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Chronic inflammation is the hallmark of the pathogenesis of H. pylori-induced gastric cancer. IL-17A and IL-17F are inflammatory cytokines expressed by a novel subset of CD4+Th cells and play critical function in inflammation. We evaluated the relationship between IL-17A G197A, IL-17F A7488G and IL23R+2199 A/C polymorphisms with IL-6, IL-17, IL-21, IL-23 and TGF-β1 mRNAs expression in regard to H. pylori infection with chronic gastritis.Total RNA and genomic DNA were extracted from gastric biopsies of 58 H. pylori-infected patient with gastritis. Afterward, mucosal IL-6, IL-17, IL-21, IL-23 and TGF-β1 mRNAs expression and polymorphisms in IL-17A G197A, IL-17F A7488G and IL-23R +2199A/Cin gastric biopsies were determined by real-time PCR and PCR-RFLP.Our results show that IL-17A G197A, IL-17F A7488G andIL23R +2199A/C polymorphisms have no effect on mucosal expression of IL-6, IL-17, IL-21 and TGF-β1 mRNAs expression in H. pylori-infected patients with chronic gastritis.These results suggest that IL-17A G197A, IL-17F A7488G and IL23R +2199A/C polymorphisms no alter mucosal cytokine pattern in Iranian patients with H. pylori-associated gastritis diseases.

We measured the prevalence of HBV surface antigen (HBsAg) among male injection drug users (IDUs) in Detention, Tehran, Iran. A cross-sectional survey included 499 male IDUs arrested by police during a predetermined police sweep in Tehran (February, 2006). A questionnaire was filled out for each individual. Blood specimens were collected for HBsAg testing. Prevalence of HBsAg was 5.8% (95% CI 3.6-7.9). The majority of chronic HBV infections, 69.2%, were among adults age 25 to 34 years. The high prevalence of HBsAg highlights the need for special efforts to increase vaccination among adult populations at risk for HBV infection in order to reducing continuing transmission and stave off future high burden of disease.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Garlic has been shown to have anti-tumoral and anti-metastatic activities in some kinds of cancer. Therefore, it may be effective against fibrosarcoma. The effect of heating on garlic ingredients and its benefits are not clear. Therefore, in this study the effect of heating of garlic on the growth of WEHI-164fibrosarcoma cells in Balb/c mice was examined. The amounts of phenolic compounds and antioxidant capacity of heated and unheated garlic were also determined.METHODS: In an experimental study 40 inbred Balb/c mice were divided into 5 groups of 8 each. A single aliquot of 5 × 106 cells/100 µl WEHI-164 cells was injected subcutaneously in the chest of each animal. Groups 1, 3 and 5 received normal saline (0.2 ml), heated and unheated garlic (20 mg/kg) for two weeks before and three weeks after cell injection, and groups 2 and 4 received unheated and heated garlic, respectively. The mean size of tumors, antioxidant activity and phenolic compounds were measured and compared with each other.FINDINGS: The mean size of tumor in groups which received unheated garlic extract was smaller than that of heated group. Significant differences could be seen in the final last 6 days of experiment, so that the mean sizes of tumors on the 21st day of study was110±86 mm2in heated and 760±79 mm2in raw garlic groups (p0.05). The amount of total phenolic compounds in raw garlic (12.61 mg/gr) was more than heated garlic (1.07 mg/gr) (p>0.05).CONCLUSION: Garlic consumption may have important role in control and prevention of fibrosarcoma growth. But heating may decrease the phenolic compounds, antioxidant capacity and anticancer effect of garlic.

Leukemia is known as the world’s fifth most prevalent cancer. New cytotoxic drugs have created considerable progress in the treatment, but side effects are still the important cause of mortality. Plant derivatives have been recently considered as important sources for the treatment of various diseases, including cancer. Gallic acid (GA) is a polyhydroxyphenolic compound with a wide range of biological functions. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of GA on proliferation inhibition and apoptosis induction of a lymphoblastic leukemia cell line. Jurkat cell (C121) line was cultured in RPMI 1640 supplemented with 10% heat-inactivated fetal bovine serum (FBS) with different concentrations of GA (10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, and 100 µM) for 24, 48 and 72 hours. The effect of GA on cell viability was measured using MTS assay. Induction of apoptosis was evaluated with Annexin V-FITC/PI kit and flow cytometry. Data were analyzed by SPSS version 20 using Kruskal-Wallis and Dunn’s multiple comparison tests. Decline of cell viability to less than 50% was observed at 60.3±1.6, 50.9±1.5, and 30.9±2.8 µM concentration after 24, 48, and 72 hours incubation, respectively. All concentrations of GA (10, 30, 50 and 80 µM) enhanced apoptosis compared to the control (P