Review Article
Vijay Kumar; Bikash Medhi
Abstract
Normal pregnancy has been considered as a controlled state of inflammation at an early stage of blastocyst implantation that subsequently develops systemically. Till recent past most popular hypotheses regarding status of immune system in pregnancy were dominated by the Th1 and Th2 hypothesis, in which ...
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Normal pregnancy has been considered as a controlled state of inflammation at an early stage of blastocyst implantation that subsequently develops systemically. Till recent past most popular hypotheses regarding status of immune system in pregnancy were dominated by the Th1 and Th2 hypothesis, in which the fetus avoids maternal rejection through a bias towards T-helper (Th2) cytokine production. Recent findings have shown that predominant immune interactions in the human deciduas are between the placental trophoblast and maternal uterine natural killer (uNK) cells rather than the T cells. Thus NK cells are emerging as important players in the uterine immune response to invasive forms of placenta, as in cases of hemochorial placenta. In humans there is a lack of evidence for T-cell responses to trophoblast cells; therefore it was thought that uterine NK cells are the key factors by which the maternal immune system recognizes trophoblast cells. In this review we are trying to summarize the role of uNK cells in the maintenance of normal pregnancy in humans.
Original Article
Zahra Meshkat; Hoorieh Soleimajjahi; Mahmoud Mahmoudi; Zuhair Mohammad Hassan; Hessam Mirshahabi; Mojtaba Meshkat; Maryam Kheirandish
Abstract
Background: Cervical cancer is the most prevalent tumor in developing countries and the second most frequent cancer among female population worldwide. Specific human papillomaviruses and, most notably, HPV types 16 and 18 are recognized as being caus-ally associated with cervical carcinomas. The early ...
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Background: Cervical cancer is the most prevalent tumor in developing countries and the second most frequent cancer among female population worldwide. Specific human papillomaviruses and, most notably, HPV types 16 and 18 are recognized as being caus-ally associated with cervical carcinomas. The early HPV type 16 genes, E6 and E7, di-rectly participate in the in vitro transformation of primary human keratinocytes and rep-resent an excellent target for immune therapy of HPV related disease. Objective: The aim of this study was the evaluation of the efficacy of a DNA vaccine containing human papillomaviruse type 16 E7 gene (Iranian isolate) in induction of CTL responses in an animal model. Methods: In this study, the expression vector containing HPV type 16 E7 gene was constructed and chosen as a model antigen in the development of a thera-peutic DNA vaccine in an animal model. CTL responses, cytokine assay, lymphocyte stimulation test, CD4 and CD8 staining and flowcytometry were done for evaluating of the immune responses. Results: Our findings indicate that the target DNA vaccine can induce an E7-specific CTL response, which is important in the lysis of infected tumor cells, compared to negative control (p<0.005) after in vivo immunization in the mouse system. Conclusion: The developed vaccine may be promising as an anti-cancer vac-cine.
Original Article
Ali Akbar Amirzargar; Nilufar Mohseni; Mohammad Ali Shokrgozar; Zohreh Arjang; Nahid Ahmadi; Manijeh Yousefi Behzadi; Amir Amanzadeh; Fazel Shokri
Abstract
Background: Different studies have demonstrated that a small proportion of healthy individuals receiving the hepatitis B (HB) vaccine do not produce protective levels of anti-HB antibody, a phenomenon which could be linked to certain human leukocyte an-tigen (HLA) class-II alleles or haplotypes. Objectives: ...
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Background: Different studies have demonstrated that a small proportion of healthy individuals receiving the hepatitis B (HB) vaccine do not produce protective levels of anti-HB antibody, a phenomenon which could be linked to certain human leukocyte an-tigen (HLA) class-II alleles or haplotypes. Objectives: The present study was under-taken to determine the frequency of HLA class-II alleles in Iranian healthy adult re-sponders and non-responders to HB vaccine. Methods: Twelve non-responders (anti-HBs antibody<10 IU/L) and 46 responders (anti-HBs antibody>100 IU/L) were tissue typed for HLA class-II. HLA-DRB1, DQB1 and DQA1 alleles were determined using polymerase chain reaction based on sequence specific primers (PCR-SSP) technique. Accessibility to excess amount of genomic DNA was possible using Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-transformed B-cells established from all vaccinees. Results: Our results demon-strated increased frequencies of HLA- DRB1*07, DRB1*03, DRB1*04, DQB1*0201, DQA1*0201 alleles and HLA- DRB1*07/DQB1*0201/DQA1*0201 and DRB1*04/DQB1*0302/DQA1*03011 haplotypes in the non-responder group. Com-parison between responders and non-responders revealed only a significant difference for DQB1*0201 allele (p<0.05). Conclusion: These findings confirm the association of certain HLA alleles and haplotypes with the lack of antibody response to HB vaccine in an Iranian population.
