Methylentetrahydrofolatereductase (rs1801133) polymorphism and psoriasis: contribution to oxidative stress, lipid peroxidation and correlation with vascular adhesion protein 1, preliminary report.

BACKGROUND: Psoriatic patients are at greater risk of oxidative stress and inflammation which is associated with abnormal plasma lipid metabolism and lipid peroxidation.There is not any information about the clinical significance of relation between methylentetrahydrofolatereductase (MTHFR) 677-T allele with malondialdehyde (MDA), lipids, apolipoproteins and vascular adhesion protein-1 (VAP-1) partakes in the migration process of lymphocytes into sites of inflammation. OBJECTIVES: This study is the first investigation to examine the association of MTHFR (rs1801133) C677T polymorphism, serum level of MDA, VAP-1, lipid-lipoprotein and apolipoproteins with the risk of psoriasis. METHODS: The present case-control study consisted of 100 psoriatic patients and 100 gender- and age-matched unrelated healthy controls from west population of Iran. MTHFR-C677T (rs1801133) polymorphisms were detected by restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP), VAP-1 by ELISA, apolipoproteins by immunoprecipitation, lipid and apolipoproteins by spectrophotometery and MDA by HPLC. RESULTS: We found that dominant/recessive model (CC + CT/TT) and T allele of MTHFR-677 alleles significantly 7.45 and 1.76 times increased risk of psoriasis, respectively. The psoriasis patients with MTHFR-677-T (C/T + T/T) allele had significantly higher serum MDA, VAP-1 and apolipoproteinsAPOB concentrations and ratio of APOB/APOA1 than the control subjects.The MTHFR-677-T allele frequencies in psoriasis patients were significantly higher than that in control group (28.5% vs. 18.5%; P = 0.018).We found a significant positive correlation between VAP-1 with MDA (P = 0.047) and LP (a) (P = 0.025). CONCLUSION: In the present study, we demonstrated for the first time that the psoriasis patients with MTHFR-677-T (C/T + T/T) allele had higher serum levels of MDA, VAP-1, APOB and ratio of APOB/APOA1 and dominant/recessive model (CC+CT/TT) and T allele of MTHFR-677 are significantly more common in psoriasis and increased risk of psoriasis by 7.45 and 1.76 fold, respectively. These data suggest that psoriasis patients carrying of TT genotypes and T allele of MTHFR-677 may be more susceptible to cardiovascular disease and myocardial infarction.

Paraoxonase 1 (PON1) 55 polymorphism, lipid profiles and psoriasis.

BACKGROUND: Paraoxonase 1 (PON1) is a serum high-density lipoprotein-bound enzyme with antioxidant function. It hydrolyses lipid peroxides, protecting low-density lipoproteins from oxidative modifications. Patients with psoriasis are at greater risk of oxidative stress, which is associated with abnormal plasma lipid metabolism. OBJECTIVES: In this study, association of the PON1 55 M allele with serum arylesterase (ARE) activity, malondialdehyde (MDA), lipid profiles and psoriasis was investigated. METHODS: The present case-control study consisted of 100 patients with psoriasis with and without cardiovascular diseases (mean age 35·3 years) and 100 sex- and age-matched unrelated healthy controls (mean age 35·7 years) from the population of western Iran. The PON1 55 Met>Leu polymorphism was detected by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism. Serum ARE activity, MDA, and lipid and apolipoprotein levels were determined spectrophotometrically, by high-performance liquid chromatography and by enzyme assay, respectively. RESULTS: The presence of the PON1 55 M allele was found to be associated with psoriasis (odds ratio = 1·96, P = 0·017). The patients with psoriasis with the PON1 M (M/L + M/M) allele had higher MDA levels (4·12 ± 0·88 vs. 2·24 ± 0·55 µmol L(-1) , P < 0·001), apolipoprotein B (APOB)/APOA1 ratio (0·91 ± 0·66 vs. 0·66 ± 0·35, P = 0·004), APOB (111 ± 38·7 vs. 88·3 ± 22·5 mg mL(-1) , P = 0·001) and lipoprotein(a) [LP(a)] (21·9 ± 18·4 vs. 15·8 ± 16·6 mg mL(-1) , P = 0·034), but lower ARE activity (39·6 ± 11 vs. 45·9 ± 11·8 U mL(-1) , P = 0·031) than the control subjects. ARE activity showed a significant positive correlation with APOA1 and a negative correlation with MDA concentration in patients with psoriasis. CONCLUSIONS: The PON1 55 M allele is a risk factor for psoriasis. Carriers of this allele have high levels of MDA, APOB and LP(a), a high APOB/APOA1 ratio and low ARE activity. These results indicate that oxidative stress, impairment of the antioxidant system and abnormal lipid metabolism may play a role in the pathogenesis and progression of psoriasis and its related complications. These data suggest that patients with psoriasis are more susceptible to vascular diseases.

