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BACKGROUND: Nocardia asteroides and Mycobacterium tuberculosis are worldwide-distributed bacteria. These infectious agents can cause many infections in humans, especially in immunocompromised individuals. Pulmonary infections are more common and have similar clinical symptoms. Proper diagnosis and treatment of these patients are important for accurate treatment and could be lifesaving. METHODS: In this study, a multiplex real-time PCR assay was established for the simultaneous detection of the N. asteroides and M. tuberculosis. Both this homemade multiplex real time PCR and routine commercial tuberculosis tests were performed on 150 pulmonary specimens collected from individuals suspected to have tuberculosis. RESULTS: From 150 specimens, 20 samples were acid fast positive, 14 positives for M. tuberculosis by singleplex real time PCR, 10 positives for N. asteroides by singleplex real time PCR and 2 positives for M. tuberculosis and N. asteroides by multiplex real time PCR whereas 14 samples were positive for M. tuberculosis with commercial test. Differential diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis is useful for their proper treatment. CONCLUSION: Our test had good performance for differential diagnosis of tuberculosis and nocardiosis. Therefore, it is recommended to be used to diagnose such patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: We aimed to investigate the genotypes of Giardia intestinalis among the food handlers in Qazvin, Iran. Methods: Overall, 1530 stool specimens were collected from the food handlers who visited Shahid Bolandian Health Center, Qazvin, Iran during 2016. Specimens were evaluated by microscopic and concentration methods. Twenty specimens with appropriate number of giardia cysts were selected followed by DNA extraction. Determination of giardia genotypes was achieved through PCR and sequencing the glutamate dehydrogenase gene. The phylogenetic tree was drawn using the MEGA7 software. Finally, the data were analyzed statistically with a P-value<0.05 was considered as significant. Results: Twenty stool samples (1.3%) were positive for Giardia cyst. All positive specimens were obtained from male participants with abdominal cramp being their most common symptoms. The mean age for infected individuals was 32 yr. Molecular characterization was successfully performed for 17 isolates and two genotypes A (AII, 65%) and B (BIII, 35%) were identified. Conclusion: The most prevalent giardia genotypes among the food handlers in Qazvin were A (AII) and B (BIII) genotypes with A (AII) genotype as the dominant one in the region. Considering the direct association between the food handlers and public health as well as the impact of geographical and host conditions on dispersion and pathogenicity of various genotypes and their zoonotic aspects, further investigations are necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The role of gut microbiota in the pathogenesis of several neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer's disease (AD), via the gut-brain axis has recently been demonstrated; hence, modification of the intestinal microbiota composition by probiotic biotherapy could be a therapeutic target for these conditions. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of a probiotic formulation (Lactobacillus helveticus R0052 and Bifidobacterium longum R0175) on inflammatory and memory processes in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced rats, one of the animal models used in peripherally induced neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration.Methods: Rats were randomly divided into four groups (Control, LPS, Probiotic + LPS, and Probiotic). All experimental groups were orally administrated maltodextrin (placebo) or probiotic (109 CFU/ml/rat) for 14 consecutive days and then were injected with saline or LPS (1 mg/kg, intraperitoneally [i.p.], single dose) 20 hours later. Memory retention ability and systemic and neuroinflammatory markers were assessed 4 hours after the injections.Results: Systemic exposure to LPS resulted in significant elevation of both the circulating and hippocampal levels of proinflammatory cytokines, which decreased remarkably following probiotic pretreatment. Oral bacteriotherapy with a combination of L. helveticus R0052 and B. longum R0175 also attenuated the decremental effect of LPS on memory through brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression at the molecular level; however, this effect was not significant in the passive avoidance test at the behavioral level.Conclusions: These results suggest that the management of gut microbiota with this probiotic formulation could be a promising intervention to improve neuroinflammation-associated disorders such as AD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Endometriosis is a chronic gynecological disease resulting from complex interactions between genetic, hormonal, environmental and oxidative stress and intrinsic inflammatory components. