Comparison of Fecal Calprotectin Levels in Iranian general population and army personnel

     Fecal Calprotectin is released in colon by activated neutrophils. Investigation of diagnostic application of determination of fecal Calprotectin levels is considered by many researchers to compare between different colorectal diseases like Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD). Due to the effect of nutrition habits on the inflammatory processes of bowel, the main goal of this study was to evaluate the level of fecal Calprotectin in healthy subjects in Iranian army personnel that have specific and the same nutrition habits, in comparison with non-military population and also make this test an in-house method in Army laboratories.In this study a prospective and sample collection method used available samples (Convenience sampling). We collected stool samples from 108 subjects from Army personnel and 108 samples from non-military Iranian population with corresponding data collection form. Determination of Calprotectin levels was done by specific third generation quantitative ELISA method and statistics were done using SPSS software.The results showed that mean Calprotectin level in two included groups were 26.1 micrograms per gram in Army personnel group and 25.4 micrograms per gram in non-military control subjects. Fecal Calprotectin level in two studied groups wasn’t significantly different. Despite the little increase in Calprotectin levels in Army personnel group compared with control group this difference wasn’t statistically significant (P>0.05). We can conclude that the nutrition habits of army personnel could cause effects on inflammatory processes in digestive system. Determination of fecal Calprotectin levels as a cost effective and non invasive test could be used by military physicians for early diagnosis of inflammation in personnel by routine tests subjects.

Relationship between ureB Sequence Diversity, Urease Activity and Genotypic Variations of Different Helicobacter pylori Strains in Patients with Gastric Disorders

Association of the severity of Helicobacter pylori induced diseases with virulence entity of the colonized strains was proven in some studies. Urease has been demonstrated as a potent virulence factor for H. pylori. The main aim of this study was investigation of the relationships of ureB sequence diversity, urease activity and virulence genotypes of different H. pylori strains with histopathological changes of gastric tissue in infected patients suffering from different gastric disorders. Analysis of the virulence genotypes in the isolated strains indicated significant associations between the presence of severe active gastritis and cagA+ (P = 0.039) or cagA/iceA1 genotypes (P = 0.026), and intestinal metaplasia and vacA m1 (P = 0.008) or vacA s1/m2 (P = 0.001) genotypes. Our results showed a 2.4-fold increased risk of peptic ulcer (95% CI: 0.483–11.93), compared with gastritis, in the infected patients who had dupA positive strains; however this association was not statistically significant. The results of urease activity showed a significant mean difference between the isolated strains from patients with PUD and NUD (P = 0.034). This activity was relatively higher among patients with intestinal metaplasia. Also a significant associa­tion was found between the lack of cagA and increased urease activity among the isolated strains (P = 0.036). While the greatest sequencevariation of ureB was detected in a strain from a patient with intestinal metaplasia, the sole determined amino acid change in UreB sequence (Ala201Thr, 30%), showed no influence on urease activity. In conclusion, the supposed role of H. pylori urease to form peptic ulcer and advancing of intestinal metaplasia was postulated in this study. Higher urease activity in the colonizing H. pylori strains that present specific virulence factors was indicated as a risk factor for promotion of histopathological changes of gastric tissue that advance gastric malignancy

Low Level of Microsatellite Instability Correlates with Poor Clinical Prognosis in Stage II Colorectal Cancer Patients

The influence of microsatellite instability (MSI) on the prognosis of colorectal cancer (CRC) requires more investigation. We assessed the role of MSI status in survival of individuals diagnosed with primary colorectal cancer. In this retrospective crosssectional study the MSI status was determined in 158 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tumors and their matched normal tissues from patients who underwent curative surgery. Cox proportional hazard modeling was performed to assess the clinical prognostic significance. In this study we found that MSI-H tumors were predominantly located in the colon versus rectum ( = 0.03), associated with poorer differentiation ( = 0.003) and TNM stage II/III of tumors ( = 0.02). In CRC patients with stage II, MSI-L cases showed significantly poorer survival compared with patients who had MSI-H or MSS tumors ( = 0.04). This study indicates that MSI-L tumors correlate with poorer clinical outcome in patients with stage II tumors ( = 0.04) or in tumors located in the colon ( = 0.02). MSI-L characterizes a distinct subgroup of CRC patients who have a poorer outcome. This study suggests that MSI status in CRC, as a clinical prognostic marker, is dependent on other factors, such as tumor stage and location

Association of Interleukin-27 gene rs153109 polymorphism and chronic hepatitis B infection

