SHORT_COMMUNICATION Molecular Epidemiology of HIV-1 in Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan We conducted this study to obtain a comprehensive picture of molecular epidemiology of HIV-1 in three neighboring countries, i.e. Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan as a basis for discussing possible hypothesis regarding between-country virus transmission. Our results showed that subtype composition differs between these countries with more variation in Pakistan than Iran and Afghanistan. The CRF35-AD clade was predominant in Afghanistan and Iran while the A1 subtype was predominant in Pakistan. HIV-1 sequences obtained from Pakistan (belonging either to B, A1, or CRF35_AD clades)  did not group with the sequences obtained from Afghanistan and Iran. However, CRF35_AD clades from Afghanistan made two significant clusters with those strains from Iran. The results also showed that CRF35_AD clades from Afghanistan had more diversity than those in Iran suggesting its older presence in this country. Putting these findings together and considering drug trafficking/immigration events from Afghanistan to Iran we hypothesized that HIV epidemics might have been transmitted from Iran to Afghanistan. However, the reverse order might also be true but with less support from the existing evidence. There was no indication of Iran-Pakistan HIV transmission. Performing sophisticated evolutionary analysis is needed to test these hypotheses about the origin and transmission pattern of the virus among these countries. http://jommid.pasteur.ac.ir/article-1-117-en.pdf 2017-03-17 44 47 Molecular Epidemiology HIV-I Afghanistan Iran Pakistan Fatemeh Jahanbakhsh jahanbakhsh5656@gmail.com 1 Virology Research Group, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran AUTHOR Sana Eybpoosh sana.eybpoosh@gmail.com 2 Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Research Centre for Emerging and Reemerging Infectious Diseases, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran AUTHOR Ehsan Mostafavi mostafaviehsan@gmail.com 3 Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Research Centre for Emerging and Reemerging Infectious Diseases, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran AUTHOR AliAkbar Haghdoost ahaghdoost@gmail.com 4 HIV/STI Surveillance Research Center, and WHO Collaborating Center for HIV Surveillance, Institute for Futures Studies in Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran AUTHOR Kayhan Azadmanesh sana.eybpoosh@gmail.com 5 Virology Research Group, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran AUTHOR
ORIGINAL_ARTICLE Point Prevalence of Hepatitis B Virus Infection among Adolescents in Visakhapatnam, India Introduction: Occurrence of detectable amounts of viral antigen or viral particles in the blood of infected patients with Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a significant characteristic of HBV infection. Detection of HBV antigen or its DNA among individuals of a community is a crucial factor to know the burden of HBV infection. Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) is a suitable marker of HBV infection but a poor indicator of infectivity since its presence is not a direct measure of the presence of viable virions. Hence the tests for the detection of HBV DNA or HBsAg are used. The measurement of HBV DNA in serum has become the main tool to identify viral load, to monitor patients’ therapy and to predict whether antiviral therapy would be successful or not. Methods: The present study was designated to identify HBV infected individuals among adolescent age group by using combined methods namely, rapid immunoassay technique for HBsAg detection (HEPACARD) and Conventional Polymerase Chain reaction (PCR) analysis for HBV DNA detection. Results: Serum samples from 39 patients suspected of HBV infection were tested for the presence of HBsAg and HBV DNA. Eight specimens (20%) were positive for HBsAg as well as HBV DNA using PCR reaction. The ratio of spectrophotometric analysis of the extracted DNA samples was between 1.80-1.92 indicating a highly purified DNA. The gel electrophoresis of amplified PCR products of HBV DNA revealed a single 524 bp band in the test samples. Conclusion: Screening for HBV infection among adolescents by HEPACARD and further confirmation by PCR is recommended to monitor the progression of the disease and antiviral treatment. http://jommid.pasteur.ac.ir/article-1-105-en.pdf 2017-03-13 48 51 Hepatitis B Virus Viral DNA HBsAg PCR Vijayalakshmi Payala bavisettyvijayalakshmi2@gmail.com 1 Department of Microbiology, GITAM Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, GITAM University, Andhra Pradesh, India AUTHOR Sreedevi Hanumantha svh105192119@gmail.com 2 Department of Microbiology, GITAM Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, GITAM University, Andhra Pradesh, India AUTHOR Pilli Hema Prakash Kumari kbaladurgadevi@gmail.com 3 Department of Microbiology, GITAM Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, GITAM University, Andhra Pradesh, India AUTHOR