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential association of the 763C>G polymorphism in the secretory phospholipase A2 group IIa gene (PLA2G2A) with the risk of endometriosis in Iranian women. Materials and Methods: Ninety seven patients with endometriosis along with 107 women who were negative for endometriosis after laparoscopy and laparatomy, and served as the control group, were enrolled for this cross-sectional study. Samples were genotyped using the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism method. Results: Multivariate analysis was used to examine the association between the risk of endometriosis and the 763C>G polymorphism of PLA2G2A. Genotype distributions of PLA- 2G2A were significantly different between patients and the controls (p<0.001, OR=0.22, 95% CI=0.21-0.39). Correlation analysis showed that there was a significant association between the normal homozygous genotype and susceptibility to endometriosis (p<0.001). Conclusion: The present study suggests that the 763C>G polymorphism of PLA2G2A plays an important role as an independent factor in the risk of endometriosis in Iranian women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and objectives: Timely diagnosis of leptospirosis is essential for an effective treatment. Large diversity of clinical symptoms has led leptospirosis diagnosis difficult. Researchers have conducted many tests with wide-range of sensitivity and specificity to achieve novel diagnostic procedures which have higher sensitivity and specificity compared with previous tests and which are more reliable and available to public laboratories. This study aimed to introduce Lsa63 and LipL32 proteins-based ELISA tests with more sensitivity, specificity, accuracy and convenience for public laboratories. Materials and Methods: Recombinant forms of Lsa63 and LipL32 proteins were first generated. After coating these proteins, IgM and IgG ELISA tests were performed. 220 patients with suspicion of leptospirosis infection were selected for serum collection. The sera tests were carried out using MAT, IgM and IgG ELISA tests. In order to assess the performance of ELISA, the results of this test were compared with MAT. Results: 30% of serum samples (n=65) in MAT were positive for leptospirosis infection, while ELISA tests including rLipL32- rLsa63-IgM and rLipL32-rLsa63-IgG showed 40.45% (n=89) and 38.63% (n=80) positive reaction respectively. Conclusion: Our results demonstrated that new ELISA tests based on mixing LipL32 and Lsa63 proteins, a novel mixture of recombinant antigens, are valuable to detect specific antibodies against pathogenic Leptospira in human serum and could be considered as helpful techniques in leptospirosis diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Toxoplasma specific IgM antibodies; the common serologic marker in diagnosis of acute toxoplasmosis has its own limitations. Confirmatory testing with other markers, introduced as a complementary tool in distinguish acute and chronic infections is unusual in Iran. In the present study, we investigated the correlation between the results of IgM ELISA, IgA ELISA, and IgG avidity tests in the diagnosis of toxoplasmosis to demonstrate the necessity of confirmatory testing in serodiagnosis of infection in the country. Methods: A total of 107 positive Toxoplasma IgG and IgM sera were obtained from patients referred to private laboratories and stored at -20 °C for futures use. Serologic tests were set up in duplicate to analyze the serum levels of IgG, IgM, IgA, and IgG avidity antibodies using commercial ELISA kits. The results were presented as semi quantitative for IgG, IgM and IgA ELISA, and Relative Avidity Index in percentage for IgG avidity test. Pearson's correlation coefficient (rp) was applied to analyze the data. Results: Of 107 serum samples, T. gondii specific IgM and IgA antibodies were positive in 67.3% and 53.3%, respectively. Besides, 29.9% of the sera displayed low avidity for IgG antibodies. The rp was - 0.572 (P<0.01) between the IgG avidity and IgM ELISA, - 0.364 between the IgG avidity and IgA ELISA (P<0.01), and 0.564 between the IgM and IgA ELISA (P<0.01). Conclusion: The study strongly highlights the necessity of confirmatory testing in differential diagnosis of acute and chronic toxoplasmosis in Iran. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and purpose: Toxoplasmosis is a parasitic protozoan disease producing severe complications in congenital and immunocompromised cases. