• International Journal of Oral Biology
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.7-12
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• 2010

The aims of this study were to investigate the nosocomial infection route of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and explore preventative methods for this pathogen that involve blocking its dispersion. We cultured MRSA from nasal cavity swabs collected between June and July 2008 that we obtained from eight dental healthcare providers, 32 nurses and the sputum specimens of two patients from our hospital. In addition, we used VITEK 2 equipment to measure drug sensitivity, and we further performed biochemical testing and pulse-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) to isolate MRSA colonies. The incidence of these bacteria on the nasal swabs was 25.0% from dental clinic healthcare providers, 13.6% from the internal medicine ward nurses and 30.0% from intensive care unit nurses. Moreover, MRSA was detectable in sputum specimens of ward patients. The antimicrobial agents resistance and partial PFGE types of MRSA showed a similar pattern. We suggest from these analyses that nasal cavity infection by MRSA could occur by cross contamination between healthcare providers and patients which underscores the importance of stringent MRSA management practices.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.8
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• pp.3657-3661
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• 2012

HBV infection is contagious and may be transmitted vertically or horizontally by blood products and body secretions. Over 50% of Iranian carriers have contracted the infection prenatally, making this the most likely route of transmission of HBV in Iran. This study assesses the resistance to Lamivudine in patients with chronic hepatitis B infection using a new ZNA probe Real Time PCR method. To evaluate the effectiveness of Lamivudine therapy for chronic hepatitis B infection, a study was conducted on 70 patients (63 men and 7women), who had received the drug first line. All patients were tested for the presence of HBsAg and HBeAg, the serum ALT level and the HBV DNA load before and after treatment. In all samples resistance to Lamivudine was tested with the ZNA Probe. Our results showed that ZNA Probe Real Time PCR method could detect wild type,YMDD, and its mutants, tyrosine-isoleucine-aspartate-aspartate and tyrosine-valine-aspartate-Aspartate. Among an estimated seventy patients with chronic hepatitis B infection, 18 (25.7%) were resistant to lamivudine. Only one patient was negative for presence of HBS-Ag (5.6%) and two patients were negative for HBe-Ag (11.1%). Real-time PCR with Zip nucleic acid probes is a sensitive, specific and rapid detection method for mutations in the YMDD motif, which will be essential for monitoring patients undergoing Lamivudine antiviral therapy.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.125-131
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• 2011

The use of sulfadoxine and pyrimethamine (SP) for treatment of vivax malaria is uncommon in most malarious areas, but Plasmodium vivax isolates are exposed to SP because of mixed infections with other Plasmodium species. As P. vivax is the most prevalent species of human malaria parasites in Iran, monitoring of resistance of the parasite against the drug is necessary. In the present study, 50 blood samples of symptomatic patients were collected from 4 separated geographical regions of south-east Iran. Point mutations at residues 57, 58, 61, and 117 were detected by the PCR-RFLP method. Polymorphism at positions 58R, 117N, and 117T of P. vivax dihydrofolate reductase (Pvdhfr) gene has been found in 12%, 34%, and 2% of isolates, respectively. Mutation at residues F57 and T61 was not detected. Five distinct haplotypes of the Pvdhfr gene were demonstrated. The 2 most prevalent haplotypes were F57S58T61S117 (62%) and F57S58T61N117 (24%). Haplotypes with 3 and 4 point mutations were not found. The present study suggested that P. vivax in Iran is under the pressure of SP and the sensitivity level of the parasite to SP is diminishing and this fact must be considered in development of malaria control programs.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.59-64
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• 2020

Mertansine, a thiol-containing maytansinoid, is a tubulin inhibitor used as the cytotoxic component of antibody-drug conjugates for the treatment of cancer. Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry was described for the determination of mertansine in rat plasma. 50-μL rat plasma sample was pretreated with 25 μL of 20 mM tris-(2-carboxyethyl)-phosphine, a reducing reagent, and further vortex-mixing with 50 μL of 50 mM N-ethylmaleimide for 3 min resulted in the alkylation of thiol group in mertansine. Alkylation reaction was stopped by addition of 100 μL of sildenafil in acetonitrile (200 ng/mL), and following centrifugation, aliquot of the supernatant was analyzed by the selected reaction monitoring mode. The standard curve was linear over the range of 1-1000 ng/mL in rat plasma with the lower limit of quantification level at 1 ng/mL. The intra- and inter-day accuracies and coefficient variations for mertansine at four quality control concentrations were 96.7-113.1% and 2.6-15.0%, respectively. Using this method, the pharmacokinetics of mertansine were evaluated after intravenous administration of mertansine at doses of 0.2, 0.5, and 1 mg/kg to female Sprague Dawley rats.