Exposure to (226)Ra from consumption of vegetables in the high level natural radiation area of Ramsar-Iran.

The vegetable-to-soil concentration ratio (CR) for (226)Ra and the related effective dose were studied in Talesh Mahalleh, a district of the city of Ramsar in Iran with a high level of natural radiation (HLNR). Maximum and minimum CR were measured in leafy and root vegetables with average values of 1.6 x 10(-2) and 4.0 x 10(-3), respectively. The mean effective dose resulting from (226)Ra due to consumption of edible vegetables by adults in the critical group in this region was estimated to be 72.3 microSv a(-1). This value is about 12 times greater than the average of effective dose resulting from this radionuclide due to combined intake of all foods and drinking water in normal background areas.

[Regulative therapy: treatment with nonspecific stimulants in dermatology in traditional and modern perspectives]. / Regulationstherapie: Behandlung mit unspezifischen Reizen in der Dermatologie aus traditioneller und moderner Sicht.

Stimulation or regulation therapies are old therapeutic procedures based on models reaching back to traditional medical faculties in ancient times and in the Middle Ages. Among this heterogeneous group are acupuncture, purgative procedures (especially the Aschner methods), autohemotherapy, fasting therapy, homeopathy, microbiological and physical therapies. The basic principle underlying all of these procedures is that stimulants applied in proper doses to the organism elicit counterregulation. The counterregulation stimulates 'self-healing processes' within the organism. The efficacy of stimulation therapies was originally deduced mostly from traditional explanatory models which have lost their relevance for modern medicine. However, it has been found in applications in dermatology that many of these stimulation therapies can lead to clinical improvement in selected indications and that modern explanatory models can be found for these effects. This presentation reports on exemplary applications of stimulation therapies in dermatology. Traditional and modern concepts of action are compared.

Effective dose to the public from 226Ra in drinking water supplies of Iran.

One of the most important and prevalent isotopes of radium (Ra) in the human food chain, and especially in drinking water, is 226Ra. To determine the contribution of this radionuclide to the annual effective dose to the public in Iran, a national program for determination of this radionuclide was established. Over 500 water samples from different surface and ground water supplies including wells, rivers and springs, as well as hot springs and sea water from the Caspian Sea and Persian Gulf have been analyzed. An emanation method with a minimum detection limit of less than 2 mBq L(-1) was developed and applied in this study. Unweighted mean concentrations of 3.3 mBq L(-1) and 8.0 mBq L(-1) were determined in surface and ground drinking water supplies, respectively. Based on such values, mean unweighted annual intakes of 226Ra were found to be 0.85 Bq for an infant, 1.97 Bq for a child, and 2.82 Bq for an adult, which correspond to mean unweighted annual effective doses of 0.17 microSv y(-1), 0.39 microSv y(-1), and 0.56 microSv y(-1), respectively. The mean 226Ra concentrations in hot springs were higher with a maximum of 146.5 Bq L(-1) measured in the Ab-e-Siah hot spring in Ramsar, a town on the coast of the Caspian Sea in Iran.