Qasem Asgari; Seyedeh-Zahra Zandavi; Mohammad Djaefar Moemenbellah-Fard; Amin Hosseinpour; Mohsen Kalantari; Aboozar Soltani
Abstract
Background: Leishmaniasis, as a neglected health issue, is spreading in most parts of the world. It is one of the most important vector-borne diseases in Iran. Bee venom has shown a wide range of medicinal properties. The present study aimed to survey the effect of venom and propolis of Apis mellifera ...
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Background: Leishmaniasis, as a neglected health issue, is spreading in most parts of the world. It is one of the most important vector-borne diseases in Iran. Bee venom has shown a wide range of medicinal properties. The present study aimed to survey the effect of venom and propolis of Apis mellifera on Leishmania major in different environments, including in vivo and in vitro.Methods: In this experimental study, bee venom was extracted using the modified Benton method, and propolis was prepared by the soxhletation method. The promastigotes of L. major were exposed to the different doses of the venom (0.03125-1 μg/ml) and propolis (2.5-80 μg/ml) and then evaluated by MTT assay and Flowcytometry after 24 hours. In vivo phases, 107 promastigotes of the L. major in stationary phase were intradermally inoculated into 48 mice based on the study design. After appearance of the wounds, the mice were topically treated with the lotion containing different doses (5 and 10 μg/ml) of the venom and propolis. The size of the ulcers was measured for four weeks.Results: The results showed that propolis and BV had no significant effects on the vitality of Leishmania promastigotes. However, they had a high mortality effect on macrophages. The highest mortality belonged to propolis (78.39 %). In vivo results showed significant differences between some treated and control groups in terms of the mean ulcer size.Conclusion: It seems that a combination of honeybee venom and propolis in a particular dosage can prevent the development of the ulcers caused by L. major. More studies are needed to evaluate the effects of their constituent compounds precisely.
Seyed Aghil Jaberhashemi; Mohammad Djaefar Moemenbellah-Fard; Mousa Khosravani; Mojtaba Norouzi; Hadi Kalari
Abstract
Objective: The main aim of this research is to investigate the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) on malaria control with respect to indoor residual spraying (IRS) in a community of Southern Iran. Introduction: Human malaria is an important vector-borne infectious disease in Iran. It remains endemic ...
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Objective: The main aim of this research is to investigate the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) on malaria control with respect to indoor residual spraying (IRS) in a community of Southern Iran. Introduction: Human malaria is an important vector-borne infectious disease in Iran. It remains endemic over most parts of the oriental region of Iran that is still in the pre-elimination phase without considerable drop in the proportion of malaria cases. Methods: This research was a cross-sectional household survey conducted in Kazerun, Fars province, Iran, to examine he malaria status and identify the parameters that obstruct the progress of the elimination phase. A standard questionnaire with 20 questions was provided to households including knowledge, attitude and practice categories. Sampling was then stratified to choose the samples in three rural foci of Kazerun. Results: The sex ratio of participants included 192 females (92.3%) and 16 males (7.7%), respectively. This community benefited mostly from acceptable literacy level. A strong association prevailed between the majority of respondents’ (88.5%) knowledge of fever and chills as the main symptoms of malaria and their literacy level. The majority (198, 95.2%) of volunteers declared that malaria disease was transmitted through the mosquito bites. In line with this study, literate persons have raised motivation and attitude to use bednets and keep themselves away from mosquitoes. These individuals cooperate perfectly with healthcare workers in malaria control program strategies (especially IRS). Conclusion: Comprehensive and synergistic measures are needed to be taken to manage malaria elimination strategy in Iran.
Mohammad Reza Fakoorziba; Mohammad Djaefar Moemenbellah-Fard; Kourosh Azizi; Heshmatollah Shekarpoor; Hamzeh Alipoor
Volume 2, Issue 1 , January 2014, , Pages 2-7
Abstract
Background: Medicinal plant extracts such as those obtained from Salvia species have a wide variety of chemical compounds in their essential oils. The repellency of a number of essential oils including those from the labiates like Salvia against several insect species including the common house flies ...
