Amoebiasis, caused by Entamoeba histolytica, is still considered a major health problem in develo... more Amoebiasis, caused by Entamoeba histolytica, is still considered a major health problem in developing countries. Since the immune response during human amoebiasis has not been clearly defined, we chose to evaluate cytokine production in patients suffering from amoebic colitis. A case-control association study was carried out on 62 subjects, including 31 patients with amoebic colitis and 31 healthy controls (age, sex and geographic region-matched). Serum levels of IL-12, IFN-gamma, IL-13 and IL-5 were measured by solid-phase sandwich enzyme linked immunosorbant assay. Serum levels of IFN-gamma, IL-12, IL-13 and IL-5 were higher in the patients with amoebic colitis than in healthy controls, but were only statistically increased for IL-5 (p = 0.04) and IL-13 (p = 0.014). Stratification of patients according to gender revealed that IL-13 was significantly elevated in men as compared to levels measured in women (p = 0.04). These findings suggest that E. histolytica induce a mixed Th-1/Th...
Induction of donor-specific immunological tolerance in order to eliminate the lifelong systemic i... more Induction of donor-specific immunological tolerance in order to eliminate the lifelong systemic immunosuppressive therapy and their deleterious side effects as well as to prevent graft loss due to acute or chronic rejection or drug toxicity has been considered the "Holy Grail" of transplantation. The only effective approach of inducing tolerance is combined organ (e.g. kidney) and donor bone marrow transplantation. The hallmark of this protocol is establishment of chimerism and preferentially mixed chimerism using non-meyloablative condition which reduces the risk of GVHD, as well as its feasibility and safety for tolerance induction even in HLA-mismatched kidney graft recipients. The focus of this review is to discuss the last findings of clinical trials mainly from three medical centers as pioneers for designing and implementing tolerance protocols using chimerism-based approaches. Finally, the merits and drawbacks of these protocols are discussed with regard to the feasibility of such protocols for deceased donor grafts and more widespread application in clinical transplantation.
Body iron status has been implicated in atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. The main hypothes... more Body iron status has been implicated in atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. The main hypothesis is that high iron status is associated with increased oxidation of LDL. We investigated the potential role of ferritin as an additional risk factor promoting atherosclerosis among a young population with coronary artery disease (CAD). Four hundred consecutive patients (218 males, 182 females) referred for diagnostic coronary angiography were examined, and risk factors for CAD, lipids, C-reactive protein (CRP), and ferritin concentrations were recorded for all participants. Ferritin was higher in the male patients with CAD (121 microg/L; range, 56-258 microg/L) than in the men without significant CAD (73 microg/L; range, 32-138 microg/L; P <0.002). Multiple logistic regression analysis, after adjustment for the established coronary risk factors, showed ferritin as an independent discriminating risk factor for CAD (P <0.01). Men in the highest quartile of ferritin had an odds rati...
Iranian journal of allergy, asthma, and immunology, 2016
Many studies have shown that cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA-4) gene variants are associat... more Many studies have shown that cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA-4) gene variants are associated with several autoimmune diseases particularly type 1 diabetes. Due to the lack of consistent data for this association with type 2 diabetes (T2D), this study explored the possible influence of CTLA-4 gene polymorphisms at -1722 (T/C), -318 (C/T), and +49 (G/A) positions for susceptibility to T2D in relation with neuropathy. One hundred and eleven unrelated patients with T2D [49 patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) and 62 patients without PDN] and 100 healthy ethnic- and gender-matched controls were included in this study. The dimorphisms at -1722 (C/T), -318 (C/T) and +49 (A/G) for CTLA-4 gene were determined using ARMS-PCR. The CTLA-4 (+49 G/G) and (+49 A/A) genotypes were found to be positively and negatively associated with T2D, respectively (p=0.03). The -318 C/T and T/T genotypes were more frequent in patients than controls and -318 C/C genotype was shown to be prot...
To evaluated the relationship between the genetic variations at IL-8 +2767 position with VL patho... more To evaluated the relationship between the genetic variations at IL-8 +2767 position with VL pathogenesis among Iranian patients. Three groups including patients with VL clinical presentation and leishmania seropositive (n = 124), patients seropositive but without clinical presentation (n = 82) and healthy controls (n = 63) were selected to conduct this cross-sectional study. Polymorphism at +2767 position of IL-8 was investigated using PCR-RFLP techniques. Anti-leishmania antibody titration was evaluated by the immunoflorescence technique. We observed higher significant frequencies +2767 A/A and A/T genotypes in Group 1 compared to Group 2 and healthy controls (P = 0.001). Also, patients in Group 1 carrying A/A genotype showed higher titer of anti-leishmania antibody than patients with A/T and T/T genotypes (P = 0.05). The validity of the data was analyzed using Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and one way analysis of variance (ANOVA), as well as χ(2) tests. Our findings indicate that the...
