Leishmaniasis in humans: drug or vaccine therapy? Masoud Ghorbani, Ramin Farhoudi Department of Viral Vaccine Production, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Research and Production Complex, Karaj, Iran Leishmania is an obligate intracellular pathogen that invades phagocytic host cells. Approximately 30 different species of Phlebotomine sand flies can transmit this parasite either anthroponotically or zoonotically through their bites. Leishmaniasis affects poor people living around the Mediterranean Basin, East Africa, the Americas, and Southeast Asia. Affected regions are often remote and unstable, with limited resources for treating this disease. Leishmaniasis has been reported as one of the most dangerous neglected tropical diseases, second only to malaria in parasitic causes of death. People can carry some species of Leishmania for long periods without becoming ill, and symptoms depend on the form of the disease. There are many drugs and candidate vaccines available to treat leishmaniasis. For instance, antiparasitic drugs, such as amphotericin B (AmBisome), are a treatment of choice for leishmaniasis depending on the type of the disease. Despite the availability of different treatment approaches to treat leishmaniasis, therapeutic tools are not adequate to eradicate this infection. In the meantime, drug therapy has been limited because of adverse side effects and unsuccessful vaccine preparation. However, it can immediately make infections inactive. According to other studies, vaccination cannot eradicate leishmaniasis. There is no perfect vaccine or suitable drug to eradicate leishmaniasis completely. So far, no vaccine or drug has been provided to induce long-term protection and ensure effective immunity against leishmaniasis. Therefore, it is necessary that intensive research should be performed in drug and vaccine fields to achieve certain results. Keywords: leishmania, leishmania treatment, vaccine, recombinant antigens

Background: The key point in the production procedure of inbred animals is checking the genetic purity. Skin grafting and coat color test are used traditionally to prove genetic purity, but they have some disadvantages. Recent advances in DNA profiling have enabled scientists to check easily the genetic purity of laboratory animals. In the current study, a set of microsatellite markers was designed to check the purity of inbred laboratory mice. Materials and Methods: Twenty microsatellites located on 20 chromosomes were employed to create a distinctive genetic profile for parentage analysis. Each individual primer was designed based on distinguishable colors and separable sizes. Results: Twenty specific microsatellite markers were used in the polymerase chain reaction mixture to identify inbred BALB/cJ strains. Our results confirmed that the designed microsatellites are excellent genetic markers for testing inbred BALB/cJ strain in laboratories. Conclusion: Our study showed that genetic profiling using microsatellite markers allows us to detect the genetic differences of laboratory mouse species in quality control tests and validation steps.

Objective(s): Early detection of cancer can significantly increase the likelihood of successful treatment, and imaging assay can have a significant impact on cancer diagnosis. Although gadolinium compounds are used as a contrast agent in MRI, this substance has side effects and disadvantages. Nanotechnology has so far had a significan impact on medical imaging methods, especially MRI, nanoparticles are contrast enhancers that Each with its characteristics have increased the quality of images and reduced toxicity.Materials and Methods: In this study, a novel nano-conjugate based PLGA-tryptophan was synthesized and loaded with Gd3+ for using it as a potential MR imaging contrast agent to overcome the previous disadvantage. In vitro cell toxicity, cellular uptake and MR imaging parameters of the prepared nanoconjugate were investigated ,Results: The results showed no in vivo toxicity plus flowcytometry assays, good cellular uptake and large longitudinal (r1).Conclusion: Convenient features of the nano-probe indicate that it is a promising agent to use as a MR imaging agent.