javad fathi

  Exotoxin A (ExoA) is one of the most known and important virulence factors of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. This toxin is the cause of ADP-ribosylation in eukaryutic Elongation Factor-2 (EF-2), which results in the protein synthesis inhibition. Recent studies had shown immunostimulational characteristics of detoxified the ExoA. Our aim in this study was to evaluate the immunological properties of detoxified ExoA by Serum Bactericidal assay, in comparison with ELISA.

  The production of ExoA was done on the ExoA-producing strain, Pseudomonas aeruginosa PA103, provided by Pasteur institute of Iran. After culture in semi-industrial scale, it was detoxified and purified by dialysis. The dialysate was injected to mice and rabbit. After 3weeks, the total sera were collected. Serum bactericidal assay & ELISA were performed.

   The results had shown a significant increase of antibodies against detoxified ExoA of 1/16 and antibody in ELISA method. Also, this has shown more antigenecity & immunogenosity by SBA method.

  To conclude the study that has been done here, SBA has much higher advantages than ELISA, in determining the immunological properties of Exo A. Furthermore, since Exo A could act as a hapten, many other subunits from other bacteria or viruses could be conjugated on Exo A and form multi-target vaccines.

Brucellosis vaccines are designed to induce cellular immunity. An effective brucellosis vaccine could induce both cellular and humoral immunity. Serum Bactericidal Assay (SBA) is an important method for determining vaccine humoral immunity. This study is the first to observe humoral immunity in brucellosis by SBA.

Extracted Brucella abortus (B. abortus) Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and Outer Membrane Proteins (OMPs) were injected into rabbits. Group 1 was injected with 25 µg of LPS, Group 2 was injected with 50 µg of OMPs, and Group 3 was injected with 1 ml of combined vaccine, 3 times every 2 weeks. The groups were challenged with B. abortus 544 in the second injection. Sera were separated 2 weeks after the last injection. SBA was performed, and each well was streak-cultured into a plate of Brucella agar. A colony count was done for each plate.

Results have shown, the third injection of the combined vaccine had the highest titer of 1/64, and the efficacy of the vaccine was 87.71%.

As a conclusion, the results of this study showed that LPS and OMP's from B. abortus can provide acceptable immunity.

Recently, infinite and finite dimensional generalized Hilbert tensors have been introduced. In this paper, the authors further introduce infinite and finite dimensional generalized Cesaro tensors as a generalization of Cesaro matrices and discuss the properties of these structured tensors. Next, some  upper bounds of $Z_{1}$-spectral radius of generalized Cesaro tensors  and  generalized Hilbert tensors are given,  which improves the existing ones. Finally, we obtain conditions under which a generalized Cesaro tensor is column sufficient tensor.

Quorum sensing (QS) is one of the main regulatory systems which have various effects on populations of microorganisms. This process has been found in a diverse array of microorganisms (various bacterial taxa, microalgae and fungi). QS is required for different activities of microorganisms such as, virulence factor secretion, motility, competence, biofilm and sporulation. There are different molecules as signals in disparate microorganisms. Biofilm formation is one of the significant functions of QS. Biofilms are groups of microorganisms that are tied to a surface (biotic or abiotic). One of the remarkable effects of biofilm formation seems to be the persistence against hostile environmental condistions. Biofilm formation have been widely reported as a pathogenesis strategy in microorganisms. Here we describe QS and biofilm formation in some important microorganisms and describe some of the suggested strategies for eradication of microbial biofilms.

Inhibition of biofilms formation can have detectable effects on the treatment of infectous diseases. In this line, multiple approaches have been suggested to inhibit the biofilm formation by microorganisms.

ABO blood types are not known to cause diseases directly, but they can be vulnerable and surrender to diseases and health problems. This study aimed to evaluate the susceptibility to COVID-19 in individuals with different blood groups at different ages.

