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Blood transfusion safety is an essential element of public health. Current blood screening strategies rely on targeted techniques that could miss unknown or unexpected pathogens. Recent studies have demonstrated the presence of a viral community (virobiota/virome) in the blood of healthy individuals. Here, we characterized the blood virome in patients frequently exposed to blood transfusion by using Illumina metagenomic sequencing. The virome of these patients was compared to viruses present in healthy blood donors. A total number of 155 beta-thalassemia, 149 hemodialysis, and 100 healthy blood donors were pooled with five samples per pool. Members of the Anelloviridae and Flaviviridae family were most frequently observed. Interestingly, samples of healthy blood donors harbored traces of potentially pathogenic viruses, including adeno-, rota-, and Merkel cell polyomavirus. Viruses of the Anelloviridae family were most abundant in the blood of hemodialysis patients and displayed a higher anellovirus richness. Pegiviruses (Flaviviridae) were only observed in patient populations. An overall trend of higher eukaryotic read abundance in both patient groups was observed. This might be associated with increased exposure through blood transfusion. Overall, the findings in this study demonstrated the presence of various viruses in the blood of Iranian multiple-transfused patients and healthy blood donors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aim: Recent studies have proposed that commensal bacteria might be involved in the development and progression of gastrointestinal disorders such as colorectal cancer (CRC). Therefore, in this study, the relative abundance of Fusobacterium nucleatum, Bacteroides fragilis, Streptococcus bovis/gallolyticus, and Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) in CRC tissues, and their association with clinicopathologic characteristics of CRC was investigated in Iranian patients. Moreover, the role of these bacteria in the CRC-associated mutations including PIK3CA, KRAS, and BRAF was studied. Method: To these ends, the noted bacteria were quantified in paired tumors and normal tissue specimens of 30 CRC patients, by TaqMan quantitative Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR). Next, possible correlations between clinicopathologic factors and mutations in PIK3CA, KRAS, and BRAF genes were analyzed. Results: In studied samples, B. fragilis was the most abundant bacteria that was detected in 66 and 60% of paired tumor and normal samples, respectively. Furthermore, 15% of the B. fragilis-positive patients were infected with Enterotoxigenic B. fragilis (ETBF) in both adenocarcinoma and matched adjacent normal samples. F. nucleatum was also identified in 23% of tumors and 13% of adjacent normal tissue samples. Moreover, the relative abundance of these bacteria determined by 2-ΔCT was significantly higher in CRC samples than in adjacent normal mucosa (p < 0.05). On the other hand, our findings indicated that S. gallolyticus and EPEC, compared to adjacent normal mucosa, were not prevalent in CRC tissues. Finally, our results revealed a correlation between F. nucleatum-positive patients and the KRAS mutation (p = 0.02), while analyses did not show any association between bacteria and mutation in PIK3CA and BRAF genes. Conclusion: The present study is the first report on the analysis of different bacteria in CRC tissue samples of Iranian patients. Our findings revealed that F. nucleatum and B. fragilis might be linked to CRC. However, any link between gut microbiome dysbiosis and CRC remains unknown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Dichelyne minutus (Rudolphi, 1819) is a typical and widespread parasite of Gobiidae. In this research, histopathological changes in the intestinal wall of Neogobius bathybius (Kessler) (Actinopterygii: Gobiidae) due to infection caused by D. minutus were studied. The most heavily parasitized regions were excised for microscopic studies. Cross sections revealed different aspects of tissue defensive reactions due to the free movement of nematodes among the gut contents. Mucosal erosion, increased number of goblet cells, hyperplastic changes in the epithelial cells, and remarkable hyperplasia that formed nodule-like structures with hyperemia were observed in the submucosa. Focal necrosis and a thickened muscle layer in the musculature were also noted. These changes may disrupt normal mucosal integrity, cause local blockage of the alimentary canal, and disrupt the overall absorption efficiency of the intestine, and thus the fish's growth. Therefore, these alterations are signifcant enough to decrease the level of ftness of the fish by restricting its food intake. Finally, these changes may result in a weaker immune system and fatality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]