ABSTRACT
Regulatory T cells [Tregs] have been involved in impaired immunity and may have a pivotal role in persistence of viral infections. To develop a simple and reliable in-house three color flow cytometery of peripheral blood to understand the role of HCV infection in the increase of Tregs. The level of naturally occurring CD4+ CD25+ FoxP3+ regulatory T cells [nTregs] in 20 chronically infected with hepatitis C virus [HCV] patients was compared to those of 15 healthy individuals by flowcytometry. In a different approach we performed permeabilization and intracellular staining before surface staining which allows the preservation of the surface molecules in the combined detection process and results in the normal frequency of nTregs in blood. Using the optimized method, it was shown that a significantly higher proportion of nTregs in the total CD4+ T cell population was seen in the peripheral blood of chronic HCV patients [0.83 +/- 0.21%, p=0.05] as compared to controls [0.26 +/- 0.1, p=0.05]. Conclusions: In accordance with other studies, we showed that HCV infection induces a dramatic increase in Tregs, which might contribute to the immune response failure during HCV infection
ABSTRACT
We reviewed records of patients with ESRD in all dialysis and kidney transplant centers of Guilan province to determine the incidence and modalities for treatment of ESRD from 2005 to 2007. Records of 759 patients were reviewed during the 3-year period of the study. The male-female ratio was 1.34:1 and the men age at the time of diagnosis was 56.3 +/- 16.8 years. The most frequent age group was 60 years and older [45.8%]. The incidence ESRD during 2005,2006, and 2007 were 100.36 pmp 100,60 pmp and 110.66 pmp, respectively. The most common causes of ESRD were hypertension [29.4%], unknown [26.6%], and diabetes mellitus [17.9%]. The most common modality at initiation of renal replacement therapy was hemodialysis [96.0%]. The entrance rate of hemodialysis in 2005, 2006, and 2007 were 29.6%, 35.0%, and 35.4%, and the discontinuing rate of hemodialysis in these years were 29.5%, 32.1%, and 38.4%, respectively