International Journal of Medical Laboratory

6-16

Authors: Rajabi1, 2 Ph.D., Majid Pourentezari1,2* Ph.D., Hengameh Dortaj1, 3 Ph.D., Abbas Shahedi1,2 Ph.D., Maryam Yadegari1,2 Ph.D., Sepideh Izadi 1,2 M.Sc., Fatemeh Zakizadeh1,2 M.Sc., Zeinolabedin Sharifian Dastjerdi1, 4 Ph.D.

Recently, it has been proven that cartilage healing is difficult. The most commonly used treatments are autogenously cartilage grafting and allogeneic bone grafting, but grafts cannot fully meet treatment goals because of source, price, safety, and other concerns. Thus, a combination of biological materials and tissue engineering technology has become a recent trend in studies. Among the studies performed on tissue engineering cartilage materials are hydrogels that exhibit biological activity, postdecomposition adsorption, flexibility, and easy preparation. Cellcontaining hydrogels are often used in cartilage tissue engineering because of their biocompatibility, ease of use, and ability to adapt to different defects. Hydrogels are used to mimic extracellular matrices. Although multiple materials can configure and form hydrogels, hyaluronic acid and its derivatives are distinguished. Hyaluronic acid (HA) is an extracellular molecule with several physical and biological functions found in many tissues, including cartilage. HA is formed in several biomaterial systems and scaffolding. HA hydrogels have many interests, including increased adhesion, cell proliferation, and wound healing. In addition, they represent adequate biological acting for stimulating a microenvironment for the survival of cells. However, their disadvantages include a slow degradation rate and low mechanical properties. Here, HA-based hydrogels and their applications in cartilage tissue engineering are briefly reviewed.

26-33

Authors: Alireza Torki 1,3 Ph.D., Mahlagha Zahedi 2 MD., Nour Amirmozafari 3* Ph.D.

Background and Aims: Due to a wide variety of causes, various bacteria can acquire resistance to antibiotics. This study investigated the antibiotic susceptibility patterns of the etiologic bacterial agents of various infections in patients referred to three hospitals in Yazd city, Iran. Materials and Methods: A total of 336 clinical specimens including wound discharge, sputum, blood, bronchial fluid, pleural fluid, ascitic fluid, synovial fluid, stool, and trachea secretions were collected in three hospitals. Microbiological culturing in order to grow and identify the causative bacteria were performed. Antibiotic susceptibility determinations were done by the Kirby Bauer disk diffusion method. Result: Among all organisms isolated, Escherchia coli, Staphylococcus. aureus, Staphylococcus. suprophyticus, Acinetobacter spp., Pseudomonas spp., Klebsiella spp., Staphylococcus. epidermidis and Entrococcus spp. were the most prevalent, respectively. The Escherchia coli isolates were the most antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacterium. It seems that the same organisms recovered from different hospital wards show different antibiotic susceptibility patterns. Conclusion: The increased prevalence of resistant organisms in different hospitals may reflect a lack of proper antibiotic usage policy, resulting in the prolonged and indiscriminate use of antimicrobial agents.

47-54

Authors: Amita R* MD., Arya AB PGDBBT., Sathyabhama S MBBS., Debasish Gupta MD.

Background and Aims: Leukoreduction of blood components has reduced the incidence of transfusion-associated adverse events. Leucofiltration is the most effective method of leukoreduction. We encountered haemolysis in a series of leucofiltered units. This stressed our precious inventory, added to financial loss, increased our turnaround time to issue leucofiltered blood units, and placed doubts on the safety of our leucofiltered products. A systematic root cause analysis was done to identify the reason for haemolysis. Materials and Methods: A total of 69 units were leucofiltered during the study period, of which 13 units showed lysis following filtration. Results: This study warranted a review of our existing leucofiltration standard operating procedures to keep strict adherence to manufacturer instructions to ensure quality in the end product. Conclusions: Among the leucofiltered units showing hemolysis, 62% were due to higher temperature, 23% due to increased time for filtration, and 15% due to increased holding time of red cell units.

65-72

Authors: Soheila Khaksari 1 M.Sc., Ehsan Aghaei Moghadam 2 M.D., Ahoura Nozari 1,3 Ph.D., Zahra Boroughani 4 M.Sc., Saghar Ghasemi Firouzabadi 1 Ph.D., Farkhondeh Behjati 1,5* Ph.D.

Background and Aims: Congenital heart defects (CHD) are the most common type of congenital disability. Copy number variations (CNVs) have been found as one of the genetic etiology of nonsyndromic CHD, and researchers have detected several pathogenic CNVs in patients with cardiac defects. Materials and Methods: In the present study, 70 patients with familial (20 patients) and sporadic (50 patients) non-syndromic CHD were evaluated to find whether CNVs in the GATA4, NKX2-5, TBX- 5, CREL, BMP4 genes, and 22q11.2 region contribute to the pathogenesis of non-syndromic CHD. We have used the Multiplex Ligation-dependent Probe Amplification (MLPA) technique as a molecular method to identify CNVs in predefined loci. Results: Normal MLPA results were demonstrated for GATA4, NKX2-5, TBX-5, CRELD, and BMP4 genes for all sporadic and familial cases. However, we found three patients with imbalances for the 22q11.2 region. One patient with 22q11.2 deletion showed tetralogy of fallot, and the other had ventricular septal defects/ pulmonary atresia/ multiple aortopulmonary collateral arteries. A duplication of the 22q11.2 region was detected in one patient with patent ductus arteriosus. Conclusion: Identifying genomic imbalances in 6% of the nonsyndromic sporadic patients indicates that recurrent CNVs could be associated with non-syndromic CHD. It seems that it is the first CNV analysis using MLPA carried out in Iranian patients with cardiac defects. We suggest that 22q11.2 imbalances should be considered in patients with cardiac lesions to provide an accurate diagnosis and appropriate genetic counseling in affected families.