Possible immunological mechanisms in COVID-19 patients with immune thrombocytopenic purpura

Millions of people around the world were, or are still involved with COVID-19 due to infection with SARS-CoV-2. In addition to hallmark symptoms, thrombotic problems, lymphopenia, and thrombocytopenia have also been reported in COVID-19 patients, of which ITP is the most common and occurs in more than one-third of COVID-19 patients. Hyperinflammation, cytokine storms, and generally immune dysregulation in a percentage of patients develop the main consequences of diseases such as ALI, ARDS and multiple organ failure. Some of the important events in the immunopathogenesis of this disease are disruption of T-cell effector differentiation and the destructive role of Th17 lymphocytes, neutrophil function and inflammatory macrophages. NLRP3-inflammasome hyperactivity causes serious dysfunction of innate immune cells and, consequently, T lymphocytes in many inflammatory disorders, most notably in the COVID-19. A closer look at the immunopathogenesis of ITP and COVID-19 brings us to common ground. The purpose of this study was to review and summarize the findings of various studies on the immunopathogenesis of ITP and its possible causes in COVID-19. Finally, enhanced differentiation of Th17 and Th1, the cell death called as pyroptosis, hyperinflammation and dysfunction of inflammatory neutrophils and macrophages, and NLRP3- inflammasome hyperactivity are important factors in the development of thrombocytopenia in patients with COVID-19. Further studies are needed to better understand immunopathogenesis and effective treatments for ITP, especially in inflammatory disorder

Hepatoprotective activity of phloretin and hydroxychalcones against Acetaminophen Induced hepatotoxicity in mice

Polyphenolics form a major part of the dietary antioxidant capacity of fruits and vegetables have been identified as chemopreventive or anticancer agents. Hydroxychalcones are polyphenols abundantly distributed throughout the plant kingdom and are compounds with two aromatic rings (benzene or phenol) and an unsaturated side chain. In the present study, effect of phloretin (apple major flavonoid), 4-hydroxychalcone and 4'-hydroxychalcone were investigated against acetaminophen-induced acute liver damage. The study was designed as multiple dose pre- and post-treatments. Mice were administratedacetaminophen (1g/kg and 640 mg/kg for mortality and acute toxicity experiments, respectively). Mortality rate, serum transaminases (SGOT and SGPT) and histological examination were applied. Acetaminophen produced 100% mortality at the dose of 1 g/kg in mice, while pre-treatment and post-treatment (i.p., twice daily for 48 hrs) of animals with phloretin and 4-hydroxychalcone (50 mg/kg) and 4'-hydroxychalcone (25 mg/kg) significantly reduced the mortality rate. Acetaminophen produced acute toxicity at the dose of 640 mg/kg in mice, while pre- and post-treatments of animals with phloretin and hydroxychalcones significantly lowered the rise in SGOT and SGPT. Liver sections collected for histological examination showed cellular changes including centrilobular necrosis, extensive portal inflammation, and micro and macro vesicular structures in the acetaminophen group. These cellular changes were reduced following treatment of mice with Phloretin and hydroxychalcones. Taken collectively, from the results of this study it may be suggested that phloretin and hydroxychalcones have hepatoprotective activity against acetaminophen liver injury in mice

Studying gap junction beta 2-related deafness in Iranian population

Hearing loss is the most common sensory disorder in humans, from every 1000 births, 1 is affected by severe to profound deafness. Many genes are involved in deafness that GJB2 gene is one of the most important ones and encodes the connexin 26 proteins. A mutation called delG35 composes most of mutated alleles of connexin 26 and is also the most common cause of congenital sporadic and hereditary deafness. Open Access Journals (DOAJ), Google Scholar, PubMed (NLM), LISTA (EBSCO), and Web of Science have been searched for literature. GJB2 gene mutations play the most significant role in non-syndromic deafness in Iran. 35delG mutation has a high frequency in most parts of Iran, especially in the North and North-West and is also the most common mutation in GJB2 deaf population of Iran. GJB2 gene mutations in Iran play less important roles compared with other countries in causing deafness; however, so far, it has been introduced as the gene that plays the most significant role in causing deafness gene in Iran. It seems that many other genes and loci play roles in causing deafness in Iran that requires more studies to be conducted. (Cite this article as: Mehri-Ghahfarrokhi A, Hashemzadeh-Chaleshtori M, Shojaeian A, Mahmoudian-Sani MR. Studying gap junction beta 2-related deafness in Iranian population. Otorinolaringol 2017;67:89-95. DOI: 10.23736/S0392-6621.17.02115-4

