Iranian Journal of Virology
Volume:8 Issue: 2, 2014

Infectious bronchitis (IB), caused by infectious bronchitis virus (IBV), is an acute and highly contagious disease in chickens. IBV is considered mainly as a respiratory infection, other clinical manifestations, including renal, enteric and reproductive signs can be observed. Since there has been no study on evaluation of changes in biochemical parameters during IB infection, this study was designed to assess the serum biochemical parameters in experimentally infected chicks with two IBV isolates. Two groups of 14-day-old SPF chickens were infected with two different isolates of IBV, Variant-2 like and IR-1 like genotypes respectively (35 chicks in each group). In addition, a group of 35 chickens remained non-infected as a control group. On days 1, 3, 5, 7, 14, 21 and 28 post infection the sera of both infected groups and un-inoculated control group was collected to measure the biochemical factors, including uric acid, creatinine, alanine amino transferase (ALT) and aspartate amino transferase (AST) using a standard auto analyzer. We used multiple comparison ANOVA followed by a post-hoc test, (Level of significance <0.05). There were no significant differences between evaluated parameters of each infected group in comparison with the control group. No changes were seen in serum parameters level between control and infected groups. In an experimental disease, there was no other infection to superimpose on IBV, so acute IBV infection was not severe enough to cause hepatic dysfunction or renal failure.

Hepatitis C virus is one of the viral infections transmitted by blood transfusion. Patients with thalassaemia frequently need blood transfusion and are in danger of HCV infection. In most cases of infection (85%) the virus evades the immune system and establishes a chronic infection that may lead to cirrhosis and liver carcinoma. Liver is the main site of HCV replication HCV RNA has been detected in circulating extra hepatic sites, such as in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). It has been proposed that PBMC could be the source of recurrent HCV infection. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of HCV RNA in PBMCs of thalassaemia patients with hepatitis C after antiviral treatment. About 261 (179 with and 82 without thalassaemia) patients with HCV infection after treatment, 20 patients with HCV infection without treatment and 20 healthy samples as control groups were analyzed in this study. Blood samples were collected in a sterile tube containing EDTA. PBMC was separated from blood of HCV infected patients and control groups by density gradient centrifugation. Viral RNA was extracted from plasma and PBMCs by the guanidiumisothiocyonate method. The extracted RNA was amplified by RT-PCR method. Anti-HCV ELISA was performed on all samples. About 92.7% of HCV infected patients were undetectable for HCV RNA in plasma and PBMCs samples after treatment. But HCV RNA was detected in plasma and PBMCs samples 6 of 82 (7.3%) patients with chronic HCV after treatment. After antiviral treatment, 146 of 197 (74.2%) patients with thalassaemia had no detectable HCV RNA and 25.8% (51 of 197) of them had HCV RNA in plasma or PBMCs samples which in two cases, HCV RNA was detected only in PBMC. More than 90 percent of patients had clearance of HCV RNA in both serum and PBMCs after 5 years of response to antiviral treatment while 74.2% of patients with thalassaemias achieved to SVR after antiviral therapy. Therefore, the presence of the persistent virus in mononuclear cells of patients may cause hepatitis C recurrence at the end of treatment.

Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) is highly contagious disease among cloven-hoofed animals. FMD virus has structural and non-structural proteins. Vp1 is the most immunogenic structural peptides of FMD virus, applied for major vaccine studies. Construction of Pet28-VP1 cassette for FMD virus type O/IRN/2010 and expression VP1 peptide as the most immunogenic antigen was the aim of this study. The FMD virus type O/IRN/2010 was isolated from cattle in Qom, Iran and propagated on IBRS2 and BHK21 cell lines. The VP1 gene was amplified using the specific primer pair and RT-PCR technique. The purified PCR product was sub-cloned into the unique BamHI and Xho1 cloning sites to construct the PTZ57R/T -VP1 cassette. The DH5&alpha strain was transformed with this cassette. The digested VP1 gene was cloned in the digested Pet28 and confirmed using double digestion. Then the Pet28-VP1 construction was transformed in BL21 strain. Expression of VP1 peptide was evaluated by IPTG induction and SDS-PAGE and confirmed by Guinea pig specific polyclonal antibody against FMD virus type O and conjugated rabbit anti Guinea pig antibody- HRP. Also neutralizing antisera titre was protective for vaccinated animals by recombinant VP1 protein. Since the isolation of new FMD virus strains in different geographical locations and expression of VP1 peptide can be used in emergency and control settings as a recombinant vaccine in the same area. Therefore the Pet28-VP1 cassette was constructed in this study is a good candidate for preparation of peptide vaccine against FMD virus type O/IRN/2010 in the next future.

