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Introduction: Various factors, including viruses, are involved in developing liver cirrhosis. Although the association of human herpesvirus-8 (HHV-8) with liver cirrhosis remains poorly understood, a significant increase in the titer of antibodies against this virus has been observed in cirrhotic patients. The present study aimed to evaluate the frequency of HHV-8-immunoglobulin G (HHV-8 IgG) in Iranian patients with liver cirrhosis. Material & Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 30 healthy blood donors and 30 patients with liver cirrhosis related to hepatitis B (n=20) and hepatitis C (n=10) viruses from those waiting for liver transplantation were included. The serum seropositivity of HHV-8 IgG antibody was evaluated using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique. Results: The seropositivity of HHV-8 IgG antibodies in patients and healthy groups was 6.7% (2 patients) and 3.3% (1 case), respectively, which did not show a significant difference between the two groups (P=0.554). In addition, the infection was not significantly related to the age and gender of the patients (P>0.05). Discussion & Conclusion: Considering the low prevalence of HHV-8 infection in Iranian patients with liver cirrhosis, it can be concluded that HHV-8 may not be associated with the incidence and progression of liver cirrhosis. Therefore, HHV-8 monitoring will not raise the concern about the development or worsening of liver disorders.

The emergence of resistance to antiretroviral drugs is the main problem in their long-term efficacy and by considering the wide use of protease inhibitors (PIs), monitoring drug resistance mutations is necessary. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the PIs drug resistance mutations in Iranian patients as well as subtyping using bioinformatics analysis. Fifteen Iranian patients living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) (PLWH) were examined. RNA was used to amplify and sequence the HIV protease gene; also, HIV viral load was determined for all samples. The sequencing results were analyzed by several strong bioinformatics tools to determine the drug-resistance mutations and HIV subtypes. Some polymorphisms in the protease gene were recognized; however, there was no significant rate of major or minor drug resistance mutations in our studied patients. Subtyping analysis revealed the new subtype (D) and the previously reported ones, A and CRF-AD 35, in patients. This study confirmed that the resistance mutations and genetic polymorphisms of the protease region are rare in Iranian-infected patients that can be concluded that prescribing protease inhibitor class in HIV-infected patients is promising in controlling HIV in Iran. In addition, conducting periodic studies to determine the new mutations and the rate of drug resistance to PIs in Iranian individuals highlights the importance of WHO guidelines that recommends monitoring of genotypic-resistance testing and investigation of mutations in HIV-related genes.

Background: Systemic lupus erythematosus is a systemic autoimmune disease that affects almost all organs of the body, and viral infections are involved in its development and progression. The present study aimed to evaluate the serological status of some viral infections in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and a healthy population. Methods: This descriptive study conducted from May 2017 to April 2018 at Shiraz HIV/AIDS Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran on 70 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and 70 healthy individuals who had no autoimmune diseases and were matched with the patient group for age and sex. All patients had active records and were routinely visited in rheumatology clinic of Hafez hospital, affiliated with Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. The evidence of active disease was assessed by the physicians of this practice according to the American College of Rheumatology criteria. Peripheral blood samples were collected in tubes containing EDTA and centrifuged at 3000 rpm for 5 min. The plasma of study participants was evaluated for HBsAg, HCVAb, HIVAb, EBV-VCA-IgG, and CMV-IgG using a commercially available ELISA kit. Results: The seropositivity of CMV-IgG and EBV-VCA-IgG in the systemic lupus erythematosus group was 70 (100%) and 65 (92.9%), and in healthy individuals was 68 (97.1%) and 57 (81.4%), respectively. The prevalence of EBV-VCA-IgG in the systemic lupus erythematosus group was significantly higher than healthy ones (P=0.043). The optical density (OD) of CMV-IgG and EBV-VCA-IgG in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus was significantly higher than in healthy individuals (P