ORIGINAL_ARTICLE A Comparison Study between Parasitological and Molecular Methods for Diagnosis of Acute and Chronic Anthroponotic Cutaneous Leishmaniasis Introduction: Anthroponotic cutaneous leishmaniasis (ACL) is still a major public health problem in the northeast and central parts of Iran. This study was designed to compare microscopy and cultivation methods with PCR amplification of kinetoplast DNA and ITS1 followed by RFLP analysis for diagnosis of acute and chronic ACL. Methods: In this study, 66 patients with ACL including 24 acute and 42 chronic forms were analyzed. Chronic forms (n=42) were divided into lupoid (n=18) and non-lupoid forms (n=24). The exudates from patient’s lesions were examined by parasitological and molecular methods. Results: Out of 24 acute ACL cases, 24 (100%), 20 (83.3%), 24 (100%) and 23 (95.8%) were positive with direct examination, cultivation, kDNA-PCR, and ITS1-PCR-RFLP, respectively; while among 42 chronic forms, 29 (69%), 12 (28.5%), 27 (64.2%) and 16 (38%) were positive with the above mentioned methods. The most positivity rate was obtained with the direct examination for all clinical forms of ACL. In comparison with the direct examination as a gold standard, the kDNA-PCR showed the highest sensitivity of 100% and 64.2% in the diagnosis of acute and chronic forms, followed by the ITS1-PCR with lower sensitivity (95.8% and 38%) and then cultivation (83.3% and 28.5%). Also, all of the Leishmania isolates were identified as Leishmania tropica based on clinical symptoms and molecular methods. Conclusion: Our results recommend application of direct examination for the diagnosis of both acute and chronic forms of ACL. Moreover, the molecular method using kDNA-PCR was proposed for the diagnosis of ACL; while ITS1-PCR-RFLP can be utilized as a useful technique for the Leishmania species identification of CL. http://jommid.pasteur.ac.ir/article-1-74-en.pdf 2017-03-09 52 56 Leishmania tropica Acute Chronic Iran Susan Darudi darroudis921@mums.ac.ir 1 Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran AUTHOR Mehdi Mohebali mohebali@tums.ac.ir 2 Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran AUTHOR Homa Hajjaran hajaranh@tums.ac.ir 3 Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran AUTHOR Abdolmajiid Fata fataa@mums.ac.ir 4 Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran AUTHOR Elham Kazemi-Rad ekazemirad@yahoo.com 5 Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran AUTHOR Reza Raoofian rraoofian@yahoo.com 6 Department of Medical Genetics, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran AUTHOR
ORIGINAL_ARTICLE Comparison of Antimicrobial and Antioxidant Activities of Four Different Tea Extracts Introduction: Increasing of food-related diseases has led to the perception of diet importance. Plant-derived products (especially tea) as important sources of antioxidant and antimicrobial compounds play a major role in reducing food pathogens. In this study, total phenolic content, antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of four tea extracts including green tea, white, black and red teas were evaluated. Methods: The total phenolic amount was determined using Folin–Ciocalteu method and 1-diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl radical (DPPH) method was used for antioxidant activity measurement. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of tea extracts against eight species of tested bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, Streptococcus pneumonia, Saprophyticus Staphylococcus, Enterococcus faecali, Acinetobacter baumannii, Proteus mirabilis and Serratia marcescens) were evaluated by microdilution technique. Results: The results of this study showed that green tea and white tea extracts had the highest total phenolic content and antioxidant scavenging activity. Also, a strong positive correlation was observed between phenolic content and antioxidant activity in green tea and red tea. Conclusion: All four tea extracts showed inhibitions of several microorganisms. However, gram-negative bacteria were more resistant to inhibitory effects of tea extracts. As a result, non-fermented tea extracts showed more antioxidant activity and inhibition effect against tested bacteria. http://jommid.pasteur.ac.ir/article-1-101-en.pdf 2017-04-08 57 61 Antioxidants Phenols Plant extracts Tea Barat Ali Fakheri ba_fakheri@yahoo.com 1 Department of Plant Breeding and Biotechnology, Zabol University, Zabol, Iran AUTHOR Samaneh Bagheri samanehbagheri@uoz.ac.ir 2 Department of Plant Breeding and Biotechnology, Zabol University, Zabol, Iran AUTHOR Nafiseh Mahdi Nezhad nmahdinezhad@uoz.ac.ir 3 Department of Plant Breeding and Biotechnology, Zabol University, Zabol, Iran AUTHOR
ORIGINAL_ARTICLE Prevalence of IMP and VIM Metallo-Beta-Lactamases in Pseudomonas aeruginosa Isolates from Clinical and Environmental Specimens in Intensive Care Units (ICUs) of Rasht Hospitals, Iran Introduction: Pseudomonas aeruginosa is one of the leading causes of nosocomial infections, and antibiotic resistance of this pathogen is an important concern in treating such infections. The current work was conducted to investigate the prevalence of bla-IMP, and bla-VIM metallo-beta-lactamase (MBL) among clinical and environmental P. aeruginosa isolates obtained from ICUs of different hospitals in Rasht, Iran. Methods: A total number of 35 P. aeruginosa strains including 20 clinical and 15 environmental strains were isolated from ICUs. The isolated bacteria were screened for MBL production using Combined Disc Synergy Testing (CDST) assay. The frequency of bla-IMP and bla-VIM among MBL producing P. aeruginosa (MBL-PA) was investigated using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). Also, the antibiotic susceptibility of all isolates was determined. Results: According to the results, 51% of isolates were regarded as MBL-PA while bla-IMP or bla-VIM genes were detected in 37% of isolates. The environmental isolates showed higher resistance to the majority of antibiotics compared to the clinical isolates, and MBL genes were more prevalent among environmental isolates. Conclusion: Higher resistance of environmental P. aeruginosa strains in ICUs shows a need to pursue newer approaches, including novel cleaning methods and surveillance programs, to reduce nosocomial infections. http://jommid.pasteur.ac.ir/article-1-116-en.pdf 2017-04-11 62 66 Carbapenems Antibiotic resistance Metallo-Beta-Lactamase Nosocomial infection Matin Saberi m.saberi@gmail.com 1 Department of Biology, Rasht Branch, Islamic Azad University, Rasht, Iran AUTHOR Hojjatolah Zamani h_zamani@guilan.ac.ir 2 Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran AUTHOR Ali Salehzadeh salehzadehmb@yahoo.com 3 Department of Biology, Rasht Branch, Islamic Azad University, Rasht, Iran AUTHOR
ORIGINAL_ARTICLE Detection of icaABCD Genes in Clinical Isolates of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus from Patients in Iran Introduction: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is an important pathogen that causes several nosocomial or community-acquired infections. Adhesion to surfaces and subsequent biofilm formation are the major phases of a staphylococcal infection. The aim of this study was to detect the presence of icaABCD genes in clinical isolates of MRSA. Methods: A total of 110 clinical Staphylococcus aureus isolates were collected from two teaching hospitals in Shahrekord (Hajar and Kashani hospitals). The MRSA isolates were detected by an antibiotic susceptibility test. A microtiter tissue plate assay was used to detect the phenotypic biofilm formation. A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed to detect the presence of icaABCD genes. Results: The microtiter plate assay results showed that attachment abilities were strong in 26 (23.6%) strains, moderate in 30 (27.2%) strains, and weak in 16 (14.54%) strains. The prevalence of the icaA, icaB, icaC, and icaD genes among the studied isolates were as follows: 42 isolates were icaA positive (38.18%), 34 icaB positive (30.9%), 46 icaC positive (41.8%), and 50 were icaD positive (45.4%). Conclusion: The high prevalence of icaA/D harboring S. aureus among the clinical isolates suggests that the risk of persistent infections in the hospital settings is considerably high. http://jommid.pasteur.ac.ir/article-1-91-en.pdf 2017-05-22 67 70 Staphylococcus aureus Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus icaABCD Safiyeh Abbasi safiyehabbasi@rocketmail.com 1 Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences, Shahrekord, Iran AUTHOR Behnam Zamanzad safiyehabbasi@rocketmail.com 2 Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences, Shahrekord, Iran AUTHOR
