87 research outputs found
Epidemiology of hepatitis C virus in Iran
In Iran, the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV)
infection is relatively low according to the populationb
a s e d e p i d e m i o l o g i c a l s t u d i e s . H o w e ve r, t h e
epidemiology of HCV is changing and the rate of HCV
infection is increasing due to the growth in the number
of injecting drug users in the society. In addition, a shift
has occurred in the distribution pattern of HCV genotypes
among HCV-infected patients in Iran. Genotype 1a is the
most prevalent genotype in Iran, but in recent years,
an increase in the frequency of 3a and a decrease in
1a and 1b have been reported. These variations in the
epidemiology of HCV reflect differences in the routes of
transmission, status of public health, lifestyles, and risk
factors in different groups and geographic regions of Iran.
Health policy makers should consider these differences to
establish better strategies for control and prevention of
HCV infection. Therefore, this review was conducted to
present a clear view regarding the current epidemiology
of HCV infection in Iran.
Key words: Hepatitis C virus; Blood donors; Injecting
drug users; Hemodialysis; Hemophilia; Thalassemia;
Genotypes; Occult hepatitis C virus; Epidemiology; Ira
Epidemiology of hepatitis C virus in Iran
In Iran, the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV)
infection is relatively low according to the populationb
a s e d e p i d e m i o l o g i c a l s t u d i e s . H o w e ve r, t h e
epidemiology of HCV is changing and the rate of HCV
infection is increasing due to the growth in the number
of injecting drug users in the society. In addition, a shift
has occurred in the distribution pattern of HCV genotypes
among HCV-infected patients in Iran. Genotype 1a is the
most prevalent genotype in Iran, but in recent years,
an increase in the frequency of 3a and a decrease in
1a and 1b have been reported. These variations in the
epidemiology of HCV reflect differences in the routes of
transmission, status of public health, lifestyles, and risk
factors in different groups and geographic regions of Iran.
Health policy makers should consider these differences to
establish better strategies for control and prevention of
HCV infection. Therefore, this review was conducted to
present a clear view regarding the current epidemiology
of HCV infection in Iran.
Key words: Hepatitis C virus; Blood donors; Injecting
drug users; Hemodialysis; Hemophilia; Thalassemia;
Genotypes; Occult hepatitis C virus; Epidemiology; Ira
Epidemiology of Hepatitis E in Pregnant Women and Children in Iran: A General Overview
From an epidemiological point of view, hepatitis E is an old
infection in Iran, but only recently has its importance as a
public health concern been considered from research and
public health standpoints. As such, there is still a long road
ahead to clarify the real burden of hepatitis E virus (HEV)
infection in Iran. According to the available epidemiological
studies, the seroprevalence of HEV infection among pregnant
women is between 3.6% and 7.4%, and among Iranian
children is between 0.9% to 8.5%, varying by geographic
regions within the country and directly dependent upon the
sanitary status of each. In addition to evaluating the sanitation
level of a society, community-based seroprevalence
studies of HEV infection demonstrate the most prevalent risk
factors, the major routes of transmission, and the epidemiological
patterns of HEV among that country’s population. In
this review, the current knowledge about the pathogenesis
and epidemiology of HEV infection in pregnant women and
children in Iran, as well as the recent advances in diagnosis,
prevention and treatment of HEV infection have been summarized
Epidemiology of hepatitis E virus in Iran
Iran is known as an endemic country for hepatitis E
virus (HEV) infection, while there are variations in
the epidemiology of HEV infection throughout the
country. The available epidemiological studies in
different regions of Iran show HEV seroprevalence
of 1.1%-14.2% among general population, 4.5%
-14.3% among blood donors, 6.1%-22.8% among
injecting drug users, 6.3%-28.3% among hemodialysis
patients, 1.6%-11.3% among patients infected
with other hepatitis viruses, 27.5% among patients
with chronic liver disease, 30.8% among kidney
transplant recipient patients, and 10%-16.4% among
human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients.
These variations reflect differences in the status of
public health and hygiene, risk factors, and routes
of transmission in different regions and groups.