Background: Scleroderma is a chronic systemic disorder that affects the connective tissues. It is characterized by several immune manifestations, inflammation, vascular damage, and fibrosis. Some of the viral infections with complex mechanisms are involved in the development and progression of many autoimmune diseases, such as scleroderma. The present study aimed to investigate the serological prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), and cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections in Iranian patients with scleroderma. Methods: In this descriptive study 65 patients with scleroderma and 65 healthy individuals who had no autoimmune diseases and matched for age and sex, from May 2017 to April 2018 at Shiraz HIV/AIDS Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran, were included. The serum of study participants were evaluated for cytomegalovirus specific immunoglobulin G (CMV-IgG), Epstein-Barr virus viral capsid antigen immunoglobulin G (EBV-VCA-IgG), hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), hepatitis C virus antibody (HCVAb), and human immunodeficiency virus antibody (HIVAb) using commercially available the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit. Results: CMV-IgG was diagnosed in serum of all patients with scleroderma, while 49 (98%) healthy subjects had positive results for this test. In addition, EBV-VCA-IgG was diagnosed in 58 (89.2%) sclerodermic patients and 40 (80%) healthy subjects. The prevalence of CMV-IgG and EBV-VCA-IgG was not significantly different between patients and healthy subjects and had no significant relationship with age and sex. However, the titer of antibodies against CMV and EBV infections in the scleroderma group was higher than that in the control group (P

We aimed to investigate the association of pretreatment host and/or viral related factors with sustained virological response (SVR) rate in chronic hepatitis C (CHC) infected patients. This cohort study was performed on 200 IFN-naïve Iranian CHC patients who were treated with pegylated interferon-α (PEG-IFN-α) plus ribavirin (RBV). Pretreatment levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), fasting blood sugar (FBS), HCV load and genotype were determined, and the pattern of changes was monitored throughout the course of treatment. The baseline FBS value in the non-responder group was significantly higher than that of the SVR group. The SVR group showed a rapid and continuous decline of ALT/AST activity from the beginning of the treatment, while the ALT level was fluctuating in non-responder and relapse groups. Persistent normalization of transaminases during combination antiviral therapy was significantly associated with SVR rate. Besides, age and FBS levels had the greatest impact on SVR. Minocycline seems to be a safe and effective adjuvant in the management of patients with schizophrenia.

Introduction: Combination of interferon-alpha (IFN-α) and Ribavirin (RBV) drugs is used for treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) chronic infection. Various factors play role in the response rate of HCV infected patients to treatment. HCV genotype along with viral load, age, race, obesity, insulin resistance, fibrosis and interleukin 28B gene (IL-28B) polymorphisms are considered the most important ones. In recent years, it has been claimed that some polymorphisms close to IL-28B gene play a significant role in response to combined therapy among which IL-28B polymorphisms have a more important role in sustained virological response (SVR). In this study, frequency of genotypes of rs8099917 polymorphism of interleukin 28B gene in 2 groups of Iranian healthy individuals and HCV infected patients living in Tehran was compared. Materials & Methods: Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method was used to compare the frequency of genotypes of rs8099917 polymorphism between 105 healthy individuals and 105 chronic HCV infected patients. The results were analyzed with SPSS version 15 using χ2 test. Findings: The genotype frequency of this polymorphism in the healthy individuals was demonstrated as GG: 1%, GT: 25.7% and TT: 73.3%, while in HCV infected patients, it was shown as GT: 58.1% and TT: 41.9%.. No GG genotype was detected in the patients infected with HCV. Discussion & Conclusion: Our investigation came to the conclusion that a significant difference existed between the 2 groups of Iranian healthy and HCV infected individuals regarding the frequency of rs8099917 genotypes and frequency of favorable TT genotype, because it was higher among the healthy individuals than that of the patients infected with HCV

Background & Objective: Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) is one of the important risk factors for liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Some of the host genetic factors such as interleukin 28B (IL-28B) may influence the response to the antiviral therapy. IL28B is a member of the interferon (IFN) family which causes an antiviral response. Previous studies indicated that rs12979860 polymorphisms of the IL-28B gene can influence persistent antiviral response. Therefore, in this study, the frequency of genotypes of rs12979860 polymorphisms in two groups of healthy and HCV infected Iranian individuals were evaluated. Materials & Methods: In this cross sectional study, PCR-RFLP method was used to evaluate the frequency of genotypes of rs12979860 polymorphisms in 105 healthy individuals and 105 chronic HCV infected patients. Results: The frequency of rs12979860 genotypes in healthy individuals was CC: 50.5%, CT: 45.7%, and TT: 3.8%. In HCV infected patients it was CC: 22.9%, CT: 63.8%, and TT: 13.3%. The frequency of rs12979860 genotypes had significant difference between two groups; however it is not associated with sex. Conclusion: A significant difference was observed between healthy individuals and HCV infected patients in the frequency of rs12979860 genotypes. The favorable CC genotypes and unfavorable TT genotypes was more detected in healthy individuals and HCV infected patients, respectively.