Background: It is possible to identify drugs and poisons present in cadavers by analyzing blowfly larvae and pupae collected during forensic autopsies. The main purpose of this study was to use larvae and pupae to identify drugs and poisons present in human cadavers.
Methods: In an investigation, immature fed meat treated with methamphetamine (MA) at various concentrations (45, 90, and 180 ng/mg) were analyzed to detect MA.
Wolbachia is a maternally inherited intracellular bacterium that is considered to be the most plentiful endosymbiont found in arthropods. It reproductively manipulates its host to increase the chances of being transmitted to the insect progeny; and it is currently used as a means of suppressing disease vector populations or controlling vector-borne diseases. Studies of the dissemination and prevalence of Wolbachia among its arthropod hosts are important for its possible use as a biological control agent.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMembers of Sarcophagidae are necrophagous and are commonly found on decaying carcasses; and their developmental forms are important indicators for the approximation of lowest postmortem interval (PMImin). This work describes the biological characteristics of from Tehran, Iran. Various temperature regimes were applied to estimate the thermal summation constant (k) and thermal requirements for development of Five growth proceedings, containing 1st ecdysis, 2nd ecdysis, wandering, pupariation and eclosion, were investigated under eight fixed temperature regimes (6-30 °C).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Sarcophagidae is one of the main fly families that is attracted to open wounds, ulcers, lesions, and other injuries for depositing their larvae. The presence of larvae of flies in human tissues makes myiasis. Myiasis on the scalp could be more frightening in comparison with myiasis on the other parts of the body.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: This is the first clinical trial to investigate the effectiveness of maggot debridement therapy (MDT) for full-thickness burn injuries in comparison to conventional silver dressings.
Methods: Thirty-one cases with full-thickness (grade III based on ICD-10 classifications version 2019) burns were assigned into larval therapy (15 cases) and conventional treatment (16 cases) groups. Participants in the MDT group have received loose larvae on days 0, 2, 4, and 6, while controls received a conventional regimen comprised of sharp debridement, silver sulfadiazine, antibiotic therapy, and offloading every day.
Leishmaniasis is a zoonotic disease caused by an intracellular parasite from the genus Leishmania. Lack of safe and effective drugs has increasingly promoted researches into new drugs of natural origin to cure the disease. The study, therefore, aimed to investigate the anti-leishmanial effects of Lucilia sericata larval excretion/secretion (ES) in combination with Apis mellifera honey as a synergist on Leishmania major using an in vitro model.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Arthropod Borne Dis
December 2022
Background: Leishmaniasis is one of the most important vector-borne and neglected tropical diseases in many parts of the world. The main objective of this study was to determine the biodiversity of phlebotomine sand flies (Diptera: Psychodidae, Phlebotominae) in Khuzestan and Kermanshah Provinces of Iran.
Methods: Sampling was conducted in Khuzestan and Kermanshah Provinces using sticky paper traps and CDC light traps.