Therefore, it is necessary to review the epidemiology
of HEV infection to determine the most prevalent risk
factors and routes of transmission, and to evaluate
the effectiveness of preventive strategies employed
in the public health services of the country. Moreover,
the other epidemiological aspects of HEV, including the
genotypic pattern, extra hepatic manifestations, and
incidence of chronic infection need to be investigated
among Iranian population to expand the current
knowledge on the epidemiology of HEV and to clarify
the real burden of HEV infection. Therefore, this review
was performed to provide a general overview regarding
the epidemiology of HEV in Iran
Prevalence of Hepatitis E Virus among Adults in South-West of Iran
Background. Knowledge regarding prevalence of HEV in general population can be an indicator of the public health and hygiene.
Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the prevalence ofHEV among adults in South-West of Iran. Methods. Blood samples
were taken from510 participants, 206 (40.4%) males and 304 (59.6%) females fromFebruary to July 2014.Detection of anti-HEVIgG
and IgM antibodies was carried out by ELISA test. Results.The overall anti-HEV IgG and IgMprevalence rates were 46.1% and 1.4%,
respectively.Anti-HEVIgG and IgMseropositivitywere not statistically associated with gender and race/ethnicity.Meanwhile, there
were significant differences between the age groups regarding HEV IgG and IgMseropositivity. HEV IgG seroprevalence increased
with age from 14.3% in subjects aged 18–30 years to 71.4%in persons over 71 years old, and considerably individuals aged 61 to 70
years had the highest HEV prevalence (90.9%). Also, 5.7% in the age group 18–30 years and 2.2% in the age group 31–40 years were
positive for anti-HEV IgM antibodies and the highest rate was observed in subjects aged 18–30 years. Conclusion. In conclusion,
high HEV IgG seroprevalence of 46.1% was observed among adults in South-West of Iran
Design and Production of a Multiepitope Construct Derived From Hepatitis E Virus Capsid Protein
The aim of this study was to design a high
density multiepitope protein, which can be
a promising multiepitope vaccine candidate
against Hepatitis E virus (HEV). Initially, conserved
and antigenic helper T-lymphocyte
(HTL) epitopes in the HEV capsid protein were
predicted by in silico analysis. Subsequently, a
multiepitope comprising four HTL epitopes
with high-affinity binding to the HLA molecules
was designed, and repeated four times as high
density multiepitope construct. This construct
was synthesized and cloned into pET-30a (þ)
vector. Then, it was transformed and expressed
in Escherichia coli BL21 cells. The high
density multiepitope protein was purified by
Ni-NTA agarose and concentrated using Amicon
filters. Finally, the immunological properties
of this high density multiepitope protein
were evaluated in vitro. The results showed
that the high density multiepitope construct
was successfully expressed and purified. SDSPAGE
and Western blot analyses showed the
presence of a high density multiepitope protein
band of approximately 33 kDa. Approximately
1mg of the purified protein was obtained
from each liter of the culture media. Moreover,
the purified multiepitope protein was capable
of induction of proliferation responses, IFN-g
ELISPOT responses and IFN-g and IL-12 cytokines
production in a significant level in
peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs)
isolated from HEV-recovered individuals compared
to the control group. In conclusion,
the newly produced multiepitope protein can
induce significant T helper type 1 responses in
vitro, and can be considered as a novel strategy
for the development of HEV vaccines in the
future. J. Med. Virol
Evaluation the effect of using thyme and oregano powder in comparison to the antibiotic and probiotic supplementation on growth, some immune responses and intestinal morphology of broiler chicks
To determine the effect of using thyme and oregano powder supplementation on performance, some immune response and intestinal morphology of broiler chicks a total of 200 one-day-old Cobb 500 male broiler chicks were divided into the four treatments consisting of five replicates of 10 chicks each. The treatments were as control groups with no herbal, antibiotic and probiotic supplementations. control groups + virginiamycine antibiotic, control groups + protexin probiotic, control groups + 2 % of each thyme and oregano powder supplementation and Control groups + 4 % of each thyme and oregano powder supplementation. The performance parameters such as feed intake, body weight gain and feed conversion ratio were measured during the study period. To determine immunity parameters on days 28, 0.5 mL of 10 % sheep red blood cells suspension was administrated to two chicks per each replicate through and at day 31, 3 mL blood samples were collected from left wing. On day 42, jejunum tissue samples