Novelty in Biomedicine

Background: The main purpose of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of play therapy training to mothers of autistic children on verbal and non-verbal improvement of their children.

Materials and Methods: 30 autistic children with intermediate degree of autism were selected based on availability sampling procedure and were divided into experimental and control groups. Having collected the intended data and analyzed them with SPSS software.

Results: The study finally revealed that the play therapy training significantly improved the social skills of autistic children.

Conclusion: These results suggested that applying play therapy with families and teach it to the mothers that have autistic children.

Background: The most common reproductive endocrine disorder of reproductive age women is a Poly cystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) Metabolic syndrome has been more reported in patients with PCOS in comparison to general population. Few investigations have been performed to evaluate the independent effect of exercise on biochemical and clinical symptoms of patients with PCOS. The aim of the study was to find the effect of home base aerobic-strengthening exercises on anthropometric and hormonal variables of patients with PCOS.

MaterialsandMethods:In this randomized controlled trial twenty women in the exercise group performed aerobic, strengthening exercises; the other 20 participants in the control group were advised to continue their previous physical activity pattern. Blood pressure, Waist to Hip ratio (WHR), BMI along with hormonal variables(including insulin related factors, sexual hormones and inflammatory factors) were assessed at baselineand after the 12 week intervention).

Results:16patients in the exercise group and 14 patients in control group finished the study. TheWHR (p<0.001) along with the blood level of insulin (p=0.016), FBS (p=0.044), Prolactine (p=0.022) and hsCRP (p=0.035) and HOMA index (p=0.009) were decreased significantly in the exercise group compared with the control group. No significant differences were found in lipid profile and sexual hormones between groups at the end of the study.

Conclusion:We can conclude that 12 weeks combined aerobic-strengthening exercise program in women with poly cystic ovary syndrome can lead to a reduction of waist to hip ratio (WHR) and some cardiovascular risk factors (including insulin, FBS, HOMA index and HsCRP) along with an increase of prolactine level in these patients.

Background: Leishmania major LmSTI1 is a conserved protein among different species of leishmania, and expressed in both amastigote and promastigote forms of L. major life cycle. It has previously been expressed in bacterial systems.

Materials and Methods: To express LmSTI1 in the methylotrophic yeast         Pichia pastoris (P. pastoris), the shuttle vector pPICZA containing gene lmsti1 was constructed under the control of the AOX1 promoter. The recombinant vector was electro-transformed into P. pastoris, and induced by 0.5% methanol in the buffered medium. The expression of the LmSTI1 protein was visualized in the total soluble protein of P. pastoris by 12% SDS-PAGE, and further confirmed by Western blotting with L.major-infected mouse sera and HRP-conjugated goat anti-mouse IgG as the first and secondary antibodies, respectively.

Results: The expression level was 0.2% of total soluble proteins.

Background: With increasing use of antibiotics, the number and type of microbial resistance to antibiotics have been raised and at result the need for synthesis of new antimicrobials or acquire new sources of antimicrobial is indisputable. In this study the antimicrobial effects of the flowering aerial parts of Glaucium vitellinum and Gaillonia aucheri were investigated.

Materials and Methods: The antimicrobial effect of mentioned extracts against Escherichia coli PTCC 1399, Pseudomonas aeruginosa PTCC 1430, Salmonella typhimurium PTCC 1639, Staphylococcus aureus PTCC 1431 and Candida albicans PTCC 5027 were evaluated by disk diffusion and the microdilution method based on CLSI protocol 2012.

Results: No any zone of inhibition were detected by disk diffusion method against tested microbes for Glaucium vitellinum. After deletion of agar interference, the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined by broth microdilution method for two plants. None of tested extracts were effective against Gram negative tested bacteria except alkaloid fraction of G. vitellinum which was effective against S. typhi. In contrast, the extracts and fractions of both plans were effective against tested gram positive bacteria especially S. aureus.

Conclusion: The best result of MIC was detected for alkaloid fraction of G. vitellinum (0.09 mg/ml) Vs. G. aucheri (125 mg/ml) against S.aureus.

Background: Integrons are mobile genetic elements able to obtain the antibiotic resistance gene cassettes. The prevalence of integrons in the Enterobacteriaceae family has been varied and played an important role in the development of the drug resistant bacteria. The present study aimed to investigate the contribution of class 2 and 3 integrons in drug resistant Diarrheagenic Escherichia coli strains.

Materials and Methods: The 164 Diarrheagenic E. coli collected from feces samples of children in the Yasuj –Iran and all isolates were identified by standard biochemical tests. The antimicrobial susceptibility for 14 antibiotics, which are used conventionally was determined by disk diffusion. The presence of class 2 and 3 integrons in all isolates was investigated by PCR.

