Akram Astani

Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences and Health Services | SSU · Department of Microbiology

Background: Torque teno virus (TTV) is a globally prevalent virus in humans, yet comprehensive knowledge about its prevalence, predominant transmission routes, and pathogenesis remains limited. This study aimed to assess the frequency of TTV infection among healthy blood donors in Yazd, Iran. Materials and Methods: A total of 236 healthy blood dono...

Introduction: Bacteriocins are peptides with antimicrobial properties. They are ribosomally synthesized and produced by both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. The bacteriocins produced by Escherichia coli are called colicins. Colicins in commensal bacteria inhibit the growth of pathogenic bacteria and in pathogen strains, they increase bact...

Background The occurrence of variations in routine hematological parameters is closely associated with disease progression, the development of severe illness, and the mortality rate among COVID-19 patients. This study aimed to investigate hematological parameters in COVID-19 hospitalized patients from the 1st to the 5th waves of the current pandemi...

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Objective: Uropathogenic Escherichia coli is...

Background: Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a well-known proinflammatory cytokine with tumor promoting capacity in various forms of malignancies including breast cancer (BC). Data highlighted the substantial role of HPV in the pathogenesis of BC. Compelling evidence suggests the contribution of HPV in carcinogenesis through triggering inflammatory cytokin...

Background & objective: The role of Epstein-Barr Virus in development of breast cancer is frequently studied. In this regard, miRNAs are among the contributing elements in the molecular pathophysiology of EBV-related diseases. In addition, a growing number of host miRNAs are believed to be implicated in pathogenesis of breast cancer. MiR-218 is a...

Practical Necessities Cell Culture

Background Blood group antigens are one of the most important antigens in humans that have an impact on susceptibility to disease and may be used as a prognosis factor in different diseases such as covid-19. Objectives Study aimed to investigate the relationship between ABO blood groups and Rhesus antigen and susceptibility to COVID-19. Methods T...

Background & Objective: The role of Epstein-Barr Virus in development of breast cancer is frequently studied. In this regard, miRNAs are among the contributing elements in the molecular pathophysiology of EBV-related diseases. In addition, a growing number of host miRNAs are believed to be implicated in pathogenesis of breast cancer. MiR-218 is a t...

The current study was aimed at investigating the prevalence of the mutations upstream of the oprD coding region and its promoters among imipenem-resistant and sensitive Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from educational hospitals in Yazd City, Iran. All isolates were identified by the conventional biochemical tests. Then, the antibiotic resistance of...

Objectives: Staphylococcus aureus has become a major clinical concern due to the growing prevalence of multi-drug resistant (MDR) strains. Enzybioticts are peptidoglycan hydrolases that are recently introduced as an alternative agent to confront the MDR strains with a more effective mechanism than conventional antibiotics. In this regard, our stud...

Objective: Uropathogenic Escherichia coli is known to cause urinary tract infections, and the endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide [LPS]) of this bacterium may cause deficiencies of sperm quality and morphology. In the present study, the effects of LPS on mouse sperm were studied, and the levels of interleukin (IL)-17A and possible changes in testis tiss...

Introduction: E. coli is the predominant causes of urinary tract infection. Several virulence factors for bacterial infections in the urinary tract are required. In this study, we have considered several virulence factors in strains isolated from the patients with UTI in Yazd. Methods: In this cross-sectional study in 2015-2016, 146 strains isolate...

Natural killer group 2, member D (NKG2D) is one of the best known activating receptors of NK cells, which recognises its ligand on altered or stressed cells and activates NK cells to kill them. In this study, the single nucleotide polymorphism of the NKG2D gene for rs1049174 mutation was compared in 140 women with recurrent spontaneous abortion (RS...

Aims: Escherichia coli is one of the most important causes of hospital-acquired and community-acquired infections in humans and can easily gain resistance to antibiotics consumed by humans and animals. The main objectives of this study were to assess antibiotic resistance outlines and detection of antibiotic resistance and virulence genes, includin...

Background Brucellosis is one of the most well-known and important zoonoses in the world, especially in Iran. Horse milk is a rare and expensive product with high nutrient ingredients in comparison to cow milk. In current study, a total of 164 blood and milk samples were randomly selected from 82 mares in Yazd city, Iran. Rose Bengal test (RBT) and...

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have very promising applications for inhibition of microbial growth. The aim of this study is investigation and comparison of the effect of temperature and acidity on antimicrobial activities of pristine Multiwalled Carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and Multiwalled Carbon nanotubes-Arginine (MWCNTs-Arg). Minimum Inhibitory Concentra...

Background: Due to extensive damage to the skin, burn victims may acquire life-threatening infections. Though the skin primarily protects against microbial invasions, a large number of bacteria, fungi, and viruses can be isolated from burn patients, specifically Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a gram-negative bacterium with both intrinsic and acquired ant...

Background: The current study was aimed to investigate the prevalence of the mutations of the oprD gene among imipenem-resistant and -sensitive Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from educational hospitals in Yazd, Iran. Methods: In this study, 90 P. aeruginosa isolates were collected from different clinical samples and transferred to the Department o...

