Background: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/hepatitis C virus (HCV) coinfection has become a serious public health problem. The influence of HIV/HCV coinfection on plasma HCV RNA loads and clinical criteria which are usually regarded as a predictor of the progress of liver disease have not been reliably evaluated. Objectives: This study investigated the impact of HIV infection on HCV RNA load and clinical indexes in Yazd and Tehran. Materials and methods: HCV/HIV-coinfected patients and HCV-monoinfected controls were examined and compared for plasma HCV RNA and related risk factors such as HCV genotypes, liver enzymes, and transmission routes. Results: A total of 54 HCV/HIV-coinfected patients and 88 HCV-monoinfected controls were studied. The HCV RNA load mean was significantly higher in HCV/HIV-coinfected patients than in HCV-monoinfected patients (p < 0.001). HCV RNA load mean in patients infected with HCV without anti-HCV therapy was lower than HIV/ HCV patients with and without highly active antiretroviral therapy that this difference was significant (p < 0.001). The HCV RNA levels were significantly higher in HIV/HCV genotype 3a coinfected patients than in genotype 3a monoinfected patients (p < 0.001). HIV RNA levels were lower in genotype 1a infected patients than in genotype 3a infected patients, but this difference was not significant statistically. The ALT mean levels were significantly higher in genotype 3a HIV/HCV-coinfected patients than in genotype 3a HCV-monoinfected patients (p < 0.001). Conclusions: HIV/HCV coinfection leads to a significant increase in plasma HCV RNA. Further evaluations of the effects of ART and HIV infection on the course of HCV infection and the response to treatment against HCV infection in other and different genotypes are also needed. Moreover, HIV-infected patients should be screened regularly for HCV coinfection, particularly if they are in high-risk groups such as IDUs and recipients of blood transfusions.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of simvastatin (SIM) and L-carnitine (LC) additives and their interactions, on productive performance and carcass quality of broilers. For this purpose, a feeding trial was conducted, under 3×3 factorial design, using SIM at 0, 1 or 2 g/kg level and LC at 0, 150 or 300 mg/kg level in a basal-diet and originating a total of nine treatments: T1 (control-diet, 0/0), T2 (0/150), T3 (0/300), T4 (1/0), T5(1/150), T6 (1/300), T7 (2/0), T8 (2/150), and T9 (2/300). Feed intake was higher in T2 (4716 g), T7 (4722 g) and T9 (4698 g) than in T1 (4545 g; P<0.05) considering the last growing phase (35-42 days) or whole 42-day production cycle. An improvement of feed efficiency was also observed in T8 (1.64) and T9 (1.67) when compared to T1 (1.77; P<0.05), and these were mainly due to SIM × LC interactions (P<0.05). The LC influenced positively (P<0.05) the weight of eviscerated carcass, breast, drumsticks and abdominal fat, as well as plasma triglycerides level. This findings suggests that the combination of SIM and LC additives have a positive influence on growth performance and carcass traits of broiler chickens.
Background: Hepatitis C infection is a major health problem around the world. It exhibits high genetic diversity, characterized by regional variations in genotype distribution. It seems that the hepatitis C virus genotypes are differently distributed between distinct geographical regions and also associated with different clinical outcomes and response to antiviral therapy. Objectives: The current study was performed to identify the distribution of HCV genotypes among chronic patients, who were HCV positive in Rasht, Capital City of Guilan Province, and Northern Part of Iran.
Patients and Methods:The cross sectional study was carried out from June 2014 to February 2015. A total of 83 patients with anti-HCV-positive specimens were enrolled. Detection of HCV-RNA by Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) was performed from anti-HCV positive specimens, and HCV genotypes among plasma samples from RNA-HCV positive patients were then investigated using type-specific primers.
The aim of the review was to present modern data on epidemiology of hepatitis C in Islamic Republic of Iran. In the review there are considered main routs of the infection transmission, groups of high risk and structure of hepatitis C genotypes.
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