zeinab fagheei aghmiyuni

 Infections caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae (S. pneumoniae) have remained a significant public health concern worldwide. In developed countries, the highest prevalence of S. pneumonia has been reported among the elderly. The aim of this study was to evaluate the coverage of genotypes in the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV-13) in the Iranian elderly population.

 A total of 41 isolates of S. pneumoniae were collected in the current retrospective cross-sectional study. The samples comprised 33 inpatients hospitalized for pneumococcal pneumonia and 8 outpatients. Multiplex polymerase chain reaction assay was performed to categorize the bacteria isolated into specific genotypes. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS software, and the chi-square test was used to assess the statistical significance in percentages.

 A total of 68 genotypes were identified in this study, in which 39 isolates (57.3%) were associated with invasive infections. The most common genotypes were 6A/B [8 (19.5%)], 1 [7 (17.5%)], 14 [5 (12.2%)], and 19A [4 (9.75%)], respectively. The coverage rates of PCV-7, PCV-10, and PCV-13 vaccines were 51.17%, 70.7%, and 99.9%, respectively. According to our results, the pneumococcal coverage rate of PCV-7, PCV-10, and PCV-13 vaccine types is estimated to be 51.2%, 70.7%, and 99.9%, respectively. Furthermore, the trend of pneumococcal serotypes included in the PCV-13 was steadily increasing during the study period.

 It can be concluded that the most circulating pneumococcal serotypes were in accordance with specific serotypes included in the PCV-13 vaccine types. Therefore, including PCV-13 vaccines in immunization programs against pneumococcus in the elderly can effectively reduce the rate of infections.

Streptococcus pneumoniae remains a major cause of invasive streptococcal diseases among all age groups, particularly infants and the elderly.

This study aimed to recognize and determine S. pneumoniae serotypes isolated from clinical specimens by multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

A total of 105 pneumococcal strains were collected from nonvaccinated cases within the age range of 10 days to 92 years from five provinces of Iran within June 2017 to August 2019. The strains were cultured on blood agar. Biochemical analyses and molecular tests were performed for the primary identification of bacterial isolates. Capsular typing was carried out by multiplex PCR assay. Primers that target the capsular polysaccharide site were used in this study.

Out of 130 studied clinical specimens, 105 isolates of S. pneumoniae were detected and identified. The most frequently isolated capsular types were 6B, 14, 19A, and 1. Serotype distribution consisted of 83.5% of vaccine serotype and 16.5% of nonvaccine serotype. The serotype 6B was significantly more frequent (P < 0.05) among the invasive clinical isolates (75%) compared to that among their noninvasive counterparts (25%). The distribution of 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV-13) serotypes in invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) and non-IPD revealed 83% and 84% of the isolated serotypes, respectively. Moreover, 83.5% of all the serotypes identified in the study were covered by PCV-13 serotypes.

The common serotypes of invasive and noninvasive groups in Iran are covered by PCV-13

Infection of burn wounds is one of the most important problems in the world. Lactobacillus plantarum is known for burn wound healing because of the immunomodulatory and anti-microbial roles. This study was performed to compare the effects of L. plantarum and imipenem – alone and in combination – on infected burn wound healing.

Burn wounds were experimentally induced on 50 rats in three test groups (germ and supernatant of L. plantarum) and two control groups (n=10 each) and were inoculated with Pseudomonas aeruginosa. During a 14-day period, wounds in all groups were daily treated topically. The data were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance followed by Tukey–Kramer and LSD. A p-value of < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant.

The mean size of the wound on day 14 after the treatment in the probiotic group was significantly lower than the control and the supernatant treated groups (p<0.05).  The percentage of wound healing was significantly higher in the probiotic pellet treated group compared to the imipenem and the supernatant groups (by Anova test: 69.58%, p=0.022). The mean leukocyte count in the probiotic pellet group (12110) and supernatant group (13650) was significantly higher than the imipenem group (7670) (p=0.002 and 0.001, respectively). Wound cultures revealed that the percentage of cases where the pathogens had no growth was significantly different among the comparison groups. In all three test groups, P. aeruginosa was completely eliminated in comparison to the positive control group (p<0.05)

The results of our study showed that L. plantarum and its by-products promote wound healing and can be used as an alternative to antibiotics to treat ulcer infections caused by resistant bacteria.

Burn wound is an important cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Improving the host’s immune system and removing the infection can be effective in healing wounds caused by burns. Granulocyte-colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) stimulates both the bone marrow to produce granulocytes and the function of neutrophil precursors. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of G-CSF on removing infection and healing wound.

A burn model was used to induce burns in 18 adult Balb/c mice, and their wounds were infected by Acinetobacter baumannii strains. Burned mice were divided into two groups (control and G-CSF) and treated daily by subcutaneous injections of normal saline (0.1 mL) and G-CSF (10 µg/kg). The wound healing process was evaluated by the morphological and histological assessments.