An electronic health record was used in this retrospective cohort study at Shahid Beheshti Hospital. We studied 858 patients who were referred to Shahid Beheshti Hospital, we identified 434 of them as COVID-19 patients using RT-PCR. An analysis of the electronic record involved collecting retrospective laboratory data and demographic information, including age, sex, and blood type. Next, we examined the differences between the ABO blood groups of COVID-19 patients and the control group (1991 case). We used SPSS26 for statistical computations. Data were scrutinizeed with the χ2 test. P < 0.05 was considered statistically outstanding.

Based on the distribution of ABO blood groups in 434 COVID-19 patients, it was revealed that 288 of them were male and 146 were female, and the majority of them were in their third decade of life. A total of 159 patients (36.6%) had type B blood, 116 had type A (26.7%), 109 had type O (25.1%), and 50 had type AB (11.5%). COVID-19 patients had a higher percentage of type B and AB blood than the control group.

Our study found that the frequency ratio of blood group B was remarkably higher in patients than in the control group, which indicates that the blood group B may play a pivotal role in COVID-19 disease.

In this paper, we consider a general tensor complementarity problem with interval parameters, and study the conditions under which, the existence and uniqueness of the solution of the problem are guaranteed. Furthermore, we proved that the solution set of the interval tensor complementarity problem is not necessarily convex.

Urinary tract infection is the most common bacterial infection in children and adults, especially females. Among urinary tract infection caused by bacteria, Streptococcus agalactiae can cause periodic, temporary, or persistent infection in women. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of S. agalactiae isolated from urine samples in pregnant women referred to Qom hospitals, Iran.

In this descriptive study, 1264 pregnant women suspected for urinary tract infection were assessed. Midstream urine specimens collected from pregnant individuals in Ali-ibn-AbiTaleb hospital medical laboratory were passaged on blood agar media. Streptococcus agalactiae was detected using phenotype-based tests. Then, antibiotic susceptibility tests were conducted using the disc diffusion method according to CLSI protocols.

Out of 1264 pregnant patients, 17.64% were diagnosed with beta-hemolytic Streptococcus, and 13.37% were diagnosed with S. agalactiae. The highest rates of antibiotic resistance were found for Clindamycin and Erythromycin. In place, the lowest resistance rate was detected for Nitrofurantoin. The prevalence of resistance to Penicillin was about 33%.

Regarding the results of this research, it would be better to perform urine culture tests before week 34 of pregnancy and the last weeks of pregnancy. Also, our results showed that Penicillin can be replaced by alternative antibiotics before week 34 of pregnancy to prevent further S. agalactiae antibiotic resistance.

SARS-CoV-2 as the cause of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a member of the family Coronaviridea that has generated an emerging global health concern. Controlling and preventing the spread of the disease requires a simple, portable, and rapid diagnostic method. Today, a standard method for detecting SARS-CoV-2 is quantitative real-time reverse transcription PCR, which is time-consuming and needs an advanced device. The aim of this study was to evaluate a faster and more cost-effective field-based testing method at the point of risk. We utilized a one-step RT-LAMP assay and developed, for the first time, a simple and rapid screening detection assay targeting the Envelope (E) gene, using specific primers.

For this, the total RNA was extracted from respiratory samples of COVID-19 infected patients and applied to one-step a RT-LAMP reaction. The LAMP products were visualized using green fluorescence (SYBR Green I). Sensitivity testing was conducted using different concentrations of the designed recombinant plasmid (TA-E) as positive control constructs. Additionally, selectivity testing was performed using the influenza H1N1 genome. Finally, the results were compared using with conventional real time RT-PCR.

It was shown that the RT-LAMP assay has a sensitivity of approximately 15 ng for the E gene of SARS-CoV-2 when using extracted total RNA. Additionally, a sensitivity of 112 pg was achieved when using an artificially prepared TA-E plasmid. Accordingly, for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 infection, the RT-LAMP had high sensitivity and specificity and also could be an alternative method for real-time RT-PCR.

Overall, this method can be used as a portable, rapid, and easy method for detecting SARS-CoV-2 in the field and clinical laboratories.

The outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has originated from Wuhan, China and rapidly spread all over the world. This disease is caused by a coronavirus termed Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) that mainly infects the human respiratory tract. Herbal agents including Atractylodes lancea, Ephedra, Curcumin, and Echinacea purpurea had immunomodulatory effects and antiviral activities on other respiratory viruses including Influenza virus. They strengthen the innate immunity through increasing the phagocytic activity and anti-inflammatory activity. These herbs could be used as a complementary therapy to prevent entry of COVID-19 and improve immune system.  This review delves into the role and therapeutic compounds of various herbal agents in relation to immunity, their effectiveness in treating other viral respiratory illnesses, and their potential influence on COVID-19 disease.

Cholera is an acute intestinal infection caused by Vibrio cholera (V. cholera). The development of antibodies against specific V. cholerae may have a therapeutic effect. In the present research, we investigated the protective effect of egg yolk Immunoglobulin (IgY), which was produced by immunizing hens with formaldehyde-killed V. cholerae O1 and subsequently the isolated IgY was orally administrated to the V. cholerae O1 infected mice for evaluation of its immunizing capability.

In the current study, hens were immunized three times with formaldehyde-killed V. cholerae O1 (1.5× 107</sup> CFU/mL) and an equal volume of adjuvant. The IgY was isolated from egg yolk by polyethylene glycol method. The validity and activity of isolated IgY were confirmed with SDS-PAGE and ELISA methods, respectively. Subsequently IgY was orally administered to suckling mice following challenge with V. cholerae O1. ELISA results showed high antibody titer in the serum and egg yolk. Also, SDS-PAGE analysis showed successful purification of IgY and anti-V. cholerae IgY prevented the death of mice infected with V. cholerae O1. The anti-V. cholera IgY was administered at 2, 4, 6 hours’ intervals after 3 hours of inoculation of mice with V. cholerae O1.

Results showed that the rate of surviving mice (2 mg/mL of IgY) were 60% after 4 hours and 40% after 6 hours and the rate of surviving mice (5 mg/mL of IgY) was 70% after 4 hours and 60% after 6 hours.

The findings suggested the egg yolk-driven IgY as a natural antibacterial protein, could be effective in the prevention and treatment of cholera disease.

In this paper, the conditions for the superposition operators were provided to map the space $bv_{p}$ into $b v_{q}$, where $1 \leq p$, $q<\infty$. Additionally, we presented the necessary and sufficient conditions under which superposition operators become bounded, continuous and uniformly continuous on the sequence space $b v_{p}$.

Recently, ciprofloxacin resistance in Staphylococcus aureus strains, due to efflux pumps, has become a significant challenge. Therefore, this study was performed to evaluate the frequency of norA, norB, and norC efflux pump genes and their roles in resistance to ciprofloxacin in clinical isolates of S. aureus.

A total of one hundred clinical blood samples were collected from patient in Qom hospitals and S. aureus isolates were identified by standard microbiological tests. Antimicrobial susceptibility patterns were determined by the disk diffusion method using CLSI guidelines. Subsequently, the presence of norA, norB, and norC efflux pump genes in ciprofloxacin isolates was detected using the PCR method.

Among one hundred clinical samples, 36 S. aureus isolates were recovered and the results of antibiotic susceptibility tests showed that twenty of them were resistant to ciprofloxacin. 15 isolates were resistant to norfloxacin and one isolate was resistant to ofloxacin. Moreover, the norA, norB, and norC genes were found in 58%, 30%, and 41% of ciprofloxacin-resistant isolates, respectively.

Based on the results of this study, norA, norB, and norC efflux pumps may play a significant role in the development of resistance to ciprofloxacin in clinical isolates of S. aureus. Detecting these genes may prove useful in suggesting an effective treatment model for infections caused by S. aureus.

