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In order to evaluate several agro-morphological traits in 30 bread wheat genotypes, an experiment, based on randomized complete block design with three replications, was carried out under drought-stress and normal irrigation conditions in two locations. The traits, including grain yield, biological yield, harvest index, spike features, and peduncle characters were evaluated. The result of the combined ANOVA revealed that location and genotype effects were significant for all of the traits. Stress had a significant difference for all of the traits, except for spike density and spikelet per spike. The simple correlation results for each condition were significantly different, indicating that the relationships among traits were significantly influenced by drought stress and location. Factor analysis, based on principal component analysis and varimax rotation in the Shahed field under irrigation regimes showed that four significant factors accounted for about 78.2% and 77.7% of the total variation among characters for normal irrigation and drought stress conditions, respectively. The cumulative variation at the NIGEB field was 62.7% for four factors under normal irrigation, and 84.8% for five factors under drought stress conditions. With respect to the achieved results, characters such as plant height, peduncle length, spike density, 1000-grain weight, harvest index, and biological yield had the highest communality and, consequently, provide a high relative contribution to wheat grain yield, and can be used as selective criteria in bread wheat breeding programs.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the joints that has a strong correlation with HLA-DRB1. Family history is considered a known risk factor for RA. The aims of this study were to compare the frequency of HLA-DRB1 alleles between patients with sporadic and familial RA and also between healthy controls with RA patients (sporadic and familial) and clarify if familial RA is more severe than sporadic RA. This study included 129 consecutive patients with sporadic and 48 cases with familial (first-degree siblings) RA who visited a rheumatology unit. Demographic data, including extra-articular involvement, mean disease activity according to DAS28 (ESR) criteria, and main laboratory findings, were compared between patients with sporadic and familial RA. HLA-DRB1 typing was carried out using the PCR-SSP method, and the frequency of each allele was determined in all cases and compared with the results of HLA-DRB1 frequencies in 72 healthy controls who were previously reported by our group in northeast Iran. Patients with sporadic and familial RA were matched in age and sex, most of the cases in both groups were females. The mean age of patients was 45 years. Ocular involvement was the most frequent extra-articular manifestation of our patients. There was no significant difference between the two groups in visual analogue scale (VAS) index, number of inflamed or tender joints, extra-articular involvements, and main laboratory findings. HLA-DRB1* 01 (55 %), 04 (48 %), and 03 (43 %) alleles were the most frequent alleles in both sporadic and familial diseases. The frequency of HLA-DRB1*11 and HLA-DRB1*13 was significantly higher in normal participants compared with RA (p = 0.001). There was no significant difference in the HLA-DRB1 allele's frequency between sporadic and familial RA. Therefore, familial aggregation was not associated with RA severity.

Objectives Systemic lupus erythematosus‌ (SLE) is an autoimmune disease characterized by hyperactive B cells that produce various autoantibodies. Sex hormones have been documented to influence the development of SLE, in which women with SLE have low plasma level of dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS). A strong conclusion about the effect of DHEAS on apoptosis in SLE patients has not been provided. The aim of this study was to assess apoptotic effects of DHEAS on peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) from SLE patients. Methods Twenty SLE patients and 20 age‐ and sex‐matched healthy controls were included into this study. Concentration of DHEAS was measured using enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay in serum from all participants. Freshly isolated PBLs from each individual were treated with 7.5‐µmol of DHEAS for 24 hr in cell culture medium to assess the effect of DHEAS on apoptosis using fluorescein isothiocyante‐conjugated annexin V and propidium iodide. The messenger RNA (mRNA) expression level of apoptosis‐related genes (Fas, Fas‐L, Bcl‐2, and Bax) in PBLs was measured using real‐time PCR before and after treating with DHEAS. Results Level of DHEAS was low in SLE patients compared with healthy controls (p < 0.05). After treating with DHEAS, the percentage of apoptotic cells in SLE patients was decreased in comparison with healthy controls. DHEAS treatment increased the mRNA expression level of Bcl‐2 in PBLs from SLE patients. Conclusions DHEAS reduced the apoptosis rate in PBLs from SLE patients and may decrease the load of autoantigens. Therefore, DHEAS might be considered as a therapeutic tool in SLE patients.