No abstract

Compared with vitamin E, it seems that selenium could assert an important effect against the immunotoxic effects of T-2 toxin against T lymphocytes.

BackgroundSolid organ transplantation patients are at high risk for opportunistic air-borne fungal infections due to using the potent immunosuppressive agents.ObjectivesThe current study aimed to qualitatively and quantitatively evaluate the fungal flora present in the air of Kidney transplant unit of Baqiyatallah hospital.Materials and MethodsIn this prospective study, air samples from patient room, baths site, ICU and isolated room, corridor site and outside the ward were obtained by settled plate technique using plates containing Sabouraud's dextrose agar medium. In the current study, 36 agar plates containing Sabouraud dextrose agar medium were used. The plates were exposed for 20 min at height of 100-150 cm above the ground in units of hospital. Immediately after collection, samples were incubated at 27 ± 2ºC for four weeks. The slide culture method and Lacto-phenol cotton blue were used for definitive identification and staining fungal cultures, respectively.ResultsThe mean of colony forming units (CFUs) on indoor and outdoor plates was 6.6 ± 1.3 and 6 ± 1.9 / plate respectively. Statistical analysis showed that the observed difference is not significant. Also, the results showed that the mean of CFUs in the air of patient's rooms (6.8 ± 1.7), halls (4.5 ± 1.7), bathrooms (6.8 ± 1.5), and ICU rooms (3.2 ± 1.8) were not significantly different. The mean of different fungal genera isolated from indoor and outdoor plates were 1.9 ± 0.2 and 4 ± 0.5 genera/plate respectively, that indicates significant difference between indoor and outdoor air quality (P < 0.001).ConclusionsLack of difference between quantity of outdoor and indoor air fungi indicates inefficiency of air control measures, and indoor lower genus diversity compared to outdoor air shows that there may be conditions that facilitate fungal growth in the environment of kidney transplantation unit.

Background:During the recent decades research has focused to find scientific evidence for the effects of herbal medicines. Researchers are interested in herbal remedies for medication and aim to substitute herbal material instead of chemical formula with limited side effects for human being.Objectives:The aim of the current study was to compare the in vitro effect of herbal and chemical mouthwashes against Candida albicans.Materials and Methods:In this research, we used a standard strain of C. albicans, PTCC 5027. The suspension was made by a fresh culture of C. albicans (24 hours) and the optical density (turbidity equating to a McFarland standard of 0.5) was read at 530 nm. The C. albicans suspension was cultured on Sabouraud dextrose agar plate. Next, two wells were filled with mouthwashes and after incubation at 30ºC for 24 hours, the inhibition zone was measured. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) of mouthwashes were determined. Data were analyzed using the SPSS software, independent T-tests and one-sided variance analysis (ANOVA-one way).Results:Based on these findings on agar diffusion with (P = 0.764), MIC and MFC tests (P = 0.879), there were no significant differences between the antifungal effect of herbal and chemical mouthwashes.Conclusions:This study showed that, chemical mouthwashes acted better than herbal mouthwashes and among different chemical mouthwashes, Oral B was most effective.

Our study suggested that the levels of mycotoxins in products should be detected before buying and be discarded from human consumptive cycle if the grains are contaminated more than allowable limit. Background: A variety of agricultural products are exposed to fungal contamination from the early stages of planting, until their final consumption. T-2 mycotoxin is toxic to humans and to all animal species, it is mainly produced by the various Fusarium species including; F. sporotrichioides, F. poae, F equiseti, and F. acuminatum, and occasionally by other genera species, therefore, measuring T-2 toxin levels is very important in cereals. Objectives: We examined the occurrence and levels of T-2 mycotoxin in grains for human consumption. Materials and Methods: Rice, barley and wheat samples, 23, 16 and 7 respectively, were collected from the staple stores of nine food cooking centers in Tehran. After pulverizing the samples, they were extracted using a methanol-water solution (70:30), then analysed with an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), based on the monoclonal antibodies, the amount of T-2 mycotoxin was measured in their extracts. Results: All of the tested samples were contaminated with T-2 toxin at different levels ranging from 7.9 to 65.9 µg/kg (mean: 17.9 ± 2.1). Wheat samples had the highest level of contamination at approximately 42.4 µg/kg (± 8.4). However, both barley and rice were also affected with contamination levels of 18.3 (±2) and 12.5 (± 0.56) µg/kg respectively. Conclusions: Although the majority of samples were based on Iranian national standards, a small number of specimens (13.9 %) were contaminated at higher than acceptable limits. The extent of the impurities with T-2 toxin is an indicator of the current normal prevalence of mycotoxins in agricultural products destined for human consumption in this country, and the risk of exposure to the chronic effects of this toxin. Overall, this study showed that the level of mycotoxins in food products should be checked before they are bought or consumed.