First, we define and investigate some new classes of interval tensors, called interval exceptionally regular tensors  ($ER-$tensor) and interval $wP-$tensors which is relevant to interval strictly semi-positive tensors. Also, we show that $ER-$tensor is a wide class of interval tensors, which includes many important structured tensors. Second, some classes of interval matrices are extended to interval tensors, such as interval $R(R_0)$-tensor and column sufficient interval tensor. We discuss their relationships with interval positive semi-definite tensors and some other structured interval tensors. In addition,  necessary and sufficient conditions for interval (strictly) copositive and interval $E_0$-tensors are presented and investigated. Finally, we extend the concept of the column sufficient interval matrix to the column sufficient interval tensor.

Zingiber officinale (Ginger) is a flowering plant that was once utilized in Chinese medicine, Indian medicine, and Greek herbal therapy to treat many illnesses.

Different parts of this plant, for example, roots and rhizomes, and its extract are widely used as a spice and traditional medicine. It has been shown that ginger has several therapeutic properties, including reducing inflammation, preventing cancer, lowering blood sugar and lipids, regulating the immune system, anti-apoptotic and anti-nausea, and anti-vomiting effects. In addition, nervous diseases, colds, rheumatism, gingivitis, toothaches, asthma, stroke, constipation, and diabetes have been treated with ginger. Ginger is also a powerful antioxidant and can prevent the production and activity of free radicals. Moreover, ginger extract has been utilized as a diaphoretic and anti-flatulent medication for gastrointestinal spasms. It's also used to treat indigestion and colic pain in the intestines.

In this contribution, we provide an overview of various reports of ginger properties in clinical studies and its effects on the treatment of diseases. In addition to summarizing the present literature. This study highlights the potential of this field to open up new avenues for researchers.

 Heat Shock Proteins (HSPs) elicit humoral and cellular immune responses. Due to their high sequence homology, they can be developed as a new immunogen for cross prophylactic and vaccination effects against infectious agents such as Enteropathogenic and Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EPEC and EHEC). This study aimed to evaluate the immunogenicity and cross-protective efficacy of rGroEL of Salmonella typhi (S. typhi) encapsulated in poly lactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) nanoparticles against EPEC and EHEC.

 Recombinant GroEL was expressed in Escherichia coli (E. coli) and purified using Ni-NTA affinity chromatography. The protein was encapsulated in PLGA by the double emulsion method, and the nanoparticles were characterized physicochemically. BALB/c mice were immunized, and the efficacy of the protein to elicit immune responses was assessed.

 Over-expression in E. coli led to corresponding 64.5 kDa protein bands in Sodium Dodecyl Sulphate-Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Non-ag-gregated nanoparticles had a spherical shape with a mean diameter of 194.3±3 nm and encapsulation efficiency of 89.5±2.5%. Antibody isotyping revealed that GroEL immunization induced both IgG1 and IgG2a antibodies. Moreover, immunization of the mice with recombinant GroEL protein conferred 80 and 60% protection against lethal infections by EPEC and EHEC, respectively. Furthermore, organ burden studies revealed a significant reduction in infection in the immunized mice compared to the non-immunized ones. Passive immunization with anti-GroEL sera also protected 50% of the mice against the lethal doses of EHEC and EPEC strains.

 The findings indicated that immunization of the mice with recombinant GroEL of S. typhi elicited cross-protection against other bacterial infections. This represented the immense potential of GroEL to be developed as a single vaccine against multiple pathogens

Shigella spp. is the cause of dysentery and is widespread worldwide. On the other hand, antibiotic resistance is increasing in this bacterium. Bioinformatics is a new approach to vaccine and drug design involving the selection of appropriate antigens. This study aimed to design a chimeric protein consisting of IpaD, StxB, and TolC proteins from Shigella through a bioinformatics approach as an immunogen candidate.

