Introduction:The interaction between angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) and SARS-CoV-2 is a crucial factor in the viral infections leading to the release of inflammatory proteins, such as TNF-a. Thus, it is hypothesized that TNF-a blockers can prevent either COVID-19 incidence or its serious symptoms. TNF-a blockers are prescribed to treat various autoimmune disorders, including rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and seronegative spondyloarthropathies (SpA). Therefore, the objective of this work was to examine this hypothesis that TNF-a blockers can prevent COVID-19 incidence in patients with RA or SpA.Methods: A case-control study was conducted through interviews based on a structured questionnaire to investigate the frequency of COVID-19 incidence in 254 eligible patients with RA or SpA about whom 45% were under treatment with one type of TNF-a blockers including infliximab, adalimumab, and etanercept at least for 3 months during the COVID-19 pandemic. Interviews were carried out twice, at the beginning and the end of the study (June-December 2020). Patients with COVID-19 during the study or before that were considered as cases. The control group was patients without COVID-19 experience. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, and logistic regression was used to determine the relationships between COVID-19 incidence and independent variables. Results: A small percentage of patients treated with TNF-a blockers (5.22%, 6/115) experienced COVID-19, while a large percentage of patients with COVID-19 did not receive TNF-a blockers (27.34%, 38/139). According to odds ratio, adalimumab, infliximab, and etanercept decreased significantly the risk of developing 95, and 80.3% (p \ 0.05), respectively. Therefore, TNF-a blockers could probably decrease the chances of the COVID-19 incidence in patients with RA or SpA. Conclusions: A direct and positive correlation between the use of TNF-a blockers and a reduction in the incidence of COVID-19 could suggest the prophylactic role of these drugs in

Flavonoids accumulate in plants in response to water deficit. Changes in amount, type, and localization of flavonoids under different drought conditions in Arabidopsis thaliana have not been well investigated. Therefore, in this study flavonoid patterns were investigated under water potentials of-0.2,-0.5, and-0.9 MPa at 0, 24, 48, 120, and 192 h after drought induction. Determination of amount and type of flavonoids was performed by HPLC and spectroscopy. In addition, localization of flavonoids was detected by DPBA staining and a fluorescent microscope. Only quercetin and kaempferol were detected in hydrolyzed extracts of roots and shoots. The maximum amounts of the above-mentioned flavonols were detected under severe drought stress. Under all drought conditions, there was more kaempferol than quercetin. Moreover, amounts of both flavonols and total flavonoids were greater in roots than in shoots. Different fluorescence intensities of the flavonoid-DPBA complex were observed in all seedlings from shoots to root tips. The results of this study suggest that flavonoid responses of Arabidopsis to drought stress are dynamic, and intensity and duration of drought stress could play a key role in determination of type, amount, and localization of flavonoids in response to different levels of water deficit.

Lupus nephritis (LN) is a kidney disease caused by systemic lupus erythematosus in which kidneys are attacked by the immune system. MiRNAs participate in the pathogenesis of LN as modulatory effectors in immune responses and nephrogenesis pathways. Despite the large number of miRNAs that are expressed deferentially, identifying the most suitable biomarker candidate for LN is challenging. The aim of this study was to introduce a consensus panel of potential miRNA biomarkers by performing a meta-analysis of miRNA pro les in the kidney, blood, and urine samples of LN patients. A comprehensive literature review approach was considered to nd LN-related miRNA expression pro les. After including the 41 eligible studies and performing the data extraction, metaanalysis was done based on the vote-counting rank strategy and as well as meta-analysis of p-value. The result of the meta-analysis was three lists of consensus miRNAs with altered expression pro les in the various tissue samples of LN patients. Of the 13 studies on kidney tissue, the meta-miRNAs were let-7a, miR-198, let-7e, miR-145, and miR-26a. In addition, meta-miRNAs of miR-199a, miR-21, miR-423, miR-1260b, miR-589, miR-150, miR-155, miR-146a, and miR-183 from 21 studies on blood samples, and miR-146a, miR-204, miR-30c, miR-3201, and miR-1273e from 11 studies on urine samples can be considered as non-invasive biomarker panels for LN. The meta-miRNAs and their related genes were subjected to functional enrichment analyses and network construction. Functional enrichment analysis con rmed the involvement of their target genes in nephropathy-related signaling pathways. Network construction showed miR-145-5p in blood and miR-155-5p in kidney, the best hob miRNAs as candidate drug targets. In conclusion using a meta-analysis approach, our study proposes three meta-miRNA panels that could be the target of further research to assess their potential as biomarkers / therapeutic targets in LN disease.

We used SDSPAGE to evaluate and characterize the protein patterns of seed storage proteins in four pistachios cultivars (Akbari, Ahmad Aghaei, Fandoghi, and Kaleghouchi). Total protein content of pistachio seeds in all cultivars did not show any significant difference. Results of SDS PAGE pattern of a few protein bands were up regulated whereas some other bands showed down regulation. The identified protein patterns may be used protein marker for pistachio cultivars

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