Leishmania RNA virus (LRV) was first detected in members of the subgenus Leishmania (Viannia), and later, the virulence and metastasis of the New World species were attributed to this virus. The data on the presence of LRV in Old World species are confined to Leishmania major and a few Leishmania aethiopica isolates. The aim of this study was to survey the presence of LRV in various Iranian Leishmania species originating from patients and animal reservoir hosts. Genomic nucleic acids were extracted from 50 cultured isolates belonging to the species Leishmania major, Leishmania tropica, and Leishmania infantum. A partial sequence of the viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) gene was amplified, sequenced and compared with appropriate sequences from the GenBank database. We detected the virus in two parasite specimens: an isolate of L. infantum derived from a visceral leishmaniasis (VL) patient who was unresponsive to meglumine antimoniate treatment, and an L. major isolate originating from a great gerbil, Rhombomys opimus. The Iranian LRV sequences showed the highest similarities to an Old World L. major LRV2 and were genetically distant from LRV1 isolates detected in New World Leishmania parasites. We could not attribute treatment failure in VL patient to the presence of LRV due to the limited number of specimens analyzed. Further studies with inclusion of more clinical samples are required to elucidate the potential role of LRVs in pathogenesis or treatment failure of Old World leishmaniasis.
Zoonotic diseases can be occupational hazards to people who work in close contact with animals or their carcasses. In this cross-sectional study, 190 sera were collected from butchers and slaughterhouse workers in different regions of the Sistan va Baluchestan province, in Iran in 2011. A questionnaire was filled for each participant to document personal and behavioural information. The sera were tested for detection of specific IgG antibodies against brucellosis, leptospirosis, and Q fever (phase I and II) using commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA). The seroprevalence of brucellosis was 7.9%, leptospirosis 23.4%, and phase I and II of Q fever were 18.1% and 14.4%, respectively. The seroprevalence of Q fever and leptospirosis, but not brucellosis, varied among regions within the province (p = 0.01). Additionally, a significant relationship was found between seropositivity of Q fever and camel slaughtering (p = 0.04). Reduced seropositivity rate of brucellosis was associated with use of personal protective equipment (PPE) (p = 0.004). This study shows that brucellosis, leptospirosis and Q fever occur among butchers and slaughterhouse workers in this area.
Among the 49 strains of moderately halophilic bacteria isolated from the salty environments of Iran, a Gram-positive coccus designated as strain QW6 showed high capacity in the removal of toxic oxyanions of tellurium in a wide range of culture medium factors including pH (5.5-10.5), temperature (25-45 degrees C), various salts including NaCl, KCl, and Na(2)SO(4) (0.5-4 M), selenooxyanions (2-10 mM), and at different concentrations of potassium tellurite (0.5-1 mM) under aerobic condition. Phenotypic characterization and phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rDNA sequence comparisons indicated that this strain was a member of the genus Salinicoccus. The maximum tellurite removal was exhibited in 1.5M NaCl at 35 degrees C, while the activity reduced by 53% and 47% at 25 and 45 degrees C, respectively. The optimum pH for removal activity was shown to be 7.5, with 90% and 83% reduced removal capacities at the two extreme values of 5.5 and 10, respectively. The impact of different concentrations of selenooxyanions (2-10 mM) on tellurite removal by strain QW6 was evaluated. The ability of strain QW6 in the removal of tellurite in the presence of 6mM selenite increased by 25%. The concentration of toxic potassium tellurite in the supernatant of the bacterial culture medium decreased by 99% (from 0.5 to 0.005 mM) after 6 days and the color of the medium changed to black due to the formation of less toxic elemental tellurium.
Cases of canine onchocerciasis caused by Onchocerca lupi are increasingly reported from Europe and the western United States of America. The zoonotic role of this parasite had already been suspected in Europe as the clinical signs and histopathology seen in two ocular cases from Albania and the Crimean region were very similar to those of canine ocular onchocerciasis. In the most recent reports of human onchocerciasis, O. lupi has been morphologically and molecularly identified as the causative agent of ocular infestation in two patients from Turkey, and one patient from Tunisia. Here, we report an additional case of nodular lesions involving two, and possibly more, immature worms in a patient from Iran. The parasite was found to belong to the genus Onchocerca based on morphological features and the species was confirmed as O. lupi from a partial sequence analysis of 12S ribosomal DNA.
Amplification of internal transcript spacer 1 of ribosomal RNA (ITS1-RNA) gene followed by RFLP analysis and sequencing was used to identify the causing agents of cutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis (CL and VL) in humans and animal reservoir hosts from various geographical areas in Iran. We also used random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD-PCR) to obtain polymorphisms among isolates of Leishmania spp. Totally, 362 suspected human and animal cases including 173 CL, 49 VL, 60 rodents, and 80 domestic dogs were examined for Leishmania infection. From 112 culture-positive samples prepared from CL cases, 75 (67%) were infected with L. major and 37 (33%) with L. tropica. Of the 60 rodents examined, 25 (41.6%) harbored the Leishmania infection; 21 were infected with L. major and 4 with L. turanica. From 49 suspected VL, 29 were positive by direct agglutination test (DAT), whereas microscopy detected parasite in bone marrow of 25 and culture in 28 of the patients. Two VL patients were infected with L. tropica and 26 with L. infantum. Of the 80 domestic dogs, 56 showed anti-Leishmania antibodies with DAT. Of these, 55 were positive by both microscopy and culture. Molecular identity, obtained only for 47 samples, revealed L. infantum in 43 and L. tropica in 4 dogs. The polymorphisms among L. tropica and L. major isolates were 3.6% and 7.3%; the rate among human and canine VL isolates was 2.8% and 9.8%, respectively. Our results showed that at least four different Leishmania species with various polymorphisms circulate among humans and animal hosts in Iran.
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