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Background: Medicinal plant extracts such as those obtained from Salvia species have a wide variety of chemical compounds in their essential oils. The repellency of a number of essential oils including those from the labiates like Salvia against several insect species including the common house flies is reported. Objective: The aim of this investigation was to find out the excito-repellency effects of Salvia sclarea L. (Lamiaceae) extracts against adult house flies, Musca domestica L. (Diptera: Muscidae). Methods: Air-dried plant material from the aerial parts of S. sclarea was subjected to hydro-distillation in a Clevenger type glass apparatus model Soxhlet with acetone, benzene, petroleum ether, chloroform, and aqueous solvents. Only adult house flies were inserted into an exposure chamber and their behavior was monitored for feeding tendency, repellency rate and deterrence rate. Statistical analyses were carried out by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with computation of the significance of differences in the outcome of various treatments. Results: There were significant differences among most of the various extracts with their controls in the sequential effects of feeding (P=0.04), deterrent (P=0.023) and repellency (P=0.01) rates of house flies. The order of potency for various extracts with a concentration of 100 g/l was as follows: petroleum ether> benzene> water> acetone> chloroform. Conclusion: It is thus conceivable to search for native means of combating house flies by fractionating the active ingredients in the Clary sage in the light of its excito-repellency effects.
Kourosh Azizi; Mohammad Djaefar Moemenbellah-Fard; Mousa Khosravani-Shiri; Mohammad Reza Fakoorziba; Aboozar Soltani
Volume 2, Issue 1 , January 2014, , Pages 30-35
Abstract
Background: Human malaria remains a major malady in Eastern Iran. Vector control interventions such as indoor residual spraying are used to fight with the disease. This study was undertaken to determine the lethal and residual effects of three different pyrethroid insecticides on adult mosquitoes of ...
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Background: Human malaria remains a major malady in Eastern Iran. Vector control interventions such as indoor residual spraying are used to fight with the disease. This study was undertaken to determine the lethal and residual effects of three different pyrethroid insecticides on adult mosquitoes of Anopheles stephensi on different surfaces in Iran, as part of a national program to monitor insecticide resistance in endemic areas. Methods: Two main endemic foci were selected as collection sites. Wild adult females of An. stephensi (mysoriensis strain) from the first focus were subjected to standard susceptibility tests, using lambdacyhalothrin, deltamethrin and cyfluthrin insecticides within holding tubes according to the method proposed by WHO. In Kazerun, the residual effects of these compounds were examined by conical bioassay tests of An. stephensi (type strain) on plaster and cement walls. Data were analyzed using Mann-Whitney test to determine the differences in susceptibility and residual effects of An. stephensi mosquitoes to these insecticides. Results: The susceptibility of females of An. stephensi to three concentrations of lambdacyhalothrin, deltamethrin and cyfluthrin insecticides culminated in full scale mortality at the highest diagnostic dose. The maximal residual time of these three insecticides on plaster and cement walls was estimated to be about three months. There was no significant difference in the mortalities of An. stephensi on different sprayed surfaces (P=0.653). Conclusion: All field-collected An. stephensi populations exhibit gross susceptibility to all diagnostic doses of the three evaluated insecticides. In endemic areas, lambdacyhalothrin reveals a slightly longer residual activity than the other two insecticides.
Mohammad Djaefar Moemenbellah-Fard; Mohammad Reza Fakoorziba; Kourosh Azizi; Mohsen Mohebbi-Nodezh
Volume 1, Issue 1 , July 2013, , Pages 41-47
Abstract
Background: The German cockroach, Blattella germanica L. (Dictyoptera: Blattellidae), has become resistant to many insecticides due to control failures in hospital and student dormitory settings of southern Iran. Objective: This study was thus designed to detect and monitor carbamate resistance in two ...
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Background: The German cockroach, Blattella germanica L. (Dictyoptera: Blattellidae), has become resistant to many insecticides due to control failures in hospital and student dormitory settings of southern Iran. Objective: This study was thus designed to detect and monitor carbamate resistance in two strains of German cockroach using lethal dose bioassay methods. Methods: Wild dormitory (D) and hospital (H) strains were collected. Adult males were subjected to the jar exposure procedure. A range of concentrations based on the world health organization (WHO) standard concentration of carbamate insecticides (carbaryl, bendiocarb, propoxur) were used. For each insecticide, four to seven different concentrations leading to >0% and propoxur > bendiocarb. The ratio of LD50 in H strain to that of D strain for bendiocarb was about twice that of the other two insecticides indicating that German cockroaches were most susceptible to bendiocarb under both environments. Conclusion: It is concluded that excessive reliance on carbaryl in both D and H settings has led to resistance.