ABSTRACT
Background: Recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis [RVVC] is a common cause of morbidity affecting millions of women worldwide. Patients with RVVC are thought to have an underlying immunologic defect. This study has been established to evaluate cell-mediated immunity defect in response to Candida antigen in RVVC cases
Materials and Methods: Our cross-sectional study was performed in 3 groups of RVVC patients [cases], healthy individuals [control I] and known cases of chronic mucocuta-neous candidiasis [CMC] [control II]. Patients who met the inclusion criteria of RVVC were selected consecutively and were allocated in the case group. Peripheral blood mon-onuclear cells were isolated and labeled with CFSE and proliferation rate was measured in exposure to Candida antigen via flow cytometry
Results: T lymphocyte proliferation in response to Candida was significantly lower in RVVC cases [n=24] and CMC patients [n=7] compared to healthy individuals [n=20, P<0.001], but no statistically significant difference was seen between cases and control II group [P>0.05]. Family history of primary immunodeficiency diseases [PID] differed significantly among groups [P>0.0l], RVVC patients has family history of PID more than control I [29.2 vs. 0%, P=0.008] but not statistically different from CMC patients [29.2 vs. 42.9%, P>0.05]. Prevalence of atopy was greater in RVVC cases compared to healthy individuals [41.3 vs. 15%, P=0.054]. Lymphoproliferative activity and vaginal symptoms were significantly different among RVVC cases with and without allergy [P=0.01, P=0.02]
Conclusion: Our findings revealed that T cells do not actively proliferate in response to Candida antigen in some RVVC cases. So it is concluded that patients with cell-mediated immunity defect are more susceptible to recurrent fungal infections of vulva and vagina. Nonetheless, some other cases of RVVC showed normal function of T cells. Further evaluations showed that these patients suffer from atopy. It is hypothesized that higher frequency of VVC in patients with history of atopy might be due to allergic response in mucocutaneous membranes rather than a functional impairment in immune system components
ABSTRACT
Leishmaniasis is one of the six most common parasitic infections in tropical regions. There are different therapeutic modalities. However therapeutic resistance is developed and resulted in numerous problems. So evaluation of other therapeutic modalities is performed extensively. We compared the therapeutic response of cutaneous leishmaniasis with Glucantime and Garlic extract and it'R10 in animal model. This experimental study was conducted in Shahed University. The therapeutic response of cutaneous leishmaniasis to Glucantime and Garlic extract and R10 in animal model was studied in BALB/c, outbred SW mice and C57BL/6 mice. These three races were divided in four groups according to receiving either one of these three agents or no treatment [control]. The therapeutic response was evaluated according to parasitic load before and after treatment and also with measuring the size of the lesions. The results showed that R10 had good therapeutic efficacy in treatment of lesions in mice [P<0.05] that this efficacy was significant in sixth, seventh and eighth weeks after the treatment. There was also a statistically significant difference between the groups regarding the parasitic load [P<0.05]. According to the results, it may be concluded that R10 extract would have a good efficacy in treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis that is comparable with glucantime