Skin inflammatory reactions to capsaicin in rheumatoid arthritis patients compared to healthy controls

Objective: Previous studies have examined the role of sensory nerves and neural mediators in symmetrical joint inflammation and autoimmunity in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). In this study, we sought to examine the association between capsaicin skin test and disease activity in RA patients. Materials and Methods: Eighty RA patients (case group) and 20 healthy volunteers were enrolled in this experiment. The subjects in case group were calcified to newly diagnosed patients and those previously diagnosed with RA. A topical solution of capsaicin (0.075%) was applied on the volar forearm during the skin test, and evaluations were done after 5, 10, and 20 min. The parameters recorded in capsaicin skin test were time to tingling, area of induration (cm2), and area of redness (cm2). Results: A faster capsaicin skin reaction was observed in healthy controls compared to the case group (p=0.02). Newly diagnosed and previously diagnosed RA patients were not significantly different in terms of reaction latency (p=0.06). The redness area after 15 (p=0.04) and 20 (p=0.001) min was significantly larger in previously diagnosed RA patients than in newly diagnosed ones. The ​​area of redness and time to tingling did not show any difference between active and inactive RA patients, but after 15 and 20 min, the area of redness was significantly greater in inactive RA patients compared to active RA patients (p=0.01 and p=0.03, respectively). Conclusion: This study suggested that capsaicin skin test is not an efficient tool for the examination of synovial inflammation and disease activity in RA

Evaluation of Indoleamine 2, 3-Dioxygenase Gene Expression and Activation in Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria

Chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) is a common skin disorder characterized by the emergence of hives for at least six weeks without any known etiologic agent. Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) which catalyzes tryptophan (Trp) to kynorenin (KYN) is an immunomedulatory enzyme and complicated in immunological diseases. In this study, Trp, KYN and IDO gene expression in CSU patients were analyzed. We studied 20 CSU patients (mean age: 28 +/- 6 years, mean duration: 27 +/- 4 months) and 20 healthy individuals (mean age: 28 +/- 9 years). Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated from both patients and healthy control and stimulated by phytohemmaglutinin (PHA). Real-time PCR was applied to quantify IDO gene expression and its activity was estimated by KYN/Trp ratio in supernatant of PBMCs by HPLC. Our study results showed that the gene expression of IDO was higher in CSU patients (0.33 +/- 0.27) compare to healthy individuals (0.31 +/- 0.6, p=0.02). Amazing, the activity of IDO (KYN/Trp) was decreased in CSU patients (322.5 +/- 432.3) contrast of healthy ones (685.9 +/- 531.7, p=0.02). Previous studies documented the impaired of IDO gene expression in CSU patients, however in the present study we observed a decrease activity of IDO in CSU patients which might suggest the function of this factor is impaired in CSU patients

Afghanistan's Ethnic Groups Share a Y-Chromosomal Heritage Structured by Historical Events

Afghanistan has held a strategic position throughout history. It has been inhabited since the Paleolithic and later became a crossroad for expanding civilizations and empires. Afghanistan's location, history, and diverse ethnic groups present a unique opportunity to explore how nations and ethnic groups emerged, and how major cultural evolutions and technological developments in human history have influenced modern population structures. In this study we have analyzed, for the first time, the four major ethnic groups in present-day Afghanistan: Hazara, Pashtun, Tajik, and Uzbek, using 52 binary markers and 19 short tandem repeats on the non-recombinant segment of the Y-chromosome. A total of 204 Afghan samples were investigated along with more than 8,500 samples from surrounding populations important to Afghanistan's history through migrations and conquests, including Iranians, Greeks, Indians, Middle Easterners, East Europeans, and East Asians. Our results suggest that all current Afghans largely share a heritage derived from a common unstructured ancestral population that could have emerged during the Neolithic revolution and the formation of the first farming communities. Our results also indicate that inter-Afghan differentiation started during the Bronze Age, probably driven by the formation of the first civilizations in the region. Later migrations and invasions into the region have been assimilated differentially among the ethnic groups, increasing inter-population genetic differences, and giving the Afghans a unique genetic diversity in Central Asi

Afghanistan's ethnic groups share a y-chromosomal heritage structured by historical events

Afghanistan has held a strategic position throughout history. It has been inhabited since the Paleolithic and later became a crossroad for expanding civilizations and empires. Afghanistan's location, history, and diverse ethnic groups present a unique opportunity to explore how nations and ethnic groups emerged, and how major cultural evolutions and technological developments in human history have influenced modern population structures. In this study we have analyzed, for the first time, the four major ethnic groups in present-day Afghanistan: Hazara, Pashtun, Tajik, and Uzbek, using 52 binary markers and 19 short tandem repeats on the non-recombinant segment of the Y-chromosome. A total of 204 Afghan samples were investigated along with more than 8,500 samples from surrounding populations important to Afghanistan's history through migrations and conquests, including Iranians, Greeks, Indians, Middle Easterners, East Europeans, and East Asians. Our results suggest that all current Afghans largely share a heritage derived from a common unstructured ancestral population that could have emerged during the Neolithic revolution and the formation of the first farming communities. Our results also indicate that inter-Afghan differentiation started during the Bronze Age, probably driven by the formation of the first civilizations in the region. Later migrations and invasions into the region have been assimilated differentially among the ethnic groups, increasing inter-population genetic differences, and giving the Afghans a unique genetic diversity in Central Asia.This study is supported by the Waitt Family Foundatio

PCA derived from Y-chromosomal haplogroup frequencies.

<p>The two leading principal components display the variance. The superimposed biplot shows the contribution of each haplogroup as grey component loading vectors.</p

Population genetic structure vs geography.

<p>Genetic barriers (A) and MDS plot (B) based on the Φ<i>_ST</i>'s distances between populations derived from Y-STR data.</p