3775 pregnant women attending Tu Du maternal hospital in the period 1995-1997 were randomly included in the study. The results showed that, 3 pregnant women (0.1%) had HIV seropositivity, 290 (7.7%) HBsAg positivity, 21 (0.6%) treponema infection. Among 293 sera screened for toxoplasma infection, there were 17 seropositive cases (16%). History of blood transfusion were found to be factors associated with treponema seropositivity by univariable analysis
HIV, Seroepidemiologic Studies ; Hepatitis B ; toxoplasmosis ; Treponemal Infections ; pregnant women

OBJECTIVETo identify the frequency of syphilis among Iranian HIV-positive patients.

METHODSA cross-sectional study on the prevalence of syphilis and HIV co-infection among 450 patients diagnosed with HIV infection was conducted between 2004 and 2008 at Imam Khomeini hospital, Tehran, Iran. The lab tests including CD4 cell count, cerebrospinal fluid, veneral disease research laboratory (VDRL), fluorescent treponema antibody-absorption (FTA-Abs) and viral load were performed for all the patients. Data regarding medical history and their demographics were also collected.

RESULTSOf all 450 HIV-positive patients, 24 (5.3%) had a positive VDRL test and only two men had a FTA-Abs positive test which means 0.45% of them had a definite co-infection of syphilis. 65.3% of the HIV-positive patients were injection drug users that the co-infection prevalence of them was 0.7%. We did not find any patient with neurosyphilis.

CONCLUSIONSConsidering the increasing prevalence of HIV and also extensive use of highly active antiretroviral therapy in developing nations, the diagnosis of syphilis should be timely established using screening tests among such patients.

Coinfection ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; HIV Infections ; epidemiology ; transmission ; Humans ; Iran ; epidemiology ; Prevalence ; Risk Factors ; Syphilis ; epidemiology ; Treponema pallidum ; Treponemal Infections ; epidemiology ; transmission

OBJECTIVETo establish a 16S rDNA multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for simultaneously detecting P. gingivalis, A. actinomycetemcomitans and T. denticola in clinical specimens of chronic periodontitis and to study the correlation between different modes of infection and severity of the disease.

METHODSPeriodontal pocket specimens from 152 patients with mild, moderate or advanced chronic periodontitis and gingival sulcus specimens from 30 periodontally healthy individuals were collected and placed in 200 microl lysis buffer. The specimens were incubated in 100 degrees C for 10 min and 10 microl of the supernatant was directly used as PCR template. DNAs from P. gingivalis strain ATCC33277, A. actinomycetemcomitans strain Y4, T. denticola strain FM and E. coli strain DH5alpha were used as positive and negative controls in PCR with all of which were prepared by routing phenol-chloroform method. A multiplex PCR assay, using three sets of primers specific to 16S rDNA genes of the three anaerobes, was developed to detect the specimens. The target amplification fragments from 3 cases of PCR products positive for all the three anaerobes were sequenced after T-A cloning. Chi-square test was applied to analyze the correlation between different coinfection of the three anaerobes and severity of the disease.

RESULTSThe established 16S rDNA multiplex PCR assay was able to detect P. gingivalis, A. actinomycetemcomitans and T. denticola at a minimum of 10, 20 and 20 cells, respectively. In comparison with the reported corresponding sequences, similarities of the nucleotide sequences from the three anaerobes 16S rDNA amplification fragments were as high as 99.45%, 97.08% and 96.59%, respectively. Of the 30 periodontally healthy gingival sulcus specimens, only one (3.3%) positive for P. gingivalis and two (6.7%) for A. actinomycetemcomitans could be identified but all of the rest were negative. In the 152 CP periodontal pocket specimens, 147 cases (96.7%) were positive for P. gingivalis, A. actinomycetemcomitans and/or T. denticola, respectively, and 5 cases (3.3%) were negative for all the three anaerobes. The positive rate of P. gingivalis detection (91.5%, 139/152) was significantly higher than those of A. actinomycetemcomitans (72.4%, 110/152) and T. denticola (80.9%, 123/152) (chi(2) = 7.07, 18.67; P < 0.01). 89.8% of the specimens from patients showed coinfections with two (26.5%) or three anaerobes (63.3%), and the coinfection rates in the specimens from moderate and advanced CP were remarkably higher than that from mild CP (chi(2) = 10.43, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONThe 16S rDNA multiplex PCR established in this study showed high sensitivity and specificity, which could be used to detect P. gingivalis, A. actinomycetemcomitans and T. denticola in clinical specimens. CP was an disease caused by multiple pathogenic microbes while the synergistic pathopoiesis of the three microbes was closely related to the severity of the disease.

