Quantification of hepatitis C virus in viremic blood donors in Iran: Need to reinforce post-donation follow up.

INTRODUCTION: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a public health problem and a major cause of chronic liver disease around the world. The main route of HCV transmission is contact with small quantities of infectious blood. Knowledge of the distribution of HCV viral load is essential to control HCV infection. This study aimed to investigate the HCV viral load distribution among Iranian blood donors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 160 HCV confirmed blood donors with detectable HCV RNA who referred to blood transfusion centers for post-donation counseling all over the country. HCV RNA was quantified using an in-house one-step real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) kit. Statistical analysis was performed in STATA version 13. RESULTS: The mean age of the participants was 37.66 years. Out of 160 subjects, 156 (97.5 %) were male. The median viral load of the subjects was 7.7 × 104 (range: 2.28 × 10 3-3.42 × 107 IU/mL). Out of 160 blood donors, 70 (43.75 %, 95 % CI 0.36-0.51) had a viral load ≤5 × 104 IU/mL, and 90 (56.25 %, 95 % CI: 0.49-0.64) had a viral load >5 × 104 IU/mL. DISCUSSION: The distribution of HCV viral load among viremic blood donors emphasizes on the role of post-donation follow up in identification of blood donors potentially need for HCV anti-viral therapies.

Anti proliferative and apoptotic effects on pancreatic cancer cell lines indicate new roles for ANGPTL8 (Betatrophin).

Despite considerable advances, the treatment of pancreatic cancer (PC) still requires much effort. Unusual regulation of the Wnt and apoptotic signaling pathways is widespread in cancer incidence. For instance, the WIF1 (Wnt inhibitory factor 1) gene is down-regulated in many cancers. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of recombinant Betatrophin, a recently discovered hormone, on MiaPaca-II and Panc-1 pancreatic cell lines. Various concentrations of Betatrophin were added to MiaPaca-II and Panc-1 pancreatic cell lines during periods of 24 , 48, and 72 h. The MTT assay was applied to investigate cell proliferation after treatment. The rate of apoptotic cells was assessed using double-staining flow cytometry, and the expression levels of the WIF1 gene and Bcl2 protein was observed by real-time PCR and western blotting, respectively. The findings of this study suggest that Betatrophin has an anti-proliferative effect on both MiaPaca-II and Panc-1 cell lines, in line with the up-regulation of WIF1 as a tumor suppressor gene. Moreover, the induction of apoptosis by ANGPTL8 occurred by the down-regulation of Bcl2. Thus, Betatrophin can be proposed as a potential therapeutic drug for treating pancreatic cancer.

Inhibition of γ/ß Globin Gene Switching in CD 34+ Derived Erythroid Cells by BCL11A RNA Silencing.

The induction of fetal haemoglobin (Hb F), due to the sustained clinical effects, is one of the most promising methods for the treatment of ß hemoglobinopathies, such as thalassemia major and sickle cell disease (SCD). Inhibition of γ-globin gene silencing, possibly is a suitable strategy to induce HbF expression in these patients. In this study, the possibility of increasing HbF in the CD34+ derived erythroid cells was investigated by BCL11A inhibition using specific small-interfering RNAs (siRNAs). Human peripheral blood-derived hematopoietic stem cells were isolated and differentiated to erythroid cells. Erythroid maturation was investigated using cell morphology parameters and flow cytometry analysis of CD235a expression On day 20, siRNA complementary to BCL11A was transfected to differentiating cells via electroporation. BCL11A expression was evaluated through real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and enzyme linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA). ß actin was used as the reference gene to confirm the relative expression level of BCL11A gene mRNA. 48 hours after transfection, BCL11A siRNA significantly reduced BCL11A mRNA levels and consequently led to 2.0 fold decrease in corresponding protein. On the 28th day, haemoglobin electrophoresis results showed that Hb F levels in transfected erythroid cells increased 3.3-fold when compared with non transfected cells. In this study we showed that BCL11A inhibition in erythroid cells could increase fetal hemoglobin, and this strategy can be the basis for designing a γ globin expressing cellular system to increase Hb F in patients with thalassemia and SCD.

Co-culture of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells overexpressing lipocalin 2 with HK-2 and HEK293 cells protects the kidney cells against cisplatin-induced injury.

Conditioned medium of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) is now being used for its cytoprotective effects, especially when the cells are equipped with cytoprotective factors to strengthen them against unfavorable microenvironments. Overexpression of Lcn2 in MSCs mimics in vivo kidney injury. Hence, unraveling how Lcn2-engineered MSCs affect kidney cells has been investigated. Cisplatin treated HK-2 or HEK293 kidney cells were co-cultivated with Lcn2 overexpressing MSCs in upper and lower chambers of transwell plates. Proliferation, apoptosis, and expression of growth factors and cytokines were assessed in the kidney cells. Co-cultivation with the MSCs-Lcn2 not only inhibited cisplatin-induced cytotoxicity in the HK-2 and HEK293 cells, but increased proliferation rate, prevented cisplatin-induced apoptosis, and increased expression of growth factors and the amount of antioxidants in the kidney cells. Thus Lcn2-engineered MSCs can ameliorate and repair injured kidney cells in vitro, which strongly suggests there are beneficial effects of the MSCs-Lcn2 in cell therapy of kidney injury.

New synthesis of aminorhodanin and condensed derivatives.

Aminorhodanins are heterocyclic compounds of dithiocarbazoyl which include sulphur and nitrogen in their structures. Different research studies have been performed on rhodanin and it's condensed derivatives and several reports have been issued indicating their antimicrobial properties. In the present work, first a new method has been developed for production of aminorhodanin, which include one more nitrogen atom in third position compare to rhodanins molecule, then condensed reactions with aldehydes have been investigated. The probable biological properties of produced compounds will be investigated in another research study.