Suppressive effects of medicinal plants and their derivatives on inflammasome complex: A systematic review

Inflammasome activation is mediated by (NOD)-like receptors (NLR) proteins that respond to stimuli. Among NLRs, NACHT-LRR and PYD domains-containing protein 3 (NLRP3) senses the widest array of stimuli. NLRP3 inflammasome has an important role in the development of many inflammation disorders. Regarding the significance of inflammatory diseases, and the necessity of preventing and treating these diseases, the aim of this review article is to report medicinal plants and their nature-based derivatives that are effective on suppression of inflammasome complex. Web of Science and PubMed databases were searched using the Endnote software for the publications about the role herbal medicine in inflammasome activation pathways from 2000 to February 2016. Sophora flavescens, Lyciumbarbarum, Impatiens textori Miq., Syneilesis palmata (Thunb.), Aloe vera, citral (3, 7-dimethyl-2, 6-octadienal), celastrol, sulforaphane, schisandrin, resveratrol, dehydrodiconiferyl alcohol (DHCA), luteoloside, Pulsatilla decoction, and Wuling San have been reported to suppression function of inflammasome. Medicinal plants and their derivatives can be useful for inflammation related disorders by suppress NLRP3 inflammasome activation. However, they should be investigated in clinical trials to help to prevent and treatment of inflammatory diseases

Investigation of caspase-1 activity and interleukin-1β production in murine macrophage cell lines infected with Leishmania major

AbstractObjectiveTo investigate the caspase-1 dependent inflammatory pathway activity and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) secretion in murine macrophage cell lines J774G8 infected with Leishmania major (L. major) using caspase-1 activity assay and ELISA.MethodsNovy-MacNeal-Nicolle biphasic medium was applied to produce promastigote form of L. major. Metacyclic promastigotes in the stationary phase were applied to infect macrophage. Caspase-1 activity and IL-1β secretion were assessed by the CPP32/caspase-1 fluorometric protease assay and ELISA IL-1β kits, respectively, with time intervals of 6, 18 and 30 h.ResultsOur study showed an increase in caspase-1 activity and IL-1β secretion in infected samples compared to non-infected macrophages. The highest increase in IL-1β production was observed after 6 h of infection.ConclusionsThese results arise that the activation of inflammasome pathway could be one of the innate immunity pathways against L. major

Family history of cardiovascular disease as a risk factor for coronary artery disease in adult offspring

Background and aims: There is controversy about the role of positive family history as an independent risk factor for coronary artery disease. The aim of this work was to investigate the influence of family history on presentation of coronary artery disease in adult offspring, and on its severity. Methods: In a retrospective cross-sectional study at Tehran Heart Center (University of Tehran Medical Sciences), 6399 patients with established coronary artery disease who underwent coronary angiography for standard indications were assessed. Coronary artery disease was defined as atherosclerotic involvement of more than 50% in at least one major coronary artery. Results: 953 patients (14.9%) had a verified positive family history of coronary artery disease, of whom 193 patients (20.2%) and 215 patients (22.5%) had paternal and maternal positive history, respectively. The mean age of clinical onset of ischemic heart disease in patients with a positive history was significantly lower than patients with no history (p < 0.001). Left main coronary lesion was significantly more frequent in patients with positive history (p = 0.017). Multivariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated that presentation of coronary artery disease in the form of acute coronary syndrome was significantly more prevalent in the background of positive family history (odds ratio, OR = 1.44, 95% confidence interval, CI: 1.14-1.83, p = 0.002), especially above 45 years old. Conclusion: These findings indicate that positive family history is a major risk factor for coronary artery disease which strongly predisposes to the atherosclerotic process at younger ages; therefore, these patients should be evaluated and managed more intensively for other risk factors

