[Hepatitis B virus x protein coding sequence variation in chronically infected patient]

Background and Objective: Chronic infection with Hepatitis B virus [HBV] is one of the main causes of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma [HCC]

The pathogenicity of the virus is determined by the multi-functional protein x [HBx]. Changing the sequence of the gene encoding this protein causes the regulation of transcription and pathogenicity factors. This study was done to analyze the genetic dynamics of the HBx coding gene in a person with chronic HBV

Methods: In this descriptive laboratory study, an infected person with chronic hepatitis B virus infection was first amplified and cloned into complete sequence of HBx encoder. Then, the reference sequences of genotypes, serotypes and different virus subtypes of the GenBank database were matched by CLC Sequence Viewer software. The comparative result was used to plot the phylogenic tree by T-rex server and population genetic analysis using DnaSP software. Natural selection at the nucleotide and protein level was performed by the Tajima's D test

Results: No known mutation at the level of the protein was found in the chronic sequence of the HBx encoder. The results of natural selection indicated neutral mutations in the HBx gene. The phylogenetic results showed that the HBx encoding sequences in the chronic infected individual had a genetic affinity with genotype D and ayw2 subtype

Conclusion: Neutrality polymorphism takes place in HBx coding region. Also, the phylogenetic results of the present study are consistent with the previous findings of Golestan province and Iran which have reported the prevalence of genotype D and subspecies ayw2

[Is Epstein-Barr virus associated with pterygium?]

Pterygium is a fibrovascular lesion of the ocular surface with unknown origin, decrease in the vision. This study was done to evaluate the possible role of Epstein-Barr virus [EBV] in the formation of pterygia. This case-control study was done on 50 tissue specimens of pterygium from the patients who underwent pterygium surgery as the case group and 10 conjunctival biopsy specimens of individuals without pterygium including the patients whom underwent cataract surgery, as controls. The evidence of EBV infection was tested by polymerase chain reaction [PCR]. EBV was detected in three [6%] patients with pterygia. EBV was not detected in controls. There was not any significant correlation between pterygium and the presence of EBV. According to this study, EBV virus is not associated with pterygium formation

Drug- resistance- associated mutations and HIV sub-type determination in drug-naive and HIV-positive patients under treatment with antiretroviral drugs

Resistance to antiretroviral agents is a significant concern in clinical management of HlV-infected individuals. Resistance is the result of mutations that develops in the viral protein targeted by antiretroviral agents. In this cross-sectional study, the blood samples of 40 HI.V-positive patients were collected. Twenty of them were drug-naive and the rest were under treatment for at least one year by antiretroviral agents. Virus genome was extracted from patient's plasma with high-pure-viral-nucleie-acid kit. Then, by means of reverse-transcriptase and specific primers of protease genes were amplified and sequenced. Sequences of genes, drug- antiretroviral-resistant mutations and subtypes were determined using Stanford University's HI Vdrugresistance databases. Drug-naive patients show 15% resistance to nucleoside-reverse-transcriptase inhibitor [NRTI] and 20% resistance to non-nucleoside-reverse-transcriptase inhibitor [NNRTI]. Anti-protease resistance is not observed in any patients. In under treatment patients, drug resistance to NNRTI [25%] is more than drug resistance to NRTI [20%] and the rate of drug resistance to protease inhibitor is 5%.Our findings show a high prevalence of drug-resistant mutations in Itanian-drug-naiVe-HIV-infected patients. But in under treatment individuals, the rate of drug resistance is less than previous studies

Seroepidemiology of hepatitis e virus in hemodialysis patients in gorgan-Iran

Hepatitis E virus is one of the most common causes of acute infection in adults. Pregnant and transplant patients are more in risk of REV infection. Fecal-oral is the main route of REV transmission but recently transmission by blood transfusion has been observed. This study was amied to determme tbe prevalence of HEV -Ab in hemodialysis patients in Gorgan, Iran. In this cross-sectional descriptive study, we investigated I 150 hemodialysis patients of Panje Azar hospital in Gorgan. These patients were I evaluated for the presence of HEV total Ab by ELISA method. Of 150, 6 patients [4%] are positive for HEV-Ab. There has been no I significant relation between anti HEV Ab and variables such as age, gender, ethnicity, duration and number of hemodialysis in a week and [P>0.05]. This study, which is the first report from this area, show that the I lower prevalence of anti HEV Ab in hemodialysis patients in comparison with | pregnant and childbearing age women

Production of recombinant vector containing the coding sequence of human hepcidin

Hepcidin is a cystein-rich antimicrobial peptide, which is secreted by the liver. It fights against wide spectrum of bacteria, viruses and fungi and it is a major regulator of iron homeostasis. Today, scientists have made many efforts on the production of hepcidin. Baculovirus expression system is one of the best eukaryotic expression systems for production of recombinant hepcidin and production of the recombinant vector is one of the most important steps in this expression system. First, the total RNA was separated from HepG2 cell line as a source of hepcidin expression. Then, after synthesis of total cDNA, human hepcidin sequence was amplified, using specific primers by PCR method. Next, hepcidin sequence was cloned into pTZ57R/T vector. After digestion of recombinant vector using ECoRI and BamHI restriction enzymes, recombinant] pFastBac HT B vector containing human hepcidin cDNA was produced. Coding sequence of human hepcidin is correctly cloned into pTZ57R/T 1 vector and sub cloning into pFastBac HT B vector is performed successfully. The / presence of a clear band near 274 bp resulted from PCR amplification and / restriction enzyme are the confirmation of the cloning of human hepcidin. According to our knowledge, the present study is the first work that focuses on recombinant vector containing coding sequence of human prohepcidin, This recombinant vector can be used for human hepcidin production