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Background: Iran has a high incidence rate for gastric cancer among the Middle East countries. In addition to gastric cancer, peptic ulcer is also life-threatening; thus, investigating the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection and other risk factors are essential. The present study was aimed to assess the frequency of H. pylori and the cagA-positive strains in patients with gastric cancer or peptic ulcer at a teaching hospital in Qom, one of the most populated cities of Iran. Materials and Methods: The presence of H. pylori was investigated in gastric cancer and peptic ulcer biopsy specimens using the standard culture method. PCR analysis was performed to detect the presence of the cagA gene. Results: The frequency of H. pylori isolates among 86 investigated biopsies was 20 (23.2%). Likewise, the rate of H. pylori was the highest when samples were examined from patients with gastric cancer (25.8%), while it was 21.8% when obtained from peptic ulcer patients. The frequency of the cagA gene in H. pylori isolates was 9 (56.2%), as confirmed by PCR. Conclusion: Our results indicated that H. Pylori infection and its virulent strains are frequent and widely spread in Qom city. The cagA gene was present in almost half of H. pylori isolates from peptic ulcer or gastric cancer patients. Therefore, it is necessary to screen it in all cases with H. pylori infection for early detection of gastric cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the population genetic of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (Map) in Iran, Mycobacterial Interspersed Repetitive Units (MIRUs) and Multi Locus Short Sequence Repeat (MLSSR) system were employed. Numerous genotypes by MIRU (N = 11) and MLSSR (N = 9) methods bearing discriminatory indices of 0.90 and 0.79 respectively, were obtained. Browsing the INRA–Nouzilly list (http://mac-inmv.tours.inra.fr/) detected 3 of the found patterns as new types. Some loci either MIRU-VNTR or SSR proved more polymorphic and therefore are recommended to be applied in priority for strain typing in the Iranian environment. While identical MIRU-VNTR or MLSSR patterns were detected among different conspecifics and geographical locations, dissimilar types were also observed at the same farms an indication of coexistence of Map strains within one herd. We suggest extension of the genotyping work described here to include more endogenous isolates in order to better analysis of transmission and virulence in epidemiology and control of paratuberculosis. • Iran is geographically located in the Middle East, a globally-recognized historic birthplace of farm animals' domestication. • Better epidemiological understanding of paratuberculosis helps to improve our current global knowledge of its epidemiology. • This report pioneers in population genetic study of Map in the region using molecular approaches and producing data comparable to those from rest of the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]