Clinicians' pearls and myths in pemphigus

Pemphigus comprises a heterogeneous group of autoimmune blistering diseases, which can affect both skin and mucous membranes, especially oral mucosa. This group of diseases shows usually a chronic-relapsing course. Since pemphigus is a rare disease, the diagnosis is often delayed, because it is based upon the recognition of consistent clinical, histologic, and direct immunofluorescence findings, as well as indirect immunofluorescence, and/or enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Usually the patients are treated for multiple other conditions before starting the correct therapy, leading to a critical reduction of the patients' quality of life. This review is a succinct compilation of pearls gathered from clinical experience in pemphigus and the myths that may have influenced everyday practice but have been proven false. This review provided a selection of such dilemmas and controversies, focusing on myths and pearls that can help young dermatologist in the clinic, while also dispelling them.</p

The novel albumin–chitosan core–shell nanoparticles for gene delivery: preparation, optimization and cell uptake investigation

Natural polymers and proteins such as chitosan (CS) and albumin (Alb) have recently attracted much attention both in drug delivery and gene delivery. The underlying rationale is their unique properties such as biodegradability, biocompatibility and controlled release. This study aimed to prepare novel albumin–chitosan–DNA (Alb-CS-DNA) core–shell nanoparticles as a plasmid delivery system and find the best conditions for their preparation. Phase separation method and ionic interaction were used for preparation of Alb nanoparticles and Alb-CS-DNA core–shell nanoparticles, respectively. The effects of three important independent variables (1) CS/Alb mass ratio, (2) the ratios of moles of the amine groups of cationic polymers to those of the phosphate groups of DNA (N/P ratio), and (3) Alb concentration, on the nanoparticle size and loading efficiency of the plasmid were investigated and optimized through Box–Behnken design of response surface methodology (RSM). The optimum conditions were found to be CS/Alb mass ratio = 3, N/P ratio = 8.24 and Alb concentration = 0.1 mg/mL. The most critical factors for the size of nanoparticles and loading efficiency were Alb concentration and N/P ratio. The optimized nanoparticles had an average size of 176 ± 3.4 nm and loading efficiency of 80 ± 3.9 %. Cytotoxicity experiments demonstrated that the prepared nanoparticles were not toxic. The high cellular uptake of nanoparticles (~85 %) was shown by flow cytometry and fluorescent microscopy.Tarbiat Modares UniversityUnited States. National Institutes of Health (Grant R01A1050875

Phylogenetic differentiation of Aegilops and Triticum species by using ATR-FTIR spectroscopy

Triticum and Aegilops species belong to the Poaceae family and show common morphological traits. These morphological common traits made it difficult to identify and name the concerned species. In addition there is great disagreement even in nomenclature of genomic make up. Therefore molecular identification of these species becomes the preferred approach. The study in concern aims to make a phylogenetic differentiation of 8 Aegilops and 4 Triticum species by using Attenuated Total Reflection-Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR) Spectroscopy. The cluster analysis results of the whole spectra revealed that the species can be differentiated in terms of their genomic structure. Furthermore, the cluster analysis results of lignin band showed that these species can be differentiated by using ATR-FTIR spectroscopy. These results signify that ATR-FTIR spectroscopy can be used to differentiate different wheat species phylogenetically and the data obtained can be used to improve wheat cultivation