Study of common mitochondrial mutations in patients with nonsyndromic hearing loss

Hearing loss is the most common sensorineural disorder involving one out of 1000 people. Around 50% of hearing losses occur due to genetic causes. Three mitochondrial mutations, A1555G in MTRNR1, A3243G in MTTL1, and A7445G in MTTS1, are the most important non-syndromic sensorineural causes of hearing loss in some populations. The aim of this review was to study common mitochondrial mutations in people with hearing loss in Iran. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), Google Scholar, PubMed (NLM), LISTA (EBSCO) and Web of Science were searched. EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: Studies have indicated that the mitochondrial mutations A3243G, A1555G, and A7445G play no significant part in the development of hearing loss in Iran. Different variants of A7445C and G3316A have been identified in Iran. CONCLUSIONS: Further studies on other ethnicities and with a larger sample size are necessary to elucidate the role of these genes in hearing loss development in Iran

MicroRNA-122 in patients with hepatitis B and hepatitis B virus-associated hepatocellular carcinoma

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is known as a serious problem in the domain of public health and approximately 350 million people across the world are affected with this infectious disease. As well, microRNAs are recognized as a type of small non-coding RNAs that can be widely used as a diagnostic biomarker and prognosis method of special diseases. In this respect, microRNA-122 or miR-122 can play a significant role in the pathogenesis of several hepatic diseases. Given the importance of microRNA-122 in the liver as well as its pathology, this study focused on the potential functions of microRNA-122 in pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment of HBV infection. In this regard, the findings of previous studies had indicated that expression of microRNA-122 in patients with HBV infection could be significantly deregulated. The results of this study were consistent with the idea that diagnosis and treatment of this infectious disease using microRNA-122 could be an efficient method. Keywords Author Keywords:Hepatitis B virus (HBV); microRNA-122; hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC); biomarker KeyWords Plus:REGION CONFERS RISK; MIRNA-122-BINDING SITE; CIRCULATING MICRORNAS; REGULATORY CIRCUITRY; CELL-PROLIFERATION; VIRAL REPLICATION; DOWN-REGULATION; LIVER-CANCER; MIR-122; EXPRESSIO

The Role of Eye Gaze in Security and Privacy Applications: Survey and Future HCI Research Directions

For the past 20 years, researchers have investigated the use of eye tracking in security applications. We present a holistic view on gaze-based security applications. In particular, we canvassed the literature and classify the utility of gaze in security applications into a) authentication, b) privacy protection, and c) gaze monitoring during security critical tasks. This allows us to chart several research directions, most importantly 1) conducting field studies of implicit and explicit gaze-based authentication due to recent advances in eye tracking, 2) research on gaze-based privacy protection and gaze monitoring in security critical tasks which are under-investigated yet very promising areas, and 3) understanding the privacy implications of pervasive eye tracking. We discuss the most promising opportunities and most pressing challenges of eye tracking for security that will shape research in gaze-based security applications for the next decade

Association of serum miR-375, miR-155 and miR-146b levels with distinguish of papillary thyroid cancer from benign thyroid masses among Iranian patients

Background and aim: Certain serum levels of microRNAs (miRNAs) throughout the body can be helpful for cancer diagnosis and prognosis. The miRNAs can be secreted from the papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) into the circulatory system. Accordingly, this study aimed to measure the serum levels of miR-146b, miR-155 and miR-375 to evaluate their diagnostic potentials in distinguish of benign from malignant lesions. Materials and methods: The serum levels of miRNAs were measured by real-time quantitative RT-PCR among100 patients with benign thyroid nodules and 30 patients with PTC. Results: The mean miR-375 and miR-155 expression levels in the PTC group were greater when compared with the benign group. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) was estimated at 0.81 for the miR-375 with 0.76% sensitivity and 0.80% specificity to distinguish between benign and PTC lesions. The AUC was calculated to be 0.75 for the miR-155 with 0.69% sensitivity and 0.90% specificity. Conclusion: According to the results of this study, the serum levels of miR-155 and miR-375 were increased in the patients with PTC, which may be useful as alternative seromarkers for the PTC