امیرهوشنگ الوندی

 Oral infections are common among people of any age and can trigger systemic inflammation. The microbiota is a diverse group of microorganisms that play important roles in metabolism, immune function, and homeostasis. Oral microbiota in human atherosclerotic plaques has been identified using various techniques. Therefore, the focus of this study was to determine the correlation between metabolic parameters and oral microbiota composition in patients with atherosclerosis using Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis (DGGE) assays.

 In this case-control study, saliva samples were collected from 139 patients with atherosclerosis and healthy individuals from Imam Ali Cardiovascular Hospital, Kermanshah, Iran.  After DNA extraction, PCR products were examined and evaluated using DGGE assays.

 The study included 89 (36%) patients with a history of atherosclerosis and 50 (36%) healthy individuals. There was a significant relationship between the mean total cholesterol, Low-Density Lipoprotein (LDL), Fasting Blood Sugar (FBS), and Blood Urea Nitrogen (BUN) in the two groups. However, there was no significant difference in the mean high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and Triglyceride levels between the study groups.

 Our results showed a relationship between metabolic parameters and oral microbiota composition in patients with atherosclerosis. Additionally, our results indicated that the DGGE assay is a useful method for diagnosing and comparing the oral microbiota of people with atherosclerosis and healthy individuals. Therefore, further examination of the oral microbiota is necessary to determine its potential as a biomarker for atherosclerosis.

 Nosocomial infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria and their rapid spread threaten public health. This study aimed to determine the frequency of genes encoding Extended-Spectrum Beta-Lactamase (ESBL) in gram-negative bacteria in Kermanshah city, west of Iran.

 Identification and antibiotic susceptibility pattern of 165 isolates were performed by biochemical and disk diffusion methods, respectively. Screening and confirming the presence of ESBL genes were performed according to the double disk combination test (DDCT) method. The presence of genes encoding ESBL in each isolate was identified by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) method.

Out of 165 isolates, 83 strains were resistant to all antibiotics. The lowest frequency of resistance was observed for Gentamicin, while the highest frequency was observed for Cefotaxime and Cefazolin. Among all strains, 50 (30.30 %) and 80 (48.48%) isolates were phenotypically and genotypically ESBL-positive, respectively. The most prevalent genes encoding ESBL were SHVOS and SHV-1, with a frequency of 20.61 % and 21.82 %, respectively.

 The frequency of producing ESBL bacteria and the prevalence of blaSHV and blaCTX-M genes in our studied Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli isolates were high. However, unlike some previous reports from Kermanshah, the prevalence of ESBL-encoding genes in Pseudomonas aeruginosa was low, and the blaVEB gene was not found.

 Nosocomial infections caused by gram-negative bacteria are among the most important health-threatening challenges of the current century, particularly following the emergence and spreading of antibiotic-resistance strains. Extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL), one of the most important antibiotic resistance mechanisms, is spreading worldwide. Surveillance and gathering data on the prevalence of antibiotic resistance and their associated encoding genes could assist in selecting treatment strategies and policies. This systematic review and meta-analysis was designed to assess the prevalence of ESBL-positive bacteria and their resistance genes in medical centers of Kermanshah city, west of Iran.

 All studies published as original articles were retrieved by searching in EMBASE, Scopus, PubMed/Medline, Google Scholar, and Persian databases of SID and Magiran, using appropriate keywords All published studies in the field were included without time restriction until 30-Mar-2022. Comprehensive Meta-Analysis software was used to analyze the data.

The prevalence of ESBL-positive and multidrug resistance (MDR) bacteria in Kermanshah medical centers were 34.8% and 56.1%, respectively. The highest and lowest prevalence of ESBL-positive bacteria was observed for Enterobacter cloacae (59.14%) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (4.55%), respectively. The highest and lowest prevalence of the resistance genes were observed for blaOXA-51 (99.3%) and blaKPC (0.6%), respectively. The highest resistance was estimated to mezlocillin antibiotic (92.2%).

 This study showed that the prevalence of ESBL-positive and MDR bacteria is high in Kermanshah medical centers, and it provides significant information to health policymakers to implement appropriate strategies to reduce the prevalence of resistant bacteria.

