Occult hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection (OCI) is described as the presence of viral genome in both hepatocytes and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) despite constant negative results on serum HCV RNA tests. Betathalassemia major (BTM) describes a group of inherited blood diseases. Patients with BTM require repeated blood transfusions, increasing the risk of exposure to infectious agents. We aimed to assess the prevalence of OCI in Iranian BTM patients and to identify the role of host factors in OCI positivity. A total of 181 BTM patients with HCV negative markers were selected. HCV RNA was tested in PBMCs using nested polymerase chain reaction assay. The positive samples were then genotyped via restriction fragment-length polymorphism (RFLP) and 5′-untranslated region sequencing. Six (3.3%) out of 181 BTM patients had viral HCV genomes in PBMC samples. Three (50.0%), two (33.3%), and one (16.7%) out of these six patients were infected with HCV-1b, HCV-1a, and HCV-3a, respectively. OCI positivity was significantly associated with the serum level of uric acid (P = 0.045) and ABO blood group (P = 0.032). Also, OCI patients had unfavorable IFNL3 rs12979860 TT, IFNL3 rs8099917 GG, IFNL3 rs12980275 GG, and IFNL4 ss469415590 ΔG/ΔG genotypes. In conclusion, we indicated the low frequency of OCI in BTM patients. Nevertheless, more attention is warranted considering the importance of this infection. Also, further studies are necessary to determine the actual prevalence of OCI among BTM patients in Iran.
Aim
The presence of occult hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection (OCI) is still controversial, however, this infection cannot be ignored. Therefore, the current study aimed at assessing the OCI frequency in patients on chronic hemodialysis (CHD) and also evaluating the association between OCI incidence with clinical parameters and interferon lambda 3/4 (IFNL3/4) gene polymorphisms.
Methods
A total of 515 patients on CHD and HCV negative markers were selected. Plus‐ and minus‐stranded HCV‐RNA was tested in peripheral blood mononuclear cell samples by reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction and then genotyped using the restriction fragment length polymorphism method.
Results
The frequency of OCI was 11.3% in patients on CHD. Among 58 patients with OCI, 25.8%, 62.1%, and 12.1% were infected with HCV‐1a, HCV‐1b, and HCV‐3a, respectively. The mean alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, and alkaline phosphatase levels were 31.9 ± 24.8, 32.3 ± 19.1, and 171.6 ± 88.9, respectively. None of the patients with OCI had a history of liver disease. Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that cholesterol, triglyceride, low‐density lipoprotein, 25‐hydroxyvitamin D, platelets, duration of hemodialysis, HCV subtypes, IFNL3 rs12979860 TT, IFNL3 rs8099917 GG, IFNL3 rs12980275 GG, and IFNL4 ss469415590 ΔG/ΔG genotypes were associated with OCI.
Conclusion
There was a moderate prevalence of OCI in Iranian patients on CHD. The current study findings indicated that this infection was associated with clinical parameters and unfavorable genotypes of IFNL3 single nucleotide polymorphisms and IFNL4 ss469415590. Further studies are required to determine the correlation between OCI incidence with clinical parameters and host genetic factors.
Background: Transfusion-transmitted cytomegalovirus infection (TT-CMV) is known to cause significant morbidity and mortality in immunosuppressed patients particularly among allograft recipients and infants born with birth weights less than 1.5 kg. Objectives: This is the first report in Iran showing the prevalence of CMV-DNA in whole blood/red cell components to evaluate safety for patients. Patients and Methods: 153 units of whole blood or red cell components [CPDA1 RBC (n = 88), washed RBC (n = 50), whole blood CPDA1 (n = 1), whole blood low volume (n = 1) and leukocytes reduced (n = 13)] were selected for the presence of CMV-DNA from two different hospitals in Gorgan. Detection of CMV-DNA in plasma was performed by nested polymerase chain reaction (Nested PCR) using specific primers selected from highly conserved regions of major capsid protein (MCP) gene of human cytomegalovirus. In addition, CMV-IgM antibody of plasma was analyzed by serological methods. Data was analyzed using SPSS software (version 18). Results: Totally, 2 of 153 (1.3%) whole blood or red cell components had positive results for CMV infection. Both viremia and anti-IgM CMV positivity were 0.65% (1/153), respectively. CMV-DNA was detected in 2/88 CPDA1 RBC, but not in other products. Conclusions: Unscreened whole-blood derivatives can act as a vehicle for transmission of CMV infection, thus, screening for cytomegalovirus infection should be performed at least for special groups of patients.
Background and Objectives: Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) are major causes of non-invasive infections, including otitis media and sinusitis and it can also contribute to respiratory infections of all ages. Currently, there is no licensed vaccine against NTHi commercially available. Many studies have been conducted on the use of OMV as a vaccine against NTHi. The purpose of this study is to achieve an immunogenic vaccine against NTHi. Materials and Methods: In this study, standard OMV Haemophilus (ATCC49766) with adjuncts CpG and MPLA was used and after infusion into BALB/c mice, the levels of antibodies and cytokines were measured on serum of immunized mice. Results: The results showed that total IgG antibody and IgG1 and IgG2a isotypes in OMV immunized mice with mixture of CpG-MPLA adjuvant had a significant increase. Also, the results of cytokines (IL-10, IL-4 and IFN-γ) showed that IL-4 had the highest rate. Conclusion: These findings indicate that OMVs derived from NTHi strains have a high potential to act as a vaccine against NTHi infections.
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