Raheleh Taji, J. Sadraei, M. Pirestani, S. Bahadory
{"title":"Investigating the Effect of Silver, Chitosan, and Curcumin Nanoparticles on Blastocystis spp. and Comparing it With Metronidazole In Vitro","authors":"Raheleh Taji, J. Sadraei, M. Pirestani, S. Bahadory","doi":"10.34172/ijep.2022.5561","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.34172/ijep.2022.5561","url":null,"abstract":"Background: Blastocystis is an anaerobic gastrointestinal protozoan that causes infections in humans and a wide range of animals. It was found that the host specificity and the pathogenic potential of different isolates are correlated with sequence variations in the SSU-rRNA gene. The identification of the organism at the species level is still an unclear challenge. The use of natural nature substances against infectious organisms has been promising, and the optimization of these substances in the direction of better delivery such as the form of nanoparticles (NPs) of natural substances has recently been considered. Objectives: The present study aimed to investigate the effect of silver, chitosan, and curcumin NPs on Blastocystis spp. and compare it with metronidazole in vitro conditions. Materials and Methods: The parasite was cultivated in Robinson’s medium and was then identified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and the subtype of the parasite was determined, which was subtype 3. Then, the methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) test was performed to determine the toxicity level of the prepared drugs/substances using Caco2 cells. This study investigated the concentrations of silver NPs (10, 25, and 50 µg/mL), chitosan (75, 50, 25, and 12.5 µg/mL), and curcumin (250, 500, and 1000 µg/mL), and their effect on 24- and 48-hour time points after exposure to the parasite. Then, the final number of parasites was counted after staining with trypan blue by a Neubauer slide, and the values of IC50 and selectivity index (SI) were calculated for each substance. Results: Chitosan and curcumin NPs had SI of 2.04 and 13.15, respectively, which were more effective than metronidazole, and silver NP was 0.143. However, chitosan NP had the best antiparasitic effect. Based on the obtained results, chitosan and curcumin NPs were more effective against blastocystis than against metronidazole. Conclusion: Chitosan and curcumin NPs (liposomal curcumin) have a good inhibitory effect on blastocystis compared to metronidazole, but silver NP did not perform better than metronidazole.","PeriodicalId":31016,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Enteric Pathogens","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77199886","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Raziyeh Baharvand, F. Fallah, P. Jafari, A. Khosravi, L. Azimi
{"title":"The Rate of Nasal and Oral Colonization and Expression Levels of Hyphal Adhesin Als3p and mecA Genes in Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Candida spp. Isolated From Patients With Lung Cancer","authors":"Raziyeh Baharvand, F. Fallah, P. Jafari, A. Khosravi, L. Azimi","doi":"10.34172/ijep.2022.5545","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.34172/ijep.2022.5545","url":null,"abstract":"Background: Patients with cancer is considered highly susceptible group to both nosocomial and community-acquired infections. Objectives: In the present research, we aimed to determine the rate of nasal and oral colonization and expression level of Als3p and mecA genes among Candida spp. and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in co-colonization and single colonization conditions. Materials and Methods: In total, 110 oral swab samples and 110 nasal swab samples were gathered from patients with lung cancer. The frequency of MRSA isolates (oxacillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) was determined using the disk diffusion method. In addition, the frequency and expression levels of Als3p and mecA genes among MRSA and Candida spp. isolates were determined and compared using PCR and qRT-PCR methods, respectively. Results: Candida spp. and S. aureus were found in 42.7% (n=47/110), and 9.1% (n=10/110) of oral samples, respectively, while Candida spp. and S. aureus were found in 5.5% (n=6/110) and 16.4% (n=18/110) of nasal samples, respectively. Additionally, 55.5% (n=10/18) of S. aureus isolates obtained from nasal samples were MRSA. Candida albicans (n=23/110; 20.9%) had the highest frequency among Candida species. In all MRSA and Candida spp. isolates, the Als3p and mecA gene expression increased two and three times in co-colonization condition compared to single colonization condition, respectively. Conclusion: The present study revealed that co-colonization has a synergistic effect on the expression level of mecA and Als3p genes. Our finding suggested that co-colonization can facilitate the invasion of S. aureus and leads to systemic and severe infections in co-colonized patients.","PeriodicalId":31016,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Enteric Pathogens","volume":"3 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89967804","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Fatemeh Sameni, Kimia Kazemi, Yousef Atefpour, Somayeh Yaslianifard, M. Dadashi