Actinobacillus Infections ; epidemiology ; microbiology ; Adult ; Aged ; Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans ; isolation & purification ; Bacteroidaceae Infections ; epidemiology ; microbiology ; China ; epidemiology ; Chronic Disease ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Periodontitis ; microbiology ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; methods ; Porphyromonas gingivalis ; isolation & purification ; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S ; Treponema denticola ; isolation & purification ; Treponemal Infections ; microbiology

OBJECTIVETo find a fast and simple method for detection of specific pathogens in upper aerodigestive tract.

METHODSSixty-one cases of specific infections in upper aerodigestive tract encountered during a 10-year period in Beijing Tongren Hospital were retrospectively studied. Six histochemical stains, including PAS, Giemsa, Gram, methylene blue, modified Warthin-Starry and acid-fast stains were applied. The morphology of different pathogens was studied and the staining patterns were compared.

RESULTSThere were 23 cases of pharyngeal treponemal infection, 10 cases of short treponemal infection, 4 cases of mycobacterial infection, 4 cases of infection by rhinoscleroma bacilli, 1 case of sinonasal fungal infection, 1 case of combined infection of bacteria and Oidium albicans, 2 cases of tonsillar Actinomycetes and 16 cases of non-specific bacterial infections. Both pharyngeal treponemal infection and infection by rhinoscleroma bacilli could be detected by modified Warthin-Starry stain. As for sinonasal fungal infection, PAS, Giemsa and modified Warthin-Starry stains were useful in differentiating different types of fungi. Mycobacteria were best demonstrated by conventional acid-fast stain.

CONCLUSIONSSpecial histochemical stains performed on histologic sections are useful for diagnosing specific infections in upper aerodigestive tract.

Actinomycosis ; microbiology ; pathology ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Child ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mycobacterium ; isolation & purification ; Mycobacterium Infections ; microbiology ; pathology ; Palatine Tonsil ; microbiology ; pathology ; Pharyngeal Diseases ; microbiology ; pathology ; Pharynx ; microbiology ; pathology ; Retrospective Studies ; Rhinoscleroma ; microbiology ; pathology ; Staining and Labeling ; Treponema ; isolation & purification ; Treponemal Infections ; microbiology ; pathology ; Young Adult

Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a chronic inflammatory disease that is frequently detected in oral tissues. The aim of our study was to identify the prevalence of the detection of periodontopathogenic microorganisms (Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Prevotella intermedia, Tannerella forsythia and Treponema denticola in OLP patients and to compare with this prevalence of periodontopathogenic microorganisms in healthy non-OLP patients. Our study included 27 (18 chronic periodontitis (OLPP) and 9 gingivitis (OLPG)) patients diagnosed with OLP along with 26 (13 chronic periodontitis (HP) and 13 gingivitis (HG)) healthy non-OLP patients. The multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with subsequent reverse hybridization method (micro-IDent) was used for identifying periodontopathogenic microorganisms present in subgingival plaque samples. The percentages of detection for A. actinomycetemcomitans, P. gingivalis, P. intermedia, T. forsythia and T. denticola in subgingival plaque samples taken from OLP patients (OLPG and OLPP) were 18.5%, 85.1%, 81.4%, 88.8% and 74%, respectively. Meanwhile, in the non-OLP patients (HG and HP), these values were 7.6%, 50%, 46.1%, 73% and 57.7%, respectively. Thus, comparing the non-OLP groups with the OLP groups, the periodontopathogens' percentages of detection in the OLP groups were higher than those in the non-OLP groups. According to our study results, OLP patients have higher levels of infection with A. actinomycetemcomitans, P. gingivalis, P. intermedia, T. forsythia and T. denticola than non-OLP patients. We argue that the high percentages in patients with OLP may help identify the importance of periodontopathogenic microorganisms in the progress of periodontal diseases of OLP.
Actinobacillus Infections ; diagnosis ; Adult ; Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans ; isolation & purification ; Bacteroidaceae Infections ; diagnosis ; Bacteroides ; isolation & purification ; Bacteroides Infections ; diagnosis ; Chronic Periodontitis ; microbiology ; Dental Plaque ; microbiology ; Dental Plaque Index ; Female ; Gingivitis ; microbiology ; Gram-Negative Bacteria ; isolation & purification ; Humans ; Lichen Planus, Oral ; microbiology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Periodontal Attachment Loss ; microbiology ; Periodontal Index ; Periodontal Pocket ; microbiology ; Porphyromonas gingivalis ; isolation & purification ; Prevotella intermedia ; isolation & purification ; Treponema denticola ; isolation & purification ; Treponemal Infections ; diagnosis