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is the most common laboratory method for serodiagnosis of toxoplasmosis. Commercial kits have no unique procedure for standardization and this may influence the consistency of the results. The present study was designed to determine the reproducibility of results obtained by ELISA in different laboratories using similar commercial kits. Also, the results obtained from different commercial kits were compared. Materials and methods: Three Toxoplasma gondii IgG-ELISA kits from different commercial companies were used and the results reported by three different university laboratories evaluated. Eighty one serum samples from patients referred to a private laboratory for serologic determination of toxoplasmosis were examined. The results of the tests were reported as qualitative values (positive, negative, borderline), and the agreement rates determined using the Kappa coefficient. Results: Comparing three different kits, the results of 76 serum samples were similar and the Kappa coefficients calculated at 0.85, 0.90, and 0.97. When comparing different laboratories, the results of 80 serum samples among three laboratories were similar and the Kappa coefficients calculated at 0.97-1. Conclusion: Based on the results of the present study, it could be concluded that the ELISA test for detection of antibodies to T. gondii has the potential to produce consistent results in different laboratories while using different kits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Fascioliasis and dicrocoeliasis are the most frequent zoonotic diseases with increasing human health problems in different parts of Iran. Two species, Fasciola hepatica (F. hepatica) and Fasciola gigantica (F. gigantica), are spread in the country. Molecular approaches have a decisive role in identifying both the species. The aim of this study was to detect Fasciola spp. and Dicrocoelium spp. by amplifying the ITS-2 and 28S rDNA gene sequence., Methods: Overall, 30 infected liver samples were collected from the livestock of Qazvin, Iran. The adult flukes were collected from different livestock. DNA extraction and PCR amplification of ribosomal RNA gene region (ITS2) and 28S rDNA gene fragment were conducted and a phylogenetic tree was constructed., Result: All the isolates obtained from the cattle (No: 7) and 82.6% (No: 19) of sheep isolates were infected with F. hepatica species, whereas 17.4% (No: 4) of sheep isolates were infected with F. gigantica. It was also shown that F. hepatica was the predominant species of Fasciola present in the region. All the specimens were infected with Dicrocoelium dendriticum (D. dendriticum)., Conclusion: Both the species of Fasciola were found in Qazvin. D. dendriticum was the sole infecting species of the Dicrocoelium genus in the livestock of the city of Qazvin. Further research studies are needed to determine the intermediate host of the parasites in the region., (Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.net.)

Background: Timely diagnosis of leptospirosis is essential for early and effective treatment, for there are many differential diagnoses for it.. Leptospiral researchers have an increasing interest in developing new serological methods with recombinant antigens to improve the Leptospirosis diagnosis. Several serological tests have been developed for the proper diagnosis of leptospirosis., Objectives: To improve the previous works we developed an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) with novel recombinant leptospiral surface adhesion (Lsa63) protein to offer a new test., Materials and Methods: In an experimental study, Recombinant Lsa63 (rLsa63) was produced in Escherishia coli (E.coli) BL21 (DE3). By using rLsa63, we generated IgM and IgG ELISA. Performance of these tests was compared to microscopic agglutination golden test (MAT). Two hundred twenty human serum samples were obtained from individuals suspicious of leptospirosis who were referred to Guilan Province Central Leptospira Laboratory for definitive diagnosis. The sensitivity, specificity and other statistical indexes of Lsa63-ELISAs were also determined., Results: Among 220 serum samples, 30% (n = 65) had positive MAT responses, and also 38% (n = 84) and 40.9% (n = 90) showed positive reaction to IgG and IgM rLsa63-ELISA, respectively. The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy were 93.8%, 81.29 % and 85.0 for IgM-Lsa63- ELISA and 83.07, 80, 64 and 81.36 for IgG-Lsa63- ELISA, respectively., Conclusions: Our results demonstrated that the sensitivity and specificity of Lsa63-ELISAs are promising for the detection of Leptospira serovars.