Role of air pollution in inflammatory bowel disease flares: a retrospective study

Background: To evaluate relation between air pollution and rate of flare and hospital admission among inflammatory bowel disease [IBD] patients

Materials and Methods: In this retrospective study, during a 10 months period, the number and average duration of hospitalization of patients admitted in GI ward due to IBD flare were recorded in an industrial capital city. Concomitantly the level of 4 major air pollutants including SO[2], CO, NO[2] and O[3] measured and the correlation between severity of IBD flare and air pollution determined by Pearson correlation coefficient

Results: Average number of admission was 7 patients per month [1-12]. This figure for Crohn's disease [CD] was 2.9 and 3.7 for ulcerative colitis [UC]. The average duration of hospitalization for UC and CD were 2.8 days [1-13] and 2.9 days [1-22] respectively. After comparison of average concentration of 4 major air pollutants with rate of IBD flare, there was a relation, although non-meaningful, between CO concentration and number and duration of admissions due to UC flare [p=0.135 and 0.08, correlation coefficient 0.196 and 0.251 respectively]. DATA analysis did not reveal any significant relation between SO[2] and NO[2] and the rate of admission due to IBD flare [p>0.05] and Interestingly there were a reverse meaningful correlation between concentration of O[3] and number and duration of admissions due to Crohn's disease flare [p=0.016 and 0.006, Correlation Coefficient-0.338 and -0.413 respectively]

Conclusion: It seems that CO as one of the major air pollutants can aggravates course of ulcerative colitis and on the other hand O[3] could have a potential protective effect on Crohn's disease. This issue should further be clarified in future studies

case-control study on occult hepatitis b infection in chronic hemodialysis patients from south-west of Iran

Blood born viral infections such as hepatitis B virus [HBV] are major concerns in chronic hemodialysis [CHD] patients and hemodialysis units. Undetected HB[s] Ag in the presence of viral DNA, occult HBV infection [OBI], isa concern in the care of CHD patients and hemodialysis unit as a mode of transmission.In this case-control study we compare the frequency of OBI in the CHD patients with the normal population.82 consecutive CHD patients and 82 healthy individuals without any risk factors for HBV infection were enrolled in this study. A selection criterion was negative serum HB[s] Ag by ELISA method. Subsequently, the sera were tested for HBV DNA by nested PCR method.In the CHD group, 55 [67.1%] were male and 27 [32.9%] were female, with the overall mean age of 54.32 +/- 13.67 years old. The mean age of control group was 32.65 +/- 8.51 years old, with 26 [31.7%] male and 56 female [69.3%]. HBV DNA was present in 9 [11%] CHD patients, 4 [8%] of whom were seronegative for anti-HBc and anti-HB[s] antibodies. No HBV DNA was identified in the control group [p<0.0001]. History of blood transfusion was presentin all OBI CHD patients and 59 [80.9%] of non-OBI CHD patients. Duration of hemodialysis in OBI CHD and non-OBI CHD patients were 73.56 +/- 39.53 and 44.24 +/- 24.59 months, respectively [p =0.002]. The prevalence of occult HBV infection is relatively high in patients with chronic hemodialysis in our region. Duration of hemodialysis and history of blood transfusion are important risk factor for OBI infection. A more sensitive method, such as PCR, may need to be considered in this patient population

unique profile of adenomatous polyposis coli gene mutations in iranian patients suffering sporadic colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer [CRC] is one of the most common and aggressive cancers worldwide. The majority of CRC cases are sporadic that caused by somatic mutations. The Adenomatous Polyposis Coli [APC; OMIM 611731] is a tumor suppressor gene of Wnt pathway and is frequently mutated in CRC cases. This study was designed to investigate the spectrum of APC gene mutations in Iranian patients with sporadic colorectal cancer. In this descriptive study, Tumor and normal tissue samples were obtained from thirty randomly selected and unrelated sporadic CRC patients. We examined the hotspot region of the APC gene in all patients. Our mutation detection method was direct DNA sequencing. We found a total of 8 different APC mutations, including two nonsense mutations [c.4099C>T and c.4348C>T], two missense mutations [c.3236C>G and c.3527C>T] and four frame shift mutations [c.2804dupA, c.4317delT, c.4464_4471delATTACATT and c.4468_4469dupCA]. The c.3236C>G and c.4468_4469dupCA are novel mutations. The overall frequency of APC mutation was 26.7% [8 of 30 patients]. This mutation rate is lower in comparison with previous studies from other countries. The findings of present study demonstrate a different APC mutation spectrum in CRC patients of Iranian origin compared with other populations

Genotypic analysis of hepatitis C virus in Khuzestan province, southwestern Iran

Hepatitis C virus [HCV] infection is responsible for considerable morbidity and mortality worldwide. The HCV genotype has a geographic distribution and an important role in clinical and histological outcomes. This study determined HCV genotypes and their related risk factors among patients from Khuzestan Province, Southwest Iran. In a cross-sectional study, 223 patients infected with HCV who referred to Ahvaz Jundishapour University Hospitals AJSUH] and Hepatitis Clinic were enrolled. Specific and nested polymerase chain reaction [PCR] and restriction fragment length polymorphisms [RFLPs] were performed to determine viral infection and genotype analysis. Liver enzymes including ALT and AST and the correlated risk factors were also determined. The HCV genotype distribution was as follows: genotype 1a [41.7%]: genotype 1b [2.7%]; genotype 2 [4.1%]; genotype 3a [31.4%]; and genotype 4 [1.8%]. There were 42 samples [18.84%] not classified into any of the known HCV subtypes. No patient was infected with more than one genotype. HIV was found in four [1.8%] cases, of which all were intravenous drug users. Univariate analysis demonstrated an independent association of intravenous drug use [IVDU] and genotypes 1a [60.7%] and 3a [30%]. Our findings suggest that genotypes 1a and 3a are the most common ones among Iranian patients with chronic hepatitis C infection in Khuzestan Province, Southwest, Iran