Original Article
Mehrdad Radvar; Jalil Tavakkol-Afshari; Mahboobeh N. Bajestan; Mohammad-Reza Naseh; Hamid-Reza Arab
Abstract
Background: Several cytokines, including IL-6 have been implicated in the pathogenesis of periodontal disease. It is established that monocytes from periodontitis subjects show an increased production of IL-6 as compared to healthy subjects. However, little is known about the effect of periodontal ...
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Background: Several cytokines, including IL-6 have been implicated in the pathogenesis of periodontal disease. It is established that monocytes from periodontitis subjects show an increased production of IL-6 as compared to healthy subjects. However, little is known about the effect of periodontal treatment on IL-6 production by monocytes in subsets of periodontitis patients. Objective: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of surgical periodontal treatment on IL-6 production of peripheral blood monocytes (PBM) in aggressive periodontitis patients (AP) and chronic periodontitis patients (CP) before and after stimulation by E.coli LPS. Methods: Fifteen AP patients, 15 CP patients and 15 periodontally healthy subjects (PH) took part in the study. PBM IL-6 pro-duction was measured, using ELISA, before and after stimulation of cultured PBM cells by 0.1 microg/ml LPS of E.coli. Following full-mouth non-surgical and surgical periodontal treatment of the AP and CP groups, the same measurements were repeated for these two groups. Results: LPS-stimulated IL-6 production was significantly greater than non-stimulated IL-6 for all 3 groups. Before periodontal treatment, LPS-stimulated IL-6 pro-duction of the AP group was significantly greater than the other 2 groups. Periodontal treatment did not result in a significant decrease in unstimulated or LPS-stimulated IL-6 production by PBM cells in AP and CP patients. No correlation was detected between IL-6 levels and baseline clinical parameters or changes in clinical parameters. Conclusion: PBM cells in AP patients might be hyper-responsive in terms of IL-6 production. This hyper-responsiveness does not seem to return to that of healthy subjects even after a successful periodontal treatment. Moreover, the regulation of host inflammatory mechanisms upon LPS challenge might be different between AP and CP patients.
Original Article
Elmuataz Elmansi Abdalla
Abstract
Background: Gastrointestinal hormones have traditionally been viewed as mere regulators of gut movement and secretions, but, it is becoming increasingly apparent that other body systems may be affected by these hormones. Secretion of gut hormones is influenced by the type of food we take. Therefore, ...
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Background: Gastrointestinal hormones have traditionally been viewed as mere regulators of gut movement and secretions, but, it is becoming increasingly apparent that other body systems may be affected by these hormones. Secretion of gut hormones is influenced by the type of food we take. Therefore, the more we know about the effects of gut hormones on the various body tissues, the more we know about the different mechanisms by which our diets affect our health. Objectives: This in vitro study aimed to explore the effects of physiologically-relevant concentrations of four gut hormones on the production of IL-2 and IFN- gamma by human peripheral blood mononuclear cells and how culture conditions may modify those effects. Methods: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were separated by density gradient centrifugation from the blood of 15 adults. Cells were cultured with/without PHA and treated with four concentrations of gastrin, secretin, GIP and VIP. IL-2 and IFN- gamma in culture supernatants were assayed by ELISA. Results: Gastrin, secretin, GIP and VIP increased IL-2 and IFN- gamma levels under some culture conditions and depressed IL-2 under other conditions. An increase was often observed under culture conditions in which the cytokine production was not initially high. Repeated administration of the hormone was also more likely to result in a stimulatory effect. Conclusions: Physiologically-relevant concentrations of gastrin, secretin, GIP and VIP are potential immunomodulators as they have shown their ability to alter the production of IL-2 and/or IFN- gamma under various culture conditions.
Original Article
Zahra Amirghofran; Abbas Azadmehr; Masoud Bahmani; Katayoun Javidnia
Abstract
Background: Studies have demonstrated that plant extracts possess various biological characteristics including immunomodulatory activity. Objective: Euphorbia cheiradenia Boiss et Hohen (Euphorbiaceae), a medicinal herb native to Iran was investigated for its immunomodulatory effects. Methods: The ...
