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Background. COVID-19 disease is the cause of daily morbidity and mortality worldwide due to its high transmissibility and pathogenicity. To date, intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) injection has been used as one of the various treatments for this disease. This study aimed to determine the effect of IVIg injection on the treatment of patients with Coronavirus-induced cytokine storm. Methods. A total of 174 patients with COVID-19 were included in this study based on their clinical characteristics and laboratory findings and were divided into two groups of IVIg recipients and non-recipients according to the treatment they received. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 22.0. A p-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results. IVIg was used to treat merely 20 patients and Kaletra and hemoperfusion drugs were used more among IVIg recipient patients (P=0.003 and P=0.001, respectively). COVID-19-positive PCR tests were significantly more frequent among IVIg recipients (P=0.026). The polymorphonuclear neutrophil (PMN) count (P=0.007) and sodium level (P=0.007) were significantly higher in the IVIg recipient group on the first admission day. Moreover, INR levels in the IVIg recipient group were significantly lower on the seventh admission day (P=0.020). The median of total intensive care unit (ICU) duration of hospitalization among IVIg recipients was significantly higher (P=0.001). Conclusion. It seems that the use of IVIg in COVID-19 patients should be further investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was declared a global pandemic. There is an urgent need for finding efficient medical treatments to diminish the high mortality rate of the mutant variants of the virus. This study aimed to determine the efficacy of edaravone in patients with moderate COVID-19. Methods. This single-center non-randomized controlled clinical trial was performed on hospitalized patients with moderate COVID-19. The patients were divided into two groups of intervention (n=17) and control (n=16). Patients in the intervention group received three doses of edaravone (30 mg) for three interval days (Days 2, 4, and 6). Admission to the intensive care unit (ICU), need for intubation, and mortality were the primary outcomes. Results. All cases had 15-60% lung involvement. Although edaravone reduced the admission to ICU, need for intubation, and mortality rate in patients with moderate COVID-19, the results were not statistically significant. Baseline characteristics, admission days, and clinical parameters were similar between the two groups (P>0.05). Conclusion. Administration of edaravone 30 mg for three days had no significant effect on the overall outcome of patients with moderate COVID-19. Practical Implications. In this study, none of the COVID-19 patients receiving edaravone had ICU admission, intubation, and mortality. However, no significant difference was found between the clinical outcomes of the control and intervention groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) with more than 10 million new cases per year and one of the top 10 causes of death worldwide, is still one of the most important global health problems. Also, multi drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR) is a serious danger to public health. Understanding of the epidemiological pattern of mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), Estimates of recent transmission and recurrence of infection, it is possible with molecular typing methods. The present study was performed aiming to track and determine the type of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection, as well as its relationship with demographic factors, using PGRS-RFLP. Materials and Methods: In this study, 90 samples collected from TB patients from the North West provinces of Iran, Molecular typing by Characterization highly abundant polymorphic GC-rich-repetitive sequence. Investigated Demographic factors associated with the transmission of the disease. Results: All isolates were grouped into 44 clusters 28types (33.3%) of the subspecies were in unique stains and 66.7% (from 56 patients) had clustered isolates. The largest cluster contained 8 isolates (9.52%) was the West provinces of Iran. Conclusion: Genetic variation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis is high in this region. The rate of recent transmission based on clustering was unexpected (The global average is 30%-40%). The recent transmission was more dynamic in the west than northwest Iran. Clustering based on PGRS-RFLP can demonstrate the high correlation between molecular and classic information. In addition, the significant relationship between vaccination record and clustering highlights the necessity to conduct more extensive studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]