In morphological assay, the mean size of the wounds in the 3rd and 7th days of the treatment was significantly lower in the G-CSF treated group compared to the control group. Some of the histological parameters were evaluated, including the level of inflammation, re-epithelialization, angiogenesis, collagen deposition, the amount of granulation tissue, and fibroblast maturation. The results showed that inflammation was reduced in the G-CSF-treated group, and re-epithelialization and collagen deposition were increased insignificantly compared to the normal saline-treated group. Furthermore, bacterial translocation was reduced significantly in the G-CSF-treated group.

G-CSF enhances wound closure and helps in wound healing by improving the immune system. It has also an anti-inflammatory role and reduces bacterial translocation.

Burn wounds are one of the most important health problems all over the world because infection after burn can delay wound healing. Treating burn wounds with granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) is known to improve healing of injured tissue. In addition, colistin is prescribed as an effective treatment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of G-CSF and colistin alone or in combination with G-CSF on wound healing of Acinetobacter baumannii (A. baumannii) infected burns. This study was performed between January 2016 and April 2018. Burn wounds were experimentally induced in 36 mice. The wounds were inoculated with A. baumannii. In a 7-day period, burn wounds in each group were daily treated with subcutaneous injections (0.1 ml) of saline, G-CSF, colistin, and G-CSF plus colistin. After killing the animals, the size of the wound, number of leukocytes in the skin and microbial growth were evaluated. A value of p ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Wound healing in the G-CSF plus colistin group was significantly higher than the control group and the G-CSF group (P = 0.023 and P = 0.033, respectively). In G-CSF+colistin group, the number of leukocytes was higher than the control group considerably (P = 0.007). On the 7th day of treatment, number of positive bacterial cultures in the colistin and the G-CSF plus colistin groups was lower than other groups with a significant difference. Concurrent consumption of G-CSF and antibiotics can control burn infection and enhance the immune system towards wound healing.

Bacterial burn infections are one of the serious infections and since their treatment with antibiotics is very difficult, infection control in such wounds is very important. Therefore, methods should be sought to enhance the effects of antibiotics and also reduce the resistance to them. It seems that probiotics have antimicrobial features and are effective in wound healing.
The current study aimed at evaluating and comparing the antimicrobial effects of antibiotics and probiotics, as well as their combination on bacterial burn infections.
Thirty clinically resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa species isolated from hospitalized patients with burn wounds were collected. Antibacterial activity of five antibiotics and 11 probiotic strains, and also their combination were evaluated by disk diffusion method. One-way ANOVA and Tukey post hoc test were used for data analysis.
It was found that the effect of inhibitory zone in combination use of tetracycline a probiotic strain was more than using the antibiotic and probiotic alone. Also, the current study found that among the probiotics, Lactobacillus plantarum 299v had the highest effect, although not significant, on resistant P. aeruginosa. The current study explained that the inhibitory effect of L. plantarum 299v was significantly higher than that of ciprofloxacin (P = 0.009). In addition, antibacterial activity of gentamicin L. salivarius (ES1) was significantly higher compared with that of gentamicin L. routeri (P = 0.01).
The current study explained that probiotics had a useful potential inhibitory effect on the growth of the pathogens. The study showed that in most cases, inhibitory zones of probiotics were greater than those of antibiotics as well as combination of antibiotic probiotic. But, there was an exception in tetracycline, which had synergistic effect with probiotics. Conversely, in the cases of imipenem and chloramphenicol, addition of probiotics had antagonistic effects. Further studies are needed to describe different results. Therefore, it seems that the type of antibiotics and probiotics are important to create the synergistic or antagonistic effects.

Recently, the use of probiotics in preventing and treating the immune system diseases through changes in blood factors has attracted the attention of researchers. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of Lactobacillus plantarum and Bifidobacterium B94 on changes of blood factors, influencing the autoimmune system diseases.
The rats used in this study were divided into four groups (n=10 each), including control (saline), damage with Ethidium bromide (EB), L. plantarum and Bifidobacterium B94 treatment groups. In damage and treatment groups, a single dose of 3μL EB was directly injected into hippocampus of rats for inducing demyelization. Also, in control group, the same amount of saline was used. Then 2×108 probiotic bacteria were administered by gavage for 28 days. Then serum calcium and cholesterol levels were measured. Data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA and Tukey post-hoc tests (p≤ .05).
The results showed that level of blood serum calcium increased insignificantly in the L. plantarum and Bifidobacterium B94 treatment groups compared to control group. Also, the level of blood serum cholesterol decreased insignificantly in both treatment groups compared to control group.
Probiotics are used for preventing and treating some of the common autoimmune diseases such as MS. Previous studies showed that probiotics affects some of the blood parameters such as calcium and cholesterol while decrease or increase in these parameters is effective in the improvement of MS. Although no significant finding has been obtained in some of these studies, they have almost confirmed the recommendation of probiotic consumption.