Behnam Mohammadi-Ghalehbin; Shahram Habibzadeh; Mohsen Arzanlou; Roghayeh Teimourpour; Saeideh Amani Ghayum
Abstract
Background & objective: Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) is responsible for pulmonary infection in immunocompromised patients. This study aimed to investigating the frequency of Pneumocystis colonization in patients hospitalized in the intensive care unit (ICU) and evaluating the relationship between ...
Read More
Background & objective: Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) is responsible for pulmonary infection in immunocompromised patients. This study aimed to investigating the frequency of Pneumocystis colonization in patients hospitalized in the intensive care unit (ICU) and evaluating the relationship between PCP and Pneumocystis colonization. Methods: In the current cross sectional study bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL)fluids of 100 patients were collected from surgery and neurosurgery ICUs with different underlying corticosteroid therapy conditions. Patients were divided into 2 groups (patients who received corticosteroids and not received corticosteroids). Direct examination on BAL fluids was performed by the Gomori methenamine silver andGiemsa staining techniques. Additionally, 2 filtered air samples of the 2 above mentioned units were collected. A nested-PCR targeted mtLSUrRNA gene and sequencing were used to identify Pneumocystis spp. Results: In direct microscopy, 31 out of 100 hospitalized patients (31%) showed positive results. Twenty-three (46%) of smear positive patients were from the group of patients who received corticosteroid, the other 8(16%) were from the group of patients who didn’t receive corticosteroids (P= 0.001). Pneumocystis jirovecii DNA was detected in 77 out of 100 BAL samples by nested-PCR (77%) in which 40(52%) and 37(48%) samples were obtained from the patients who received and not received corticosteroids, respectively. Pneumocystis genome was found in 1 of the 2 filtered air samples. Conclusion: A significant number of patients who received corticosteroids were also colonized by P. jirovecii that may predispose to PCP or be transmitted to susceptible patients. A significant relationship was observed between the mean hospital stay and detection rate.
Microbiology
Roghayeh Teimourpour; Amineh Sadat Tajani; Vahid Reza Askari; Sina Rostami; Zahra Meshkat
Volume 11, Issue 3 , July 2016, , Pages 222-230
Abstract
Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is one of the most prevalent infectious diseases responsible for high morbidity and mortality worldwide. Therefore, designing new and effective therapeutics is of great importance. The aim of the current study was to construct a DNA vaccine containing ...
Read More
Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is one of the most prevalent infectious diseases responsible for high morbidity and mortality worldwide. Therefore, designing new and effective therapeutics is of great importance. The aim of the current study was to construct a DNA vaccine containing structural proteins of HCV and evaluation of its expression in a eukaryotic system. Methods: Structural proteins of HCV (core, E1, and E2) were isolated and amplified from JFH strain of HCV genotype 2a using PCR method. The PCR products were cloned into pCDNA3.1 (+) vector and finally were confirmed by restriction enzyme analysis and sequencing. The eukaryotic expression of the vector was confirmed by RT-PCR. Results: Recombinant vector containing 2241bp fragment of HCV structural genes was constructed.The desired plasmid was sequenced and corresponded to 100% identity with the submitted sequences in GenBank. RT-PCR results indicated that the recombinant plasmid could be expressed efficiently in the eukaryotic expression system. Conclusion: Successful cloning of structural viral genes in pCDNA3.1 (+) vector and their expression in a eukaryotic expression system facilitates the development of new DNA vaccines against HCV. A DNA vaccine encoding core-E1-E2 antigens was designed. The desired expression vector can be used for further attempts in the development of vaccines.