Worldwide, about 350 million people are infected with Hepatitis B virus (HBV), most of them in Asia. Up to 1 million of them die due to these sequels annually. Few studies concerned about HBV awareness of Iranians young people. As health education programs should be based on awareness of target group about the disease, we conducted a national survey to evaluate health literacy and vaccination status of Iranians young people regarding HBV. The purpose of our study was to find Iranian adolescents’ health literacy deficit hepatitis B (HBV) and associated factors. Patients and We conducted a questionnaire-based national survey of 18-year-old adolescents according to stratified cluster random sampling in Iran during 2007. Assuming 75% as the appropriate awareness, only 21.3% of adolescents had good literacy about hepatitis B. Lower levels of education, living in urban areas, celibacy and male gender were associated with lower health literacy. The health literacy of HBV infected people about major routes of HBV transmission was low (P < 0.001). There are important deficits in adolescents’ health literacy about HBV. We should focus on implementing educational campaigns about HBV through media tools for Iranian community.

Abstract Naturally occurred hepatitis B virus (HBV) with surface mutations in a variety of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients who have received no vaccine or HBIG bearing substitutions in surface protein, have been reported. Current knowledge concerning the prevalence of these naturally occurring surface antigen mutations among Iranian carriers is limited. Patients and In a retrospective cross-sectional study, 119 inactive HBV chronic carriers were enrolled. The surface gene was amplified, sequenced and subsequently aligned using international and national sequence database. All strains belonged to genotype D, subgenotype D1 and subtype ayw2. In 74 (62.18%) of patients, 146 (68.8%) out of 212 amino acid mutations occurred in different immune epitopes within surface protein, of which 28 (19.17%) in B cell, 37 (25.34%) in T helper and 81 (55.47%) inside CTL epitopes. 13 (8.9%) and 15 (10.27%) of amino acid substitutions occurred outside and within the “a” determinant in Major Hydrophilic Region (MHR). While 11 (9.24%) and 77 (64.7%) patients who harbored amino acid mutations, were HBeAg and anti-HBe positive, respectively (p=0.004). 9 and 63 amino acid mutations were occurred in different HBsAg epitopes in HBeAg and anti-HBe positive patients, respectively (P=0.04). HBV mutants within the surface immune epitopes seem to be extremely common among chronic carriers from Tehran, especially those who are anti-HBe positive, indicating that after HBeAg seroconversion, due to the selection pressure of e antibody, the occurrence of mutation is an inevitable effect of the evolutionary process.

Virus infections represent some of the most important diseases of lily, plants because of the devastating effects caused to the crops and the absence of effective treatments. A survey for virus diseases of lilies, revealed the occurrence of Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) in plants growing in Tehran province, Iran. During 2013, 50 lily samples with virus-like symptoms were collected and tested by ELISA. The presence of the CMV was confirmed by biological assay and RT-PCR tests. Phylogenetic structure, statistical tests of neutrality and genetic differentiation and the gene flow level between populations were evaluated using 2b gene. Thirty seven (74%) out of 50 lily samples were infected with CMV. The host rang of lily isolates was limited to Nicotiana benthamiana, which confirmed by ELISA and RT-PCR. The complete 2b gene nucleotide sequence of lily isolates were 243 nt long. The highest nucleotide identity (99%) was indicated with South Korean LiBC isolate (Ac. no. AB506799). Phylogenetic analysis using 2b gene showed two main groups which, lily isolates were classified into a separate branch in group I. Using the maximum likelihood method, amino acid 55 S in the 2b protein of the CMV isolates in group I was found to be under positive selection. CMV has been previously reported from Iran but, the association of CMV in lily plants represents the first record from Iran. Our information will help to better understand epidemiology and to develop a successful management program for reducing the impact of this disease.

