Advanced Biomedical Research
Volume:11 Issue: 8, Sep 2021

Artemisia kermanensis Podl. is a green aromatic perennial shrub that belongs to the family Asteraceae and it grows widely in central deserts and south‑eastern mountains of Iran such as Taftan Mountain in Sistan and Baluchestan Province. Artemisia species have been used traditionally as a remedy for various feverous diseases, including malaria, treatment of colds, infections, parasites, inflammations of the liver, as well as dyspepsia, diabetes, hypertension, and so many other conditions.

Air‑dried A. kermanensis extraction from all parts of the plant was done using different organic solvents. The methanolic extract was selected for isolation of flavonoids, using thin‑layer chromatography. The chemical structures of the isolated compounds were determined based on analysis of mass and nuclear magnetic resonance spectra.

Two flavone aglycones were isolated and identified for the first time from this plant’s methanolic extract, including 5,7‑dihydroxy‑3’,4’,6‑trimethoxyflavone (eupatilin) and 5,7,3’‑Trihydroxy‑6,4’,5’‑trimethoxyflavone.

Eupatilin is known for its anticancer, antioxidant, and anti‑inflammatory activities. In future researches on A. kermanensis, as a rich source of these flavone compounds, it is wise to investigate for the proven eupatilin’s biological activities that have been mentioned.

Triage becomes necessary when resources and time are not sufficient to provide the best possible services to all patients. This condition is more common in situations with a large number of casualties, like infectious epidemics. What is apparent is that, in the case of a widespread outbreak of infectious disease, hospitals are on the front lines of infected patient admission and treatment. Since the training of health‑care workers is one of the most important pillars of preventive measures in controlling this pandemic, this study was conducted with the aim of expressing the principles of triage of infectious disease epidemic with a COVID‑19 approach.

The COVID‑19 pandemic has raised concerns among physicians and patients with autoimmune disorders about how this viral infection affects the patients receiving immunosuppressive drugs. There are speculations about a higher incidence and severity of COVID‑19 in patients receiving a variety of immunosuppressant drugs. However, we reported the rapid recovery from COVID‑19 in a 67‑year‑old male with granulomatosis with polyangiitis who did not experience severe symptoms of the COVID‑19 as expected, despite having a history of serious lung involvement due to the autoimmune disease. He received conventional medications to treat COVID‑19, though he had been receiving rituximab and corticosteroids before the onset of COVID‑19 symptoms. Prevention of the cytokine storm caused by SARS‑CoV‑2 infection owing to taking the immunosuppressive drugs (rituximab and corticosteroids) could be a reason for these unexpected observations. Therefore, this case showed that taking immunosuppressive drugs is unlikely to be directly related to the increased severity of COVID‑19.

Primary breast lymphomas are uncommon tumors and account for <1% of all malignant neoplasms of the breast. They are almost always of non‑Hodgkin type, with B‑cell lymphomas being the most common subtype. Anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL) is a rare T‑cell lymphoma that can involve the breast. Most of the articles in the literature describe ALCL in association with breast implants. We present a 48‑year‑old woman with a left breast enlargement and no history of an implant. Microscopic sections showed a high‑grade CD30‑positive lymphoid neoplasm with frequent giant cells, which turned out to be a primary ALCL of the breast, giant cell‑rich pattern. To our knowledge, no cases of primary ALCL, giant cell‑rich variant, have been reported in the breast in the absence of an implant making our case unique.

Documented streptococcal resistance to erythromycin has recently been raised. The aim of this study is to identify the molecular mechanism of erythromycin resistance among group B Streptococcus (GBS) strains and to correlate with the clinical origin of strains.

A total number of 134 colonizing (n = 36), invasive (n = 36), noninvasive (n = 46), and asymptomatic (n = 16) GBS isolates were characterized by the detection of dltS gene, capsular serotyping, antibiotic susceptibility profiles using disc diffusion method, and screening of the ermB, ermTR, and mefA resistance genes.

The distribution of capsular serotypes was as follow: serotype III (24.6%), Ia (21.6%), V (17.9%), Ib (14.9%), II (8.9%), IV (8.9%), VI (1.5%), and VII (1.5%). From 134 GBS isolates, 51 (38%) isolates were resistant to erythromycin. The constitutive macrolide lincosamide streptogrmin B (MLSB) was the most common resistance phenotype (62.7%), followed by inducible MLSB (27.4%) and M phenotype (9.8%). Erythromycin resistance rate was higher among asymptomatic GBS strains (13/16, 81.2%). Serotype III was the most prevalent type among resistant isolates (41.1%). The ermB gene highly distributed among resistant strains (64.7%), followed by ermTR (21.5%) and mefA (9.8%). The ermB gene was related to constitutive MLSB phenotype (84.3%, P < 0.05) and serotypes III (61.9%), Ib (87.5%), and V (83.3%). All M phenotype strains harbored mefA gene and were in association with serotype Ia (90%).

The current study suggests that ribosomal modification with erm genes is the main mechanism of erythromycin resistance. Because of relatively high prevalence of erythromycin resistance, double disc test highly recommended for GBS disease treatment and intrapartum prophylaxis among penicillin intolerant patients in our region.

Recently, the D‑dimer biomarker has gained the researchers’ attention for predicting infections. We aimed to determine the relationship between this marker and other inflammatory markers involved in orthopedic implant‑associated infections.

In this study, all patients diagnosed with an orthopedic implant‑associated infection were investigated in 3 years. The serum level of D‑dimer, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and C‑reactive protein (CRP) was measured. Infection was diagnosed based on the clinical and culture results of biopsy samples.

The cultured microorganisms, detected in 26 patients with infections, included Staphylococcus aureus (n = 13, 50%), Staphylococcus epidermidis (n = 2, 7.7%), Klebsiella aerogenes (n = 8, 30.8%), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (n = 3, 11. 5%). Based on laboratory findings, there was a significant difference in the CRP level and ESR (P = 0.001). Although the level of D‑dimer was higher in infected patients, compared to the controls (992.6 ± 667.2 vs. 690.1 ± 250.2 ng/mL), the difference was not statistically significant. There was no significant correlation between the elevated D‑dimer level and CRP level, whereas ESR had a positive correlation with the elevated D‑dimer level (r = 0.6, P = 0.03). The sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive value (PPV) of D‑dimer in the prediction of infection were 65%, 57%, and 45%, respectively. Furthermore, the sensitivity, specificity, and PPV of CRP were 100%, 92.3%, and 95%, respectively, whereas the corresponding values for ESR were 85%, 69.2%, and 62%, respectively.

Measurement of the serum D‑dimer level is not efficient for the diagnosis of orthopedic implant‑associated infections due to its low predictive value. Furthermore, there was no significant correlation between the serum D‑dimer level and CRP.