Effect of mammalian ambient temperature on leishmania major promastigotes: viability, morphology and immunogenicity in balb/c mice

Change in temperature is one of the most important factors influencing the promastigote-to-amastigote transformation in Leishmania parasites. The present investigation studies the effect of mammalian temperature [37°C] on Leishmania major promastigote in regards to viability, morphology and immunogenicity in BALB/C mice. Temperature shifts from 25°C to 37°C in the studied Leishmania major strain induced incomplete transformation of the parasites, which included a shorter length and a thicker width, and reduced the parasite motility. The majority of parasites were alive 48 hours after the temperature shifts. With respect to their immunogenicity in BALB/C mice, the parasites transformed at 37°C did not differ significantly from those maintained at 25°C

HLA class I in Iranian psoriatic patients

The association of HLA and disease varies in different populations. We have studied the association of HLA class I in Iranian psoriatic patients, in order to compare this association with other reports. Fifty-one Iranian patients with psoriasis were HLA typed. The frequency of HLA antigens in patients and patient subgroups, based on clinical patterns, age of onset, family history and provocative factors, were compared with each other and with normal controls. The results indicate that the disease is strongly associated with HLA-Cw6 [chi-square, corrected P-value [Pc]