One of transfusion's side effects is alloimmunization against red blood cell (RBC) antigens. Early diagnosis by antibody screening is an important step in the detection of these alloantibodies. The authors studied the frequency of alloimmunization in thalassemic patients of 4 centers (2 adult and 2 pediatric centers) and compared the rates in children (up to 15 years) and adults. Antibody screening tests were performed by gel method according to its standard pattern and respective program. In positive cases, antibody identification test by gel method was performed. Eight hundred thirty-five patients were studied; 548 (65.6%) were adults (mean age = 24.5), and 287 (34.4%) cases were pediatrics (mean age = 10.05). Of these patients, 74.1% had no history of transfusion reaction, whereas 21 (2.5%) had hemolytic complications. Seventy-eight (9.3%) exhibited allergic symptoms, and 117 (14%) cases experienced febrile reactions during transfusion. Antibody screening showed positive results in 22 pediatric cases (7.7%) and 79 adults (14.4%); 72 (71.3%), 19 (18.8%), 3 (3%), and 1 (1%) cases exhibited single, double, triple, and autoantibodies, respectively. Anti-Kell antibody was seen in 34 (33.7%) cases, anti-D was seen in 11 (10.9%) cases, and anti-E in was seen in 10 (9.9%) cases. The authors observed 8 anti-D+C (7.9%) cases, 1 anti-D+E (1%), 3 anti-Kell+E, 3 anti-Kell+Kpa (3%), and 1 anti-Kell+D double antibodies. These antibodies were also a combination of Rh subgroups or Rh and Kell subgroups. The authors observed meaningful relations between history of transfusion reactions and age with antibody screening results (P = .005). Based on alloantibodies types, more than two thirds of them were Rh subgroups and Kell groups. Phenotype determination of RBCs before beginning chronic blood transfusion and careful cross-matching with Kell and Rh subgroups in addition to ABO may help reduce alloimmunization in chronic transfusion patients.

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Oxidative stress can worsen glycemic status. Considering the antioxidant properties of Ellagic acid (EA), this study was designed to evaluate the effect of EA on glycemic indices, lipid profile, oxidative stress, and inflammation status in type 2 diabetic patients. Overall, 44 patients were recruited and were randomly allocated consumed 180 mg of EA per day (n = 22) or placebo (n = 22) for 8 weeks. The blood sugar (BS), insulin, insulin resistance (IR), hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low‐density lipoprotein (LDL), high‐density lipoprotein (HDL), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), malondialdehyde (MDA), the activity of glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and superoxide dismutase (SOD), C‐reactive protein (CRP), TNF‐α and interleukin 6 (IL‐6) were measured at the beginning and end of the study. At the end of the study, the mean of BS, insulin, IR, HbA1c, TC, TG, LDL, MDA, CRP, TNF‐α, and IL‐6 were significantly decreased in the intervention group (p < .05). Also, the mean of TAC (+0.8 ± 0.01) and activity of GPx (+10.26 ± 0.22) and SOD enzymes (+459.6 ± 9.76) significantly increased in the intervention group (p < .05). EA supplementation can be helpful as a diet supplement in patients with type 2 diabetes through improvement in chronic adverse effects.

Background Chlamydia trachomatis is one of the sexually transmitted pathogens causing reproductive health-threatening diseases worldwide. However, its role in infertility, particularly in asymptomatic individuals, is not yet definitely determined. Methods For the study, electronic databases were searched using the following keywords; 'Chlamydia trachomatis', 'prevalence', 'frequency', 'fertile', 'infertile', 'case', 'control', 'symptomatic' and 'asymptomatic'. Finally, after some exclusions, 34 studies (19 fertile-infertile and 15 symptomatic-asymptomatic) from different countries were included in the study and meta-analysis was performed on the data collected. Results Odds ratios (ORs) for urogenital C. trachomatis prevalence in males in the fertile-infertile group, for infertile and fertile individuals, ranged from 1.3-3.7 and in females from 1.04-4.8, and the overall OR for both genders was 2.2 (95% CI). In the symptomatic-asymptomatic group, the overall OR in males and females was 4.9 (95% CI = 1.1-21.7) and 3.3 (95% CI = 1.7-6.3), respectively. In all of the analyses, there were high levels of heterogeneity (I(2) >50%, p-value <0.05) and, except for the females in the symptomatic-asymptomatic group, neither Egger's tests nor Begg's tests were statistically significant for publication bias. Conclusions C. trachomatis can impact on the potential for fertility and cause clinical manifestations and complications in both males and females. Thus, national programmes for adequate diagnosis, screening and treatment of infected individuals, particularly asymptomatic ones, seem to be necessary.

Objective: To determine the overall prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis in Iranian males and females and to find out the effect of this bacterium on fertility potential and its association with urogenital symptoms. Methods: We searched both English and Persian electronic databases using keywords 'Chlamydia', 'Chlamydia trachomatis', 'prevalence', 'incidence', 'frequency', 'epidemiology' and 'Iran'. Finally, after some exclusion, 34 studies from different regions of Iran were included in our study, and a meta-analysis was performed to determine pooled prevalence estimates for each group. Results: C. trachomatis prevalence for women and men was high and ranged from 0 to 32.7% and 0 to 23.3%, respectively (95% CI). The pooled prevalence of the bacterium in the female population was 12.3% (95% CI: 10.6-14.2%) and in men was 10.9% (95% CI: 7.6-15.4%). A high level of heterogeneity was seen for both men (I 2 5 77.4%; P v 0.001) and women (I 2 5 77.5%; P v 0.001); but in men and not in women, some evidence for publication bias was observed [Egger's test (twotailed P 5 0.013); Begg's test (two-tailed P 5 0.025)]. In females analysis of symptomatic/infertile group with asymptomatic/fertile group in females, the overall OR was above 1 and the overall P-value was below zero. Conclusions: This bacterium may play a role in female infertility or be associated with clinical manifestations; thus, planning national programmes for adequate diagnosis of genital infections caused by this pathogen is necessary. Furthermore, screening strategies, particularly for asymptomatic individuals, and treatment of infected people can reduce consequent complications.