Hepatitis C Virus genotyping appears to be vital for predicting the response to antiviral therapy... more Hepatitis C Virus genotyping appears to be vital for predicting the response to antiviral therapy. The present study aimed to analyze the HCV genotypes in relation to persistence or clearance of the virus in residents of Hamadan Province, West-Iran. A total of 1159 recorded questionnaires of HCV infected people were evaluated in this prospective study. Several parameters including HCV genotypes, anti-HCV antibodies, viral load, drug treatment, response to therapy and amount of ALT and AST were analyzed. HCV genotyping in 637 samples revealed a predominance of type 1a (52.1%) followed by 3a (42.4%), type 1b (2.7%) and type 2 (0.2%) respectively. Mixed genotypes (3a-1a) were detected in 0.9%, and 1.7% had untypable genotype. High frequency of genotypes 1a and 3a were observed in drug-resistant (group-a) and drug-sensitive (group-b) patients respectively (P<0.0001). Additionally, duration of drug treatment was significantly higher in group-a than group-b (P<0.0001). During follow...
Previous studies revealed that selectins play key roles in homing of immune cells to inflamed tis... more Previous studies revealed that selectins play key roles in homing of immune cells to inflamed tissues and lymphatic organs. L-selectins are expressed on immune cells and interact with P and E selectins to homing to the tissues, hence, the polymorphisms within the gene of L-selectins may are associated with alteration in its expression. Thus, the current cross-sectional analytical study has been designed to investigate the polymorphisms within L-selectin gene and their relation with visceral leishmaniasis (VL). This study was performed on 194 samples during 2004-2012.The PCR-SSP and immunoflorescence techniques were used to evaluate the L-selectins polymorphism and anti-Leishmania antibody titration, respectively, in 56, 74 and 64 seropositive VL patients (group 1), seropositive healthy controls (group 2) and seronegative healthy controls (group 3). The results showed that the genotypes (P=0.711) and alleles (P=0.679) within L-selectins gene (A/C) was not differ between groups. Our r...
This study investigated the influence of HLA class-I and -II genes in the response to IFN-β in re... more This study investigated the influence of HLA class-I and -II genes in the response to IFN-β in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. In this cohort, 231 relapsing-remitting MS patients who are classified into IFN-β responders (n = 146) and nonresponders (n = 85) and 180 ethnic-matched healthy controls were analyzed. Clinical outcome of IFN-β therapy particularly Expanded Disability Status Scale scores were evaluated in relation to HLA-A, -B and -DRB1 alleles and haplotypes. Increased frequencies of HLA-DRB1*04 allele and HLA-A*03-B*44-DRB1*04 haplotype, and decreased frequency of HLA-B*15 were associated with better response to IFN-β treatment. The possibility of genetic screening particularly HLA typing prior to starting IFN-β therapy for MS may permit the identification of likely responders or nonresponders.
Japanese Journal of Infectious Diseases, Aug 1, 2007
Recent evidence suggests that certain Fc gamma receptor alleles are genetic risk factors for infe... more Recent evidence suggests that certain Fc gamma receptor alleles are genetic risk factors for infectious diseases. In this study, we evaluated Fc gamma RIIa polymorphism in patients with brucellosis. In a case-control study, the frequency of two alleles and three genotypes for Fc gamma RIIa were measured by PCR in 150 patients with brucellosis and 125 healthy controls. The H131 and R131 alleles were found in 133 (44.3%) and 167 patients (47.6%), respectively. The frequencies for the three genotypes (a/a, a/r, r/r) were 10 (6.7%), 113 (75.3%) and 27 (18%), respectively. There was no significant difference in the distribution of Fc gamma RIIa genotypes and the two allelic forms between the patients and controls. Our study indicates that Fc gamma RIIa polymorphism is not decisive for the acquisition of brucellosis.