HTLV-1 and HTLV-2 are widespread worldwide and endemic in several areas such as Northeastern Iran. The present survey aimed to determine the prevalence of HTLV-1 and HTLV-2 among healthy individuals in Neyshabour City during the years of 2010-2014. A total of 8054 blood samples were collected from participants referred to the great medical diagnostic laboratory in Neyshabur, Northeast Iran. Travelers to the city were excluded from the study. History of patients was also assessed for the existence of virus before test and likewise each of patient’s consent was prepared. The history of syringe transfusion and literacy of patients were also prepared. From each individual, 5 ml of blood sample was collected. Sera samples were prepared through centrifugation and stored at -20°C. Sera samples were screened for the presence of specific antibodies against HTLV-1 and HTLV-2 by the Enzyme-linked Immuno-sorbent Assay (ELISA) test (Dia.pro diagnostic bioprobes, Italy) according to the manufacturer’s instructions. HTLV-1/ 2 infections were positive in 6.55% (528/8054) of the participants according to the results of ELISA test. The prevalence of total HTLV-1 and HTLV-2 in each year of 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 was 6.82%, 6.15%, 6.2%, 5.18% and 4.31%, respectively. The individuals with more than 40 years had higher rate of infection (12% and upper). the both HTLV-1/ 2 infections were detected in healthy individuals blood donors in Neyshabur city during 2010-2014. The rate of infections showed a decrease state from far to the recent years.

Infectious bronchitis (IB), caused by infectious bronchitis virus (IBV), is an acute and highly contagious disease in chickens. IBV is mainly considered a respiratory infection, other clinical manifestations, including renal, enteric and reproductive signs can be observed. Since there has been no study on evaluation of changes in biochemical parameters during IB infection, this study designed to assess the serum biochemical factors in experimentally infected chicks with two IBV isolates. Two groups of 14-day-old SPF chickens were infected with two different isolates of IBV, Variant-2 like and IR-1 like genotypes respectively (35 chicks in each group). In addition, a group of 35 chickens remained non-infected as a control group. On days 1, 3, 5, 7, 14 and 21 and 28 post infection the sera of both infected groups and un-inoculated control group was collected to measure the biochemical factors, including uric acid, creatinine, alanine amino transferase (ALT) and aspartate amino transferase (AST) using a standard auto analyzer. We used multiple comparison ANOVA followed by a post-hoc test, (Level of significance <0.05). There were no significant differences between evaluated parameters of each infected group in comparison with the control group. No changes were seen in serum factor levels between control and infected groups. In an experimental disease, there was no other infection to superimpose on IBV, so acute IBV infection was not strong enough to cause hepatic dysfunction or renal failure.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection is common in infants and young children. In infants younger than one year old it may cause bronchiolitis and pneumonia which requires hospitalization. Accurate and rapid diagnosis of the disease will help proper treatment of the disease and prevent further complications. Specimen taken from respiratory tract of sick children were processed and fixed for immunofluorescence staining. Monoclonal antibody conjugate specific for RSV was used and the specimen were examined by a UV microscope. In this study most of the infection occurred during winter month such as Nov, Dec and Jan. From168 patients, 111 referred from Dec to Feb and 51 % of them were positive. Most of the patient were under one year and the majority were up to 8 month old. However there was one patient, a 36 old woman which was positive indicating that RSV infection can occur in adults. There was no significant changes in infection between the males and females. The results of this study showed that disease is common during the winter time in children Tehran and a rapid reliable such as immunofluorescence should be applied for prompt detection of the disease and its treatment.

The recently emerged Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) emerged in the Middle East region in 2012. The virus is phylogenetically related to bat CoV, but other animal species like camels and goats may potentially act as an intermediate host by spreading the virus to humans. This virus is thought to cause a severe disease in patients with underlying comorbidities. Laboratory response capacity during the early stages of MERS-CoV outbreak focuses on development of virological and immunological methods for diagnosis, for contact tracing and for epidemiological studies into sources, modes of transmission, identification of risk groups and animal reservoirs. Current international recommendations do not support any specific therapies; however there are a number of agents which were used during the SARS epidemic of 2003. It is possible that these might be active against the related coronavirus; in the other hand, development of affective vaccine is crucial for preventing further pandemic of MERS-CoV. In this article we reviewed available data from MERS-CoV case reports.