The current study was aimed at investigating the prevalence of the mutations upstream of the oprD coding region and its promoters among imipenem-resistant and sensitive Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from educational hospitals in Yazd City, Iran. All isolates were identified by the conventional biochemical tests. Then, the antibiotic resistance of...

Introduction Extra-intestinal infections in humans and poultry are caused by Extra-intestinal Pathogenic Escherichia coli strains (ExPEC) such as Avian Pathogenic E. coli (APEC) and Uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC). This study aimed to compare the presence of four pathogenic genes and antimicrobial resistance patterns of APEC and UPEC isolates, as well...

Inflammatory cytokine, interleukin-6 (IL-6), plays an important role in the pathogenesis of cardiac hypertrophy. Recent studies have documented that resveratrol exhibits cardioprotective effects. The present study attempts to explore whether resveratrol suppreses IL-6 in hypertrophied H9c2 cardiomyoblast through histone deacetylase, sirtuin 1 (SIRT...

Background: Apicomplexan parasites of the genus Cryptosporidium infect a wide range of animal species as well as humans. Cryptosporidium spp. can cause life threatening diarrhea especially in young animals, children, immunocompromised patients and malnourished individuals. Asymptomatic cryptosporidial infections in animals can also occur, making th...

Giardia duodenalis is one of the most common intestinal parasites in humans as well as livestock and wildlife. It is of both public and veterinary health importance in developing nations. A molecular survey of Giardia duodenalis assemblages in ruminants from Yazd Province, Iran was conducted on 484 animal faecal samples collected per rectum from sl...

Hypertension-induced left ventricular hypertrophy is the most important risk factor for heart failure. This study aimed at investigating the effects of monoterpenoid phenol, carvacrol, on myocardial hypertrophy using both in-vivo and in-vitro models. Male Wistar rats were divided into the control (Ctl), un-treated hypertrophy (H), and carvacrol-tre...

Background: The cellular and molecular mechanisms of cardioprotective effects of Vitamin D are poorly understood. Given the essential role of sirtuin-3 (SIRT3) as an endogenous negative regulator of cardiac hypertrophy, this study was designed to investigate the effect of 1, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (calcitriol) on hypertrophy markers and SIRT3 mRNA...

Human tumor viruses are either casually linked or contribute in the development of human cancers. Viruses can stimulate oncogenesis through affecting diverse biological pathways in human cells. Growing data have demonstrated frequent involvement of one of the most characteristic parts of cellular epigenetic machinery, DNA methylation, in the oncoge...

In the current study, radiation dose-reduction factor (DRF) of nanoceria or cerium oxide nanoparticles (CONPs) in MRC-5 Human Lung Fibroblastic Cells and MCF-7 Breast-Cancer Cells was estimated. Characterization of CONPs was determined using scanner electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), transmission electron microscopy (T...

Optimal distribution of cerium oxide nanoparticles (CONPs) or nanoceria can have a significant impact on their cytotoxicity, cellular uptake, and radioprotection effects. In this study, two different distribution plans of CONPs were investigated. A scanner electron microscope (SEM) was used for chemical analysis and recording of CONP images. Using...

Objective(s) Current therapeutic strategies for cancer are associated with side effects and lack of specificity in treatments. Biological therapies including monoclonal antibodies and immune effectors have been the subject of multiple research projects. Pore-forming proteins may become the other biological strategy to overcome the problems associat...

Background: Cerium oxide nanoparticles, or nanoceria, as radioprotectors can play an important role in reducing complication of ionizing radiation. The aim of this study was to reduce the mortality of normal lung cells against 6-MV photon beams by using nanoceria; so that through identifying optimal concentration of nanoceria, it could be used in r...

Introduction: Cerium oxide nanoparticles (CONPs) are used as radiation protection agent in the in-vivo and in-vitro studies. The distribution stability of nano-suspension is one of the important factors during the studies. The aim of this study is optimization of condition for CONPs dispersion with sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS-anionic surfactant) an...

Introduction: Recently Cerium oxide nanoparticles (CONPs) are being checked as interventional treatments in biological systems. The scavenging of free radicals by nanoparticles performance is the inhibition of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS). Ionizing radiations can prevent the proliferation and differentiation of cells and even cause apoptosis. CONP...

Background: Klebsiella pneumoniae is a common bacterium in nosocomial infections, especially urinary tract infection. Considering rising in fluoroquinolone resistance and lack of accurate reports of frequency of plasmid-mediated genes, this study aimed to determine the frequency of qepA and aac(6')-Ib-cr genes among Klebsiella pneumoniae isolated f...

Background: Nowadays, beta-lactams are the most common antimicrobial agents used for treatment of bacterial infections. On the other hand, the production of beta-lactamase enzymes including AmpC is one of the reasons for bacterial resistance to antibiotics. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of AmpC-type beta-lactamase genes in Es...

Background: The antibiotic resistance is considered as one of the biggest public health concerns in most countries. The aim of this study was to determine antibiotic resistance pattern of Escherichia coli isolated from chickens with colibacillosis in Yazd, Iran. Methods: A total of 200 carcasses of Ross chickens with colibacillosis were collected f...