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Background: Studies have demonstrated that plant extracts possess various biological characteristics including immunomodulatory activity. Objective: Euphorbia cheiradenia Boiss et Hohen (Euphorbiaceae), a medicinal herb native to Iran was investigated for its immunomodulatory effects. Methods: The methanolic extract of the plant was prepared and added to mitogen-induced human peripheral blood lymphocyte cultures at different concentrations. Effect of E. cheiradenia on in vivo cell-mediated immunity was measured by delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH) reaction. The effect of the extract on humoral antibody synthesis was also measured in immunized mice treated with different extract concentrations. Results: The stimulation index (SI) for cultures treated with 0.01 to 200 microg/ml of the extract ranged from 1.3+/-0.04 to 2.4+/-0.06, (p<0.01) showing a significant stimulatory effect of E. cheiradenia on the lymphocytes. IL-2 secreted from lymphocytes treated with the extract was significantly higher than that from the non-treated cells (p<0.001). Cell cycle analysis on mitogen-treated lymphocytes exposed to different concentrations of the extract showed an increase in the percentage of cells at G2M phase with increases in the concentration of the extract, but the results was not significant. In DTH skin test, the mean footpad thickness of all mice groups treated with 1, 50 and 100 mg/kg of the extract at 24 hours after immunization with antigen was 3.5+/-0.6 mm compared to 2.5+/-0.5 mm for the non-treated group (p=0.005). Moreover, an increase in production of specific antibody in mice immunized with different extract concentrations was also demonstrated. Conclusion: Results of this study showed the ability of the E. cheiradenia extract to induce proliferation of lymphocytes and enhance both cellular and humoral specific immune responses.
Original Article
Mohammadreza Ataollahi; Mansour Salehi; Iman Doostan; Zahra Kabiri; Mohammadreza Mohajeri; Farzaneh Mahmoodi; Raheleh Shokouhi; Shadi Javan; Mohammad Hassan Meshkibaf; Behnoosh Miladpoor
Abstract
Background: Apoptosis and cell cycle regulation play an important role in pathogenesis and tumor progression in patients with Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma (DLBCL). Bcl-2 associated athanogene-1 (BAG-1) is an antiapoptotic protein as well as a regulator of cell growth. There is no conclusive evidence ...
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Background: Apoptosis and cell cycle regulation play an important role in pathogenesis and tumor progression in patients with Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma (DLBCL). Bcl-2 associated athanogene-1 (BAG-1) is an antiapoptotic protein as well as a regulator of cell growth. There is no conclusive evidence about BAG-1 protein expression in this disease. Objective: To investigate the expression level of BAG-1 protein in DLBCL. Methods: Thirty patients diagnosed from 1997-2004, as having DLBCL, were selected. Also 30 normal lymph nodes were included as normal counterparts in this study. BAG-1 expression was determined by immunohistochemical staining in both DLBCL and normal lymph node samples. Results: Of the 30 DLBCLs examined, 100% were positive for nuclear and 83% were positive for cytoplasmic BAG-1 staining. Of the 30 normal lymph nodes investigated, 20% were positive for nuclear and 0% were positive for cytoplasmic BAG-1 staining. Nuclear staining in DLBCL samples was significantly higher than those of normal lymph nodes (100% versus 20%, p <0.001). Besides, cytoplasmic staining in DLBCL samples was significantly higher than those of normal lymph nodes (83% versus 0%, p <0.001). There was no association between BAG-1 staining and patients' overall survival. Conclusion: Our data indicated that BAG-1 protein was deregulated in this disease similar to some other malignancies such as breast and colon cancer. Overexpression of BAG-1 in DLBCL suggests that this protein probably plays an important role in the pathogenesis of DLBCL. Besides, higher nuclear BAG-1 staining might be correlated with poor prognosis.
Short Paper
Abstract
Background: Interleukin-10 (IL-10) is a Th2-type cytokine that inhibits macrophage activation. It is known that production of IL-10 is affected by its gene promoter polymorphisms. Objective: To investigate the relationship between IL-10 gene promoter polymorphisms and susceptibility to brucellosis. ...
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Background: Interleukin-10 (IL-10) is a Th2-type cytokine that inhibits macrophage activation. It is known that production of IL-10 is affected by its gene promoter polymorphisms. Objective: To investigate the relationship between IL-10 gene promoter polymorphisms and susceptibility to brucellosis. Methods: One hundred and ninety patients with brucellosis and 81 healthy animal husbandmen who owned infected animals and consumed their contaminated dairy products were included in this study. All individuals were genotyped for three bi-allelic IL-10 gene promoter polymorphisms at positions -1082(G/A), -819(T/C), and -592(A/C) using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). Results: The distribution of C alleles at positions -592 and -819 of IL-10 were significantly higher in patients than in the healthy animal husbandmen (p=0.034 and p=0.0086, respectively). IL-10 ATA single and double haplotypes were significantly higher in controls, compared to the patients (p= 0.0278 and p=0.013, respectively). Conclusion: According to the results higher frequency of C alleles at positions -592 and -819 of IL-10 in patients may be considered as genetic factors for susceptibility to brucellosis.