Bordetella pertussis has been suggested to take part in the acute exacerbation of chronic obstruc... more Bordetella pertussis has been suggested to take part in the acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The aim of this study was to investigate the association between B. pertussis and COPD. In this case-control study, 90 patients with COPD and 90 age- and sex- matched control subjects were included. Serum samples were tested for anti-B. pertussis IgG and IgA by ELISA. A physician completed a questionnaire including demographic characteristics, habitual history and spirometric findings for each patient. Of 90 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, 66 (51%) had mild, 31 (34.4%) had moderate, and 13 (14.4%) had severe disease. There was no significant association between B. pertussis IgA seropositivity and COPD. Serum levels of anti- B. pertussis IgG were significantly higher in patients with COPD than in the control subjects (P < 0.001). No association was observed between B. pertussis infection and severity of COPD. The results suggest that ...
Iranian journal of allergy, asthma, and immunology
Asthma is considered as a chronic inflammatory airway disease and defined as increased tracheobro... more Asthma is considered as a chronic inflammatory airway disease and defined as increased tracheobronchial responsiveness to variety of stimuli. Edema and inflammatory cell infiltration in airway is observed in the asthmatic patients. One of the essential changes in inflammation is adhesion of leukocyte to endothelium and transmigration of leukocytes to the sites of inflammation. Unfortunately, little is known about the role of Platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1 (PECAM-1) polymorphism in asthma inflammatory process. The purpose of this study was to determine whether PECAM-1 polymorphisms affect the risk of asthma or not.Forty-five asthmatic patients (including 27 men and 18 women) and 45 healthy volunteers (11 men and 34 women) were studied. To determine the severity of the asthmas situation, a questionnaire was prepared asking the following information: age, sex, clinical signs and symptoms and past medical history. All subjects were genotyped for PECAM-1 polymorphism by us...
Previous studies revealed that selectins play key roles in homing of immune cells to inflamed tis... more Previous studies revealed that selectins play key roles in homing of immune cells to inflamed tissues and lymphatic organs. L-selectins are expressed on immune cells and interact with P and E selectins to homing to the tissues, hence, the polymorphisms within the gene of L-selectins may are associated with alteration in its expression. Thus, the current cross-sectional analytical study has been designed to investigate the polymorphisms within L-selectin gene and their relation with visceral leishmaniasis (VL).
Amoebiasis, caused by Entamoeba histolytica, is still considered a major health problem in develo... more Amoebiasis, caused by Entamoeba histolytica, is still considered a major health problem in developing countries. Since the immune response during human amoebiasis has not been clearly defined, we chose to evaluate cytokine production in patients suffering from amoebic colitis. A case-control association study was carried out on 62 subjects, including 31 patients with amoebic colitis and 31 healthy controls (age, sex and geographic region-matched). Serum levels of IL-12, IFN-gamma, IL-13 and IL-5 were measured by solid-phase sandwich enzyme linked immunosorbant assay. Serum levels of IFN-gamma, IL-12, IL-13 and IL-5 were higher in the patients with amoebic colitis than in healthy controls, but were only statistically increased for IL-5 (p = 0.04) and IL-13 (p = 0.014). Stratification of patients according to gender revealed that IL-13 was significantly elevated in men as compared to levels measured in women (p = 0.04). These findings suggest that E. histolytica induce a mixed Th-1/Th...
Induction of donor-specific immunological tolerance in order to eliminate the lifelong systemic i... more Induction of donor-specific immunological tolerance in order to eliminate the lifelong systemic immunosuppressive therapy and their deleterious side effects as well as to prevent graft loss due to acute or chronic rejection or drug toxicity has been considered the "Holy Grail" of transplantation. The only effective approach of inducing tolerance is combined organ (e.g. kidney) and donor bone marrow transplantation. The hallmark of this protocol is establishment of chimerism and preferentially mixed chimerism using non-meyloablative condition which reduces the risk of GVHD, as well as its feasibility and safety for tolerance induction even in HLA-mismatched kidney graft recipients. The focus of this review is to discuss the last findings of clinical trials mainly from three medical centers as pioneers for designing and implementing tolerance protocols using chimerism-based approaches. Finally, the merits and drawbacks of these protocols are discussed with regard to the feasibility of such protocols for deceased donor grafts and more widespread application in clinical transplantation.
