Background and aim: Influenza, commonly referred to as "the flu," is an infectious illness caused by influenza viruses (IV). Despite the availability of efficient antiviral drugs, the IV still significantly increases mortality. Antiviral drugs swiftly remove these viruses from pulmonary secretions, suggesting that a prolonged inflammatory response may be to blame for the poor result. Therefore, using immunomodulatory medications looks advantageous. Numerous anti-inflammatory effects are produced by statins. Numerous retrospective studies recommended that statins be considered for IV therapy. This study set out to comprehensively examine the immunomodulatory potential of statins in IV prophylaxis and therapy. Methods: From the beginning until 25 March 2022, a number of electronic databases (Scopus, EMBASE, PubMed, Web of Science, ProQuest, OVID, EBSCO, and CINAHL) were searched for cohort studies and randomized trials assessing the association between outcomes or risk of infections and statin therapy. Data were gathered on the investigated characteristics, measuring statin usage, quality evaluation, and results (set for potential confounders). Results: Finding additional therapeutic agents for influenza prevention and management is crucial since there are uncertain public health issues regarding the clinical efficacy of conventional medications. Pro-inflammatory cytokines are released as a result of influenza. According to the results, by using antiinflammatory medications, severe influenza infections can be prevented along with pleiotropic effects. As a result, statins, which are cardioprotective medications with immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory properties, may be beneficial for individuals with IV. Conclusion: Based on the positive immunomodulatory effects of statin administration, our systematic review's findings suggested that IVs may be prevented and treated.
Recently, respiratory viral infections have witnessed substantial diagnostic evolution, with the advent of emergent pathogenic agents and the improvement of new diagnostic approaches. Acute viral respiratory infection (ARVI) commonly causes illness and fatality, particularly in pediatric patients. Adenovirus has the highest prevalence in upper and lower respiratory tract infections (RTIs) amongst respiratory pathogens of importance. The purpose of this research was to introduce two effective techniques for the detection of adenovirus respiratory infection in Human samples, cell culture, and real-time PCR. Samples from patients aged less than ten years were obtained from Baqiyatallah (as) Hospital and cultured on HEK cells after preparation. After observing the cytopathic effects of the virus, a molecular test (Real-time PCR) with the help of specific primers was done on samples taken from the cell culture. Both assays detected viruses in clinical samples, and results of cell culture and real-time PCR confirmed infection with adenovirus in samples. According to our findings, simultaneous use of tests (cell culture and PCR) based test real-time PCR is a somewhat reliable method for detecting adenovirus in clinical specimens.
Of the major threats to contemporary mankind, is the use of very dangerous and lethal biological agents as the biological weapons. The first step in confronting with this serious threat after prevention, is the accurate and rapid detection of this agents and neutralization of them. In this article, the role of molecules known as aptamer, has been studied in biological defense against these menacing biological agents. Traditional methods for detection of these agents are based primarily on immuno-affinity assays and the use of antibody molecules. While the modern methods, based on aptamer-affinity assays, are being replaced with traditional methods, due to the abundant advantages of them. The selection and preparation method of specific aptamer with high binding affinity to these biological agents is known as SELEX and the use of magnetic nanoparticles to perform this procedure (Mag-SELEX) is very common. The isolated aptamers with high specificity can also be used in neutralization and inhibition of menacing agents function, in addition to, quick and accurate diagnosis of these agents, utilizing them in nano-biosensors, based on aptamers (as the nano- aptasensors).
Background and Aim: The CCHF (Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever) virus causes a severe disease in human with a case fatality rate of up to 50%. Since, there is no specific treatment or approved vaccine against CCHF viral infections, an accurate and early detection as well as a reliable surveillance and quantitative determination of viral load is necessary for patient improvement and case management. In this research, our aim was to develop a probe based one-step real- time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) assay for in-house quantitative detection of CCHF virus. Methods: At first, the highly conserved S-fragment sequence of CCHF virus genome was adapted from GenBank and the specific probe and primers targeting this region were designed. Then, viral RNAs were extracted from 37 blood samples of different patients from east of Iran (Zahedan). The specificity and sensitivity of the probe and primers were also evaluated in positive blood samples, confirmed to have CCHF virus. A standard (PTG19-T vector containing S-fragment) for quantization was also constructed and the viral load was determined in some of positive samples. Results: From a total of 37 suspicious blood samples, 15 samples were confirmed to be positive for CCHF virus by this probe based one-step rRT-PCR assay and no false-positive result was detected according to sequencing data. The predicted fragment of 176 bp was also confirmed in all positive samples by gel-based electrophoresis analysis. The assay was linear between 10 to 103 copy numbers per each microliter of extracted plasmid for this technique and the viral load determined in one of patient blood samples was 55,000 viral particles per each milliliter, for example. Bioinformatics and experimental evaluations approved the specificity of this assay. The LOD of the assay was 10 (or fewer) copy numbers of viral genome per each microliter of the extracted genome. Conclusions: This research showed that the developed probe based one-step rRT-PCR assay is a specific, rapid, sensitive and the simple tool for detection and viral load determination of the CCHF virus.
