Replacing Acid-Heat Precipitation with Sodium Dodecyl Sulphate Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis Improves Detecting Bence-Jones proteinuria

Background: Detecting Bence-Jones protein in urine is essential for determining plasma cell dyscrasia and multiple myeloma. Conventionally, acid-heat precipitation assay is used for detecting Bence-jones protein in most medical laboratories; however, because of the low accuracy of this test, other more sensitive tests like urine electrophoresis are recommended.Materials and Methods: In this study, the presence of Bence-jones protein in the urine of patients suspected to monoclonal gammopathies were compared using acid-heat precipitation, capillary immunoelectrophoresis and sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Moreover, the subsets of light chain (κ & λ) in capillary immunoelectrophoresis were determined.Results: Our data showed high false negative results (77.7%) using acid-heat precipitation assay in comparison with polyacrylamide gel and capillary immunoelectrophoresis (0%).Conclusion: Collectively, in spite of advantages like easy performance and low cost, acid-heat precipitation assay is not reliable for determining Bence-jones proteinuria in medical laboratories due to its low sensitivity. Therefore, it is recommended to be replaced with more sensitive assays like electrophoresis

Association of HLA class II Alleles with Childhood Asthma and Total IgE Levels

Asthma is a complex and multifactorial disorder. Several studies have reported association between different HLA- DQB1 and HLA- DRB1 alleles and allergic asthma. The aim of the present study was to investigate the association of HLA-class II alleles and haplotypes, with total serum IgE and the results of the skin prick test in Iranian children with allergic asthma. A total of 112 patients with allergic asthma symptoms (75 males and 37 females) were selected randomly from the pediatric hospital. In some patients total serum IgE and prick test were determined. Data of this study shows that HLA-DRB1*12 significantly increased in asthmatic patients (4.5% vs. 0%, P-value=0.04). HLA-DQB1*0603 and 0604 alleles were significantly higher in asthmatics than those in normal controls (10% vs. 0%, P-value= 0.0001; and 9.3% vs. 3.7%, P-value= 0.04, respectively). The statistical significance was relinquished after p value correction for all alleles except for HLA-DQB1*0602 (Pc=0.03) and HLA-DQB1*0603 (Pc=0.0015). Conversely, HLA-DQB1*0501 and 0602 were decreased in asthmatics compared to normal controls (7.5% vs. 13.5%, P-value= 0.05; and 4% vs. 12.5%, P-value= 0.002, respectively). The mean of total IgE in patients was 483 IU, and it was significantly high about 1140 IU in asthmatic patients with positive skin prick test to house dust. The most frequent alleles in asthmatic patients with the total IgE>200 IU/mL were HLA-DRB1*11and 1401, HLA-DQA1*0505, HLA-DQB1*0301 and in patients with total Ig

Antiapoptotic Molecule Survivin in Transplantation: Helpful or Harmful?

Survivin, an antiapoptotic molecule from inhibitor of apoptosis protein (IAP) family, is most known for its implication in cancer as there are some efforts to apply it for diagnostic as well as therapeutic purposes in oncology. On the other hand, it could be a useful molecule to be positively targeted when trying to save tissue and promote cells viability. Since protecting the allograft from ischemia reperfusion injury and inflammation-induced damage is a considerable objective in transplantation, it is reasonable to take advantage from antiapoptotic agents like survivin in order to achieve this goal. However, survivin’s potential ability to induce malignancies makes some concerns about its use in clinic. The other barrier is this molecule’s involvement in lymphocytes development and proliferation which might increase the risk of graft rejection due to adaptive immune system overactivation. In this review we summarize the few studies carried out about survivin’s effect on graft survival and probable advantages and disadvantages of its overexpression in transplantation

