Hepatitis B vaccination coverage among Iranian children aged 15-26 months in 2006

This study in 2006 estimated the hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccination coverage in the Islamic Republic of Iran at the national and district levels in urban, rural and remote populations of 41 university health service areas. Of 21 905 children recruited to the study, vaccination coverage based on vaccination card records was 100% in 14, 15 and 10 of the 41 university areas for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd doses of HBV respectively. National levels of HBV1, HBV2 and HBV3 coverage were 98.9%, 98.8% and 98.4% respectively. The lowest HBV vaccination coverage rate was 90.7% (in a remote district). HBV vaccination coverage was at an acceptable level in Iranian children

Noscapine protects OLN-93 oligodendrocytes from ischemia-reperfusion damage: Calcium and nitric oxide involvement

This study was carried out to evaluate the effects of noscapine, a benzylisoquinoline alkaloid from opium poppy, on oligodendrocyte during ischemia/reperfusion-induced excitotoxic injury. Changes in intracellular calcium levels due to chemical ischemia and nitric oxide (NO) production during ischemia/reperfusion were evaluated as the hallmarks of ischemia-derived excitotoxic event. OLN-93 cell line (a permanent immature rat oligodendrocyte) was used as a model of oligodendrocyte. 30- or 60-minute-oxygen—glucose deprivation/24 hours reperfusion were used to induce excitotoxicity. MTT (3-[4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide) assay was used to evaluate cell viability. Ratiometric fluorescence microscopy using Ca2+-sensitive indicator Fura-2/AM was utilized to assess intracellular calcium levels. NO production was evaluated by Griess method. Noscapine (4 μM) significantly attenuated intracellular Ca2+ elevation (P 2+ was greater than ionotropic glutamate receptors antagonists. Noscapine is protective against ischemia/reperfusion-induced excitotoxic injury in OLN-93 oligodendrocyte. This protective effect seems to be related to attenuation of intracellular Ca2+ overload and NO production

Primary immunodeficiency disorders in Iran: Update and new insights from the third report of the national registry

Background: Primary immunodeficiency disorders (PID) are a group of heterogeneous disorders mainly characterized by severe and recurrent infections and increased susceptibility to malignancies, lymphoproliferative and autoimmune conditions. National registries of PID disorders provide epidemiological data and increase the awareness of medical personnel as well as health care providers. Methods: This study presents the demographic data and clinical manifestations of Iranian PID patients who were diagnosed from March 2006 till the March of 2013 and were registered in Iranian PID Registry (IPIDR) after its second report of 2006. Results: A total number of 731 new PID patients (455 male and 276 female) from 14 medical centers were enrolled in the current study. Predominantly antibody deficiencies were the most common subcategory of PID (32.3 %) and were followed by combined immunodeficiencies (22.3 %), congenital defects of phagocyte number, function, or both (17.4 %), well-defined syndromes with immunodeficiency (17.2 %), autoinflammatory disorders (5.2 %), diseases of immune dysregulation (2.6 %), defects in innate immunity (1.6 %), and complement deficiencies (1.4 %). Severe combined immunodeficiency was the most common disorder (21.1 %). Other prevalent disorders were common variable immunodeficiency (14.9 %), hyper IgE syndrome (7.7 %), and selective IgA deficiency (7.5 %). Conclusions: Registration of Iranian PID patients increased the awareness of medical community of Iran and developed diagnostic and therapeutic techniques across more parts of the country. Further efforts must be taken by increasing the coverage of IPIDR via electronically registration and gradual referral system in order to provide better estimation of PID in Iran and reduce the number of undiagnosed cases. © 2014 Springer Science+Business Media

Noscapine protects OLN-93 oligodendrocytes from ischemia-reperfusion damage: Calcium and nitric oxide involvement

This study was carried out to evaluate the effects of noscapine, a benzylisoquinoline alkaloid from opium poppy, on oligodendrocyte during ischemia/reperfusion-induced excitotoxic injury. Changes in intracellular calcium levels due to chemical ischemia and nitric oxide (NO) production during ischemia/reperfusion were evaluated as the hallmarks of ischemia-derived excitotoxic event. OLN-93 cell line (a permanent immature rat oligodendrocyte) was used as a model of oligodendrocyte. 30- or 60-minute-oxygen-glucose deprivation/24 hours reperfusion were used to induce excitotoxicity. MTT (3-4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl-2,5-diphenyl-tetrazolium bromide) assay was used to evaluate cell viability. Ratiometric fluorescence microscopy using Ca2+-sensitive indicator Fura-2/AM was utilized to assess intracellular calcium levels. NO production was evaluated by Griess method. Noscapine (4 μM) significantly attenuated intracellular Ca2+ elevation (P < 0.001). Also, noscapine significantly decreased NO production during a 30-minute oxygen-glucose deprivation/reperfusion (P < 0.01). The inhibitory effect of noscapine (4 μM) on intracellular Ca2+ was greater than ionotropic glutamate receptors antagonists. Noscapine is protective against ischemia/reperfusion-induced excitotoxic injury in OLN-93 oligodendrocyte. This protective effect seems to be related to attenuation of intracellular Ca2+ overload and NO production. © 2015 Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest

An Efficient Numerical Method for a Class of Nonlinear Volterra Integro-Differential Equations

We investigate an efficient numerical method for solving a class of nonlinear Volterra integro-differential equations, which is a combination of the parametric iteration method and the spectral collocation method. The implementation of the modified method is demonstrated by solving several nonlinear Volterra integro-differential equations. The results reveal that the developed method is easy to implement and avoids the additional computational work. Furthermore, the method is a promising approximate tool to solve this class of nonlinear equations and provides us with a convenient way to control and modify the convergence rate of the solution

BVDV induced gastro-neuropathy outbreak in a feedlot calves around Tehran (Iran)

An outbreak of a lethal disease was reported in 4–6-month-old Holstein calves in a feedlot around Tehran. The signs of central nervous system and gastrointestinal system (GI) involvement were observed in the diseased animals. Necropsy samples of GI, liver, kidney, spleen and lung from 3 died animals were prepared for histopathological examination. Blood and formalin-fixed ear notch samples of 6 calves were submitted for RT-PCR, antigen-capture ELISA (ACE) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) for the detection of BVDV. The results of ACE on buffy coats were negative but RT-PCR of all 6 cases and IHC of 4 cases were positive for BVDV infection. Based on the clinical signs and pathological findings in the GI system and brain, we strongly suggest that the BVDV may represent a gastro-neuropathogen strain. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first outbreak of gastro-neuropathogenic BVDV infection in Iran, which may beacquired postnatally.Bazargani T. T., Hemmatzadeh F., Nadjafi J. and Sadeghi Nasab A.http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/3881577