Journal of

Background and Aim: Staphylococcus aureus is the second cause of hospital acquired infections, and responsible for 80% of purulent infections, and majority of skin infections. About 30 to 50 percent of normal people carry staph in their nose or groin and armpits. VanA, VanB, VanC1, VanC2/C3, VanG, VanL, and VanX are genes responsible for encoding resistance to vancomycin, TychoPlanyn and Avoparcyn, among them vanBand vanAare the most common cause of resistance that could be located on a plasmid or a chromosome and can be transferred via conjugation. The aim of this study was to The aim of this study was to investigatethe role of VanA and VanB genes in Cefoxitin resistant Staphylococci aureuscausing skin infections in patients admitted to Razi Hospital in Tehran using real time PCR method.

Methods: The samples were collected from Khordad 1394 for one year in the Microbiology Department of the Clinical Laboratory of Razi Hospital. Exudative skin lesions were sampled by sterile swab and cultured on the blood agar and EMB medium. Then catalase, oxidase and coagulase tests were performed on the gram-positive cocci and the sensitivity to vancomycinin Cefoxitin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus was determined using the E-test method. The presence of vanAand vanBgenes were investigated by Real Time PCR.

Results: Out of 978 patients with infected skin lesions, 733 samples of Staphylococcus aureus were isolated. Of these, 124 were Cefoxitin resistant, among them 8 samples had a high response rate of 3, and 5had high response above 16. But VanA and VanB genes were not responsible for resistance in any of them.

Conclusion: Due to the development of resistant strains of Staphylococcus in skin and hospital infections, identification of its encoding genes are necessary in order to use appropriate antibiotics to reduce the course of treatment and the side effects of taking antibiotics.

Background and Aim: Lesions of the skin can impair its vital function to protect humans against external pathogens. Therefore, producing a suitable wound dressing to repair injuries is always one of the challenges of researchers. The present study aims to Synthesize a hydrogel film for wound dressing applications.

Methods: In this research, a hydrogel film of polyvinyl alcohol / hyaluronic acid / nano zinc oxide was fabricated for application as a wound dressing. For this purpose, three films with different percentages were prepared using the solvent casting method. The synthesized samples were characterized using FTIR, SEM, XRD, and tensile tests. 

Results: Evaluation of the morphology of the samples showed that the increase of zinc oxide nanoparticles led to porosity and growth of their size in the films. It was also characterized that the percentage of film elongation increased with increasing nanoparticles of zinc oxide and hyaluronic acid. The elongation percentage from the lowest amount of nano zinc oxide to the maximum (5, 10 and 15% of weight was 159%, 166%, and 230%, respectively. The MTT study indicated the cell viability above 80% in all three films.

Conclusion: A film containing 15% zinc oxide can be a suitable option for using in tissue engineering and wound dressing.

Background and Aim: Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease, influenced by genetic and immune-based factors that is associated with skin inflammation. Aloe vera gel is traditionally used to treat skin diseases including psoriasis.
 

Methods: In this study, ethanolic extract of aloe vera gel was evaluated for its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activity in skin-derived A431 cells. First, after preparing the extract and then the green synthesis of gold nanoparticles using the extract, their effect on the expression of inflammatory genes as well as their antioxidant properties were investigated. 
 

Results: The use of different concentrations of aloe vera extract caused a relative increase in EGFR and Nrf2 expression levels and decreased expression of NF-κB, TNF-α and IL-6 inflammatory genes in A431 skin cells. But the effect of synthesized nanoparticles was greater than aloe vera extract in altering the expression of signaling and inflammatory genes.
 

Conclusion: The synthesized extracts and nanoparticles had antioxidant properties and also reduced the expression of inflammatory genes in cells. However, the effect of nanoparticles was much greater than that of extracts in reducing inflammatory genes.