Search

ΔΕΝ ΔΙΑΤΙΘΕΤΑΙ ΠΕΡΙΛΗΨΗ, Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is associated with inflammatory diseases, but its connection with Cryptosporidium in Holstein calves remains unknown. This study aimed to investigate the effect of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of IL-6 on the resistance and susceptibility to Cryptosporidium in calves and to prepare a phylogenetictree in order to show the relation between Cryptosporidium species. Seventy-two samples were studied from healthy and infected with Cryptosporidium calves and genotyped using the tetra amplification refractory mutation system (ARMS). The phylogenetic tree was constructed by the neighbor-joining method using the MEGA 7.0 software. The results showed a frequency of 76.40% for T allele and 23.60% for C allele in the healthy calves, while the results showed a frequency of 73.60% for T allele and 26.40% for C allele in calves infected with Cryptosporidium. The results did not reveal a significant difference between healthy and infectious animals according to the allele frequency (P=0.637). The phylogenetic tree demonstrated that C. parvum (HQ259589.1) with an 81% bootstrap were clustered with C. hominis (KM012041.1). The results also indicated that C. parvum (HQ259589.1) and C. hominis (KM012041.1) had a common ancestor with C. cuniculus. Additionally, C. andersoni(HQ259590.1) with an 88% bootstrap of support was placed in the same clade of C. muris (L19069.1), and both of them had a common ancestor with C. serpentis(KF240618.1). Further studies are required to investigate the relation between SNPs of IL-6 in other regions and the resistance or susceptibility to Cryptosporidium in calves.

Spirometry has been used as a common diagnostic test in asthma. Most of the patients with a mild asthma have a FEV1 within normal range. Hence, other diagnostic methods are usually used. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether eosinophil Cationic Protein (ECP) could be an accurate diagnostic marker of mild asthma. In this study diagnosis of asthma was made according to internationally accepted criteria. Asthma severity was evaluated according to frequency of symptoms and FEV1.Adequate sputum samples were obtained in 50 untreated subjects. A control group of 12 normal subjects that showed PC20 more than 8 mg/dl was also examined. Sputum was induced by inhalation of hypertonic saline. Inflammatory cells in sputum smears were assessed semi-quantitatively. ECP and IgE concentrations, eosinophil (EO) percentage and ECP/EO ratio in serum and sputum were also determined. The results revealed that Cough and dyspnea were the most frequent clinical findings. Dyspnea and wheezing were the symptoms that correlated with staging of asthma. FEV1 was within normal range (more than 80% of predicted) in 22 (44%) subjects.Asthmatic patients showed significantly higher numbers of blood eosinophils (4.5+/- 3.1% vs. 1.2+/-0.2%, P=0.009), and higher levels of serum ECP than control group (3.1+/- 2.6 % and 22.6+/- 15.8 ng/ml, respectively). Sputum ECP level in asthmatics was significantly higher than non- asthmatics (55.3+/-29.8ng/mL vs. 25.0+/-24.7ng/mL, P=0.045). Regression analysis showed no significant correlation between spirometric parameters and biomarkers, the only exception was significant correlation between FEF(25-75) and serum ECP (r= 0.28, P 0.041). Regarding clinical symptoms, wheezing was significantly correlated with elevation of most of biomarkers. Since, serum and sputum ECP levels are elevated in untreated asthmatics, the ECP level could be used for accurate diagnosis of mild form of asthma in which spirometry is unremarkable.

BACKGROUND: Although the role of enteroviruses has been proved in heart diseases, extensive information is not available on the association between enteroviruses and unstable angina. In the present study, the authors compared the prevalence of enteroviruses in patients with and without unstable angina. METHODS: Blood samples were taken from 51 patients with unstable angina and 55 patients without unstable angina or myocardial infarction that were admitted to Imam Reza and Ghaem hospitals (Mashhad, northeast of Iran). Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was performed using specific primers for the detection of the enteroviruses in blood samples of study subjects. RESULTS: Patients with and without unstable angina were similar in age with mean ± standard deviation of 62.6 ± 12.8 and 59.7 ± 12.7 years, respectively (P = 0.243) and there were no differences in gender in these two groups (P = 0.174). Prevalence of the enteroviruses in patients with unstable angina was higher only in 66-80 years age group compared to the control group (patients without unstable angina, P = 0.032). There was a higher prevalence of enterovirus RNA positivity in the blood samples of women with unstable angina (75.9%) than those without unstable angina (41.7%, P = 0.011), however, no significant difference was observed in men (P = 0.983). CONCLUSION: Our data showed that enteroviral RNA positivity was higher in patients with unstable angina compared to those without unstable angina. However, the differences between the two groups were not statistically significant. &nbsp