were separated and fixed in (10 %) neutral buffer formalin and were analyzed by auto-processing apparatus, there after the slide sections were prepared by rotary microtome type (Manubeni, Erma-Tokyo, Japan) and the average of villi measurements was reported as a mean for each bird. The result of this study showed that the dietary inclusion of herbals and probiotic had no significant effects on FI and FCR of broiler chicks but higher body weight gain were seen with they received thyme+oregano supplementation. Inclusion of thyme+oregano and probiotic increased humeral immunity in broiler chicks compared to the control (P ≤ 0.05). Additionally heterophil, lymphocyte and their ratio were not influenced by experimental treatments. The villus length, villus width, and crypt depth were increased were the birds feed by oregano and thyme powders. In conclusion in current study some of beneficial acts toward using thyme and oregano powders on performance, some immune parameters and intestinal morphology on broiler chicks were demonstrated
Computational fluid dynamics based optimisation of emergency response vehicles
Formal optimisation studies of the aerodynamic design of Emergency Response Vehicles, typically encountered within the United Kingdom, were undertaken. The objectives of the study were to optimise the aerodynamics of the Emergency Response Vehicles such as Ambulance and Police cars, in terms of drag force.
A combination of wind tunnel tests and the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations were used to analyse the flow field and aerodynamic characteristics of Emergency Response Vehicles. The experimental data were used to validate the computer simulations and the good agreement observed gave confidence in the results obtained. Results from computer simulations on the scale models and full-scale models, were also characteristically similar to those of the validated scale model.
Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) was combined with an efficient optimisation framework to minimize the drag force of three different types of Emergency Response Vehicles, Ambulance Van Conversion, Police Van Conversion and Police Sedan car Conversion. The benefits of employing an airfoil-based roof design and Bezier curve fitting approach which minimizes the deleterious aerodynamic effects of the required front and rear light-bars, were investigated. Optimal Latin Hypercube (OLH) Design of Experiments, the Multipoint Approximation Method (MAM) and surrogate modelling were used for the optimisation.
Optimisation results demonstrated a clear improvement of the aerodynamic design of the Emergency Response Vehicles named above. It was also clearly demonstrated that improving the aerodynamic design of Emergency Response Vehicles roof offers a significant opportunity for reducing the fuel consumption and emissions for Emergency Response Vehicles
Evaluating Post-discharge Thromboembolic Events in Patients With COVID-19
Background: COVID-19 is associated with a high rate of thromboembolic events in hospitalized patients, but it is unclear whether this risk remains high after discharge. This study aimed to evaluate the association of underlying factors with post-discharge thrombolytic events in COVID-19 patients and the association of thrombolytic events with subsequent mortality and ischemic heart disease.Methods: In this study, eligible patients with COVID-19 who were admitted to the respiratory ward of Loghman Hakim Hospital, Tehran, Iran, followed up for about 3 months after discharge to record any thromboembolic events. Patients who reported post-discharge thromboembolic events were confirmed based on their diagnostic tests. The Chi-square test was used to evaluate the association between thromboembolic events and qualitative parameters, and an independent t-test was used to evaluate their association with quantitative parameters. Logistic regression analysis was performed to assess the association between independent variables and the composite outcome.Results: Thromboembolic events were diagnosed in 35 patients (5.04%), including Myocardial Infarction (MI) in 17 patients (2.44%), venous thromboembolism in 10 patients (1.44%), and ischemic stroke in 8 patients (1.15%). None of the 26 patients who received thromboprophylaxis had thromboembolic events. During follow-up, 22 patients (3.17%) died, of whom, 10 patients (43.47%) had thromboembolic events. Thromboembolic events were not associated with sedentary life and oxygen (O2) dependency after discharge (P value of 0.40 and 0.098, respectively). Regression analyses showed that thromboembolic events were significantly associated with ischemic heart disease and mortality (P=0.007 and P<0.001, respectively).Conclusion: Our findings support a high rate of post-hospitalization thromboembolic events in COVID-19 patients; however, it needs more large-scale trials
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