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Dyslipoproteinemia is common in lupus patients. In this study, we investigated the pattern of dyslipoproteinemia in the course of active systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in possible association with anti-double-stranded DNA (anti-dsDNA) antibodies. Forty-six lupus patients under 45 years old who fulfilled the American College of Rheumatology revised criteria for the classification of SLE were selected. The exclusion criteria were renal failure, nephrotic syndrome, thyroid or liver disease, diabetes mellitus, obesity, pregnancy and taking drugs that induce dyslipidemia. Disease activity was measured by Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI). Comparison of the lipid profiles, between active and inactive groups determined high levels of serum TG and VLDL and low levels of serum HDL in active group in comparison with inactive group(P

In a recent study, we were unable to show any association between CTLA-4 exon-1 polymorphism and systemic sclerosis (SSc) in Iranian population. In order to further explore the role of this immune inhibitory gene in SSc development, in the present study, the polymorphisms in the CTLA-4 promoter region (-1,722 T/C, -1,661 A/G and -318 C/T) were investigated in 83 SSc patients and 166 healthy controls. All genotypes and allele frequencies in patients were significantly different from the control group (P=0.022 for -1,722 T/C, P=0.03 for -1,661 A/G and P=0.014 for -318 C/T genotypes). The -1,722C, -1,661G and -318T alleles contributed to SSc with P=0.012, odds ratio (OR) 2.16, P=0.031, OR 1.82 and P=0.023, OR 2.45, respectively. A significant difference was observed in the frequency homozygous 'genotype combination' -1,722TT/-1,661AA/-318CC of these three polymorphisms (P(c)=0.003). The frequency of this genotype combination was significantly higher in the control group than in patients. Results of this investigation indicate that -1,722C, -1,661G and -318T alleles of CTLA-4 gene promoter appear to be associated with SSc, and individuals carrying these alleles may be more susceptible to this disease.

Background Behcet’s disease (BD) is a multisystem disease of unknown etiology. There are several clues which may indicate an ethiopathogenesis role for Helicobacter pylori infection in this disease. Methods In a case control study in an out patient department, 48 patients with BD were compared to age, sex matched controls regarding presence of H. pylori infection by serology and urea breath test (UBT). Results Ongoing H. pylori infection was more prevalent among patients with BD using result of UBT with odds ratio of 3.1 (95% CI: 1.34 – 7.26, PV

The Rheumatology Division in the Department of Internal Medicine at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences) (former Pahlavi University) (was established by Dr. Ali-Asghar Eghtedari in 1970. Drs. Mohammad Salami and Hadi Hedayati joined this division in 1973 and 1974, respectively. Since 1980, Dr. Akbar Rajaee has been in charge of this division. In 1986, the rheumatology subspeciality training program at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences was approved by the Ministry of Health.

Behçet's disease is a chronic, multisystemic disease of unknown etiology in which eye involvement is the most common cause of morbidity. In this study, we investigated the possible relation between serum homocysteine level and ocular involvement in patients with Behçet's disease.One hundred and fifty patients who fulfilled the criteria of the International Study Group for Behçet's disease (96 females and 54 males) were enrolled. All the patients were evaluated carefully by an experienced ophthalmologist for the diagnosis of ocular involvement. Serum homocysteine, vitamin B12, and folate levels were determined. The patients were categorized according to the presence or absence of uveitis. The data were statistically analyzed by using Student's t-test and P values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant.Fifty- nine patients (39.3%) had eye involvement, which included anterior uveitis, vitritis, macular damage, optic atrophy, panuveitis, posterior uveitis, retinal vasculitis, and retinal hemorrhage. Serum levels of folate and vitamin B12 were comparable in patients with Behçet's disease. There was no significant correlation between serum homocysteine level in patients with and without eye involvement.Our findings suggest that homocysteine level does not have significant effect on eye involvement in patients with Behçet's disease.

The clinical significance of antiphospholipid antibodies in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) and some other viral infections is controversial.To study the prevalence of anticardiolipin antibody (ACLA) and antibeta2glycoproteinI antibody (antibeta2GPI antibody) in HCV and hepatitis B virus (HBV) infected patients and its association with liver clinical parameters.Serum levels of ACLA, antibeta2GPI antibody as well as platelet count, ALT (alanine transaminase), PT (prothrombine time), disease duration and liver histologic findings of 38 patients with HBV and 15 patients with HCV infections were compared with those of 58 healthy controls.Serum titres of ACLA in HCV and HBV patients (13.4 +/-7.1 GPL units/ml), and in each of the HCV (15.18+/-9.91 GPL units/ml) and HBV (12.7 +/- 5.7 GPL units/ml) patients were significantly higher than that of the control group (3.4+/-2.3GPL units/ml). However, there was no significant difference in serum levels of antibeta2GPI antibody from patients with HCV and HBV (3.3 +/- 1.3 GPL units/ml) or HCV alone (2.79 +/- 1.01 GPL units/ml) or HBV alone (3.4+/-1.3GPL units/ml) and that of the control group (3.3+/-1.1GPL units/ml).The findings suggest that the presence of ACLA has no pathologic significance in patients with HBV and HCV infections.

Although, the cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen-4 gene polymorphism at position 49 of exon-1 has been strongly elucidated in different autoimmune diseases, but its role in predisposition to systemic sclerosis (SSc) is yet controversial. This study intends to analyze the genetic correlation of the ctla-4 gene locus with diffuse systemic sclerosis (dSSc), as well as to understand the influence of these genotypes in disease expression. Seventy known cases of SSc, and 151 age-matched healthy controls, were participated in this investigation. The frequencies of AA, GG and AG genotypes were found to be 26 (37.1%), 5 (7.2%) and 39 (55.7%) in patients, and 60 (39.7%), 19 (12.6%) and 72 (47.7%) in controls, respectively. As indicated, the differences in genotype and allele frequencies between patients and controls were insignificant (P>0.05). Moreover, the distribution of CTLA-4 polymorphism between patients did not differ significantly according to clinical and serologic features. In Iranian patients, susceptibility to SSc is not influenced by a bi-allelic ctla-4 gene (A49G) polymorphism.