ABSTRACT
Aim: Our goal was to identify the putative association of rs4072111 variant in IL-16 gene and HCV susceptibility in an Iranian population
Background: Interleukin 16 [IL-16], a multifunctional cytokine, plays a vital role in modulation of immune system
Methods: In present case control and cross sectional study, IL-16 gene variant in 300 patients with hepatitis C [HCV] infection and 300 healthy individuals were analyzed. To evaluate this possible association, genomic DNA from venous blood was extracted and genotypes of IL-16 rs4072111 variant were determined by polymerase chain reaction- Fragments Length Polymorphism Technique [PCR-RFLP]. Then, rs4072111 C/T genotypes frequency and allelic distribution were evaluated in each group
Results: The results of genotyping showed 82% CC, 17.3% CT, 0.7% TT in the control group and 78% CC, 20% CT and 2% TT in the case group. The distribution of rs4072111 C allele was 90.7% in controls and 88% in case group respectively. However, no correlation between IL-16 rs4072111 C/T variants and susceptibility to chronic HCV infection was found in the present study
Conclusion: We concluded the rs4072111 C/T cannot be considered as a proper biomarker to identify susceptibility to chronic hepatitis C virus infection
ABSTRACT
Aim: To determine the distribution of important mutations of the "a" determinant region in the HBV genome among patients in different clinical phases of HBV infection
Background: Variations in Hepatitis B infection not only change the outcome of the disease but also the symptoms from which the chronic HBV patients are suffering
Methods: We have meticulously selected a total of 40 chronic HBV patients from four different subclasses of chronic HBV clinical phases including immune tolerant [IT], immune active [IA], inactive carrier [1C] and hepatitis B e antigen [HBeAg]-negative [ENEG]; 10 samples per each phase. Mutations of the [a] determinant region were identified using PCR-Direct sequencing method
Results: 17 amino-acid substitutions at 12 positions inside the [a] determinant were identified in all forty samples; 3 mutations in the IT group, 6 mutations in the IA phase, 3 mutations in the 1C patients and 5 mutations in the ENEG phase. Different substitutions were observed in all four clinical phases. The IA phase was the most variant group with the highest number of amino-acid substitutions
Conclusion: These results did not reveal a strong pattern to distinguish different clinical phases of Chronic HBV infection, but there are some obvious differences regarding the number and position of mutations between these four clinical phases
ABSTRACT
Aim: In this study, we investigated the prevalence of PARV4 virus among the healthy population and four other groups of HBV infected, HCV infected, HIV infected and HIV/HCV co-infected individuals in Iran
Background: Parvovirus 4 [PARV4] was first discovered in 2005, in a hepatitis B virus-infected injecting drug user [IDU]. To date, the best evidence about PARV4 transmission is parenteral roots which comes from IDU individuals. It seems that the prevalence of the virus in the normal population is very low
Methods: A total of 613 patients, including chronic HCV [n=103], HBV [n=193], HIV [n=180] infected individuals, HIV/HCV [n=34] co-infected patients and 103 healthy controls, were studied by using nested-PCR and also real-time PCR techniques
Results: Of those 180 samples were positive for HIV RNA, co-infection of PARV4 was detected in 3 cases [1.66%]. All these three patients were male with the age of 28, 32 and 36 years [mean: 32]. No statistical differences were found between HIV positive group and the healthy individuals. [P>0.05] The result of PARV4 PCR was negative in all other samples and healthy controls as well
Conclusion: This study is the first to investigate the occurrence of PARV4 among these groups in Iran. The results show, that the virus is not significant in Iranian population, even in patients with blood born infections such as HCV, HBV or even HIV patients. Further studies in other areas and various groups are required