Non-association of IL-12 +1188 and IFN-gamma +874 polymorphisms with cytokines serum level in occult HBV infected patients

Occult hepatitis B infection [OBI] is identified as a form of hepatitis in which despite the absence of detectable HBsAg, HBV-DNA is observed in peripheral blood of patients. The main aim of this study has been to investigate the association between polymorphisms in +874 of IFN-gamma and +1188 of IL-12 with their serum level in patients suffering from OBI. In this experimental study, plasma samples of 3700 blood donors were tested for the presence of hepatitis B surface antigen [HBsAg] and anti-HBc by ELISA. The HBsAg[-]/anti-HBc[+] samples were selected and screened for HBV-DNA by PCR. HBV-DNA positive samples were assigned as OBI cases and ARMS-PCR techniques were performed to examine the two known polymorphisms within IL-12 and IFN-gamma. In addition, the serum levels of IL-12 and IFN-gamma were also determined by ELISA. Results of this study demonstrated that, 352 [9.5%] out of 3700 blood samples were HBsAg[-]/anti-HBc[+]and HBV-DNA was detected in 57/352 [16.1%] of HBsAg[-]/anti-HBc[+] samples. Our results showed that groups showed significant difference in CC allele of +1188 region of IL-12 and no difference was observed in the other evaluated genes. Our results also showed that the alleles of +1188 region of IL-12 and alleles of +874 of IFN-gamma were also not associated with serum level of cytokines. According to the results of this study, it may be concluded that the polymorphisms in +1188 region of IL-12 and +874 region of IFN-gamma would not affect the expression of both cytokines at serum level in OBI patients

Polymorphisms within exon 9, but not intron 8, of the vitamin d receptor gene are associated with Asthma

Deregulation of the immune system through allied factors and cytokine responses are thought to be important contributors to the pathogenesis of asthma. Vitamin D3 and its nuclear receptor appear to be factors that maybe involved in regulating i mmune responses during the progression of asthma. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between polymorphisms in intron 8 and exon 9 of the vitamin D receptor [VDR] and this disease. This study was performed on 100 asthmatic patients and 100 healthy controls. PCR-RFLP was performed to examine polymorphisms in intron 8 and exon 9 of VDR gene. Our results showed a statistically significant difference in the Taq-1 evaluated genotypes of exon 9 of the VDR gene when comparing healthy patients to asthmatic patients. Based on our results, it can be concluded that VDR and its functional polymorphisms may play an important role in the pathogenesis of asthma

in vitro assay to evaluate the immunomodulatory effects of unrestricted somatic stem cells

Unrestricted somatic stem cells [USSC] are cord blood stem cells that have been considered as candidates for the regulation of immune responses. Therefore, potential exists for their use in the suppression of immune response after transplantation surgery. The aim of this study was evaluation of the effect of USSC on mixed lymphocyte reaction [MLR] as a model for graft rejection. USSC and mesanchymal stem cells [MSC] were isolated and cultured from cord blood and bone morrow, respectively. The immunophenotypes of USSC and MSC were evaluated by flow cytometery and USSC and MSC were cocultured with peripheral blood lymphocytes [PBL] in an MLR to evaluate the immunomodulatory effect of these cells as a percentage of the control response. Current study demonstrated that proliferation of lymphocytes in the MLR was decreased after treatment with USSC, in a similar fashion to that seen with MSC. It can be concluded that USSC have similar regulatory effects as MSC on the MLR, which can be used as an indicator for potential organ rejection after transplantation. Therefore, the immunoregulatory effect of these cells could be used in the clinic during organ transplantation and in the management of autoimmunity