Background Extracorporeal blood purification has been proposed as one of the therapeutic approaches in patients with coronavirus infection, because of its beneficial impact on elimination of inflammatory cytokines. Methods This controlled trial has been conducted on critically ill COVID-19 patients admitted in the state hospital affiliated to Babol University of Medical Sciences, Iran who received different antiviral and antibacterial drugs, and different modalities of respiratory treatments and did not have positive clinical improvement. No randomization and blindness was considered. All of the participants underwent three sessions of resin-directed hemoperfusion using continuous renal replacement therapy with a mode of continuous venovenous hemofiltration (CVVH). Results Five men and five women with a mean age of 57.30 ± 18.07 years have been enrolled in the study; and six of them have improved after the intervention. Peripheral capillary oxygen saturation (SpO2) changed after each session. Mean SpO2 before the three sessions of hemoperfusion was 89.60% ± 3.94% and increased to 92.13% ± 3.28% after them ( p < 0.001). Serum IL-6 showed a reduction from 139.70 ± 105.62 to 72.06 ± 65.87 pg/mL ( p = 0.073); and c-reactive protein decreased from 136.25 ± 84.39 to 78.25 ± 38.67 mg/L ( P = 0.016). Conclusions Extracorporeal hemoadsorption could improve the general condition in most of recruited patients with severe coronavirus disease; however, large prospective multicenter trials in carefully selected patients are needed to definitely evaluate the efficacy of hemoperfusion in COVID-19 patients. Trial registration The research protocol has been registered in the website of Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials with the reference number IRCT20150704023055N2 .

Background Extracorporeal blood purification has been proposed as one of the therapeutic approaches in patients with coronavirus infection, because of its beneficial impact on elimination of inflammatory cytokines. Methods This controlled trial has been conducted on critically ill COVID-19 patients admitted in the state hospital affiliated to Babol University of Medical Sciences, Iran who received different antiviral and antibacterial drugs, and different modalities of respiratory treatments and did not have positive clinical improvement. No randomization and blindness was considered. All of the participants underwent three sessions of resin-directed hemoperfusion using continuous renal replacement therapy with a mode of continuous venovenous hemofiltration (CVVH). Results Five men and five women with a mean age of 57.30 ± 18.07 years have been enrolled in the study; and six of them have improved after the intervention. Peripheral capillary oxygen saturation (SpO2) changed after each session. Mean SpO2 before the three sessions of hemoperfusion was 89.60%±3.94% and increased to 92.13%±3.28% after them (p < 0.001). Serum IL-6 showed a reduction from 139.70 ± 105.62 to 72.06 ± 65.87 pg/mL (p = 0.073); and c-reactive protein increased from 136.25 ± 84.39 to 78.25 ± 38.67 mg/L (P = 0.016). Conclusions Extracorporeal hemoadsorption could improve the general condition in most of recruited patients with severe coronavirus disease; however, large prospective multicenter trials in carefully selected patients are needed to definitely evaluate the efficacy of hemoperfusion in COVID-19 patients.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a worldwide health concern which is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Both viral and host factors have a significant effect on infection, replication and pathogenesis of HBV. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of CYP2E1 and CYP1A1 genetic variants on susceptibility to HBV. 143 individuals including 54 chronic HBV patients and 89 healthy controls were enrolled in the genotyping procedure. rs2031920 and rs3813867 at CYP2E1 as well as rs4646421 and rs2198843 at CYP1A1 loci were studied in all subjects using PCR-RFLP (restriction fragment length polymorphism) analysis. Both variants at CYP2E1 locus were monomorphic in all studied subjects. Genotype frequency of rs4646421 was significantly different between chronic HBV patients and healthy blood donors (P = 0.04, OR 4.31; 95% CI 1.04-17.7). Furthermore, individuals carrying at least one C allele (CC or CT genotypes) for rs4646421 seemed to have a decrease risk of hepatitis in comparison with TT genotype (P = 0.039). Our results showed a relationship between rs4646421 TT genotype (rare genotype) and the risk for developing chronic HBV infection (four times higher). Further studies are needed to examine the role of CYP1A1 polymorphism in susceptibility to chronic HBV infection.