Background: Pseudomonas aeruginosa is one of the most important factors for nosocomial infections with percentage of resistance to the drug, particularly in the burn wounds. One of the mechanisms of resistance in these bacteria is chromosomal mutation in the quinolone-resistance-determining region (QRDR) of chromosome gene. The aim of this study wa...

Piroxicam is a potent, nonsteroidal, anti-inflammatory agent (NSAID) which also exhibits antipyretic activity. The antiviral effect of piroxicam against herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) was examined in vitro on RC-37 monkey kidney cells using a plaque reduction assay. Piroxicam was dissolved in ethanol or dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) and the 50% inh...

Piroxicam is a potent, nonsteroidal, anti-inflammatory agent (NSAID) which also exhibits antipyretic activity. The antiviral effect of piroxicam against herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) was examined in vitro on RC-37 monkey kidney cells using a plaque reduction assay. Piroxicam was dissolved in ethanol or dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) and the 50% inh...

Medicinal plants are increasingly of interest as novel source of drugs for antiherpetic agents, because herpes simplex virus (HSV) might develop resistance to commonly used antiviral drugs. An aqueous extract of Melissa officinalis and the phenolic compounds caffeic acid, p-coumaric acid and rosmarinic acid were examined for their antiviral activit...

Essential oils are complex mixtures containing compounds of several different functional- group classes. Depending on the structure, we can distinguish monoterpenes, phenylpropanes, and other components. Here in this study two monoterpene compounds of essential oils, i.e. β-pinene and limonene were examined for their antiviral activity against herp...

The need to discover and develop alternative therapies to treat multidrug-resistant bacterial infections is timely. The aim of this study was to examine the antimicrobial potential of propolis, as a purified and concentrated special extract GH 2002, against clinical isolates of Streptococcus pyogenes, methicillin-resistent Stapylococcus aureus (MRS...

Extracts and essential oils of medicinal plants are increasingly of interest as novel drugs for antiherpetic agents, since the herpes simplex virus (HSV) might develop resistance to commonly used antiviral drugs. An aqueous extract of Melissa officinalis as well as phenolic extract compounds, i.e. caffeic acid, p-coumaric acid and rosmarinic acid w...

Essential oil of star anise as well as phenylpropanoids and sesquiterpenes, for example, trans-anethole, eugenol, β-eudesmol, farnesol, β-caryophyllene and β-caryophyllene oxide, which are present in many essential oils, were examined for their antiviral activity against herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) in vitro. Antiviral activity was analyzed...

Various kinds of essential oils have been used for the treatment of respiratory infections, asthma, dermatitis and gastrointestinal diseases. Essential oils are mixtures of different components, e.g. monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes and phenylpropene derivatives with a typical fragrance and are derived from aromatic plants by hydro or steam distillatio...

In recent years there has been an increasing interest for application of natural products as antiinfectives and concerns about the safety of synthetic compounds have encouraged more detailed studies of natural resources. Two different strains of the nontoxic cyanobacterium Arthrospira from the United States and Egypt have been characterized by sequ...

Essential oils are complex natural mixtures, their main constituents, e.g. terpenes and phenylpropanoids, being responsible for their biological properties. Essential oils from eucalyptus, tea tree and thyme and their major monoterpene compounds alpha-terpinene, gamma-terpinene, alpha-pinene, p-cymene, terpinen-4-ol, alpha-terpineol, thymol, citral...

Hepatitis E infection is usually a self-limiting disease and an important cause of acute hepatitis in tropical and subtropical regions where the virus is endemic. In industrialized countries, sporadic cases of acute hepatitis E virus (HEV) infections have been described and the number of documented autochthonous infections seems to be increasing. W...

Herpes simplex viruses (HSVs) display affinity for cell-surface heparan sulfate proteoglycans with biological relevance in virus entry. Here, we exploit an approach to inhibiting HSV infection by using a sulfated fucoidan, and a guluronic acid-rich alginate derived from Sargassum tenerrimum, mimicking the active domain of the entry receptor. These...

Essential oil of star anise as well as phenylpropanoids and sesquiterpenes, e.g. trans-anethole, eugenol, b-eudesmol, farnesol, b-caryophyllene and b-caryophyllene oxide, which are present in many essential oils, were examined for their antiviral activity against herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) in vitro. Antiviral activity was analyzed by plaqu...

Extracts and essential oils of medicinal plants are increasingly of interest as novel drugs of antimicrobial and antiviral agents, since herpes simplex virus (HSV) might develop resistance to commonly used antiviral agents. Melissa officinalis essential oil was phytochemically examined by GC-MS analysis, its main constituents were identified as mon...

Congenital hearing loss with many genetic and environmental causes affects 1 in 1000 newborns. Mutations in the GJB2(Gap Junction Beta-2) gene encoding the gap junction protein connexin 26 have been established as the main cause of autosomal recessive non-syndromic hearing loss. The aim of this study was to study the frequency of one mutation (35de...