Survival Rate of Liver Transplantation in Asia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: Liver transplantation is one of the most effective treatments for acute liver failure, chronic liver cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. This study was implemented to evaluate the survival rate of liver transplant in Asia. Methods: Studies that investigated the survival rate of liver transplant were selected using a systematic search strategy in the following databases: Medline, Embase, Scopus, ProQuest, ISI Web of Science, and Cochrane to Nov 30th, 2020. Pooled survival rate and 95% confidence intervals were calculated using Der-Simonian and Laird method. Stata 16.0 (Stata Corp, College Station, TX, USA) was used for analysis. Results: One, 2, 3, 5, and 10-year survival rates of liver transplant were estimated to be 85%, 80%, 75%, 73%, and 71%, respectively. The results of the univariate meta-regression for defining the sources of heterogeneity for one-Year survival rate (SR) showed significant effects of bias (ß high risk/moderate risk =0.059, 95% CI: 0.002, 0.115, P-Value=0.04) and follow up time (ß= -0.0002, 95% CI: -0.0003, -0.00, P-Value=0.02) on heterogeneity. Conclusion: The survival rate of liver transplant in Asia is comparable with the corresponding rate reported in the United States and Europe. This study provides a better view of the efficiency of medical cares, regarding liver transplantation. Medical care be enhanced to increase the survival of liver transplant patients.

The Effect of Geographical and Climatic Factors on the Distribution of Phlebotomus papatasi (Diptera: Psychodidae) in Golestan Province, an Endemic Focus of Zoonotic Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in Iran, 2014.

BACKGROUND: Phlebotomus papatasi is known as the main vector of zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis. This study aimed to investigate the effect of geographical and bioclimatic factors on the Ph. papatasi distribution. METHODS: A total of 34 villages were selected, and sampling was performed three times using 120 sticky traps in each selected village. All the collected species were mounted and identified their species. The densities of Ph. papatasi were measured in all the villages and entered into ArcMap as a point layer. The required bioclimatic and environmental variables were extracted from the global climate database and The normalized difference vegetation index was obtained from the MODIS satellite imagery, also, all variables entered into ArcMap as raster layers, so The numerical value of each independent variable in the cell where the selected village is located in this, was extracted using spatial analyst tools and the value to point submenu. All the data were finally entered into IBM SPSS, and the relationship was examined between the number of collected Ph. papatasi and the independent variables using Spearman's correlation test. RESULTS: A total of 1773 specimens of Ph. papatasi were collected. The findings of this study showed that max temperature of warmest month, temperature annual range, temperature seasonality, mean diurnal range, precipitation seasonality, mean temperature of driest and warmest quarter were positively associated with the density of Ph. papatasi. CONCLUSION: Air temperature and precipitation were shown as the most significant factors in the distribution of Ph. papatasi.

Prevalence of Leishmania major Yakimoff and Schokhor (Kinetoplastida: Trypanosomatidae) in Sandflies in Iran: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Cutaneous leishmaniasis is an important parasitic and vector-borne disease in Iran and can be transmitted to humans and animals through bites of infected female sand flies. The present study aimed to determine the pooled prevalence of Leishmania major in sand flies in Iran. A systematic review and meta-analysis was performed in the present study, so that databases, namely PubMed, Web of Sciences, Science Direct, ProQuest, Embase, Cochrane Reviews, and Scopus as well as IranDoc, SID, Elmnet, and Magiran were searched for finding Persian articles. Inclusion criteria of study contained the study in Iran and investigation of L. major parasite in sand flies. The quality of studies was examined by Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Checklist for studies that reported prevalence data; and the data were analyzed by Stata 14 software. In total, 42 studies were evaluated, all of which had investigated the infection of Phlebotomus papatasi Scopoli (Diptera: Psychodidae). The infection of Phlebotomus caucasicus group was investigated in 13 studies, Phlebotomus ansarii Lewis in four studies, Phlebotomus salehi Mesghali and Rashti in five studies, and the infection of other species of sandflies in seven studies. According to the meta-analysis, the pooled prevalence of Ph. papatasi, Ph. caucasicus group, Ph. salehi, and Ph. ansarii were equal to 2.4, 6.2, 1.6, and 9.2%, respectively, with 95% confidence interval. According to reports of different rates of sand fly infection in different regions, all studies should have certain and standard forms and formats to determine the pooled prevalence of sand fly infection.

Relationship Between the Distribution and Biodiversity of Sand Flies (Diptera: Psychodidae) With the Incidence of Zoonotic Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in Endemic Foci of Golestan Province, Iran.

Zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis (ZCL) is prevalent in Golestan Province, Iran. The current study determined the relationship between the distribution and biodiversity of sand flies with cutaneous leishmaniasis at 14 villages in plain and hillsides areas. In each village from July to September 2017, 60 sticky traps and 2 CDC light traps were laid. Spearman and Mann-Whitney tests were used to determine the relationship between the incidence of ZCL and the abundance of different species of sand flies. Simpson, Shannon-Wiener, Evenness, and Margalef indices were calculated to estimate the diversity of species. A total of 5,295 phlebotomine sand flies were collected, comprising 10 species of the genus Phlebotomus (3,947 flies) and 7 species of genus Sergentomyia (1,248 flies). The abundance of sand flies and incidence of ZCL in plain areas were greater than that of hillsides areas (P = 0.013, P = 0.002). There was a significant correlation between the incidence of ZCL and the abundance of Phlebotomus papatasi (r = 0.72, P = 0.004) and P. caucasicus groups (P = 0.006; 0.022). In the Shannon-Wiener index, the rest of the biodiversity indices were reduced in higher-altitude areas. Increasing Shannon-Wiener index showed higher diversity of sand flies in higher-altitude areas. Data of the reported cases of leishmaniasis in plain areas can reveal the relationship between less diversity index (Shannon-Wiener), higher dominant diversity index (Simpson), and incidence of leishmaniasis in these areas.