Identifying the sex of human hosts of insect disease vectors, using PCR amplification of the amelogenin gene (AMEL) from the ingested blood meal is an increasingly useful technique for epidemiological studies of vector-borne diseases, as well as within the criminal justice system. Detection of DNA from ingested blood is influenced by the choice of DNA extraction method, genomic target region, type and length of PCR, and rate of degradation in the DNA samples over time. Here, we have tested two types of PCR (i.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) remains a major challenge for the public health and medical community. It has been claimed that natural compounds derived from fly larvae have anti-leishmania properties against some species of Leishmania. The present study aimed at assessing the in vitro effects of larval products of Lucilia sericata against the promastigote and intracellular amastigote forms of Leishmania major.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Maggot debridement therapy (MDT) is an emerging procedure involving the application of sterile maggots of the Dipteran species (commonly ) to effect debridement, disinfection and promote healing in wounds not responding to antimicrobial therapy. Data on MDT in sub-Saharan Africa (including Nigeria) are scarce. This study aimed to use medicinal grade maggots as a complementary method to debride hard-to-heal necrotic ulcers and thereby promote wound healing.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe flesh flies are a group of insects well known for their forensic importance. Reliable identification of these flies relies on the use of either molecular markers or the morphology of the male genital apparatus. Identification of female flesh flies is more time consuming and less reliable than their male counterparts.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn the present study, the efficiency of two formulations of maggot therapy: free-range larvae on the wounds and larvae in a special bag (larval-bag), was compared for healing diabetic ulcers with Wagner 2 diabetic ulcer. This study was conducted as a parallel randomized clinical trial. Out of 281 patients with Wagner grade 2 diabetic ulcers referred to the wound clinic, 54 patients who met the inclusion criteria were randomly assigned to intervention groups.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEntomological material may be used to estimate the time since death occurred (postmortem interval, PMI) in forensically obscure cases. The method that is commonly used to calculate minimum post-mortem interval (mPMI, i.e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Flesh flies (Diptera: Sarcophagidae) are considered as myiasis agents and important evidences in forensic investigations. However, their use has been restricted because, at all larval stages and female adults, morphological species identification is difficult or very challenging. This study investigated to test utility of mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (mt-COI) sequences for differentiation of six forensically important Iranian flesh flies namely, , , , , and .
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Leishmaniasis is a major parasitic disease worldwide, except in Australia and Antarctica, and it poses a significant public health problem. Due to the absence of safe and effective vaccines and drugs, researchers have begun an extensive search for new drugs. The aim of the current study was to investigate the in vitro leishmanicidal activity of larval saliva and hemolymph of Lucilia sericata on Leishmania tropica.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Southern part of the country is a high risk for mosquito transmitted Arboviruses. This study was carried out to determine the base line susceptibility of the Aedini mosquitoes to the WHO-recommended insecticide.
Methods: Larval collection was carried out by dipping method and adult collection occurred by suction tube from January to December 2017.
Background: Chronic nonhealing wounds are very expensive to treat and debilitating, and they reduce health-related quality of life. Scalp necrosis is very rare due to its rich vascularity. However, any post-traumatic wounds with secondary infection can lead to scalp necrosis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFZoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis (ZCL) is prevalent in Golestan Province, Iran. The current study determined the relationship between the distribution and biodiversity of sand flies with cutaneous leishmaniasis at 14 villages in plain and hillsides areas. In each village from July to September 2017, 60 sticky traps and 2 CDC light traps were laid.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Arthropod Borne Dis
December 2019
Background: Phlebotominae sand flies (Diptera: Psychodidae) are the vectors of leishmaniasis. There are different methods for sand fly collection with different performance. The purpose of the current study was to compare the effect of different traps for collection of Phlebotominae sand flies in three endemic leishmaniasis foci in North Khorasan Province, northeast of Iran.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe flesh fly genus Wohlfahrtia Brauer & Bergenstamm contains at least six species of medical and veterinary importance. Traditional methods of species identification in specimens of Wohlfahrtia, however, are restricted mostly to adult forms. Muscle attachment site (MAS) patterns allow for species determination in larval forms.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDomestic filth flies play a significant role in the transmission of nosocomial infections and cause nosocomial myiasis in hospitals worldwide. This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in five hospitals of the Hormozgan province, of southern Iran. Adult flies were collected by bottle fly traps.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSynanthropic flies are members of order Diptera and considered as medical and veterinary pests. In this study, parasitoid wasps were determined and their natural host preferences in order to select a suitable agent for biological control of flies. The pupae of three species of flies; , and were used as hosts for natural parasitoids.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFForensically important flesh flies (Diptera: Sarcophagidae) often are not morphologically distinguishable, especially at the immature stage. In addition, female flies are quite similar in general morphology, making accurate identifications difficult. DNA-based technologies, particularly mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), have been used for species-level identification.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCorrect species identification is a crucial step in research and the practice of forensic entomology. At the moment the most common and widely used tool for this purpose are taxonomic keys based on morphological characters. During recent decades molecular methods have been used more and more often for species identification.
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