{"title":"Prevalence of Cutaneous Manifestations in COVID-19 Patients and Their Relationship With Disease Severity","authors":"Fatemeh Sameni, Kimia Kazemi, Yousef Atefpour, Somayeh Yaslianifard, M. Dadashi","doi":"10.34172/ijep.2022.5548","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.34172/ijep.2022.5548","url":null,"abstract":"At the beginning of COVID-19 pandemic, highly accurate information about the clinical manifestations of the disease was not available, and the reported symptoms were non-specific and more related to respiratory symptoms such as fever, dry cough, fatigue, and sputum production. As time has passed, skin manifestations have been proposed as one of the clinical manifestations of COVID-19 in some patients. Among all reported lesions, livedoid lesions appeared simultaneously with the symptoms of SARS-CoV-2, mainly in elderly people with severe infections, and were associated with the highest risk of the mortality of all skin lesions. Knowledge of the skin manifestations that may be the only symptoms of COVID-19 may help in early diagnosis and specific treatment. In the current review, the skin findings of patients in association with COVID-19 were summarized into the categories of maculopapular or morbilliform lesions, urticarial lesions, chilblain-like lesions, vesicular lesions, petechiae or purpura lesions, and livedoid lesions.","PeriodicalId":31016,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Enteric Pathogens","volume":"103 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73203721","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Amir Karimipour-Saryazdi, Mohammad Jafari, Roya Omidi, F. Ghaffarifar, Seyyed Hojjat Sadeghi
{"title":"Anti-leishmania Effect of Magnesium Oxide Nanoparticles on Leishmania tropica/infantum and Leishmania-Infected Macrophages","authors":"Amir Karimipour-Saryazdi, Mohammad Jafari, Roya Omidi, F. Ghaffarifar, Seyyed Hojjat Sadeghi","doi":"10.34172/ijep.2022.5546","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.34172/ijep.2022.5546","url":null,"abstract":"Background: Leishmania is an intracellular protozoan parasite that enters and reproduces in macrophage cells. Macrophages are important immune cells that phagocyte many pathogens such as bacteria, fungi, and parasites such as Leishmania spp. but are incapable of killing this parasite, living in the phagosomes of infected macrophages, multiplying, and resulting in the divesting of infected macrophages and the appearance of Leishmania lesions. Many of the present drugs for Leishmania treatment have side effects, or parasites have resistance to some of these drugs. Therefore, there is a need for a better drug for Leishmania treatment. Magnesium oxide (MgO) is a metal nanoparticle (NP) with numerous biological applications, including antioxidant and antimicrobial effects on various pathogens such as some bacteria, fungi, and parasites, including Leishmania spp. Objectives: Accordingly, this article has discussed the effects of MgO NPs on Leishmania tropica and Leishmania infantum and Leishmania-infected macrophages. Materials and Methods: The effect of various doses of MgO NPs on L. tropica and L. infantum promastigotes and amastigotes was studied in vitro. Flow cytometry and MTT were also utilized to assess the cytotoxic effects of MgO on L. tropica and L. infantum promastigotes, as well as the likelihood of apoptosis. Amastigote assay was employed to determine the infected macrophage percentage, and the number of parasites present in every macrophage cell. Results: The percentage of macrophages contaminated with amastigotes of L. tropica and L. infantum that were treated with MgO NPs was 15% and 11%, respectively. Flow cytometry revealed that MgO NPs induced approximately 38.56% and 30.5% apoptosis on L. tropica and Leishmania infantum, respectively. The half maximal inhibitory concentration of MgO NPs to L. tropica and L. infantum according to promastigote assay for 72 hours was 7.32 μg/mL and 12.58 μg/mL, respectively. Conclusion: According to the findings, MgO NPs had a great in-vitro fatality effect on L. tropica and L. infantum promastigotes and amastigotes (inside leishmania-infected macrophages).","PeriodicalId":31016,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Enteric Pathogens","volume":"55 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90684335","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Gholamreza Bayat, A. Khalili, Marjan Hosseini, Roham Mazloom