Results: Of 164 E. coli isolates from children, 80.49% carried class 2 integron and the length of the amplicons ranged from 800 bp to 2 kb. Class 3 integrons were identified among 24 E. coli isolates. All the E.coli isolates were susceptible to imipenem and the greatest resistance was correspondent to nalidixic acid. A significant correlation was revealed between Class 2 integron and resistance to kanamycin, amikacin, gentamicin, ceftazidime, chloramphenicol and cephalexin. The presence of class 3 integron was significantly associated with resistance to ampicillin, gentamicin, streptomycin, kanamycin, tetracycline and trimetoprime-sulfametoxazol.

Conclusion: The results indicated that integrons are widespread in Diarrheagenic E. coli and its carriage contributed significantly to the emergence of resistance among Diarrheagenic E. coli. However, factors leading to the wide spread of integrons are still to be determined.

Background: The effect of several probiotics on diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, including gastric ulcers is well reported. However, there are limited numbers of studies assessing the impact of Bacillus subtilis (B. subtilis) probiotic on skin wound healing.

Materials and Methods: Fifty male rats were assigned to 3 different groups randomly. A 1.5 cm longitudinal full thickness incision was made in the back of each rat. Two groups, experimental 1 and 2, were treated by B. subtilis probiotics that were added to Eucerin. A control group was treated with Eucerin without any probiotic. Clinical changes and histopathological effects of B. subtilis probiotics on wound healing were evaluated every day and on 1, 3, 7, 14 and 21 days post-operation respectively.

Results: The percentage of wound healing in the experimental groups on day 7, when compared with the control group, was significant (p≤0.05). In the remaining days, there was also a progressed increase in wound healing, but there was no significant difference between control and experimental groups. The difference in the number of immune cells (neutrophils, macrophage and lymphocytes) in the experimental groups on different days of the study was statistically significant when compared to the control group.

Conclusion: The current studies demonstrate that B. subtilis probiotic is highly effective in enhancing skin ulcer healing. However, further studies would be necessary to elucidate the exact role of B. subtilis probiotic in would healing process.

Background: With the growing trend of unhealthy behaviors in the community, the likelihood of transmission of hepatitis B virus from infected people to society is increasing. So, early detection for preventing disease progression in patients and preventing the spread to the community has an important role. The aim of this study is assessment of risk factors in patients with chronic hepatitis B referred to Labbafi nejad’s Hospital hepatitis Clinic during 2012-2014.

Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study is done on 329 hepatitis B confirmed patients that were admitted to Labbafi nejad’s Hospital hepatitis Clinic 2012-15. Information was collected by interviewing patients by researcher-made questionnaire. Variables are, all risk factors for hepatitis B, respectively. Statistical analysis was performed by SPSS version 21. Average and frequency was used for descriptive and chi-square test was used for analysis.

Results: 329 persons (59% males, 41%females) with a mean age of 44/83 years. 33/7% of these individuals have been identified through routine screening. The frequency of exposure to risk factors in this study are as follows: Some groups, such as history of dentist visit (62.3%), major surgery (45.5%) and hospitalization (54.7%) had higher prevalence than other groups. There were no cases of hepatitis B in history of cosmetics and splice joint, common use of blades and razors, HCV disease in patients at the same time, Family history of HIV positive in patients and HIV disease in patients at the same time.

Conclusion: It seems to be of great importance to pay more attention to certain jobs, lifestyles and cultural matters in Iran that predispose people to a number of risk factors so as to implement measures to control HBV spread. Also, given the high levels of hepatitis B infection among housewives (in this study), it seems that increased awareness and social - health education in order to avoid unprotected sexual contact with an infected partner can be highly effective. Despite existence of a long list of risk factors, different epidemiological studies with alternative methodologies accompanied by meta-analysis of risk factors in each separate area seems to be helpful in providing information about transmission.

We read with a great interest the article written by Davoodbeglou and colleagues entitled “Evaluation of Hepatitis B Infection Prevalence in Institutionalized Intellectually Disabled Children” which is recently published in your prestigious journal¹. The authors concluded that HBV infection is more prevalent among institutionalized disabled children and that we should change our health policies for HBV infection management in this population. They have conducted a valuable study with an important subject in a high risk population for hepatitis. Despite our interest to the findings of Davoodbeglou et al. study there are some challenging points about their work; so we think that some comments may be of benefit. The first, authors have claimed a higher prevalence of HBV infection among vaccinated children in comparison with those with no or undetermined vaccination history. While there are studies in which the efficacy of neonatal HBV immunization has been proven². How the authors justify this finding?

In addition the authors have not mentioned the sampling method of their study which is the crucial factor of prevalence studies. This may seriously affect the results of study. Also the time period in which the study was conducted has not been determined by the authors. Was it after or before distribution of national vaccination program for hepatitis B? In this regard we should be aware of the maximum age of disabled individuals included in the study.

In conclusion we appreciate the valuable effort of the authors; however we were wondering if we could kindly ask them to interpret better our concerns.