Body iron status has been implicated in atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. The main hypothes... more Body iron status has been implicated in atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. The main hypothesis is that high iron status is associated with increased oxidation of LDL. We investigated the potential role of ferritin as an additional risk factor promoting atherosclerosis among a young population with coronary artery disease (CAD). Four hundred consecutive patients (218 males, 182 females) referred for diagnostic coronary angiography were examined, and risk factors for CAD, lipids, C-reactive protein (CRP), and ferritin concentrations were recorded for all participants. Ferritin was higher in the male patients with CAD (121 microg/L; range, 56-258 microg/L) than in the men without significant CAD (73 microg/L; range, 32-138 microg/L; P <0.002). Multiple logistic regression analysis, after adjustment for the established coronary risk factors, showed ferritin as an independent discriminating risk factor for CAD (P <0.01). Men in the highest quartile of ferritin had an odds rati...
Iranian journal of allergy, asthma, and immunology, 2016
Many studies have shown that cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA-4) gene variants are associat... more Many studies have shown that cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA-4) gene variants are associated with several autoimmune diseases particularly type 1 diabetes. Due to the lack of consistent data for this association with type 2 diabetes (T2D), this study explored the possible influence of CTLA-4 gene polymorphisms at -1722 (T/C), -318 (C/T), and +49 (G/A) positions for susceptibility to T2D in relation with neuropathy. One hundred and eleven unrelated patients with T2D [49 patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) and 62 patients without PDN] and 100 healthy ethnic- and gender-matched controls were included in this study. The dimorphisms at -1722 (C/T), -318 (C/T) and +49 (A/G) for CTLA-4 gene were determined using ARMS-PCR. The CTLA-4 (+49 G/G) and (+49 A/A) genotypes were found to be positively and negatively associated with T2D, respectively (p=0.03). The -318 C/T and T/T genotypes were more frequent in patients than controls and -318 C/C genotype was shown to be prot...
To evaluated the relationship between the genetic variations at IL-8 +2767 position with VL patho... more To evaluated the relationship between the genetic variations at IL-8 +2767 position with VL pathogenesis among Iranian patients. Three groups including patients with VL clinical presentation and leishmania seropositive (n = 124), patients seropositive but without clinical presentation (n = 82) and healthy controls (n = 63) were selected to conduct this cross-sectional study. Polymorphism at +2767 position of IL-8 was investigated using PCR-RFLP techniques. Anti-leishmania antibody titration was evaluated by the immunoflorescence technique. We observed higher significant frequencies +2767 A/A and A/T genotypes in Group 1 compared to Group 2 and healthy controls (P = 0.001). Also, patients in Group 1 carrying A/A genotype showed higher titer of anti-leishmania antibody than patients with A/T and T/T genotypes (P = 0.05). The validity of the data was analyzed using Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and one way analysis of variance (ANOVA), as well as χ(2) tests. Our findings indicate that the...
Hepatitis C Virus genotyping appears to be vital for predicting the response to antiviral therapy... more Hepatitis C Virus genotyping appears to be vital for predicting the response to antiviral therapy. The present study aimed to analyze the HCV genotypes in relation to persistence or clearance of the virus in residents of Hamadan Province, West-Iran. A total of 1159 recorded questionnaires of HCV infected people were evaluated in this prospective study. Several parameters including HCV genotypes, anti-HCV antibodies, viral load, drug treatment, response to therapy and amount of ALT and AST were analyzed. HCV genotyping in 637 samples revealed a predominance of type 1a (52.1%) followed by 3a (42.4%), type 1b (2.7%) and type 2 (0.2%) respectively. Mixed genotypes (3a-1a) were detected in 0.9%, and 1.7% had untypable genotype. High frequency of genotypes 1a and 3a were observed in drug-resistant (group-a) and drug-sensitive (group-b) patients respectively (P<0.0001). Additionally, duration of drug treatment was significantly higher in group-a than group-b (P<0.0001). During follow...
Previous studies revealed that selectins play key roles in homing of immune cells to inflamed tis... more Previous studies revealed that selectins play key roles in homing of immune cells to inflamed tissues and lymphatic organs. L-selectins are expressed on immune cells and interact with P and E selectins to homing to the tissues, hence, the polymorphisms within the gene of L-selectins may are associated with alteration in its expression. Thus, the current cross-sectional analytical study has been designed to investigate the polymorphisms within L-selectin gene and their relation with visceral leishmaniasis (VL). This study was performed on 194 samples during 2004-2012.The PCR-SSP and immunoflorescence techniques were used to evaluate the L-selectins polymorphism and anti-Leishmania antibody titration, respectively, in 56, 74 and 64 seropositive VL patients (group 1), seropositive healthy controls (group 2) and seronegative healthy controls (group 3). The results showed that the genotypes (P=0.711) and alleles (P=0.679) within L-selectins gene (A/C) was not differ between groups. Our r...