{"title":"The Effects of Liver Cirrhosis on Electrical Autorhythmicity of Isolated Duodenum in Rats","authors":"Gholamreza Bayat, A. Khalili, Marjan Hosseini, Roham Mazloom","doi":"10.34172/ijep.2022.5524","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.34172/ijep.2022.5524","url":null,"abstract":"Background: Cirrhosis reduced small bowel motility and transit time, with unknown mechanisms. Moreover, intestinal motility depends on the electrical activity and the autorhythmicity of interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC). If cirrhosis directly affects the intrinsic mechanism of intestinal motility, the isolated bowel of cirrhotic cases will also exhibit an electrical abnormality compared with normal cases. Objectives: This study aimed to identify the effects of liver cirrhosis on the electrical autorhythmicity of isolated duodenum in rats. Materials and Methods: Six weeks after bile duct ligation (BDL) surgery, animals were anesthetized, and blood samples were obtained from the heart for the evaluation of plasma cirrhosis indices, including weight, plasma albumin, serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (SGOT), serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase (SGPT), bilirubin, and direct bilirubin. Then, the duodenum of rats was isolated and compared with the control group for the rate of electrical slow waves and the maximum amplitude of slow waves. Results: Significant differences were observed between the control and BDL group in terms of weight, plasma albumin, SGOT, SGPT, bilirubin, and direct bilirubin. Moreover, there was a significant decrease in the maximum amplitude of slow waves in the BDL group compared with the control. Conclusion: It seems that different factors directly harm the ICC network such as inflammation caused by microbiome amplification as a result of cirrhosis, which in turn reduces small bowel motility.","PeriodicalId":31016,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Enteric Pathogens","volume":"142 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80607220","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
M. Ahmadian-Attari, Leila Mohammad Taghizadeh Kashani, Atefeh Hajiagha Bozorgi
{"title":"Searching Potential Molecules Against SARS-CoV-2 from Costus arabicus L. Root Smoke: A Docking Study","authors":"M. Ahmadian-Attari, Leila Mohammad Taghizadeh Kashani, Atefeh Hajiagha Bozorgi","doi":"10.34172/ijep.2022.5507","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.34172/ijep.2022.5507","url":null,"abstract":"Background: The root smoke of Costus arabicus L. (Qust-e Shirin) has been used in Iranian traditional medicine (ITM) for rhinorrhea and catarrh, especially with infectious origin. Objectives: This study aimed to inspect potential anti-severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) activities of chemical compositions of this smoke through a docking study. Materials and Methods: Based on our previous study on the chemical compositions of C. arabicus root smoke, the chemical structure of components was revealed by GC-MS. In this study, these structures were generated in HyperChem software, and an energy-minimization procedure was performed for the molecules. For the docking study, the Hex software was used. Docking was performed using the Protein Data Bank (PDB) structure of the COVID-19 RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) (PDB ID: 6M71) enzyme which was obtained from PDB bank, water molecules were removed, Coleman charge was added, and non-polar hydrogens were merged. Then, docking was performed. Results: The result indicated the energy of each interaction between molecules and enzymes. The lower the energy, the higher the probability of interaction will be. The best molecule was 6H-quindoline which has the best total energy among the molecules. The next molecule was 5-methoxy-alpha methyl tryptamine with -210.82 kcal energy. Their similar structure in indole moiety suggests that this fragment can play a crucial role in attachment to the enzyme and can be kept intact in future designs against COVID-19 inhibitors. Conclusion: In conclusion, this study showed that C. arabicus root smoke may be effective in SARS-CoV-2 infection. Further in vitro and in vivo studies on the activity of the smoke and its constituents against COVID-19 would be fruitful.","PeriodicalId":31016,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Enteric Pathogens","volume":"166 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77297224","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Anti-cancer and Anti-bacterial Effects of Bioactive Compounds of Scutellaria Species","authors":"E. Nourizadeh","doi":"10.34172/ijep.2022.5503","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.34172/ijep.2022.5503","url":null,"abstract":"Background: Cancer has spread rapidly all over the world, and its spread has been considered a big health problem by international