role of IL-4 and IL-8 in the etiology of Tinea versicolor in group of Iraqi patients

Tinea versicolor is a common dermatological problem, world wide distribution, caused by a dimorphic fungus called Malassezia furfur, it lives normally on skin as a commensal. Many factors play a role in the etiology of TV among these could be the disturbed immune system which may be related to the ability of TV to alter the immune system by a process called Immunomodulation leading to subsequent infection. Immuno-inflammatory activity mediated by different cytokines could have a role in the etiology of TV. To evaluate the serum level of the inflammatory cytokines, IL-4 and IL-8, in patients with TV as compared to immunocompromized patients and healthy groups. This study enrolled 50 total patients, 15 of them were as patients control group who were immunocompromized with evident skin lesion, to be compared serologically with 15 patients who had TV and normal immunity, the control group composed of 20 healthy volunteers. Using ELISA test technique the following tests were done: detection of IL-4 and IL-8 in the sera of all groups. The statistical differences in the rate of detectable IL-4 level between TV and healthy control P< 0.001, while the difference was highly significant between the healthy control and immunocompromized patients with TV, P<0.00338. The difference between the two diseased groups was [P< 0.219] which is non significant, when p<0.05 was considered significant. IL-8: the results of our study showed a significant difference between the healthy control and the patients with tinea versicolor, p-value was [0.05]. In this study there was a nice finding by which the difference between the healthy control and the immunocompromized patients was highly significant as, p<0.005. The genus Malassezia is an immunological paradox. In some circumstances, it acts as an adjuvant, activates the complement cascade, and elicits both cellular and humoral immune responses in healthy individuals, among which IL8 and IL-4 were notably increased. In contrast, it also seems to have the ability not only to evade the immune system but actually to suppress the response directed against it

HLA antigens among Iraqi muslims Arabs and Kurds

The HLA system is a relevant tool in population genetics analysis. From the genetic point of view, the HLA system is of general interest because of the extreme polymorphism of all known HLA loci. The aiiele and haplotype frequencies have a wide diversity among human population and differ in geographically and racially among populations. Iraq had a high percentage of Muslims people that distributed in two groups [Arab and Kurd], These groups are ancient populations and affected by many settlement in many centuries ago. These ancient settlements had left marks on the genetic structure of the modern Iraqi populations. The later immigrations to other countries were high in later years. The aim of study is to estimate the gene frequency of HLA class i [A, B, Cw] alleies in Iraqi Arab Muslims and Kurd Muslims and determine the genetic differences between them. A total of unrelated 1400 Iraqi Arab Muslims [AM] and 705 Kurd Muslims [KM] healthy volunteers and individuals referred to Immunology and Tissue Typing Center in Al-Karamah Teaching Hospital for organ transplantation and Forensic medicine, were examined for HLA polymorphism using complement dependent cytotoxicity test from June-2003 to April-2004. The phenotypes of HLA typing of Iraqi Arab Muslims [AM] and Kurd Muslims [KM] were in agreement with Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. Regarding HLA class I [A and Cw loci], there was a significant differences between these groups. Lasly, there was no significant difference between them inHLA-B. This may be due to their inhabitants different area in Iraq, and also due to their different origin as Arab and Kurd races with mild differences due to outbreedmg and migration The effects of invaders and settlements from out side the country and intermixing with them may play an important role in these differences

HLA typing and variant alleles in Iraqi Arab Muslims tribal origin compared with other HLA populations

The HLA region had been shown to be the most polymorphic genetic system in man. There is a variation in the frequencies of various HLA alleles between various populations. Estimating the gene frequency of HLA class I [A, B, Cw] and class II [DR and DQ] alleles in Iraqi Arab Muslims. Assessing the genetic relationship between Iraqi Arab Muslims and other Arabian, Asian and European populations. A total of 1400 unrelated Iraqi Arab Muslims [healthy volunteers and individuals referred to Immunology and Tissue Typing Center in Al-Karamah Teaching Hospital for organ transplantation and Forensic medicine] were examined for HLA polymorphism using complement dependent cytotoxicity test from June-2003 to April-2004. The distribution of HLA polymorphism [A, B, Cw, DR and DQ] was investigated in Iraqi Arab Muslims [AM]. It had been found that A2 was the most frequent allele in A Ioci [0.202], which is similar to other Arabian, Asian and European populations in the world. Other common allele was A1 [0.116]. The least frequent allele was A25 [0.003]. In case of B-locus, 851 was the most frequent allele [0.123]. This reflects the higher prevalence of Behcet's syndrome in Iraq and other Mediterranean countries. The other common allele was B35 [0.092] while rare alleles were B7, B8, B41, B44, B49, and B50. Those alleles showed shared comparable gene frequencies. Concerning HLA-Cw, the greater frequency was Cw4 and Cw7. Other class was class II, in this class; DR2 was the most frequent allele with a gene frequency was 0.153. It is a fortunately to have high level of this allele because it was a protective against insulin dependent diabetes mullets. The last locus was DQ; it had been found that DQ1 and DQ3 were the most frequent polymorphism [0.117 and 0.119, respectively]