This study investigated the influence of HLA class-I and -II genes in the response to IFN-β in re... more This study investigated the influence of HLA class-I and -II genes in the response to IFN-β in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. In this cohort, 231 relapsing-remitting MS patients who are classified into IFN-β responders (n = 146) and nonresponders (n = 85) and 180 ethnic-matched healthy controls were analyzed. Clinical outcome of IFN-β therapy particularly Expanded Disability Status Scale scores were evaluated in relation to HLA-A, -B and -DRB1 alleles and haplotypes. Increased frequencies of HLA-DRB1*04 allele and HLA-A*03-B*44-DRB1*04 haplotype, and decreased frequency of HLA-B*15 were associated with better response to IFN-β treatment. The possibility of genetic screening particularly HLA typing prior to starting IFN-β therapy for MS may permit the identification of likely responders or nonresponders.
Japanese Journal of Infectious Diseases, Aug 1, 2007
Recent evidence suggests that certain Fc gamma receptor alleles are genetic risk factors for infe... more Recent evidence suggests that certain Fc gamma receptor alleles are genetic risk factors for infectious diseases. In this study, we evaluated Fc gamma RIIa polymorphism in patients with brucellosis. In a case-control study, the frequency of two alleles and three genotypes for Fc gamma RIIa were measured by PCR in 150 patients with brucellosis and 125 healthy controls. The H131 and R131 alleles were found in 133 (44.3%) and 167 patients (47.6%), respectively. The frequencies for the three genotypes (a/a, a/r, r/r) were 10 (6.7%), 113 (75.3%) and 27 (18%), respectively. There was no significant difference in the distribution of Fc gamma RIIa genotypes and the two allelic forms between the patients and controls. Our study indicates that Fc gamma RIIa polymorphism is not decisive for the acquisition of brucellosis.
Bordetella pertussis has been suggested to take part in the acute exacerbation of chronic obstruc... more Bordetella pertussis has been suggested to take part in the acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The aim of this study was to investigate the association between B. pertussis and COPD. In this case-control study, 90 patients with COPD and 90 age- and sex- matched control subjects were included. Serum samples were tested for anti-B. pertussis IgG and IgA by ELISA. A physician completed a questionnaire including demographic characteristics, habitual history and spirometric findings for each patient. Of 90 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, 66 (51%) had mild, 31 (34.4%) had moderate, and 13 (14.4%) had severe disease. There was no significant association between B. pertussis IgA seropositivity and COPD. Serum levels of anti- B. pertussis IgG were significantly higher in patients with COPD than in the control subjects (P < 0.001). No association was observed between B. pertussis infection and severity of COPD. The results suggest that ...
Iranian journal of allergy, asthma, and immunology
Asthma is considered as a chronic inflammatory airway disease and defined as increased tracheobro... more Asthma is considered as a chronic inflammatory airway disease and defined as increased tracheobronchial responsiveness to variety of stimuli. Edema and inflammatory cell infiltration in airway is observed in the asthmatic patients. One of the essential changes in inflammation is adhesion of leukocyte to endothelium and transmigration of leukocytes to the sites of inflammation. Unfortunately, little is known about the role of Platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1 (PECAM-1) polymorphism in asthma inflammatory process. The purpose of this study was to determine whether PECAM-1 polymorphisms affect the risk of asthma or not.Forty-five asthmatic patients (including 27 men and 18 women) and 45 healthy volunteers (11 men and 34 women) were studied. To determine the severity of the asthmas situation, a questionnaire was prepared asking the following information: age, sex, clinical signs and symptoms and past medical history. All subjects were genotyped for PECAM-1 polymorphism by us...
Previous studies revealed that selectins play key roles in homing of immune cells to inflamed tis... more Previous studies revealed that selectins play key roles in homing of immune cells to inflamed tissues and lymphatic organs. L-selectins are expressed on immune cells and interact with P and E selectins to homing to the tissues, hence, the polymorphisms within the gene of L-selectins may are associated with alteration in its expression. Thus, the current cross-sectional analytical study has been designed to investigate the polymorphisms within L-selectin gene and their relation with visceral leishmaniasis (VL).
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