Advanced Biomedical Research
Volume:11 Issue: 1, Jan 2021

Celiac disease (CeD) is a chronic inflammatory small intestine disorder caused by an abnormal immune response to an array of the epitopes of the wheat gluten and related proteins of rye and barley in genetically susceptible individuals. Midkine (MK) is an angiogenic cytokine, chemotactic in the direction of polymorphonuclear neutrophils and macrophages, and a T‑regulatory cell suppressor. So far, a possible relationship with CeD has not yet been explored. Diagnosis of CeD is based on serologic test in a clinical setting suggestive of CeD and confirmatory histologic examination of the duodenal biopsy. Sometimes, genetic testing of human leukocyte antigen (HLA)‑DQ2 and HLA‑DQ8 may be needed. The objective of this study was to measure and compare the circulating MK in the celiac patients and healthy individuals.

Twenty newly untreated CeD cases and 20 normal controls were enrolled in this study. The enzyme‑linked immunosorbent assay was used to measure the circulating MK in the celiac patients and controls.

There was insignificant difference in the circulating MK between the patients and controls (P > 0.05).

The study results suggest that the MK marker does not have any diagnostic value in CeD activity to be used at the time of diagnosis or during follow‑ups.

Stress‑induced hyperglycemia is an important issue among pediatrics admitted in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). Former studies have declared that hyperglycemia has a high prevalence rate and could increase the risks of mortality among pediatrics. Here, we aimed to investigate the prevalence rate of hyperglycemia and its effects on mortality among pediatrics in the PICU of the hospital.

This cross‑sectional study was performed in 2018–2019 on 88 patients admitted in PICU. Data regarding blood sugar (BS) and other clinical and laboratory parameters were collected. Hyperglycemia was accounted for as BS of >126 mg/dl. Hyperglycemia was divided into: mild (126 <BS <150), moderate (150 <BS <200) and severe (BS >200). The pediatric risk of mortality (PRISM) score was also calculated for each patient during the first 24 h.

Thirty patients (34.1%) had persistent hyperglycemia and 58 patients (65.9%) had normal glycemic indexes. Eleven patients (12.5%) had mild, 9 patients (10.2%) had moderate, and 10 patients (11.4%) had severe hyperglycemia. The prevalence of mortality was 5.7% among hyperglycemic patients and 6.8% among normal glycemic pediatrics. There were no statistically significant differences regarding mortality rate (P = 0.499). The mean PRISM score for normal glycemic patients was 7.03 ± 5.18 and for patients with hyperglycemia was 7.36 ± 6.37.

Hyperglycemia has no significant effects on mortality and PRISM score of pediatrics in PICU, despite of the previous studies. The frequency of hyperglycemia was also 5.7% among the patients admitted in PICU.

Methicillin‑resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has become a considerable public health concern in the entire world due to the rapid spread of this bacterium in human community; also the epidemiology of MRSA has changed, as the isolation of MRSA strains from healthy and non‑healthy patients. Therefore, the objective of this study is to determine the genetic diversity and antibiotic resistance profile of community‑acquired (CA)‑MRSA nasal carriage in the Iranian samples.

A total of 25 CA‑MRSA were isolated from the anterior nares of 410 healthy preschool children. All MRSA isolates were characterized by the detection of the toxic shock syndrome toxin‑1 (TSST‑1) and typed by γ‑hemolysin genes, agr groups, and staphylococcal protein A (spa) typing. Kirby‑Buyer antibiotic susceptibility testing was performed and interpreted as per the standard guidelines.

A total of 25 (6.1%) MRSA isolates were recovered from the anterior nares of 410 preschool children. Sixteen isolates (64%) were positive for the TSST‑1 gene. Three agr specificity groups were determined, as follows: eight (32%) isolates belonged to agr Group I, five (20%) isolates belonged to agr Group II, and 12 (48%) isolates belonged to agr Group III. The repeated profiles of these spa types of 25 isolates were organized into eight different lineages groups. Five of lineages contained a single strain, three of lineages contained two strains, and three of lineages consisted of more than three strains.

The results of our study show that the rate of MRSA in our region is significantly high. Additionally, spa type t037 was the predominant type among CA S. aureus.

Wounds have a bad prognostic nature and excessive discharges whose regular wound dressings are ineffective. Hydrogels are the best candidates for dressing such wounds due to their high water content and ability to exchange substances. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to make a novel hydrogel wound dressing following the integration of various findings on wound healing and the use of regenerative medicine.

Various compounds were fabricated by glycerol/chitosan/polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and then characterized to obtain the optimal composition using several techniques, including a water vapor passage test, scanning electron microscopy, water absorption, tensile strength, biodegradability, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and antibacterial test.

The findings revealed the optimal dressing ratio. Better antibacterial activity was found for the silver nanoparticle (AgNP) dressing.

Our new fabricated dressing, glycerol/chitosan/PVA hydrogel loaded with AgNPs, exhibited satisfactory wound healing properties.

Paraquat has been recognized as a highly toxic agent for pest removal and is used worldwide.In adults, paraquat poisoning for suicidal attempts is much more common than accidental exposure poisoning. Approximately 20% of patients with paraquat poisoning develop pneumomediastonium as a complication with a mortality rate of approximately 100%. A 19‑year‑old man patient was admitted to the poisoning emergency department of Khorshid hospital, who had ingested paraquat. He had nausea and vomiting and had normal vital signs and examination in admission. Initial treatment for the patient was done. The patient signs got worsened on the 21st day of hospitalization and had severe emphysema of the superficial and deep spaces of the neck, followed by bilateral pneumothorax, and severe pneumomediastinum. Unfortunately, the patient died on the 27th day of hospitalization. Purpose of the current study is to raise awareness of rare paraquat toxicity complications, treatment, and especially its lethal complications, including pneumomomediastonium.

Human T‑cell leukemia virus type 1(HTLV‑1) infection is likely to induce nonneoplastic inflammatory pulmonary diseases. Therefore, an experimental study was conducted to evaluate the leukocytes’ number alteration and oxidative stress in the lung and blood of HTLV‑1‑infected BALB/c mice, which could be of benefit for the recognition of HTLV‑1 mechanism in the induction of pulmonary disorders.

Twenty female BALB/c mice were divided into two groups of control and HTLV‑1‑infected animals. The HTLV‑1‑infected group was inoculated with 106 MT‑2 HTLV‑1‑infected cells. Two months later, the infection was confirmed using real‑time polymerase chain reaction, and then lung pathological changes, total and differential inflammatory cell counts in the blood and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF), along with oxidative stress biomarker levels in the BALF and lung tissue were evaluated.

In the HTLV‑1‑infected group, the peribronchitis score (P < 0.01), the number of total leukocytes, neutrophils, lymphocytes, and monocytes (P < 0.05) in the blood and BALF were increased. The number of eosinophils in the blood of the HTLV‑1‑infected group was higher than in the control group (P < 0.01), whereas the number of basophils of BALF was increased in the HTLV‑1‑infected group (P < 0.001).The lung and BALF oxidative stress results showed that the MDA level was increased, while the total thiol level and superoxide dismutase activity were decreased in the HTLV‑1‑infected group (P < 0.01).

The HTLV‑1 infection seems to induce pulmonary inflammatory reactions by recruiting leukocytes as well as inducing oxidative stress in the lung tissue.