Jorjani Biomedicine Journal

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Background and objectives: Cryptorchidism or undescended testicle, with a prevalence of 33 percent in preterm and 3-5 percent in term infants, is the most common congenital abnormality in newborn boys. The present study aimed to assess the recovery rate and urinary tract infection among infants with cryptorchidism during the first 15 months of their life.

       

 Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted on 47 infants with cryptorchidism in Zahedan city (Iran) in 2012. The infants’ birth weight, preterm/term birth, delivery method, and affected testicle along with maternal age, history of urinary tract infection during pregnancy, and number of pregnancies were collected. Information about the infants’ urinary tract infection and recovery from cryptorchidism was collected through observations and trimonthly phone calls until the 15th month after birth. Percentage and mean were used for data analysis.

 Results: Of the 47 studied infants, 63.82 percent were premature, 59.57 percent had right-side cryptorchidism, and 80.60 percent developed urinary tract infection at least once. The highest incidence of urinary tract infection (29.8 percent) was seen at the age of three months old. The majority of infants (91.5 percent) recovered during the course of the study and the recovery rate at the fifth, 10th, and 15th months were 31.9 percent, 38.3 percent and 21.3 percent,respectively.

 Conclusion: This study revealed the high prevalence of urinary tract infection among infants with cryptorchidism. It also showed that most infants with cryptorchidism recover within 15 months of age.

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Background and Objectives:  The application of herbal medicine has been rising in recent years. Therefore, it is logical to revise and revive these traditional drugs while identifying their mechanisms of action can result in developing new treatments for many diseases. Curcumin is the most important component of Turmeric with numerous therapeutic properties. We aimed to review the anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial properties of Curcumin and introduce it as a therapeutic molecule in the present article.

Methods: In this review, 121 articles were selected from authenticated electronic resources and scientific library databases such as Pubmed, Medline, Sciencedirect, WOS, DOAJ, SID, Iranmedex, Magiran and Google Scholar search engine in which Curcumin (Turmeric) had been evaluated as a therapeutic molecule from differeny aspects.

Results: Our findings from the literature revealed that immune responses against infectious and inflammatory factors could be fascilitated by Curcumin. However, the low solubility in water and minimal bioavailability which may lead to poor absorbance from gastrointestinal tract, quick metabolization and elimination from blood circulation are the most important problems during oral consumption.

Conclusion: According to the results of the present review article, Curcumin possesses efficient anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, anti-viral and anti-parasitic properties. However, the low bioavailability of this substance has limited its treatment properties. Nowadays, several mechanisms have been proposed to increase the bioavailability which can improve its absorption.

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Background and objectives: Dental technicians are in indirect contact with patients. Microorganisms find their way to dental labs through dental impressions. Infection control is a critical procedure to prevent the spreading of diseases. The objective of this study was to evaluate the levels of infection control knowledge and practice and the factors affecting them, in DLs in Yazd – Iran.
Methods: All dental labs in Yazd – Iran were visited and all working technicians were asked to fill questionnaires including knowledge and practice questions. Data was analyzed using t-test via SPSS 17.
Results: Out of 26 filled questionnaires 73% and 50% of the technicians had respectively poor awareness and practice. Regarding adherence to infection control procedures, technicians with higher work experience had significantly higher scores (p value = 0.015). Technicians educated in the field of dental technologies had significantly higher awareness and practice scores (p value= 0.015, 0.029).
Conclusion: Technicians who have been trained at dental schools have higher knowledge and practice regarding infection control. Since dental labs are not obligated to hire only these technicians, workers without related education are occupied in dental labs. This result in the unfortunate status of infection control in dental labs. The poor status of infection control in dental labs can contribute to spread infections to patients and the related healthcare team.

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 Background and objectives: Acinetobacter is a genus of opportunistic pathogens that are commonly found in the environment. Given the unique ability of these bacteria to survive in the hospital, they are considered as one of the main causes of hospital-acquired infections. The emergence of multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter spp., particularly Acinetobacter baumannii has become a major health threat worldwide. In this study, we investigate antibacterial effects of probiotic isolates from goat milk on clinical isolates of A. baumannii.
Methods: In this study, 100 clinical specimens were taken from patients hospitalized in six hospitals in the Golestan Province, north of Iran. Following isolation and identification of A. baumannii strains, antibiotic resistance patterns of the isolates were investigated using the Kirby-Bauer method according to the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI-2015) guidelines. Probiotic bacteria in goat milk were isolated and identified by culture in MRS and M17 media and carbohydrate fermentation tests. Antibacterial effects of the probiotic bacteria against resistant A. baumannii isolates were evaluated using the agar well diffusion method.
Results: Overall, 55% of the isolates were identified as A. baumannii. The highest resistance rates were observed against tobramycin (76.3%), mezlocillin (74.5%) and cefotaxime (74.5%). Resistance to levofloxacin, tetracycline, imipenem and minocycline was detected in 72.7%, 72.7%, 70.9% and 29.1% of the isolates, respectively. The most common probiotic isolates were Lactobacillus plantarum and Lactococcus piscium (30% each). The highest and lowest effects were exerted by Lactococcus lactis (34.54%) and Lactobacillus bulgaricus (3.63%), respectively.
Conclusion: Our results demonstrate that the prevalence of drug-resistant A. baumannii strains is high in the hospitals. Given the promising antimicrobial effects of the isolated probiotic bacteria, goat milk can be recommended as an adjuvant therapy or an alternative to common antibiotics for improving treatment outcome of infections caused by drug-resistant A. baumannii.
 

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