Infectious Disorders - Drug Targets (Formerly Current Drug Targets - Infectious Disorders) - Volume 20, Issue 6, 2020

The newly emerging infectious organisms, the global crisis in antibiotic resistance, and the threat of bioterrorism create an urgent need to discover novel antimicrobial agents. In order to develop novel antimicrobial agents, the mechanism of infectious disease must be better understood. DNA Gyrase is a bacterial enzyme that plays an important role in the replication of DNA and transcription process. It is not present in higher e Read More

Objectives: A new national clinical guideline for the management of tuberculosis and HIV in Iranian prisons was released in 2011. The aim of this study was to compare HIV indicators in the case and control prisons after implementation of the new guideline. Methods: This report examines outcomes observed during the pilot phase of its implementation at a case prison from October 2013 to June 2014 compared to a control Read More

Background: Considering the emergence of multidrug resistance (MDR) in prevalent human fungal pathogen, Candida albicans, there is parallel spurt in the development of novel strategies aimed to disrupt MDR. The cell envelope of C. albicans comprises a wealth of lipid moieties contributing towards long-term survival of pathogen that could be exploited as efficient antifungal target owing to the advancements m Read More

Background: The incidences of opportunistic bacterial infections have increased in the past two decades or is expected to increase in the near future. Despite the availability of various classes of antibiotics, bacterial infections are not handled properly. Methods: Thus, in the present study, we have repurposed atorvastatin against various types of bacterial strains by using in silico, in vitro, and in vivo studies. Furthermore, a preli Read More

Background and Aim: Dental caries is a communicable and the most prevalent infectious disease worldwide. Salivary oxidative stress and antioxidants may play a pivotal role in caries prevention, progression and pathogenesis. In this study, salivary superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, glutathione peroxidase, catalase and uric acid levels were evaluated in dental caries. Materials and Methods: One hundred male and fe Read More

Background: Obligate intracellular parasites of Leishmania genus belong to the family Trypanosomatidae and more than twenty species cause this neglected vector-borne infection throughout the globe. Objective: The current study was aimed to assess the antileishmanial activity of Amphotericin B (AmB) and AmB formulated into solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) in vitro and in vivo. Materials and Methods: In the presen Read More

Background: Enterococcal infections comprise a wide range of diseases with increasing importance due to the growing frequency of health-care-associated infections and the increasing incidence of antimicrobial resistance. Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) is an emerging drug-resistant organism responsible for increasing numbers of nosocomial infections in both adults and children. Few data are available on th Read More

Objectives: Giardiasis is one of the human parasitic diseases by a flagellate protozoan named Giardia lamblia. This parasite is one of the most common organisms causing diarrhea in humans and a common gastrointestinal parasite in vertebrates. The purpose of this investigation was to determine the molecular epidemiology of Giardia lamblia (G. lamblia) by PCR-RFLP method in the Mazandaran Province and to investigat Read More

Background & Aims: Hepatitis B is a potentially life-threatening liver infection and it is a major global health problem. Over the past decade, numerous studies have reported that patients with CLD, especially HCV-positive and HBV-positive patients, have decreased 25(OH) D levels. The current study was designed to assess the serum levels of vitamin D [25(OH) D3] in chronic hepatitis B patients, before and during treatm Read More

Background: Antiretroviral medications have improved the survival and life quality of people living with HIV and turned HIV into a chronic controllable disease. However, the success of HIV treatment depends on many factors; patient adherence is one the most important indicators. In this study, we explored the potential barriers to an effective adherence antiretroviral therapy (ART) among the HIV-positive prisoners of Read More

Background: The current study was aimed to assess the prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections (IPIs) in persons who were referred to selected hospitals of Abadan and Khorramshahr cities, in the southwest of Iran. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 43200 and 28821 stool specimens were gathered from Abadan and Khorramshahr cities, respectively, during four consecutive years (2014-2017). Read More

Background: The overexpression of the efflux transporter genes is one of the important mechanisms of resistance in fungal pathogens such as Candida and Aspergillus species. Objective: Here, the expression alterations of drug efflux transporter genes were evaluated in non- Cyp51A voriconazole-resistant Aspergillus fumigatus isolates. Methods: Six A. fumigatus isolates including four voriconazole-resistant isolates wit Read More

Objective: This study assessed the anti-pathogenic potential of culture supernatants from three probiotic strains viz. Lactobacillus plantarum, Bifidobacterium bifidum, and Enterococcus faecium against five different gram-positive and gram-negative pathogenic bacteria. Methods: The effect of probiotic culture supernatants on growth and production of quorum sensing (QS)-regulated pigments was assessed through br Read More

Background & Objectives: Prevalence of hepatitis B virus in patients with rheumatic diseases has been reported differently among studies. The loss of immune control in these patients may result in the reactivation of HBV replication within hepatocytes. Considering the lifelong use of multiple anti-rheumatic drugs, screening for HBV is recommended before starting immunosuppressive or immunomodulatory therapy. The aim o Read More

Background: Salmonella typhimurium is a rod-shaped bacteria with a Gram-negative genus, belonging to the Enterobacteriaceae family of microbes, which invades the intestinal lumen of Human. Salmonella typhimurium is a root source, accounting for gastroenteritis in humans as well as in other mammals. Gastroenteritisis associated with Salmonella Typhimurium interacts with the contaminated food and water and spr Read More

Background: Tuberculosis is one of the transmitted diseases that has been claimed as one of the most serious health problems worldwide resulting in death, as reported in WHO in Global Tuberculosis Report 2014 . It has been predicted that 9 million people suffer from tuberculosis disease and 1.5 - 2 million deaths occur by this disease. Objective: The aim of this research is to know the species of plant used as anti-hematemesis Read More

Background: Tenualosa ilisha (ilish, hilsa, hilsa herring, or hilsa shad) is a species of migratory fish in the herring family (Clupeidae), and is considered as a popular food fish in the southwest of Iran. Objective: Due to the high consumption of T. ilisha fish in Khuzestan province (especially in Abadan and Khorramshahr cities) and lack of any reports about the intestinal trematode of this fish; the current study was aimed to in Read More

Background: Klebsiella pneumoniae is a common cause of hospital-acquired infections, including urinary tract infection (UTI). Biofilm formation makes the K. pneumoniae infection more complicated and carrying extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBLs) genes, it limits antibiotic choices for treatment. Lactobacillus strains are known as natural protective barriers against UTIs. Objectives: This is a small in-vitro study aimed Read More

Background: Although a majority of patients with cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) are healed with Glucantime chemotherapy, the increased drug resistance rate following its application is a concern. In this study, Naja naja oxiana crude venom of cobra snakes was used for the first time as an assembled combination of bioactive pharmaceutical components on Leishmania major (L. major) standard strain. Objective: To evaluate Read More

Background: Helicobacter pylori is a slow-growing micro-aerophilic gram-negative organism found in the stomach and duodenum. It is also associated with a number of stomach-duodenal diseases. Material and Methods: There are invasive and non-invasive methods to detect Helicobacter pylori infections. In a 13-months period, 101 patients with clinical signs of infection confirmed by biopsy and Rapid Urease t Read More