Growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) is a potent stimulator of growth hormone (GH) secretion from the pituitary gland. Although GHRH is essential for the growth of immune cells, the regulatory effects of its antagonist in granulomatous disease remain unknown.

The infections due to Non-Tuberculosis Mycobacteria (NTM) are becoming an important health problem in many countries in the world. Globally, an increase in NTM infections has been reported from many countries around the world. However, limited information is available about the prevalence of NTM infections in Iran.

Infections caused by non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) is increasing wordwide. Due to the difference in treatment of NTM infections and tuberculosis, rapid species identification of mycobacterial clinical isolates is necessary for the effective management of mycobacterial diseases treatment and their control strategy. In this study, a cost-effective technique, real-time PCR coupled with high-resolution melting (HRM) analysis, was developed for the differentiation of Mycobacterial species using a novel rpoBC sequence. A total of 107 mycobacterial isolates (nine references and 98 clinical isolates) were subjected to differentiation using rpoBC locus sequence in a real-time PCR-HRM assay scheme. From 98 Mycobacterium clinical isolates, 88 species (89.7%), were identified at the species level by rpoBC locus sequence analysis as a gold standard method. M. simiae was the most frequently encountered species (41 isolates), followed by M. fortuitum (20 isolates), M. tuberculosis (15 isolates), M. kansassi (10 isolates), M. abscessus group (5 isolates), M. avium (5 isolates), and M. chelonae and M. intracellulare one isolate each. The HRM analysis generated six unique specific groups representing M. tuberculosis complex, M. kansasii, M. simiae, M. fortuitum, M. abscessus-M. chelonae group, and M. avium complex. In conclusion, this study showed that the rpoBC-based real-time PCR followed by HRM analysis could differentiate the majority of mycobacterial species that are commonly encountered in clinical specimens.

Enteroaggregative Escherichia coli (EAEC) has been implicated as an emerging cause of traveler's diarrhea, persistent diarrhea among children, and immunocompromised patients. The present study aimed to investigate the prevalence of antibiotic resistance, extendedspectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) production, and virulence factors of EAEC isolates obtained from Iranian children suffered from diarrhea.

The drug resistance is expected to be the most important challenge in infection control in Iran, where there is no local report or standard drug resistance monitoring system. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the aerobic and anaerobic bacterial profile of nosocomial infections and their antibiotic resistance in Ahvaz, southwest Iran.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is one of the most pathogens associated with health care. Molecular typing methods are vital for outbreak investigations of MRSA. The aim of this study was characterization of SCCmec, spa types and multidrug resistant of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolates in Ahvaz, Iran.

This study was aimed to evaluate the antibiotic resistance, biofilm formation, and genetic diversity of carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (CRPA) strains isolated from four types of nosocomial infections (NIs) including urinary tract infection (UTI), ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), surgical site infection (SSI), and bloodstream infection (BSI).

Purpose: Dental unit's environment and relevant instruments are a major source of infectious diseases caused by a variety of microorganisms. The application of various disinfectants is one of the most effective methods for reducing or eliminating microbial contamination. The objective of this study was to evaluate the antibacterial effects of deconex and sodium hypochlorite against bacterial taxa isolated from dental unit's environment of Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, southwest of Iran. Methods: In order to evaluate the quality of disinfection, sampling was performed from different parts of 100 clinical units. For bacterial recovery and isolation, samples were enriched and cultured onto different microbiological culture media. Species identification was carried out using phenotypic and molecular methods (16S rDNA sequence analysis). In vitro activity of sodium hypochlorite and deconex were determined by the broth micro-dilution method. Results: According to conventional techniques, Bacillus spp (48%) was the most frequently encountered isolates, followed by staphylococcus spp (26%). By using both techniques, Bacillus subtilis was the most frequently encountered species (n=23, 21%), followed by Bacillus licheniformis (n=8, 7.4%), Streptococcus pneumonia (n=8, 7.4%), Staphylococcus epidermidis (n=8, 7.4%), Staphylococcus saprophyticus (n=8, 7.4%) and Staphylococcus warneri. The highest levels of contamination were observed in oral medications. The deconex had lower minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) concentration in comparasion to sodium hypochlorite, which showed that deconex was a much more potent disinfectant. Conclusion: In conclusion, the results of the present in vitro study showed that deconex had promising results for decontamination of the tested microorganism, and it is recommended for disinfecting of dental units and environment. In this study, the high percentage of dental unit's contamination showed the need to improve disinfection procedures, sterilization systems, and the use of an appropriate concentration of deconex and sodium hypochlorite for dental units decontamination .

little is known about the forecasting of new variants of SARS-COV-2 in North America and the interaction of variants with vaccine-derived neutralizing antibodies.

Nocardia species belong to the aerobic actinomycetes group of bacteria which are gram-positive and partially acid-fast Bacilli. These bacteria may sometimes be associated with nosocomial infections. Nocardia diseases are not required to be reported to public health authorities in Iran. Hence, the present study was designed to determine the prevalence of human Nocardia spp. in Iran by using a systematic review and meta-analysis according to the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-Analyses statement.

The global rise in drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb), and especially the significant prevalence of isoniazid (INH)-resistance constitute a significant challenge to global health. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate mutations in prevalent gene loci-involved in INH-resistance phenotype-among M.tb clinical isolates from southwestern Iran.

Alpha-melanocyte stimulating hormone (α-MSH) is known to have anti-inflammatory effects. However, the anti-inflammatory properties of α-MSH on normal bronchial epithelial cells are largely unknown, especially in the context of in vitro sarcoidosis models.

Long-term trends in freshwater bacterial community composition (BCC) and dynamics are not yet well characterized, particularly in large lake ecosystems. We addressed this gap by temporally (15 months) and spatially (6 sampling locations) characterizing BCC variation in lakes Erie and St. Clair; two connected ecosystems in the Laurentian Great Lakes.

Little is known about the impact of the ecosystem disruption and its contribution on the non-tuberculosis mycobacteria (NTM) diseases (cases) rate in Florida (FL), a state with a high prevalence of NTM in the United States. We aimed to evaluate the epidemiological distribution of NTM in FL and identify its association with extreme weather events.

Non-tuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) infections are growing concern in many countries around the globe including Iran. Among them, Mycobacterium kansasii (M. kansasii) causes both pulmonary and extra-pulmonary infections. Despite the high prevalence of M. kansasii isolates in Iran, unfortunately little is known about the epidemiological aspects of M. kansasii infection. Hence, the aim of the present study was to investigate the molecular identification, determination of subtypes variation and geographic distribution of clinical isolates of M. kansasii isolates.