The prevalence rate of Porphyromonas gingivalis and its association with cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

It seems that Porphyromanas gingivalis is carcinogenic, because it activates a number of inflammatory immune responses in the host and causes disorders in bacterial clearance mechanisms. There is little information on the prevalence of this bacterium in cancer patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the prevalence of P. gingivalis in cancer patients by meta-analysis methods.Different databases including PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, Scopus, and ISI web of Knowledge were investigated and eight relevant articles published in 2000-2013 were finally analyzed. Data were analyzed by meta-analysis method, fixed effect model. I² statistics were calculated to examine the heterogeneity of papers. The information was analyzed by R and STATA Ver 12.2.A total of 711 people infected with P. gingivalis were included in this study. In total, the prevalence of P. gingivalis was 40.7% (95% CI, 19.3-62.1). The prevalence of P. gingivalis was evaluated in four case-control studies. The results of this study showed that P. gingivalis increased the chance of cancer development and periodontal disease as much as 1.36 times (OR, 1.36; 95%CI, 0.47-3.97).Although there was no significant correlation between P. gingivalis and cancer, this bacterium increased the chance of cancer and periodontal disease and could be considered as a main potential risk factor.

Dynamics of PEGylated-dextran-spermine nanoparticles for gene delivery to leukemic cells.

Leukemic cells are hard-to-transfect cell lines. Many transfection reagents which can provide high gene transfer efficiency in common adherent cell lines are not effective to transfect established blood cell lines or primary leukemic cells. This study aims to examine a new class of cationic polymer non-viral vector, PEGylated-dextran-spermine (PEG-D-SPM), to determine its ability to transfect the leukemic cells. Here, the optimal conditions of the complex preparation (PEG-D-SPM/plasmid DNA (pDNA)) were examined. Different weight-mixing (w/w) ratios of PEG-D-SPM/pDNA complex were prepared to obtain an ideal mixing ratio to protect encapsulated pDNA from DNase degradation and to determine the optimal transfection efficiency of the complex. Strong complexation between polymer and pDNA in agarose gel electrophoresis and protection of pDNA from DNase were detected at ratios from 25 to 15. Highest gene expression was detected at w/w ratio of 18 in HL60 and K562 cells. However, gene expression from both leukemic cell lines was lower than the control MCF-7 cells. The cytotoxicity of PEG-D-SPM/pDNA complex at the most optimal mixing ratios was tested in HL60 and K562 cells using MTS assay and the results showed that the PEG-D-SPM/pDNA complex had no cytotoxic effect on these cell lines. Spherical shape and nano-nature of PEG-D-SPM/pDNA complex at ratio 18 was observed using transmission electron microscopy. As PEG-D-SPM showed modest transfection efficiency in the leukemic cell lines, we conclude that further work is needed to improve the delivery efficiency of the PEG-D-SPM.

First detected human bocavirus in a Malaysian child with pneumonia and pre-existing asthma: a case report.

Human bocavirus (HBoV) is a newly discovered parvovirus associated with respiratory disease in children. There are many reports worldwide on the endemicity of this virus. Since it is relatively new, detection in clinical laboratories is not routinely performed. We describe the first detection of HBoV in Malaysia in a 13-month-old boy with pneumonia and underlying asthma. The infective agent was confirmed by molecular methods.

Effect of organic acids on Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Staphylococcus aureus contaminated meat.

Appropriate and safe antibacterial agents able to decontaminate meat surfaces have long been big concern of meat industry. In an attempt to manage beef carcass contamination, spray wash treatments utilizing three concentrations (1, 1.5 and 2%) of acetic, lactic, propionic and formic acids were performed to evaluate their efficacy in reducing numbers of Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Staphylococcus aureus on meat tissues. The procured beef pieces of freshly slaughtered animals were decontaminated with hot water and then inoculated with E. coli O157:H7 and S. aureus individually which then were spray washed with organic acids separately. The total plate count of the treated samples showed that the populations of bacteria decreased after being exposed to organic acids. Spray wash of formic acid resulted in the highest reduction of both bacterial species on meat surface. Significantly, higher log reductions were obtained for S. aureus than E. coli O157:H7. It was concluded that organic acids are highly effective in decontaminating meat surfaces and organic acids are shown to be safe, simple, efficient, and cheap modality of meat decontamination which can be highly recommended for industrial scales.

Antigen-specific lymphocyte proliferation assay and virus neutralization test for measurement of measles-specific immunity in 15-19 years old high school students in Tehran, Iran.

Limited information is available concerning the role of measles-specific cell mediated immunity as a correlate of long-term protection from measles infection. Although serological responses are determined in epidemiological studies and high antibody titer is a good indicator of protection, the role of Cell-Mediated Immunity (CMI) has to be defined more clearly. In this study, Lymphocyte Proliferation (LP) and Viral Neutralization Test (VNT) were used in order to measure measles-specific cellular and humoral immune responses of 100 high school students in Tehran. From total number of subjects studied, 33 were girls and 67 were boys and all were in good health. Of these, 77 had protective neutralizing measles antibody titers and 23 did not have such titer. The results of LP showed that 89 subjects had protective cellular immune responses and 11 did not. A quantitative relationship between humoral and cellular immune responses was not observed. These findings suggest that measles-specific protective CMI is measurable for longer time in comparison to humoral immunity. These data suggest that LP responses may be better sustained than antibody titers in some children.