IL-10 plays major anti-inflammatory and anti-angiogenic roles in most of the ocular inflammations. Also, IL-10 plays a role in development of anterior chamber-associated immune deviation (ACAID). Any manipulation of IL-10 for treatment purposes should be considered very cautiously due to its potential hazards to the immune system.

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Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen considered a common cause of nosocomial infection with high morbidity and mortality in burn patients. Immunoprophylaxis techniques may lower the mortality rate of patients with burn wounds infected by P. aeruginosa; consequently, this may be an efficient strategy to manage infections caused by this bacterium. Several pathogenic Gram-negative bacteria like P. aeruginosa release outer membrane vesicles (OMVs), and structurally OMV consists of several antigenic components capable of generating a wide range of immune responses. Here, we evaluated the immunogenicity and efficacy of P. aeruginosa PA-OMVs (PA-OMVs) conjugated with the diphtheria toxoid (DT) formulated with alum adjuvant (PA-OMVs-DT + adj) in a mice model of burn wound infection. ELISA results showed that in the group of mice immunized with PA-OMVs-DT + adj conjugated, there was a significant increase in specific antibodies titer compared to non-conjugated PA-OMVs or control groups. In addition, the vaccination of mice with PA-OMVs-DT + adj conjugated generated greater protective effectiveness, as seen by lower bacterial loads, and eightfold decreased inflammatory cell infiltration with less tissue damage in the mice burn model compared to the control group. The opsonophagocytic killing results confirmed that humoral immune response might be critical for PA-OMVs mediated protection. These findings suggest that PA-OMV-DT conjugated might be used as a new vaccine against P. aeruginosa in burn wound infection.

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Background: Since the beginning of the pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), many countries have experienced a considerable number of COVID-19 cases and deaths. The etiology of a broad spectrum of symptoms is still debated. Host genetic variants might also significantly influence the outcome of the disease. This study aimed to evaluate the association of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE1) gene Insertion/Deletion (I/D) polymorphism (rs1799752) and ACE2 gene rs1978124 single nucleotide polymorphism with the COVID-19 severity.Methods: This study was conducted on 470 COVID-19 patients and a control group of 56 healthy individuals across several major cities in Iran. The blood sample and clinical data were collected from the participants, and their ACE1 I/D and ACE2 rs1978124 polymorphisms were determined using polymerase chain reaction and PCR-RFLP, respectively. Serum levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin 6 (IL-6), and ACE1 were measured in the blood samples.Results: We found that the ACE1 DD genotype frequency was inversely correlated with the risk of intubation (p = 0.017) and mortality in COVID-19 patients (p = 0.049). Even after adjustment, logistic regression demonstrated that this significant inverse association remained constant for the above variables at odds ratios of (OR) = 0.35 and Odds Ratio = 0.49, respectively. Also, in the expired (p = 0.042) and intubated (p = 0.048) groups with II + ID genotypes, the mean level of CRP was significantly higher than in the DD genotype group. Furthermore, in both intubated and expired groups, the mean serum level of ACE1 was higher compared with non-intubated and survived groups with II or II + ID genotypes. The results also indicated that ACE2 rs1978124 TT + CT genotypes in females have a significant positive role in susceptibility to COVID-19; however, in females, the TT + CT genotypes had a protective effect (OR = 0.098) against the severity of COVID-19.Conclusion: These findings suggest that ACE1 I/D and ACE2 rs1978124 polymorphism could potentially influence the outcome of COVID-19 in the Iranian population.

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Cystic fibrosis (CF) is one of the most common autosomal recessive illnesses. Inflammatory responses, a lot of mucus in the respiratory system, and pulmonary and respiratory disorders are just a few of the issues these patients experience. Numerous research has been carried out to investigate cytokines in patients, but to the best of our knowledge, Iran has not provided any information on cytokine changes of CF patients. The purpose of our research was to investigate pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines in CF patients and analyzed the correlation of cytokines with each other’s and with FEV1and BMI in different microbial groups. In this study, 42 CF patients and 10 healthy people were examined to measure the levels of IL-10, IL-4, IFN-γ, IL-17, TGF-β, and IL-8 in serum and PBMC samples by ELISA and Real-time PCR methods. In the following, the patient's sputum samples were cultured in specific media and the relationship between cytokines and the microbiota was investigated. The results showed that patients had higher levels of IL-10, IL-4, and IFN-γ and lower levels of IL-17. There was a correlation between IL-10, IL-4, and IFN-γ in patients and by increasing IL-4, IL-10 and IFN-γ were increased. Patients with P. aeruginosa had higher levels of IL-10, IL-4, and IFN-γ, but there was no change in these markers in patients with other bacteria such as S. aureus, Acinetobacter, Citrobacter, Candida, and Klebsiella. TGF-β and IL-17 levels were reduced in patients with P. aeruginosa and other bacteria, respectively. However, in patients with microorganisms other than P. aeruginosa, FEV1 had a positive relationship with IL-8, and with an increase in FEV1, the level of IL-8 increased. This contrasts with the investigation of the relationship between cytokines and FEV and BMI, which did not show any relationship between the factors in patients with P. aeruginosa. Our study's findings revealed that CF patient's cytokines differed from those of the control group. As a result, it is possible to recommend using the studied cytokines as markers for disease modulation.

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