Distribution of rhodanese in different parts of the urogenital systems of sheep at pre- and post-natal stages

The enzyme rhodanese (thiosulfate:cyanide sulfurtransferase) is a ubiquitous enzyme present in all living organisms, from bacteria to humans and plays a central role in cyanide detoxification. The purpose of this investigation is to determine and compare rhodanese activity in different parts of urogenital systems of male and female sheep fetuses at 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4, 4.5, and 5 months of age. The highest activity of rhodanese in male fetus was in kidney cortex, followed by medulla of the kidney. No significant difference was observed in other organs. In female fetus, the highest activity was in kidney cortex followed by oviduct and medulla of kidney. The enzyme activity of tissues increased with age. There was no significant difference (P > 0.05) between male and female fetuses in levels of rhodanese activity of different tissues except in urinary bladder at 2.5 and 3 months and in urethra at 4.5 months of age. The results of this study might indicate the involvement of rhodanese in cyanide detoxification in tissues which are more exposed to cyanide. On the other hand, rhodanese might perform other functions which are specific in these tissues.     

Veronaea botryosa: Molecular Identification with Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) and In vitro Antifungal Susceptibility

Inter- and intraspecific genomic variability of 18 isolates of Veronaea botryosa originating from clinical and environmental sources was studied using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP). The species was originally described from the environment, but several severe cases of disseminated infection in apparently healthy individuals have been reported worldwide. All tested strains of V. botryosa, identified on the basis of sequencing and phenotypic and physiological criteria prior to our study, were confirmed by AFLP analysis, yielding a clear separation of V. botryosa as a rather homogeneous group from related species. In vitro antifungal susceptibility testing resulted in MIC₉₀s across all strains in increasing order posaconazole (0.25 μg/ml), itraconazole (1 μg/ml), voriconazole (4 μg/ml), terbinafine (4 μg/ml), caspofungin (8 μg/ml), anidulafungin (8 μg/ml), isavuconazole (16 μg/ml), amphotericin B (16 μg/ml), and fluconazole (32 μg/ml). Overall, the isolates showed a uniform pattern of low MICs of itraconazole and posaconazole, but high MICs for remaining agents. The echinocandins (caspofungin and anidulafungin) had no activity against V. botryosa. There was no statistically significant difference between susceptibilities of environmental (n = 11) and clinical (n = 7) isolates of V. botryosa (P > 0.05).     

Genetic Relatedness of Clinical and Environmental Vibrio cholerae Isolates Based on Triple Housekeeping Gene Analysis

Sequence analysis of dnaE, hlyA, and asd housekeeping genes were used to determine the genetic relatedness of our collection of Vibrio cholerae isolated from patients and surface waters over a 5-year period in Iran. The results showed 41, 17, and 9 variable sites throughout the sequenced fragments of dnaE (837 bp), hlyA (495 bp), and asd (295 bp), respectively. The results from sequence typing showed that all our clinical isolates were grouped in the same cluster. Eleven genotypes were identified among the environmental isolates. One environmental isolate was found to be in close genetic relatedness with our clinical isolates. One V. cholerae isolate showed a single-locus variant in the dnaE. For each of the studied genetic loci 10, 7, and 7 sequence types were observed for dnaE, hlyA, and asd, respectively. Only asd sequence analysis could make the distinction between the classical and El Tor isolates which emphasizes on selection of housekeeping locus with better discrimination power for analysis of different groups of isolates. Overall, the results indicated that surface waters in Tehran are a pool of non-toxigenic V. cholerae strains which are rarely related to clinical toxigenic isolates. In addition, our results verified that housekeeping gene sequence analysis could be a suitable approach for determination of the relatedness between clinical and environmental V. cholerae isolates.     

