Selective antibody deficiency and its relation to the IgG2 and IgG3 subclass titers in recurrent respiratory infections

Selective antibody deficiency with normal immunoglobulins [SADNI] may be identified as part of distinct primary or secondary immunodeficiency disorders. The clinical manifestations include recurrent, often severe or prolonged, upper or lower respiratory tract infections. To evaluate SADNI in patients with recurrent sinopulmonary infections and its relation to IgG subclass deficiencies. Methods: In a case-control study, anti-pneumococcal antibody titer and IgG2, IgG3 levels before injection of pneumococcal vaccine and anti-pneumococcal antibody titer at least 4 weeks the vaccination were measured in 46 patients and 54 controls. The results were compared using student's t-test. There was a significant correlation between age and anti-pneumococcal antibody titers before and after vaccination in patients. No significant relation was found between pre and post vaccination pneumococcal antibody titer and IgG2 and IgG3 in cases and controls [p>0.05]. The mean of anti-pneumococcal antibody before and after vaccination were significantly different in cases and controls and were higher in control group [p=0.01, p=0.001, respectively]. Anti-pneumococcal antibody titers in 97.8% of cases and 100% of controls group were normal [>3.4 micro g/ml]. 34.8% of cases and 9.1% of controls had low titers of anti-pneumococcal antibody [<20 micro g/ml] while 18.7% of cases and no controls failed to respond to vaccine. Evaluation of anti-pneumococcal antibody titer in patients with recurrent, chronic and severe respiratory infections with normal immunoglobulin levels seems to be necessary as early diagnosis. Treatment of such a cases could prevent later sequelae such as mastoiditis and bronchiecstasia

Hepatitis D virus infection in Isfahan, central Iran: prevalence and risk factors among chronic HBV infection cases

Hepatitis D virus [HDV] is dependent on hepatitis B virus [HBV] infection. Acute infection with HDV can occur simultaneously with acute HBV infection of be superimposed onto a chronic HBV infection. This study aimed to identify cases of HCV and determine its prevalence in patients with chronic HBV infection for the first time study in Isfahan, central Iran. In a cross-sectional study in 2009, 346 who had been diagnosed for at least 6 months with chronic HBV were enrolled consecutively. Anti-HDV was measured by ELISA in the serum of these patients. The study included 245 males [70.8%] and 101 [29.2%] females with a mean age of 39 +/- 12.4 years. Anti-HDV was present in 8 [3.5%] HBe antibody-positive patients [p= 0.36] and in 2 [2.3%] HBe antigen-positive cases [p = 0.68]. No association was found between hepatitis D and probable risk factors. This study demonstrates that the prevalence of HDV infection is higher in patients who are positive for HBeAb compared those who are HBeAg-positive. Therefore, most HDV antibody-positive cases in Isfahan are HBV/HDV superinfections but not coinfections

[Healty lifestyle assessment questionnaire in elderly: translation, reliability and validity]

To develop and validate a questionnaire for measuring healthy lifestyle in Iranian elderly. This is a triangulation study, developed in Isfahan city 1385-86. An item pool was developed based on semi-structured interviews with elder people and experts in Geriatrics, literature review and other lifestyle questionnaires. We used principal-component analysis [used SPSS 15] and a focus group to reduce the items and assessment the face and content validity. Internal reliability was estimated using Cronbach's alpha coefficient. The questionnaire contains 46 items and 5 dimensions including exercise, nutrition, prevention, stress management and relationship. The validity was confirmed by experts and Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.76. The Elderly Lifestyle Questionnaire is a valid and reliable instrument and will enable researchers to investigate lifestyle patterns in the elderly and to assess the impact of interventions of lifestyle change in this population. The instrument warrants further testing and development with different elderly populations