• Korean Medical Education Review
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.99-114
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• 2020

The rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI), including deep learning, has led to the development of technologies that may assist in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases, prediction of disease risk and prognosis, health index monitoring, drug development, and healthcare management and administration. However, in order for AI technology to improve the quality of medical care, technical problems and the efficacy of algorithms should be evaluated in real clinical environments rather than the environment in which algorithms are developed. Further consideration should be given to whether these models can improve the quality of medical care and clinical outcomes of patients. In addition, the development of regulatory systems to secure the safety of AI medical technology, the ethical and legal issues related to the proliferation of AI technology, and the impacts on the relationship with patients also need to be addressed. Systematic training of healthcare personnel is needed to enable adaption to the rapid changes in the healthcare environment. An overall review and revision of undergraduate medical curriculum is required to enable extraction of significant information from rapidly expanding medical information, data science literacy, empathy/compassion for patients, and communication among various healthcare providers. Specialized postgraduate AI education programs for each medical specialty are needed to develop proper utilization of AI models in clinical practice.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.175-181
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• 2016

Staphylococcus pseudintermedius is an important opportunistic pathogen of dog and cats. Since 2006 there has been a significant emergence of methicillin-resistant S. pseudintermedius (MRSP) mainly due to clonal spread. The aim of this study was to investigated the prevalence of antibiotic resistance and presence of mecA and femA gene in 91 S. pseudintermedius isolates isolated from dogs and cats associated with various clinic infections. Methicillin resistance was confirmed by oxacillin disc diffusion method. MRSP isolate was detected 19 isolates (20.9%). MRSP and methicillin-resistant S. pseudintermedius (MSSP) isolates were highly resistant to penicillin, kanamycin, tetracycline, erythromycin, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, clindamycin, ciprofloxacin, enrofloxacin and choloramphenicol (100~47.3% and 90.3~33.3%, respectively). About 90% of MRSP isolates were multi-drug resistance (resistance to at least five or more antimicrobials), and MSSP isolates was ca 74%. Among the 91 isolates, mecA gene was detected in 25 isolates (27.5%, 19 in MRSP isolates and 6 in MSSP isolates), but none carried the femA gene. Our results indicated MRSA isolates show a strong resistance to antimicrobials commonly used in veterinary medicine. A continuous surveillance and monitoring should be called for to prevent the contamination and spread of MRSP in dogs and cats.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.161-166
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• 2016

Hyperadrenocorticism (HAC) is a common endocrinopathy among dogs that causes multisystemic signs. This study was conducted to evaluate cardiocirculatory, biochemical, and hemostatic parameters in dogs with HAC at diagnosis, in addition to verifying whether abnormal parameters could be controlled by initial treatment with trilostane. Fifteen dogs with HAC were assessed by systolic blood pressure measurement, electrocardiography, Doppler echocardiography, serum concentration of troponin I, and biochemical and hemostatic profile at diagnosis and after trilostane therapy. Unlike biochemical parameters, hemostatic and cardiocirculatory parameters were not significantly influenced by the onset of treatment. The authors believe that clinical treatment with trilostane for 3 to 4 months might not be sufficient for the stabilization of cardiocirculatory abnormalities such as hypertension. Therefore, dogs with HAC must receive cardiocirculatory monitoring at diagnosis and during drug treatment.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.259-264
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• 2015

We investigated the residues of 6 cephalosporins (cefquinome, cephalexin, cephalonium, cefazolin, ceftiofur, cefuroxime) using LC-MS/MS in raw meat in Seoul. This method involves extraction of the residue from the meat by distilled water and methanol followed by a manual of residue analysis published by the National Institute of Food and Drug Safety Evaluation. The recoveries ranged between 74.71~90.01% in beef, 73.37~101.40% in pork and 70.87~95.53% in chicken, respectively. The limits of detection were 0.0004~0.0563 mg/kg, and the limits of quantification were 0.001~0.169 mg/kg respectively. Residues of cephalosporins which exceeded maximum residue limits (MRL) were not exceed in any of the 287 samples. However, it is necessary to develop multi-method, which includes the active metabolites of ceftiofur.

• Proceedings of the PSK Conference
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• 2001.10a
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• pp.323-323
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• 2001

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.169-173
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• 2007

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of morin on the pharmacokinetics of nifedipine in rats. The pharmacokinetic parameters of nifedipine were measured after the oral administration of nifedipine (5 mg/kg) in the presence or absence of morin (1.5, 7.5 and 15 mg/kg, respectively). Compared to the control groups, the presence of 7.5 mg/kg and 15 mg/kg of morin significantly (p<0.05) increased the area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC) of nifedipine by 48.5${\sim}$68.2%, and the peak concentration (C$_{max}$,) of nifedipine by 59.9~84.2%. The absolute bioavailability(AB%) of nifedipine was significantly (p<0.05) increased by 21.5${\sim}$24.5% compared to the control (14.5%). While there was no significant change in the time to reach the peak plasma concentration (T$_{max}$) and the terminal half-life (T$_{1/2}$) of nifedipine in the presence of morin. It might be suggested that morin altered disposition of nifedipine by inhibition of both the first-pass metabolism and p-glycoprotein (P-gp) efflux pump in the small intestine of rats. In conclusion, the presence of morin significantly enhanced the oral bioavailability of nifedipine, suggesting that concurrent use of morin or morin-containing dietary supplement with nifedipine should require close monitoring for potential drug interaction.