: Background: Several clinical studies have recently claimed that HCV infection could trigger the
onset of diabetes mellitus (DM). In order to determine the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV)
among patients with type 1, 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) and investigate the influence of several
epidemiological factors on HCV infection, we conducted this study.
Materials and Methods: In this case-control study we evaluated 505 diabetic patients (135 male,
370 female with the mean age of 54.5 years) who had referred to Diabetic clinic in Boo-Ali hospital
(a teaching hospital in south east of Iran) in 2004. Serologic testing for anti- HCV was done using a
third–generation commercial Enzyme–Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) and Real–time–PCR
(HCV RNA) in order to confirm the anti-HCV positive samples. Diabetic patients were divided in
two groups according to their HCV antibody status and were analyzed for the following variables:
age, sex, type of diabetes, duration of disease, mode of therapy, late diabetic complication, previous
blood transfusions, intravenous drug addiction, hospital admissions and major surgical procedures.
Then results were compared with the findings from blood donors.
Results: HCV infection was detected in one patient who had history of hospitalization and blood
transfusion. However, a higher prevalence of HCV infection was not observed in diabetic patients
in comparison with blood donors (P=0.46).There was no correlation between HCV and diabetic
type, duration, age, sex (P>0.05).
Conclusions: Upon the results of our study, we conclude that HCV infection is not a trigger
factor for DM; therefore it should not be listed among the various extrahepatic manifestations of
this viral infection. Although, further studies, possibly multicentre, are needed to estimate
prevalence of HCV in diabetic patients.
Background: Chitotriosidase (CHIT1), the major chitinase in human airways, is expressed by pulmonary macrophage. Variation in the coding region with 24 bp duplication allele results in reduced CHIT1 activity. Objectives: The present study was designed to assess the impact of 24 bp duplication in exon 10 of human CHIT1 gene on pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) risk. Patients and Methods: This case-control study was performed on 173 PTB patients and 164 healthy subjects in Zahedan, southeast Iran. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to detect the variant. Results: Homozygous wild type, heterozygous and homozygous mutant frequencies of CHIT1 24 bp duplication polymorphism were 43.9%, 43.9% and 12.2% in controls and 42.8%, 45.1% and 12.1% in PTB patients. We found the mutant allele frequency of 34.2% and 34.7% in controls and cases, respectively. Chi-square comparison of PTB and control subjects and logistic regression analysis revealed no association between CHIT1 24 bp duplication and PTB. Conclusions: In conclusion, CHIT1 24 bp duplication might not be a candidate gene for susceptibility to PTB. Larger studies are necessary to confirm these findings in various populations.
The most dangerous form of extra-pulmonary tuberculosis is tuberculous meningitis (TBM). Diagnosis of TBM has special problem due to its paucibacillary. Also, sensitivity and specificity of routine microscopy and culture in the diagnosis of this disease is controversial. So, faster and more accurate laboratory test is required. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and real time PCR may be good candidates for this purpose.
Successful Embryo Transfer (ET) technique is a fateful step of all efforts to achieve live births from in vitro produced embryos in assisted reproductive techniques or in knockout, transgenic or cloned animal projects. Small reproductive tract of mice and limitation of current techniques may not well satisfy the requirements for mass production of genetically modified mice. Genetic abnormalities of embryos, receptivity and uterine contractions, expulsion of embryos, blood, mucus or bacterial contamination on the transfer pipette tip, technical problems and even animal strain may affect embryo transfer outcome.In this study, two techniques of embryo transfer in mice were compared. In conventional technique the oviduct wall was punctured with a 30-gauge needle and the loaded Pasteur pipette with embryos and medium was inserted into the hole. In new technique, embryos that were loaded in modified micropipette with minimal medium were transferred directly to the oviduct by manual piston micro-pump easily. Embryo viability was evaluated considering the percentage of live healthy newborns.Results of the two techniques were compared by t-test within the NPAR1WAY procedure of SAS software (ver. 9.2). The average live birth rates in the novel methods was significantly higher (42.4%) than the conventional method (21.7%, p<0.05).In conclusion, using new embryo transfer technique improved birth rate by preventing embryos expulsion from the oviduct, saving time and easy transfer of embryos with minimum volume of medium.
The South eastern region of Iran is an endemic area for salmonellosis. Sometimes bacteremia due to nontyphoidal salmonella occurs but certain patients are at increased risk for recurrent bacteremia. The risk of invasive salmonellosis and recurrent bacteremia is increased in the patients with immunosuppression, especially impaired cell-mediated immunity, lymphoproliferative diseases and in patients with IL-12 deficiency. In recent years, a series of inherited disorders of IL-12-IFN-gamma axis have been described that predispose affected individuals to disseminated disease caused by environmental mycobacteria and non-typhoidal salmonella. We report here the first such patient originating from and living in Iran. The patient was a 26-year-old man, suffering from IL-12p40 deficiency and presented with recurrent episodes of systemic salmonellosis. This report indicates that there are patients with inherited defects of the IL-12-IFN-gamma circuit in Iran. We recommended to consider this group of disorders in all patients with recurrent non-typhoidal salmonella bacteremia, wherever they are found.
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