ORIGINAL_ARTICLE Phytochemical Composition and Antibacterial Activity of Trachyspermum copticum L. essential oil, East Azerbaijan, Iran Introduction: The aim of this study was to characterize the chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of Trachyspermum copticum essential oil (EO). Methods: The chemical composition of seed samples obtained from Mianeh city in East Azerbaijan, was assessed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The antimicrobial activity was evaluated by disc diffusion method against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), other extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs) producing, as well as Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) value of EO was assessed using agar dilution method. Results: Thirteen monoterpene hydrocarbons (57.6%) and oxygenated monoterpenes (42.4%) compounds were identified in the EO, of which, 3 compounds, including thymol, m-cymene, and, γ-terpinene were the major components of the EO with quantities of 41.9, 33.53, and 20.42%, respectively. The EO showed antimicrobial activity against ten microorganisms, especially Streptococcus sanguis, S. aureus (MRSA strain), and Klebsiella pneumoniae (ESBL-producing strain), which was potentially better than tetracycline and kanamycin. Conclusion: This study confirmed that EO of T. copticum has in vitro antimicrobial activity against Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, which has made it an alternative antibacterial agent. http://jommid.pasteur.ac.ir/article-1-103-en.pdf 2017-05-22 71 74 Phytochemicals Trachyspermum copticum Essential Oil Haedeh Mobaiyen drhmobaiyen@gmail.com 1 Department of Microbiology, Tabriz branch, Islamic Azad University, Tabriz, Iran. AUTHOR Maisam Nasarollah Pour : maisam_nasrollahpour@yahoo.com 2 Department of Microbiology, Tabriz branch, Islamic Azad University, Tabriz, Iran. AUTHOR Franak Elmi elmibiosys@yahoo.com 3 Department of Biology, Marand branch, Islamic Azad University, Marand, Iran. AUTHOR
ORIGINAL_ARTICLE Investigation into the Antibacterial Activity of Metal Complexes Derived from Substituted Chromone in Comparison with Tetracycline, and Cephradine as Standard Drugs against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus Introduction: The chemistry of metal complexes derived from heterocyclic compounds has attracted considerable interest due to the broad range of pharmacological activities of such compounds. The important pathogens such as Escherichia coli, and Staphylococcus aureus are wildly caused many diseases. So antibacterial activity of Zn (Ⅱ), Ni (Ⅱ), Co (Ⅱ) and Cu (Ⅱ) chromone complexes against two kinds of bacteria was established. Methods: In this study, antibacterial activity of metal complexes derived from 2-amino-7, 7-dimethyl-5-oxo-4-methylbenzen5, 6, 7, 8-tetra hydro-4H-chromone-3-carbonitrile were studied.  The metal complexes were characterized by FTIR, UV-Vis and Mass spectroscopy. Antibacterial effect of these compounds was evaluated by disc diffusion and micro broth dilution methods. Results: The results obtained in this study demonstrate that all the complexes have square planner geometry with the stoichiometry 1:2 (Metal: Ligand). Among the tested compounds the most effective compound was the Cu complex with MIC value of 62.5 mg/mL against E. coli and 125 mg/mL against S. aureus. Conclusion: The results of these studies show that metal the metal complexes had higher antibacterial activity against species when compared to parent ligand. http://jommid.pasteur.ac.ir/article-1-111-en.pdf 2017-05-22 75 79 Heterocyclic Compounds Escherichia coli Staphylococcus aureus Hoda Pasdar h_pasdar@iau-tnb.ac.ir 1 islamic azad university, tehran north branch AUTHOR Naser Foroughifar nforoughifar@gmail.com 2 islamic azad university, tehran north branch AUTHOR Bahare Hedayati Saghavaz bahar.hedayati67@gmail.com 3 islamic azad university, tehran north branch AUTHOR