Seromolecular assess of Toxoplasma gondii infection in pregnant women and neonatal umbilical cord blood.

Toxoplasmosis is considered as one of the most prevalent human parasitic infections that can be transmitted from mother to the fetus. The onset of toxoplasmosis during pregnancy has clinical complications including spontaneous abortion, preterm labor, stillbirth and fetal abnormalities. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of Toxoplasmosis infection in pregnant women and their infants in Lorestan province, Western Iran. Blood and sera samples were collected from 98 pregnant women and their infants. All collected samples were examined for Toxoplasma gondii infection by serological tests (ELISA IgM & IgG) and PCR assay. Among the 98 samples of mother and umbilical cord prevalence of anti-Toxoplasma IgG, was 34/98 (34.69 %) and 33/98 (33.67 %), respectively. All pregnant women were negative for, anti-Toxoplasma IgM while it was found in 5/98 (5.1 %) of umbilical cords. Based on PCR analysis, Toxoplasma infection was detected in 5 (5.1 %) and 7 (7.14 %) of mother and umbilical cords, respectively. Molecular test along with evaluation of IgM (P <0.001) and IgG (P = 0.001) were significantly correlated.

An advanced uracil DNA glycosylase-supplemented loop-mediated isothermal amplification (UDG-LAMP) technique used in the sensitive and specific detection of Cryptosporidium parvum, Cryptosporidium hominis, and Cryptosporidium meleagridis in AIDS patients.

The rapid and accurate detection of Cryptosporidium spp. is critically important for the prevention and timely treatment of cryptosporidiosis in AIDS patients (APs). This study was conducted to examine a UDG-LAMP technique for the first time to diagnose cryptosporidiosis in APs. After collecting demographic and clinical data, three stool samples were collected from the participants (120 volunteering APs). The microscopic examination of stained smears using the acid-fast method and the UDG-LAMP assay were performed for each sample. 10% of APs were infected with Cryptosporidium spp. The number of detected cryptosporidiosis cases using the acid-fast staining and UDG-LAMP methods were significantly different (P < 0.001). Diarrhea and weight loss were found to be significantly associated with cryptosporidiosis in patients (P < 0.05). The pretreatment of LAMP reagents with UDG successfully eliminated the likelihood of product re-amplification remaining from previous reactions. The UDG-LAMP technique could detect cryptosporidiosis in APs with high sensitivity and rapidity without carryover contamination.

Molecular Mechanisms and Biological Functions of siRNA.

One of the most important advances in biology has been the discovery that siRNA (small interfering RNA) is able to regulate the expression of genes, by a phenomenon known as RNAi (RNA interference). The discovery of RNAi, first in plants and Caenorhabditis elegans and later in mammalian cells, led to the emergence of a transformative view in biomedical research. siRNA has gained attention as a potential therapeutic reagent due to its ability to inhibit specific genes in many genetic diseases. siRNAs can be used as tools to study single gene function both in vivo and in-vitro and are an attractive new class of therapeutics, especially against undruggable targets for the treatment of cancer and other diseases. The siRNA delivery systems are categorized as non-viral and viral delivery systems. The non-viral delivery system includes polymers; Lipids; peptides etc. are the widely studied delivery systems for siRNA. Effective pharmacological use of siRNA requires 'carriers' that can deliver the siRNA to its intended site of action. The carriers assemble the siRNA into supramolecular complexes that display functional properties during the delivery process.