Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences and Health Services

About: Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences and Health Services is a education organization based out in Tehran, Iran. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Medicine. The organization has 19456 authors who have published 33659 publications receiving 365676 citations.

Green chemical synthesis of gold nanoparticles by using Penicillium aculeatum and their scolicidal activity against hydatid cyst protoscolices of Echinococcus granulosus.

Abstract: Hydatid disease is a helminth infection with various clinical complications caused by the larval stage of the dog tapeworm Echinococcus granulosus. The scolicidal agents have been broadly applied for inactivation of the fertile cysts up to now, but these scolicidal agents have several side effects on patients. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the scolicidal activity of green synthesized gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) utilizing mycelia-free culture filtrate of Penicillium aculeatum against hydatid cyst protoscolices of E. granulosus. The size and morphology of AuNPs were affirmed by UV–visible spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and dynamic light scattering (DLS) analysis. The Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) analysis of AuNPs showed the presence of possible functional groups responsible for the bioreduction and capping. The AuNPs were formed relatively uniform with spherical shape and superior monodispersity with the average diameter of 60 nm. Consequently, various concentrations (0.05, 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3 mg/mL) of green synthesized AuNPs and different exposure times (10, 30, 60, and 120 min) were used against hydatid cyst protoscolices. Statistically, the difference between the scolicidal effects of AuNPs were seen extremely significant for all four concentrations and at various exposure times in comparison to the control group (P < 0.0001). The most mean protoscolex elimination ratio was 94% (0.3 mg/mL AuNPs and 120-min exposure time). The current investigation indicated that applying biogenic AuNPs may be considered as a potential scolicidal agent for cystic hydatid disease. However, further studies are required to evaluate the efficacy of AuNPs in vivo.

Non-syndromic hypodontia in an Iranian orthodontic population

Abstract: To investigate the prevalence, characteristics (ie, malocclusion, location, type), and sex distribution of hypodontia in an Iranian orthodontic population. A retrospective study was conducted using periapical and panoramic radiographs and study models of 1,751 subjects attending university orthodontic clinics (870 females, 881 males, age 9-27 years). The Chi-square test was used to analyze differences in the distribution of hypodontia, after stratification by sex and malocclusion type. A total of 197 congenitally missing teeth were observed in 160 patients (9.1%; 74 boys and 86 girls); there were no statistically significant differences between sexes (Chi-square = 0.832, P = 0.36). Hypodontia was more common in patients with Class III malocclusion (45.2%), and was more prevalent in the maxilla (71%) than in the mandible (29%). Maxillary lateral incisors (35.6%) and maxillary second premolars (13.0%) were the most commonly missing teeth, followed by mandibular lateral incisors (9.6%) and mandibular second premolars (8.2%). The prevalence of missing teeth was higher in the anterior segment (incisors and canines) than in the posterior segment (premolars and molars). The prevalence of oligodontia was 0.34%. The prevalence and characteristics of the most frequently missing teeth accorded with the findings of most studies conducted in other countries.

Reliability and validity of the modifiable activity questionnaire for an Iranian urban adolescent population.

Abstract: Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the validity and reliability on the Persian translation of the Modifiable Activity Questionnaire (MAQ) in a sample of Tehranian adolescents. Methods: Of a total of 52 subjects, a sub‑sample of 40 participations (55.0% boys) was used to assess the reliability and the validity of the physical activity questionnaire. The reliability of the two MAQs was calculated by intraclass correlation coefficients, and validation was evaluated using Pearson correlation coefficients to compare data between mean of the two MAQs and mean of four physical activity records. Results: Intraclass correlation coefficient was calculated to assess the reliability between two MAQs and the results of leisure time physical activity over the past year were 0.97. Pearson correlation coefficients between mean of two MAQs and mean of four physical activity records were 0.49 (P < 0.001), for leisure time physical activities. Conclusions: High reliability and relatively moderate validity were found for the Persian translation of the MAQ in a Tehranian adolescent population. Further studies with large sample size are suggested to assess the validity more precisely.

Comparative virulence of Candida auris with Candida haemulonii, Candida glabrata and Candida albicans in a murine model

Abstract: The incidence of invasive fungal infections (IFIs) caused by uncommon Candida species with diverse virulence and susceptibility profiles has increased in recent years. Due to scarce clinical and experimental data on the pathogenicity of Candida auris, the aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the virulence of two rare clinically relevant species, C. auris and Candida haemulonii with Candida glabrata and Candida albicans in an immunocompetent murine model of disseminated infection. Immunocompetent ICR female mice were infected with three inoculum sizes (1 × 105 , 1 × 106 and 1 × 107 CFU/mouse) of two C. auris strains and one isolate of C. haemulonii, C. glabrata and C. albicans. Tissue burden on days 5 and 10 postchallenge and mortality rate were used as virulence markers. A high virulence was found for C. albicans, followed by C. auris, C. glabrata and C. haemulonii, respectively. Candida albicans showed high virulence with a medium survival time of 9.5 days for mice infected with 1 × 107 CFU/mouse. For inocula at 1 × 106 and 1 × 107 CFU/mouse, there were significant differences in fungal burden at day 10 between C. albicans, C. auris and C. glabrata isolates compared with C. haemulonii (P .05). In general, the highest fungal load of all isolates was detected in kidney followed by spleen, liver and lung tested with three different inocula on the two different experimental days. Histopathological examination revealed the abundant presence of yeast cells with pseudohyphae for C. albicans and only yeast cells for C. auris, C. glabrata and C. haemulonii, in all the kidney tissue samples. In conclusion, C. albicans is a highly virulent opportunistic fungus, as the clinical and experimental data demonstrate, and also our results demonstrate a low virulence of C. haemulonii in immunocompetent animals. Altogether, this study highlights the pathogenic potential of C. auris.