TIM family gene polymorphism and susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND:TIM-family proteins are expressed on different immune cells such as dendritic cells, macrophages, type 1 and 2 T helper (Th) cells. Therefore, they have the ability to contribute to the various intracellular signals and immune responses, importantly the regulation of Th1 and Th17 cell differentiation, which plays a remarked role in fight against inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. Association of TIM family gene polymorphisms with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has been frequently investigated. The findings however are not entirely consistent. Therefore, we carried out the present meta-analysis to examine the association between RA and the following TIM family gene polymorphisms: rs41297579, rs1036199, rs10515746, and rs7700944. METHODS:A systematic search of Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science databases was conducted through December 2018. Combined odds ratios (OR) with their corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated under different possible genetic models. RESULTS:A total of eight case-control studies were included in the present meta-analysis. The results demonstrated significant association of RA with TIM-3 rs1036199 polymorphism under dominant (OR, 1.93, 95% CI, 1.43-2.61) and allelic models (OR, 1.74, 95% CI, 1.31-2.30). None of the other examined polymorphisms indicated significant association with RA. CONCLUSIONS:The present meta-analysis revealed that the TIM-3 rs1036199 polymorphism might confer susceptibility to RA. Further studies are required to reassert our findings

Investigating the Role of BAFF and Its Receptors in Renal Transplant Recipients with Chronic Antibody-Mediated Rejection

Background. Kidney transplantation is the best treatment option for end stage renal disease (ESRD), but graft rejection is still a big obstacle that occurs in spite of immunosuppressive therapy. B cells are considered as the major reason for renal graft rejection because of antibody production. Due to their roles in B cell function, we intended to evaluate the B cell activating factor (BAFF) and its receptors including BAFF receptor (BAFF-R), B cell maturation antigen (BCMA), and transmembrane activator and cyclophilin ligand interactor (TACI) in renal transplant patients. Method. The study included 40 kidney allograft patients with cAMR, 40 stable kidney allograft patients, and 8 healthy volunteers with normal kidney function. The percentage and absolute number of CD19+ B cells were analyzed by flow cytometry, the serum level of BAFF was analyzed by ELISA, and mRNA expressions of BAFF and BAFF receptors (BAFF-R, BCMA, and TACI) were measured using quantitative real-time PCR. Results. The percentage and the absolute number of B cells decreased significantly in stable and cAMR patients compared to healthy individuals. The serum level and gene expression of BAFF, as well as the mRNA level of BCMA, were increased significantly in both cAMR and stable patients compared to healthy volunteers. There was an overexpression of TACI mRNA in cAMR patients compared to stable patients. Conclusions. Both soluble protein and mRNA transcript of BAFF increased in transplant recipients. However, BAFF neither at the serum level nor at the mRNA transcript level cannot be a good biomarker for the prediction of cAMR. In addition, expression of TACI, compared to other receptors of BAFF, confers a potential to be used in distinguishing cAMR and stable kidney transplant patients

IL-1, IL-1R and TNFα Gene Polymorphisms in Iranian Patients with Multiple Sclerosis

Different research groups have extensively studied the associations of cytokine gene polymorphisms in different diseases. The role of cytokines gene polymorphisms in multiple sclerosis (MS), as a chronic Immune-mediated neurodegenerative disease, has been previously reported in the various populations. For determining pro-inflammatory cytokine gene polymorphisms, 100 relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) Iranian patients and 140 normal individuals as control enrolled in this study. DNA of each sample was extracted by a modified salting out method. Cytokine single gene nucleotide polymorphisms including IL-1α-889, IL-1β (-511 and +3962), IL-1R pst1 1970, IL-1RA mspal 11100, and TNF-α (-308 and-238) were determined by using the PCR-SSP method. The results of our data indicate the decrease in frequency of IL-1α TC-889 genotype (p=0.002), IL-1β TC +3962 genotype (p=0.004), IL-1R T pst1 1970 allele (p = 0.0001), IL-1 RA TC Mspa1 11100 genotype (p=0.009), TNF-α A-308 allele (p=0.0002) and AG genotype (p=0.00001) in the patients group versus normal subjects. On the other hand the frequenc