Linkages of Farmers' Operations with Rhizoctonia Root Rot Spread in Bean Crops on a Regional Basis

The associations of Rhizoctonia root rot (RRR) with a number of agronomic and yield variables were characterized at different growth stages in 122 commercial bean fields in Zanjan, Iran. A lower RRR incidence was detected in red beans compared with white beans. RRR incidence was greater in drought‐exposed fields compared with drought‐free fields. RRR incidence was higher following frequent irrigations at 2‐ to 3‐day intervals than at 4‐ to 9‐day intervals. The highest RRR incidence was associated with the densest category of plant populations and with the deepest plantings at 10–22 cm. Beans grown following alfalfa, bean and maize had a lower disease than rotations with potato. RRR incidence was greater in fields that received 50–500 kg/ha of urea compared with nonfertilized fields. RRR‐affected fields were recognized with a closer irrigation, earlier and deeper planting, denser weed population and lower yields than RRR‐free fields. According to loadings for second principal component, planting density and depth, urea usage and weed density corresponded with RRR incidence. Findings extend our understanding of RRR epidemics in diverse bean cropping systems.     

Tropisetron But Not Granisetron Ameliorates Spatial Memory Impairment Induced by Chronic Cerebral Hypoperfusion

Neurochemical Research - Tropisetron and Granisetorn are 5-HT3 antagonists with antiemetic effects. Tropisetron also has a partial agonistic effect on alpha-7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors...     

Fermented soybean meal extract improves oxidative stress factors in the lung of inflammation/infection animal model

Context

Fermented soybean products have been used in various ways, and more research is being conducted on them to reveal their benefit.

Objective

The objective of this study was to evaluate the antioxidative activity of fermented soybean meal extract by Lactobacillus plantarum in vitro and in vivo tests.

Materials and methods

A Lactobacillus plantarum strain RM10 was selected through plate and fermentation experiment, which increased the degree of protein hydrolysis (1.015 μg/mL) and antioxidant activity in soybean meal fermented by selected bacteria (FSBM). In vivo study was done on septic rats as an inflammation/infection model, and then the trial groups were treated with different concentrations of fermented soybean meal extracts (FSBM, 5, 10, and 20%).

Results

DPPH radical-scavenging and ferrozine ion-chelating activity enhanced (P < 0.05) after fermentation of soybean meal compared to control group. Reduced (P < 0.05) expression of inflammatory genes and enzymes was detected in the lungs of rats treated with fermented soybean meal extract.

Discussion and conclusions

These results demonstrated that a diet containing fermented soybean meal extract improved extreme inflammatory response in an infectious disease like sepsis by reducing inflammatory factors.

     

The frequency and distribution of thiopurine S-methyltransferase alleles in south Iranian population

Thiopurine methyltransferase (TPMT) catalyzes the S-methylation of thiopurine drugs such as 6-mercaptopurine, 6-thioguanine, and azathiopurine. Variability in TPMT activity is mainly due to genetic polymorphism. The frequency of the four allelic variants of the TPMT gene, TPMT*2 (G238C), TPMT*3A (G460A and A719G), TPMT*3B (G460A) and TPMT*3C (A719G) were determined in an Iranian population from south of Iran (n = 500), using polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-RFLP and allele-specific PCR-based assays. Four hundred seventy four persons (94.8%) were homozygous for the wild type allele (TPMT*1/*1) and twenty five people were TPMT*1/*3C (5%). One patient was found to be heterozygous in terms TPMT*1 and *2 alleles with genotype of TPMT*1/*2 (0.2%). None of the participants had both defective alleles. The TPMT*3C and *2 were the only variant alleles observed in this population. The total frequency of variant alleles was 2.6% and the wild type allele frequency was 97.4%. The TPMT*3B and *3A alleles were not detected. Distributions of TPMT genotype and allele frequency in Iranian populations are different from the genetic profile found among Caucasian or Asian populations. Our findings also revealed inter-ethnic differences in TPMT frequencies between different parts of Iran. This view may help clinicians to choose an appropriate strategy for thiopurine drugs and reduce adverse drug reactions such as bone marrow suppression.