Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the most important public health problems in the world and has been declared as a global emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1993. Bacillus Calmette-Gué rin (BCG) is one of the first developed VACCINEs to prevent TB. Unfortunately, BCG VACCINE has had a limited duration of protection and has shown controversial and variable levels of efficacy, especially against pulmonary TB. On the other hand, efforts in production of new forms of this VACCINE have been in vain and revaccination is not considered as a suitable strategy to control the disease. Considering that TB affects adults mostly between the ages of 15 and 59, pulmonary TB is more common than disseminated TB and BCG VACCINE has had a minimal effect on the global burden of pulmonary TB. Before introducing a new, safe and effective VACCINE, combined strategies in the field of control and treatment of TB rather than vaccination are necessary.

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Aims: The Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) is the only VACCINE available against tuberculosis. The BCG strain used in Iran as the VACCINE is not specified. The purpose of the present study was to confirm and make a qualitative control for BCG VACCINE in Iran and to determine the genetic polymorphism of the given strain.Methods: Twenty eight lyophilized BCG VACCINEs (Pasteur Institute, Iran) with different batch numbers were collected over a year (2011-12) and transferred under the temperature condition of 4°C to the laboratory. Three strains of VACCINE were selected randomly out of each batch number. The DNA was extracted using CTAB method. DNA samples were kept at -20oC. Of four primers, RD14 and DU1 genes were used for PCR. The sequence of RD16 region in BCG strains was determined using DNA analyzer ABI3730XL using Chromas and Mega4 software. VNTR typing was done for six genic positions.Results: All strains were positive in terms of their culture on the medium. In all BCG strains under study, DU1 duplication in the bacteria’s chromosome was observed. None of strains had RD14 gene. All RD16 regions had similar sequence with RD16 region in the genome of Pasture1173p2 strain. The number and size of repeated units for six gene positions including MIRU4, MIRU24, MIRU26, MIRU40, VNTR1895 and VNTR11b in 28 strains of different BCG in the VACCINE samples were respectively (2×77)+122, (2×54)+393, (5×51)+285, (2×54)+354, (4×57)+281 and (3×69)+67.Conclusion: BCG strain using in Iran is the very Pasteur 1173p2 and may be used as VACCINE.

Recent studies have proposed that a decline in bacterial infections such as tuberculosis is a factor underlying the rising prevalence and severity of atopic disorder in developed countries. There are conflicting ideas about the inverse relationship between BCG (Bacillus Calmette-Guerin) vaccination and asthma. Stronger response to tuberculin test as an indicator of more potent TH1 response is supposed to influence TH2 modulated allergic reactions. BCG scar considered as an indicator of TH1 - immunoresponse has been proposed to be smaller in asthmatic children in some studies.In a case-control study, 97 asthmatic and 97 control children younger than 5 years of age and BCG vaccinated at birth were tested with 5 units of tuberculin intradermaly. After 48-72 hours, the indurated area was measured in two diameters. Mean while, the scar of BCG in both groups was measured. Severity of asthma in the case group was recorded and categorized into mild, moderate and severe groups.The case group consisted of 63% boys and 37% girls and their tuberculin response was significantly smaller than that of the control (p=0.000), but no data supported the inverse relationship between the tuberculin response and severity of asthma (p=0.113). The scar of BCG was not significantly different in the asthmatic children with variable severity of asthma and control group (p=0.864).Children with definite asthma had a significant weaker response to tuberculin. This might be an indication of less potent TH1-reponse in allergic patients, but it was not associated with severity of asthma. No significant relationship between the size of BCG scar and asthma or its severity was found so perhaps BCG scar is not a sensitive indicator for development of asthma in future.

