Renal inflammatory response to urinary tract infection in rat neonates.

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is one of the most common bacterial infections. Maternal UTI is a risk factor for neonatal UTI. The aim of the present study was to determine the severity of renal inflammation in neonate rats born from mothers with induced UTI. Twelve pregnant rats (Sprague-Dawley) were included in study. The rats were divided into two groups (six rats in each group). In the first group, pyelonephritis was induced in the third trimester of pregnancy and the second group was used as a control group. After delivery, the neonates were divided into three groups based on days after birth (the 1 st, 3 rd and 7 th days after birth). In each group, two neonates of each mother were killed and a midline abdominal incision was made and both kidneys were aseptically removed. On the 7 th day, rat mothers were killed and their kidneys were removed. The preparations were evaluated with a bright field microscope for inflammatory response. Renal pathology showed inflammation in all UTI-induced mothers, but only two cases of neonates (2.1%) showed inflammation in the renal parenchyma. There was no relation between the positive renal culture and the pathological changes. We conclude that neonates with UTI born to UTI-induced mothers showed a lesser inflammatory response.

Functional scale-free networks in the two-dimensional Abelian sandpile model.

Recently, the similarity of the functional network of the brain and the Ising model was investigated by Chialvo [Nat. Phys. 6, 744 (2010)]. This similarity supports the idea that the brain is a self-organized critical system. In this study we derive a functional network of the two-dimensional Bak-Tang-Wiesenfeld sandpile model as a self-organized critical model, and compare its characteristics with those of the functional network of the brain, obtained from functional magnetic resonance imaging.

Distribution of virulence related genes among enteroaggregative Escherichia coli isolates: using multiplex PCR and hybridization.

The importance of enteroaggregative Escherichia coli (EAEC) strains in public health around the world is becoming increasingly clear. EAEC diagnosis has long been problematic. In this study, the recently designed multiplex PCR based on three plasmid-borne genes (AA probe, aap, and aggR) and DNA hybridization assay with plasmid-derived DNA probes were used for detection of HEp-2 adherent strains. These were isolated from an epidemiologic study of diarrhea in Iran. Using AA and DA probes revealed that 32.4%, 16.2%, 23%, and 28.4% of these isolates were AA, DA, AA/DA, and non-AA/DA, respectively. However, employing multiplex PCR for detection of these isolates, showed that 51.3% of the strains were AA and the rest 48.7% were not AA. While presence of other genes (pet, shf, aggA, aafA) considered to be specific for EAEC were checked among these isolates. The data obtained revealed that except for AA, aap, and aggR, the rest of the virulence related genes are not specific for EAEC isolates and are randomly distributed among adherent isolates. Over all the results obtained here indicated that this multiplex PCR is specific and sensitive assay. Phenotypically adherent strains are divided into two main groups, by use of this multiplex PCR i.e., typical EAEC isolates that carry the three plasmid-borne genes all together and atypical EAEC isolates in which the three genes are not linked together.