The sequences of ipaD, stxB, and tolC genes were obtained. Additionally, the immunogenic regions of the associated protein, physicochemical characteristics, protein structures, B and T cells epitopes, and molecular docking were determined using in silico servers. Besides, the chimeric gene was synthesized following sequence optimization by utilizing the codon usage of Escherichia coli (E. coli). The expression of the recombinant protein was confirmed via SDS-PAGE and Western blot technique.

The residues 41-160 of IpaD, 21-89 of StxB, and 40-335 of TolC were selected. According to half-life, instability, and buried indices, IpaD-StxB-TolC was selected as the best arrangement. The Ramachandran plot showed that 97.077% of the amino acids were in the favored area. Linear and conformational epitopes were also present throughout the chimeric protein sequence. Moreover, the C-ImmSim server indicated that IgG and IgM titers could reach desirable values by the third injection .Furthermore, the stability of the mRNA-optimized gene was enhanced, increasing the Codon Adaptive Index (CAI) to 0.9. Finally, the chimeric gene was transferred to E. coli BL21, and the expression of the 60.6 kDa recombinant protein was confirmed.

The results indicated that the recombinant protein could act as a proper immunogen candidate against Shigella spp.

The role of laboratory parameters and the relationship of them with radiology reports, CT scan and clinical outcomes in screening of COVID-19 patients not been definitely established, but this disease presented a major challenge in the field of clinical tests, radiology reports, clinical outcomes that help to monitoring and treatment COVID-19 disease. This study was performed on 340 suspected COVID-19 patients, who presented to Chamran Hospital, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences Shiraz, Iran from 20 February to 31 August, 2020. Information each patient's will be completed using a data collection forms based on records. The evaluation of lungs involvement in CT scan and their relationship with laboratory indicator including biochemical and hematological factors, is the best scale for the severity and prognosis of Covid 19 patients. The findings of this study indicated ALT, AST, CRP, NEU, LDH, and Urea have very good accuracy in predicting cases with positive RT-PCR for COVID-19, respectively. In this study we shown the correlation of clinical and laboratory findings with CT-based quantitative score of pulmonary involvement in COVID-19 pneumonia and attempted that our findings could be usable to development future clinical research associated with COVID-19 infection and show the relationship of reports CT scan and clinical outcomes in the diagnosis and severity of patients with COVID-19.

Clostridium difficile is the most common causes of hospital-acquired diarrhea affecting particularly hospitalized patients globally. This organism has re-emerged in recent years with significant morbidity and mortality. The present study aimed to estimate the burden of C. difficile infection (CDI) and to acquire information on the overall rates of community- and hospital-acquired CDI in western Asia.

A systematic literature search was performed to identify articles published from the eight Persian Gulf countries in western Asia including Iran, Iraq, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates in the electronic databases within Jan of 2000 to Dec of 2017. Then, 20 publications which met our inclusion criteria were selected for data extraction and analysis by Comprehensive Meta-Analysis Software.

Twenty studies reported the prevalence of toxigenic strains of C. difficile among patients from Persian Gulf countries, of these the pooled prevalence of CDI was 9% (95% CI: 6.5%-12.5%). Totally, 8 studies showed the prevalence of hospital-acquired CDI, from those studies the prevalence of CDI was estimated 8.4% (95% CI: 4.9%-14.1%). Moreover, 7 studies reported the prevalence of community-acquired CDI, from those studies the prevalence of CDI was estimated 1.8% (95% CI: 1.2%-2.9%).

The prevalence of CDI in western Asia is lower than southern and eastern region. Moreover, the lower prevalence of community-acquired CDI compared to hospital-acquired CDI, indicate that the source of infection in western Asia is more likely in the hospitals.

Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) cause a wide spectrum of infections, such as diarrhea, hemorrhagic colitis and hemolytic–uremic syndrome. Considering the risks associated with antibiotic therapy against EHEC infection, vaccines can be a promising method for prevention of infections. Recombinant chimeric proteins containing multiple immunogens could induce immunity against bacterial infections. The aim of this study was to evaluate immunogenecity of trivalent chimeric antigen EspA -Stx2b -Intimin against E.coli O157 H7 infection.
Material and In this descriptive-laboratory study,recombinant chimeric protein was expressed in E.coli BL21 DE3 by use of IPTG. The protein expression was evaluated by SDS-PAGE and western blotting analysis. The recombinant protein was purified using Ni–NTA affinity chromatography. The immunization was conducted in mice with purified protein and antibody titers were determined by ELISA. Following immunization, mice were infected with E.coli O157:H7 and evaluated for bacterial shedding and mortality. Using SPSS software, statistical analysis was performed by Duncan's test and T-test.
The protein was expressed in E.coli BL21 (DE3) and SDS-PAGE analysis showed expression of recombinant protein with molecular weight of 63kD. Western blot analysis confirmed presence of chimeric protein. ELISA results showed that immunogenic properties of chimeric protein induced humoral response to EspA, intimin and Stx2b. Bacterial shedding in immunized mice decreased to 102 cfu/ml and mortality rate was reduced to 60%.
The results showed that the chimeric protein induced humoral response and protected the mice against E.coli O157:H7.

Virus-like particles (VLPs) are a group of subunit vaccines, which due to a stronger protective immunogenicity, are distinguished from soluble recombinant antigens. Like native viruses, virus-like particles can be both enveloped and non-enveloped. They are formed from the expression of one or more viral structural proteins in a heterologous system. Depending on the complexity of the VLP, the proteins can be produced in prokaryotic or eukaryotic expression systems, or in certain cases, they can be manufactured and assembled in the cell-free conditions. Virus-like particles can be produced in a range of cell culture systems, including mammalian cell lines, insect cells, yeast, plant cells and cell-free conditions. To date, a wide range of VLP-based vaccine candidates against viral, bacterial, parasitic, and fungal pathogens, as well as non-infectious diseases, have been produced in various expression systems. Some of VLPs have entered clinical development and few of them have licensed and commercialized.

Human infection by Escherichia coli enterohemorhagic (EHEC) can lead to watery diarrhea, blood flow, or hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). This syndrome occurs in 5 to 10 % of patients with E. coli O157: H7 infection. Children under the age of 5 years old and the elderly and people with immune deficiency are the most prone to severe complications caused by this pathogen. The entry of this bacteria that has the ability to produce Stx-like toxin causes gastrointestinal symptoms including diarrhea and intestinal mucus. This toxin is a hexamer protein with a molecular weight of 70.5 kDa and is composed of A and B units. The purpose of this study is to purify the Shiga-like toxin, which can be used to provide a diagnostic kit, antibody production and vaccine studies. First, E. coli O157: H7 was confirmed by PCR technique and cultured in LB medium. After centrifugation, the cell wall of the bacteria was destroyed by a sonication. Since the toxin is secreted both in the medium and intra-cellular, to increase the concentration of toxin, the precipitate and supernatant were mixed together then the mixture was precipitated with ammonium sulfate salt, it was dialyzed against the salt in a PBS buffer. The presence of toxin was confirmed by SDS-PAGE and Western Blot techniques. In order to confirm the toxicity of protein, supernatant, lysed sediment and a mixture of both were injected into mice groups. In this experiment, the yield of toxin production was 650 μg/ml and the final purity was 90%. Our results demonstrate that Shiga-like toxin (Stx) can be purified without chromatographic methods whit an acceptable purity and yield.

The main purpose of this paper is to determine the fine spectrum of the generalized upper triangular double-band matrices
uv over the sequence spaces c0 and c. These results are more general than the spectrum of upper triangular double-band matrices of Karakaya and Altun[V. Karakaya, M. Altun, Fine spectra of upper triangular doubleband matrices, Journal of Computational and Applied Mathematics. 234(2010) 1387-1394].

The main purpose of this paper is to detemine the fine spectrum of the generalized difference operator Delta_{uv} over the sequence space c0. These results are more general than the fine spectrum of the generalized difference operator Delta_{uv} of Srivastava and Kumar.