Bacterial products have attracted much attention as potential antitumor agents, with the ability to provide direct tumoricidal effects, leading to the inhibition of tumor growth. Treatment of superficial bladder cancer with intravesical BCG has a more reduction potential than surgery in tumor recurrence rate. BCG, the gold standard for NMIBC, is manufactured from different strains and produced commercially with varied strengths. There are a few countries known as the manufacturer of this strategic biopharmaceutical product, and Iran as a member of the Eastern Mediterranean Region plays a vital role in supplying this VACCINE. Studies have failed to uncover the exact mechanism of action of the intravesical BCG,however, evidence points toward an immunogenic mechanism that proficiently modifies a biologic response and provokes the immune cells in order to kill and suppress tumors. Among various underlying mechanisms, BCG bacillus attachment to fibronectin through its FAP is a pivotal mechanism for BCG tumoricidal activity.

Background and Aim: Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) VACCINE endows non-specific immunity against other respiratory tract infections (RTIs) such as Coronavirus. According to the lack of sufficient evidence in this field, the present study was to determine the correlation between BCG vaccination with frequency and the severity of the pandemic in Iran.Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. The study participants were comprised of all hospitalized patients with suspected coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in selected military hospitals in Tehran. Convenience sampling was also operated with regard to the inclusion criterion in the study. The data collection tool was a demographic-clinical information form. Also, checking the vaccination scar on the upper arm, interviewing, and asking patients or their companions to self-report the history of vaccination were the techniques to confirm BCG vaccination in the patients. The data were analyzed using the IBM SPSS Statistics (v.22.0) software package.Results: In this study, 400 patients completed the questionnaires. The results of this study showed that most of the patients were male. The mean age of the participants was 52.35±6.98 years. The majority of the participants were infected with COVID-19 and other underlying diseases. The test results showed no significant relationship between the history of BCG vaccination and COVID-19 infection, but a significant correlation was detected between BCG vaccination and the disease severity (P=0.015). The test results also showed a significant relationship between age and COVID-19 severity (P=0.034). A significant relationship was further spotted between the COVID-19 severity and the history of underlying diseases (P=0.031).Conclusion: Considering that BCG VACCINE is one of the most common strategies applied across the world; it was suggested to use it to prevent severe types of respiratory tract infections. Future studies should be conducted on different types of human populations such as children and pregnant women.

Introduction: Tuberculosis remains as an important socioeconomical and medical problem throughout the world and especially in Iran. Early and timely diagnosis of pulmonary and extrapulmonary tuberculosis is very vital to initiate prompt treatment. Current diagnostic methods are either slow or lack enough sensitivity or specificity. Several mycobacterial antigens are involved in the complex interaction with the immune system of the host. Their identification is important for both diagnosis and protection against mycobacteria. Antigen 60 (A60) is a thermostable antigen found in the cytosol of M.bovis and M.tuberculosis. Performing ELISA test using A60 for diagnosis of tuberculosis has shown goos results . In previous researches A60 also showed a protective effect against experimental infections and useful immuno therapeutic effects in prevention and treatment of cancer. Materials and Methods: A60 was purified by size exclusion chromatography using sephrose 4B. A60 was recognized by bidimentional immunoelectrophoresis with anti BCG and Anti A60 antiserum. Double diffusion – precipitation test was performed using purified antigen and anti BCG antiserum. Purified A60 was fractionated in SDS – PAGE and transferred to nitrocellulose membrane and western blotting was performed using anti A60 antiserum as primary antibody and anti human immunoglobulin as secondary antibody. Results: A60 appeared as the less mobile component in Crossed Immuno Electrophoresis. In agarose electrophoresis, A60 formed only one band and in immunodiffusion A60 formed two immunopercipitinogen line with anti BCG. In analyzing with dot blotting, both cytoplasm and cell wall of BCG showed positive reaction with anti A60 anti serum. When A60 was fractionated by SDS – PAGE and transferred to nitrocellulose membrane and analyzed in western blotting with anti A60, proteins of 65, 46, 40, 38 and 35 KD were identified. Conclusion: It is concluded that A60 is a macro molecular antigen of BCG with molecular weight of 106 – 107 Da and has several proteins. A60 can easily be purified from BCG VACCINE which is produced in Iran, by size exclusionchromatography using sepharose 4B.