organizations. Today, patients prefer to use medicinal plants to treat infectious and non-infectious diseases. Objectives: Considering that Scutellaria has therapeutic properties, this study was conducted to investigate the anti-cancer and anti-bacterial effects of biologically active compounds of Scutellaria species. Materials and Methods: In this research, data were extracted from various research reports and other reliable sources. In this systematic review, websites and databases of Magiran, SID, PubMed, Iranmed, Scopus, and Google scholar were searched for papers published in Persian and English using the keywords of anti-cancer compounds, anti-bacterial, Scutellaria species, and cancer cells. No time limitation was applied. Several interventional studies were identified. These studies were selected based on the purpose of the study. Results: The research results showed that Scutellaria species contain bioactive compounds such as wogonin, wogonoside, baicalein, baicalin, squalane, apigenin, flavonoid, and neobaicalein, which have anti-cancer and anti-microbial properties. Conclusion: Despite the anti-bacterial and anti-cancer properties of Scutellaria species, whether Scutellaria can be used as an anti-cancer and anti-bacterial agent in clinical settings depends on many factors, which need further studies.","PeriodicalId":31016,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Enteric Pathogens","volume":"51 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84661300","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Mahboobeh Mehrabani Natanzi, N. Zhalehjoo, Z. Khodaii
{"title":"Effects of Aqueous Extract of Cinnamomum zeylanicum on Pathogenic Gastrointestinal Bacteria and Probiotic Bacteria","authors":"Mahboobeh Mehrabani Natanzi, N. Zhalehjoo, Z. Khodaii","doi":"10.34172/ijep.2022.5532","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.34172/ijep.2022.5532","url":null,"abstract":"Background: Bacterial resistance to antibiotics and the progress made in medicinal plants have caused researchers to pay attention to antibacterial compounds in plants. Objectives: In this study, we assessed the prebiotic and antipathogenic effects of the aqueous extract of Cinnamomum zeylanicum. Materials and Methods: Antibacterial activity of the aqueous extract was performed on various target cultures. Determining the activity of the extract n inhibiting the growth of bacteria was done using broth dilution technique. We evaluated the prebiotic activity of extract on Lactobacillus reuteri and Lactobacillus acidophilus probiotic bacteria. Results: C. zeylanicum extract was able to inhibit the growth of all six pathogens. Furthermore, C. zeylanicum extract had prebiotic properties for L. reuteri and L. acidophilus bacteria. Conclusion: There are antibacterial substances in the aqueous extract of C. zeylanicum, and it has prebiotic activity. Therefore, this makes C. zeylanicum considered a good candidate for food supplementation to prevent gastroenteritis.","PeriodicalId":31016,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Enteric Pathogens","volume":"47 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78726346","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Milad Asghari, S. Bahadory, Amirhossein Najafi, Mahdieh Nasiri, M. Zibaei
{"title":"Prevalence of Toxocara spp. Eggs in the Soil of Marand Parks: A Local Report","authors":"Milad Asghari, S. Bahadory, Amirhossein Najafi, Mahdieh Nasiri, M. Zibaei","doi":"10.34172/ijep.2022.5534","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.34172/ijep.2022.5534","url":null,"abstract":"Background: Toxocariasis caused by Toxocara canis and Toxocara cati is a worldwide zoonotic parasitic infection that can be acquired from contaminated soil. The soil contamination of public places and parks is one of the effective factors in human pollution. Objectives: The current study was designed and implemented to investigate the prevalence of Toxocara species eggs in the soil of Marand parks (in the northwest of Iran). Materials and Methods: Present cross-sectional study was conducted between September and December 2021. Overall, 160 samples were collected from 10 large parks with high traffic and then analyzed by parasitological techniques (sucrose flotation). Results: The overall prevalence was assessed at 27.2% in Marand public parks; the highest and lowest prevalence rates were related to Besat park and Shahr park, respectively (39.6% vs. 19.3%). The maximum number of recovered eggs from 100 grams of soil was seven eggs. Conclusion: Considering the remarkable prevalence of Toxocara spp. in the Marand parks, control and preventive measures seem necessary.","PeriodicalId":31016,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Enteric Pathogens","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79902539","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}