Prevalence of Psychological Distress and Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms and Associated Factors in Hospitalized Iranian COVID-19 Patients.

Objectives: To investigate the prevalence of psychiatric symptoms/distress and posttraumatic stress (PTS) and associated factors among inpatients with COVID-19 before discharge from the hospital. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in two teaching referral hospitals in Babol, Iran from July to November 2020. The subjects were inpatients diagnosed with COVID-19 who were clinically stable. Before their discharge from the hospital, the patients completed three questionnaires: demographic data, Brief Symptom Inventory, and Primary Care Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Screen for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-5. Results: The subjects were 477 inpatients diagnosed with COVID-19 including 40 (8.4%) admitted to intensive care units. Their average age was 60.5±17.9 years; 53.9% were female. Most had symptoms of significant psychological distress (96.0%) and PTS (8.1%) prior to discharge. A higher level of education (-0.18; standard error (SE) = 0.05; p < 0.001) was a negative predictor of psychiatric distress. The admission to intensive care units (0.86; SE = 0.08; p< 0.001) was a positive predictor of psychiatric distress. Conclusions: Most COVID-19 inpatients suffered significant psychiatric distress and PTS symptoms before discharge. Appropriate mental health crisis interventions are recommended for COVID-19 patients during hospitalization.

Preparation, characterization, and in ovo vaccination of dextran-spermine nanoparticle DNA vaccine coexpressing the fusion and hemagglutinin genes against Newcastle disease.

Plasmid DNA (pDNA)-based vaccines have emerged as effective subunit vaccines against viral and bacterial pathogens. In this study, a DNA vaccine, namely plasmid internal ribosome entry site-HN/F, was applied in ovo against Newcastle disease (ND). Vaccination was carried out using the DNA vaccine alone or as a mixture of the pDNA and dextran-spermine (D-SPM), a nanoparticle used for pDNA delivery. The results showed that in ovo vaccination with 40 µg pDNA/egg alone induced high levels of antibody titer (P<0.05) in specific pathogen-free (SPF) chickens at 3 and 4 weeks postvaccination compared to 2 weeks postvaccination. Hemagglutination inhibition (HI) titer was not significantly different between groups injected with 40 µg pDNA + 64 µg D-SPM and 40 µg pDNA at 4 weeks postvaccination (P>0.05). Higher antibody titer was observed in the group immunized with 40 µg pDNA/egg at 4 weeks postvaccination. The findings also showed that vaccination with 40 µg pDNA/egg alone was able to confer protection against Newcastle disease virus strain NDIBS002 in two out of seven SPF chickens. Although the chickens produced antibody titers 3 weeks after in ovo vaccination, it was not sufficient to provide complete protection to the chickens from lethal viral challenge. In addition, vaccination with pDNA/D-SPM complex did not induce high antibody titer when compared with naked pDNA. Therefore, it was concluded that DNA vaccination with plasmid internal ribosome entry site-HN/F can be suitable for in ovo application against ND, whereas D-SPM is not recommended for in ovo gene delivery.

Mutation in BMPR-IB gene is associated with litter size in Iranian Kalehkoohi sheep.

The single nucleotide polymorphism of BMPR-IB gene (bone morphogenetic protein receptor type IB) was analyzed using PCR-RFLP in Iranian native Kalehkoohi sheep. BMPR-IB which affects the fecundity of Booroola Merino sheep was studied as a candidate gene associated with the prolificacy of Kalehkoohi sheep. Improving the reproductive traits in sheep could be one of the key factors in increasing farm profitability. Major genes for litter size trait provide opportunities for large and rapid increases in the efficiency of sheep production. The same FecB (Booroola) mutation occurred in the BMPR-IB gene in Kalehkoohi sheep as found in Booroola Merino. Allele frequency for B and + was 0.35 and 0.65 respectively. The BB, B+ and ++ genotypes have been identified with the 0.13, 0.446 and 0.424, respectively. The Kalehkoohi sheep with genotypes BB and B+ had 0.52 and 0.35 lambs, more than the homozygous wild-type, respectively (P<0.01). No significant difference was observed between B+ and BB in litter size. Also the effect of parity and flock weren't significant in this study. Results of the present study support the concept that BMPR-IB significantly affected litter size and was associated with litter size in Kalehkoohi sheep and thus it could be used for Marker-assisted selection programmers for the genetic improvement of reproductive characteristics in this breed.

Effect of nano-zinc oxide on doxorubicin- induced oxidative stress and sperm disorders in adult male Wistar rats.

BACKGROUND: Doxorubicin (DOX), an anthracycline antibiotic, is a widely used anticancer agent. In spite of its high antitumor efficacy, the use of DOX in clinical chemotherapy is limited due to diverse toxicities, including gonadotoxicity. OBJECTIVE: We investigated the protective effect of nano-zinc oxide (nZnO) as an established antioxidant on DOX-induced testicular disorders. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this experimental study 24 adult male Wistar rats were divided into four groups including one control and three experimentals (6 rats per group). They received saline (as control), DOX alone (6 mg/kg body weight, i.p.), nZnO alone (5 mg/kg body weight, i.p.), and nZnO followed by DOX. Animals were sacrificed 28 days after treatment and evaluations were made by sperm count and measuring sex hormone levels in plasma. Also total antioxidant power (TAP) and lipid peroxidation (LPO) in plasma were tested. Data was analyzed with SPSS-14 and one way ANOVA test. P<0.05 were considered to be statistically significant. RESULTS: In the DOX-exposed rats significant differences were found compared with the control group (p=0.001) in plasma total antioxidant power (TAP) (425.50±32.33 vs. 493.33±18.54 mmol/mL), Lipid peroxidation (LPO) (3.70±0.44 vs. 2.78±0.68 µmol/mL), plasma testosterone (3.38±0.69 vs. 5.40±0.89 ng/dl), LH (0.26±0.05 vs. 0.49±0.18 mlU/mL), sperm count (157.98±6.29 vs. 171.71±4.42×10(6)/mL) and DNA damage (11.51±3.45 vs. 6.04±2.83%). Co-administration of nZnO significantly improved DOX-induced changes (p=0.013) in plasma TAP (471.83±14.51 mmol/mL), LPO (2.83±0.75 µmol/mL), plasma testosterone (5.00±1.07 ng/dl), LH (0.52±0.08 mlU/mL), sperm count (169.13±5.01×10(6)/mL) and DNA damage (7.00±1.67%). CONCLUSION: At the dose designed in the present investigation cytoprotective role of nano-zinc oxide through its antioxidant potential is illuminated in DOX-induced male gonadotoxicity.