1.07, 95% CI: 1.01-1.14, P=0.016). Conclusion: Higher DII score (a pro-inflammatory diet) had a significant association with the risk of MetS and its components, even after adjustment for different potential confounding factors including socio-demographic data and lifestyle habits. However, further longitudinal investigations with more dietary parameters are needed to elucidate the role of the pro-inflammatory diet in the etiology of MetS.

Background: Trichomonas vaginalis (T.vaginalis) and Neisseria gonorrhoeae (N.gonorrhoeae) are two most common non-viral sexually transmitted infections in the world. No data are available regarding the epidemiology of genital infections in women of Qom, central Iran. Objective:Epidemiological investigation of sexually transmitted infections in genital specimens of women referred to the referral gynecology hospital in Qom, central Iran.Materials and Methods:Genital swab specimens were collected from women volunteers and used for identification of bacterial and protozoal infections by conventional microbial diagnostics, porA pseudo gene LightCycler® real-time PCR (for N.gonorrhoeae) and ITS-PCR (for T.vaginalis). Results:Of 420 volunteers, 277 (65.9%) had genital signs/symptoms, including 38.3% malodorous discharge, 37.9% dyspareunia, and 54.8% abdominal pain. Totally, 2 isolates of Streptococcus agalactiae were identified. Five specimens (1.2%) in Thayer-Martin culture and 17 (4.1%) in real-time PCR were identified as N.gonorrhoeae. Fifty-four specimens (12.9%) in wet mount, 64 (15.2%) in Dorset’s culture, and 81 (19.3%) in ITS-PCR showed positive results for T.vaginalis. Five mixed infections of T.vaginalis+ N.gonorrhoeae were found. The risk of T.vaginalis infection was increased in women with low-birth-weight (p=0.00; OR=43.29), history of abortion (p=0.00; OR=91.84), and premature rupture of membranes (PROM) (p=0.00; OR=21.75). The probability of finding nuclear leukocytes (p=0.00; OR=43.34) in vaginal smear was higher in T.vaginalis infection.Conclusion:The significant prevalence of trichomoniasis and gonorrhea emphasizes the need for accurate diagnosis and effective surveillance to prevent serious reproductive complications in women.

Biosynthesis of nanoparticles can replace the available chemical and physical methods by offering new procedures as green syntheses that have proved to be simple, biocompatible, safe, and cost-effective. Recently, antifungal resistance has been reported against different species of Aspergillus and Candida opportunistic fungi. Selenium nanoparticles (Se-NPs) were biosynthesized using standard strains of A. flavus and C. albicans. The presence of NPs was confirmed by UV-Vis, FT-IR, FESEM, EDX, XRD, and Zeta potential. Common fungal strains were cultured in Sabouraud dextrose agar medium to perform the sensitivity test based on the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) method in duplicate. The utilization of Se-NPs at concentrations of 1, 0.5, and 0.25 μg/mL or in some strains even more minor than 0.125 μg/mL resulted in zero growth of fungal agents. However, antifungal drugs inhibited their growth at concentrations of 2, 4, 8, 16, and 64 μg/mL itraconazole (ITC). Also, MIC breakpoints for amphotericin B (AMB) and anidulafungin (AFG) were 2 μg/mL for defining resistance in some isolates. Based on the obtained results, biological NPs produced by Aspergillus and Candida at different concentrations exhibited favourable inhibitory effects on the growth of fungal strains.

Introduction: A significant proportion of patients with Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) are coinfected with multiple pathogens. We report here development of a multiplex PCR for simultaneous detection of Chlamydia trachomatis (C.trachomatis), Neisseria gonorrhoeae (N.gonorrhoeae) and Trichomonas vaginalis (T.vaginalis) in genital specimens from women. Methodology: After detection of the organisms by routine techniques including PCR, culture and direct smear, multiplex-PCR was optimized to detect ompI gene of CT, parC of NG, ITS ribosomal RNA of TV as target genes. The limit of detection (LOD) was determined using serially diluted genomic DNA from known number of each pathogen. Results: Totally 300 volunteers with mean age of 36.5 ±7.03 years were included and 266 (88.7%) had genitourinary clinical manifestations. Of 300 women, 150 (50.0%) were infected. Of them, 17 (5.7%) had N. gonorrhoeae, 98 (32.7%) T. vaginalis and 35 (11.7%) C. trachomatis. Multiplex-PCR revealed a total of 10 coinfections (3.3%) including 2 specimens of C. trachomatis/ N. gonorrhoeae, 3 specimens of C .trachomatis/ T. vaginalis and 5 specimens of N. gonorrhoeae/T. vaginalis coinfections. The sensitivity and specificity of multiplex-PCR for detecting N. gonorrhoeae were 100% and 98.59% (279 of 283) respectively and, for C. trachomatis and T. vaginalis were 100%. The LOD was 0.1 pg of DNA for C. trachomatis and N. gonorrhoeae, and 1.5 pg for T. vaginalis. Conclusions: The performance of this multiplex-PCR makes it a sensitive, rapid and affordable technique in clinical laboratory for simultaneous detection of STIs.

The application of biological nanoparticles (NPs) can be considered as a way to overcome the problem of antifungal resistance in pathogenic fungi. This study takes a new approach to biosynthesized NPs influence on the expression of CYP51A and HSP90 antifungal resistance genes in Aspergillus fumigatus and A. flavus, and comparison with antifungal agents. Selenium NPs (Se-NPs) were biosynthesized using Aspergillus strains and their production was proved by several methods including, UV-Vis, XRD, FTIR, FESEM, and EDX techniques. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of Aspergillus strains were determined using the CLSI M38-A2 broth microdilution method. The differences in expression levels of CYP51A and HSP90 genes were examined between untreated and treated of A. fumigatus and A. flavus using itraconazole and amphotericin B and biosynthesized Se-NPs through real-time PCR. After confirming the results of NPs synthesis, the MIC of itraconazole and amphotericin B against A. fumigatus and A. flavus was 4 μg/ml. Based on the real-time PCR results, the obtained ΔΔCTs for these strains were À0.18, À1.46, and À1.14. Whereas the MIC values for treated samples with Se-NPs have decreased to 0.5 μg/ml, and the ΔΔCTs for these were À0.25, À1.76, and À1.68. The expression of CYP51A and HSP90 genes was significantly down-regulated through the use of Se-NPs against A. fumigatus and A. flavus.