Pulmonary Nocardia ignorata Infection in Gardener, Iran, 2017.

Nocardia ignorata, which was first described in 2001, is a rare human pathogen. We report a case of pulmonary nocardiosis caused by this bacterium in a 55-year-old man from Iran. The patient, a gardener, had frequent exposure to soil and may have acquired the infection from that source.

Multiple Myeloma or Brucellosis: A Case Report.

BACKGROUND: Brucellosis, a major health problem in developing countries, is a multisystem infection with a broad spectrum of clinical manifestations. Hematological complications, ranging from an intravascular coagulopathy to mild homeostasis disorders (such as gammopathy), have been reported in brucella infection. These signs and symptoms may lead to misdiagnosis of brucellosis with other hematological diseases. CASE: A 65-year-old male whose occupation was shepherding was referred to our hospital as a known case of multiple myeloma with continuous fever, muscle weakness, and night sweating after taking 2 courses of chemotherapy. The laboratory diagnosis of multiple myeloma had been based on the observation of a high percent of plasma cells in the bone marrow aspiration. At follow- up, the result of patient's fever workup, with 2 sets of blood cultures, was positive for Brucella melitensis. Isolated brucella was confirmed as B. melitensis by 16S rRNA sequencing. Brucellosis serologic test was performed by agglutination test and positive results were obtained. The patient was discharged with the cessation of fever and general improvement after the end of the parental treatment phase of brucella bacteremia. CONCLUSIONS: Brucella infection may cause a severe disease, mimicking a primary hematological disease, which could complicate the correct diagnosis. In brucellosis cases, due to the wide range of symptoms, in addition to cultivation and serological methods, molecular methods should also be used to prevent inappropriate diagnosis and additional costs.

In Vitro Anti-mycobacterial Activity of Three Medicinal Plants of Lamiaceae Family.

BACKGROUND: Mycobacterium tuberculosis as an intracellular pathogen causes Tuberculosis (TB). Due to the long time required for treatment, hepatotoxicity of drugs and also emergence of Multidrug-Resistant (MDR) and Extremely Drug Resistant (XDR) strains, TB is currently a major public health problem. Some medicinal plants possess remarkable activity against Mycobacterium. Among them, Lamiaceae family are of pharmaceutical interest because of their potential antimicrobial properties. The aim of the study was to evaluate the in vitro activities of Satureja rechingeri, Satureja khuzestanica and Zataria multiflora against MDR M. tuberculosis and two Non-Tuberculous Mycobacteria (NTM). METHODS: The essential oils were prepared by the standard method. The confirmed strains were obtained from the microbial collection of Tehran University of Medical Sciences. Minimum Inhibitory Concentrations (MICs) of essential oils of plants against mycobacterial strains were determined using standard broth microdilution method. RESULTS: MDR M. tuberculosis was completely inhibited by Z. multiflora at 78µg/ml concentration. S. rechingeri and S. khuzestanica also showed same anti-mycobacterial activity against MDR M. tuberculosis with MICs of 156 µg/ml. The MICs of the essential oils against M. tuberculosis H37Rv, M. kansasii and M. fortuitum were in the range from 39 to 156 µg/ml. CONCLUSION: The studied medicinal plants showed notable effects against mycobacterial strains. Our results indicated that utilization of Lamiaceae family can be helpful for treatment of mycobacterial infections.