[Prevalence of HCV infection in thalassemic and hemodialysis patients in Kerman Province-Iran]

People with thalessemia and chronic renal failure on maintenance hemodialysis are prone to blood-born infections, especially hepatitis C due to the long-term transfusion. Recently, hepatitis C has been one of the main health concerns in these patients. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of hepatitis C and its risk factors in these groups of patients in Kerman province of Iran. HCV RNA in blood sample of 384 patients [203 hemodialysis cases and 181 thalassemia cases] was evaluated. One hundred thirty [130] out of 384 were infected by HCV. Infected male was predominant [83%].It seems that the frequency of hepatitis C infection in Kerman is higher than the other provinces of Iran. Therefore more attention should be paid to screen of blood before transfusing for these group of patients

[Cloning, sequencing and evaluation of expression of SDF-1 alpha in rat hepatocytes]

High constitutive levels of SDF-1 alpha have been observed in the non-inflamed biliary epithelium of the liver. SDF-1 alpha is also produced by ductal plate cells [biliary epithelial cells progenitors] and it is involved in maturation and homing of B cells in fetal liver. Giving the above brief introductory remarks, this chemokine was chosen to analysis in isolated and cultured hepatocytes. We employed gene cloning methods to clone and northern analysis to show the expression of the gene in hepatocytes. In the first stage of this work, we have sequenced cloned fragment of SDF-1 in cultured rat hepatocytes and compared with database to prove that the studied and cloned gene is SDF-1. we showed that the fragment, which we have used as probe for our northern blotting analysis is SDF-1 by sequencing methods. Following using specific produced probe for SDF-1, in this study we showed that SDF-1 is expressed by hepatocytes after isolation and early culture of hepatocytes. Isolation of hepatocytes by enzymatic methods causes liver injury and therefore hepatocytes may stimulate to response to the injury. The expression of this chemokine may involve in stress response of hepatocytes to isolation

Recorded occupational accidents among people referring to labour and social affairs office in kerman, 1997-2002

Injuries due to accidents are known as one of the most important causes of disability and death in human populations. This study aims to determine factors related to occupational accidents to reduce the risk of disability and mortality among people working in Kerman. Our population comprised all cases who had been registered as having an occupational accident during 1997 to 2002 based on information obtained from the central office of labour and social affairs in Kerman. Information about age, gender, marital status, experience, the cause of accidents, type of job, sites of injury, and the long-term outcomes of accidents were collected from patients' records, injured people and their relatives using a check list. There were 164 cases reported from the center. Mean age was 32.6 +/- 9.6. More than one third of the injured were reported with an age between 20 to 29 years [min=l1,max =57]. Males constituted a big majority [98.8%] and the largest proportion of cases were those who had an experience of less than 5 years in their job [46.8%]. In 68% of cases, the accident was due to carelessness or inadequate usage of protective equipment. 43.3% of cases were employed in building activities and the least proportion of injured people were working in farms [2.4%]. About 21% of cases [n=35] died due to the accidents. Among the surviuors, hands and legs were the most common sites of injury [75.2%]. Occupational health education programs specially for younger employees who have lower experience in their job is strongly recommended. These programs should persuade them in using protective equipment