Prevalence rate of cytomegalovirus infection in individuals with and without systemic lupus erythematosus

Background: The role of cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection in triggering or exacerbating systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) remains a subject of debate. The aim of this study was to compare the prevalence rate of CMV infection between individuals with and without SLE. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional comparative study recruited 52 consecutive patients with SLE (based on the criteria determined by the Systemic Lupus Collaborating Clinics, 2012) and 52 healthy subjects. The exclusion criteria were immunodeficiency and other background diseases. CMV infection was assessed according to serology (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Results: Immunoglobulin G (IgG) was positive in all participants. Immunoglobulin M (IgM) was positive in eight SLE patients (15.4%) and none of the controls (p = 0.003). The PCR was positive in four SLE patients (7.7%) and none of the controls (p = 0.041). IgM level was not related to age, gender, literacy, marital status, family history, SLE disease activity index (SLEDAI), or duration of the disease (p > 0.05). Conclusion: According to this study, CMV infection was higher in SLE patients but was not related to the type of organ involvement, type of immunosuppressive drug, or SLEDAI. &nbsp

Comparisions of ARMS-PCR and AS-PCR for the Evaluation of JAK2V617F Mutation in Patients with non-CML Myeloproliferative Neoplasms

"nBackground and objectives: JAK2 is a nonreceptor tyrosine kinase that plays a major role in myeloid disorders. JAK2V617F mutation is characterized by a G to T transverse at nucleotide 1849 in exon 12 of the JAK2 gene, located on the chromosome 9p, leading to a substitution of valine to phenylalanine at amino acid position 617 in the JAK2 protein. In this study we compared two molecular methods namely ARMS-PCR and AS-PCR for the evaluation of JAK2V617F mutation in patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms. "nMaterial and methods: In this study we evaluated JAK2 mutation in 89 patients with Myeloproliferativeneoplasm (MPNs) by simple randomized sampling. The mutation was detected by ARMS-PCR and AS-PCR in patients.Three DNA samples were sequenced for conformation of the above techniques. "nResults: The JAK2 V617F mutation was detected in 86.6% (26/30) of patients with polycythemia vera and 61.5% (8/13) of patients with idiopathic myelofibrosis. None of 31 CML patients were detected by ARMS-PCR and AS-PCR. In essential thrombocythemia using ARMS-PCR and AS-PCR 46.6% (7/15) and 53% (8/15) of patients were positive, respectively. The mutation was confirmed by sequencing. "nConclusions: The results of the study showed that similarity with other studies by two techniques and detection of the JAK2V617F mutation may depend on the molecular technique used. Also, JAK2 mutation detection is an appropriate tool for differential diagnosis of non-CML myeloproliferative neoplasms from benign condition like reactive erytrocytosis and thrombocytosis