Objectives. To avoid worsening from mild, moderate, and severe diseases and to reduce mortality, it is necessary to identify the subpopulation that is more vulnerable to the development of COVID-19 unfavorable consequences. This study aims to investigate the demographic information, prevalence rates of common comorbidities among negative and positive real-time reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) patients, and the association between SARS-CoV-2 cycle threshold (Ct) at hospital admission, demographic data, and outcomes of the patients in a large population in Northern Iran. Methods. This large retrospective cross-sectional study was performed from 7 March to 20 December 2020. Demographic data, including gender, age, underlying diseases, clinical outcomes, and Ct values, were obtained from 8,318 cases suspected of COVID-19, who were admitted to four teaching hospitals affiliated to Babol University of Medical Sciences (MUBABOL), in the north of Iran. Results. Since 7 March 2020, the data were collected from 8,318 cases suspected of COVID-19 (48.5% female and 51.5% male) with a mean age of 53 ± 25.3 years. Among 8,318 suspected COVID-19 patients, 3,250 (39.1%) had a positive rRT-PCR result; 1,632 (50.2%) patients were male and 335 (10.3%) patients died during their hospital stay. The distribution of positive rRT-PCR revealed that most patients (464 (75.7%)) had a Ct between 21 and 30 (Group B). Conclusion. Elderly patients, lower Ct, patients having at least one comorbidity, and male cases were significantly associated with increased risk for COVID-19-related mortality. Moreover, mortality was significantly higher in patients with diabetes, kidney disease, and respiratory disease.

Immunodeficient patients are less prone to develop serious complications of COVID-19 and cytokine storm. However, they are more likely to develop opportunistic infections that can mimic the symptoms of the SARS-CoV-2. we presented a 27-year-old male case of SARS-CoV-2, who was complicated with Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia, following treatment with rituximab.

BackgroundExtracorporeal blood purification has been proposed as one of the therapeutic approaches in patients with coronavirus infection, because of its beneficial impact on elimination of inflammatory cytokines. MethodsThis controlled trial has been conducted on critically ill COVID-19 patients admitted in the state hospital affiliated to Babol University of Medical Sciences, Iran who received different antiviral and antibacterial drugs, and different modalities of respiratory treatments and did not have positive clinical improvement. No randomization and blindness was considered. All of the participants underwent three sessions of resin-directed hemoperfusion using continuous renal replacement therapy with a mode of continuous venovenous hemofiltration (CVVH). ResultsFive men and five women with a mean age of 57.30±18.07 years have been enrolled in the study; and six of them have improved after the intervention. Peripheral capillary oxygen saturation (SpO2) changed after each session. Mean SpO2 before the three sessions of hemoperfusion was 89.60%±3.94% and increased to 92.13%±3.28% after them (p<0.001). Serum IL-6 showed a reduction from 139.70±105.62 to 72.06±65.87 pg/mL (p=0.073); and c-reactive protein decreased from 136.25±84.39 to 78.25±38.67 mg/L (P=0.016).ConclusionsExtracorporeal hemoadsorption could improve the general condition in most of recruited patients with severe coronavirus disease; however, large prospective multicenter trials in carefully selected patients are needed to definitely evaluate the efficacy of hemoperfusion in COVID-19 patients.Trial registrationThe research protocol has been registered in the website of Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials with the reference number IRCT20150704023055N2.

Leptospirosis is a common disease between humans and animals. Identifying common serogroups and comparing different clinical symptoms among them can help in finding the clinical pattern associated with pathogen serogroupes of leptospirosis. Therefore, the purpose of this study has been to investigate the common serotypes of the infection and their clinical symptoms in northern Iran. This cross-sectional study was carried out in educational hospitals of Babol University of Medical Sciences during the years 2011-2014. Subjects with clinical findings consistent with leptospirosis were included in the study. According to the standard MAT guidelines, the titre ≥1: 200 was considered positive. Then, the patients identified by serogroup separation, were examined and compared clinical symptoms. Among 6o patients with primary diagnosis of leptospirosis in this study, 35 of them proved to be infected to the disease. The most common serogroups were serjoe (40%) and icterohemorrhagia (31.4%). Autumnalis (22.8%), grippotyphosa (11.4%), canicola (8.6%), and pomona (2.8%) were included the subsequent serogroups. The highest frequency of fever (28%) and gastrointestinal manifestations (36%) were observed in icterohemorrhagia and the highest icterus (30%) was found in serjoe serogroup. In this study, serjoe serogroup with fever and icterus, and then icterohemorrhagia with fever and gastrointestinal symptoms were introduced as the most common serogroups of Leptospirosis. Also the rarest serogroups were canicola and pomona.

While some biomolecules have been explored to identify potential biomarkers for prognosis of the COVID-19 prognosis, there are no reliable prognostic indicators of disease progression and severity. We aimed to evaluate the ability of the C-reactive protein (CRP) to predict COVID-19 infection. This retrospective study was conducted on 429 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 between March 30, 2020, and April 30, 2020. The study population was divided into severe cases (n = 175) and nonsevere cases (n = 254). Data on demographic characteristics, clinical features, and laboratory findings on admission were collected. The proportion of patients with increased CRP levels was significantly higher in severe cases than in nonsevere patients. Analysis of ROC curve found that CRP could be used as an independent factor in predicting the severity of COVID-19 infection. Also, patients with CRP > 64.75 mg/L were more likely to have severe complications. The serum levels of CRP can predict the severity and progression of illness in patients with COVID-19.