Ventilator-associated pneumonia is the most common nosocomial infection that is responsible for increasing the mortality of patients admitted to the intensive care unit. The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency of MBL and ESBL genes and to determine the patterns of antibiotic resistance in gram-negative bacilli isolated from ventilators in the ICU of Imam Reza Hospital in Kermanshah.

After collecting samples and identifying the bacteria by standard biochemical and microbial culture methods, 152 bacterial isolates were identified. ESBL and MBL genes were identified by phenotypic DDCT method and molecular PCR method using specific primers.

The most common microorganism isolated from ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) patients was Klebsiella pneumoniae (2.56%). In total, the frequency of ESBL and MBL genes was 113 (74.34%) and 8 (5.26%). The antibiotic resistance pattern showed that 36.53% of the isolates were resistant to ceftazidime, cefotaxime and imipenem. The blaSHVOS gene with a frequency of 75 (49.34%) had the highest genotypic frequency. The blaVIM gene was not found in any of the isolates.

The high resistance of Acinetobacter baumannii and Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates to the mentioned antibiotics and the high prevalence of ESBL-producing genes in Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates is a significant alarm in the ICU of different wards of Imam Reza Hospital. The emergence of the blaPER-1 gene in patients with VAP has raised another worry in patients with VAP in the intensive care unit.

 Dairy fermented foods such as yogurt, cheese, fermented milk, butter milk, curd, butter and ghee are used as major diet ingredients in west of IRAN, such as Kermanshah province. Ghee (Kermanshahi traditional oil or roghan-e heiwâni) is traditionally produced from butter milk of yoghurt after fermentation. Review of the literature yielded no study on isolating probiotics from Kermanshahi traditional oil preparation stages. Therefore, purpose of this study was just to focus on isolating and identifying lactic acid bacteria in these products using culture and PCR-sequencing methods.

 Fifteen samples from each dairy products including yogurt, butter and Kermanshahi traditional oil were collected in Kermanshah province, Iran. Each sample was diluted, homogenized, and cultured on selective medium for growing of lactic acid bacteria. 16SrRNA gene sequences analysis was carried out for final confirmation of these isolates.

 After culturing of samples on MRS and M17 under aerobic and anaerobic condition, a total of 78 strains of bacteria were isolated and identified by conventional biochemical tests. The frequency of bacteria in all samples were 48.71% for Lactobacillus, 33.33% for Streptococcus, 6.41% for Enterococcus and 6.41% for Bacillus. Lactobacillus, Streptococcus, Enterococcus, and Bacillus genus, were isolated from 84.44%, 57.78%, 11.11% and 15.56% of all three kind of samples, respectively.

 Based on our findings, Lactic acid bacteria and other potentially probiotic microorganisms are present in Kermanshahi traditional oil. Of course the potential probiotic properties of these isolates and impact of consumption of Kermanshahi traditional oil containing those on human health need to be analyzed more. By proving the presence of probiotic bacteria in Kermanshahi oil, it may be falls in the category of functional foods.

Despite the availability of effective conjugate vaccines, Haemophilus influenza (HI) and Haemophilus somnus (HS) still result in enormous global morbidity in both human and cattle. Vaccines failure to protect against different strains can lead to the spread of Hemophilus infections. The absence of various epitopes from Haemophilus strains in existing vaccines is one of their weaknesses. Therefore, selection of a conserved and common set of proteins in the invasive strains of HI and HS is essential for predicting epitopes as potential vaccine candidate.

The aim of this study was to design an effective polyepitopic vaccine against invasive HI and HS strains using in silico approaches.

First, the protein sequences were retrieved from the databases and were aligned to determine the conserved areas with the Clustal omega software. Then, B and T cell epitopes identification was done for OapA, OMP6, PD, D15, IgA1 Protease and TbpA proteins using various immunoinformatic servers. The high ranked epitopes were selected from mentioned proteins. The selected epitopes were fused together by appropriate linkers. This designed construct was analyzed for physicochemical and structural characteristics using related servers.

6 TCD4+ and 3 B cell epitopes were selected to design the final construct from 6 common proteins. The immunoinformatics analysis revealed that the designed polyepitopic peptide is a safe, soluble, hydrophilic and thermostable antigen that could be a potential vaccine.

The polyepitopic construct can be considered as a vaccine candidate against Haemophilus.