Background: According to World Health Organization (WHO) report about 400 million people are chronically infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV). Host immune responses which are mainly controlled by cytokines, can be either effective in disease progression or control the infection. Interleukin-27 (IL-27) is a pro-inflammatory cytokine which promotes Th1 responses. Genetic variations (e.g. single nucleotide polymorphisms [SNPs]) can affect the product or activity of IL-27 gene. The aim of present study was to determine the association between IL-27 rs153109 and chronic HBV infection among the Iranian population. Materials and Methods: In this study chronic HBV patients (n=120, Anti-HBc Ab positive and HBsAg positive for more than 6 months) and controls (n=120) from healthy individuals referred to Tehran Taleghani hospital (2013-2014) were studied. Genotypes of IL-27 gene polymorphism were detected by PCR-RFLP. DNA sequencing was applied on 10% of samples to validate the genotyping results. The studied variables were polymorphism genotypes/alleles, clinical status, age and gender. Results: Results showed no statistically significant difference for patients and control groups neither in genotype frequencies of AA among the chronic group (30%) compared to healthy controls (32.5%) (P=0.368); nor in allele frequency A) 60.4%) for patients against A 59.2% in control groups (P=0.780). Conclusion: Despite the importance of IL-27 in the immune response, the findings of this study suggests that genetic variants of IL-27 SNP 153109A/G were not associated with susceptibility to the chronic infection of HBV

Association of Helicobacter Pylori Infection with ABO and Rh Blood Groups in Military Students and Soldiers

Background: Helicobacter pylori (H. Pylori) is one of the most common infectious bacteria cause diseases such as chronic gastritis, peptic ulcer, adenocarcinoma, etc. Epidemiological studies have demonstrated that individuals who had O blood group were more likely to develop peptic ulcers. The aim of present study was to investigate the association between the prevalence of H. Pylori infection in soldiers and military students with ABO, Rh blood group in Tehran city. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive study 417 individuals aged 18-27 years who were selected among military students of AJAUMS (Aja University of Medical Sciences) University of Afsari Imam Ali and soldiers. Personal, social and health information of individuals were collected through questionnaires. Phenotype of ABO blood groups and Rh in all participants were studied by a standard hemagglutination test. Antibody levels of Anti- H. pylori IgG in serum of all participants were determined by ELISA test. Collected data analyzed by using SPSSsoftware version 16 and Chi-square test. Results: Overall 183 (43.9%) of 417 subjects were seropositive, and 234 (56.1%) subjects were seronegative. Prevalence of infection in AJAUMS students compared to other two groups showed a significant decrease. However, the prevalence of infection in the group of persons with more than five family members was significantly higher than the group with less than 5. Conclusion: There was no association between ABO, Rh blood groups with H. Pylori infection

Evaluation of the Aassociation Between Programmed Cell Death 1 Gene Single Nucleotide Polymorphism +7146A/G and Susceptibility to Chronic Hepatitis B

Abstract Background: In spite of designing and applying an effective vaccine against Hepatitis B virus (HBV), chronic infection with this virus is still one of the most important health problems worldwide. Host genetic background including single nucleotide polymorphisms play a significant role in chronicity or clearance of the infection. The final product of programmed cell death 1 gene (PDCD1) is expressed frequently on T-cells and in chronic viral infections, prevent the virus-specific T-cell response against the virus. In this study, the association of a single nucleotide polymorphism (+7146A/G) in intron 4 of PD1 gene with chronic hepatitis B infection in Iranian population has been assessed. Materials and Methods: 212 chronic HBV patients and 208 healthy controls were analyzed in this case-control study. Genomic DNA of the studied individuals was extracted and after performing polymerase chain reaction (PCR), polymorphism of +7146 was determined via RFLP method. Results: Frequencies of GG, GA and AA genotypes on position 7146 of the intron 4 of PD1 gene were 77.4%, 20.7% and 1.9% in patient group and 80.8%, 15.4% and 3.8% in control group, respectively. After statistical analysis, No significant difference was observed between patient and control groups (p=0.198). Conclusion: Genotype frequencies in the studied population are in accordance with the results of previous studies. Results of the present study suggest that there is not any association between A/G single nucleotide polymorphism in intron 4 of PD1 gene and susceptibility to chronic hepatitis B in Iranian population

Iranian Hepatitis C, chronic Transforming Growth Factor Beta1

Background: Chronic hepatitis C infection is caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV), and its clinical complications include liver cirrhosis, liver failure, and hepatocellular carcinoma. Transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) is an important cytokine in cell growth and differentiation, angiogenesis, extracellular matrix formation, immune response regulation, and cancer development and progression. Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in TGF-β1 and chronic HCV infection among patients referred to the Taleghani Hospital, Tehran, Iran between 2008 and 2010. Patients and Methods: In this case-control study, samples were collected using a convenience sampling method. We genotyped 164 HCV patients and 169 healthy controls for 3 SNPs in the TGF-β1 gene (-509 promoter, codon 10, and codon 25). We determined the SNP genotypes by using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method. To confirm the PCR-RFLP genotyping results, 10 % of the samples were re-genotyped using a direct sequencing method