Association between ELMO1 gene polymorphisms and diabetic kidney disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Previous research has suggested that the ELMO1 gene may play a role in the development of diabetic kidney disease. Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is a serious complication of diabetes and the leading cause of chronic kidney disease and end-stage renal disease (ESRD). OBJECTIVE AND RATIONALE: This study aim was to systematically review and explore the association between ELMO1 gene polymorphisms and diabetic kidney disease. A comprehensive systematic review provides a clear conclusion and high-level evidence for the association between ELMO1 gene and DKD for future application in personalized medicine. METHODS: A comprehensive search of electronic databases, per PRISMA instructions, was conducted in Scopus, EMBASE, Web of Science, and PubMed databases from 1980 to January 2023. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using appropriate models. Subgroup and sensitivity analyses were performed to explore potential sources of heterogeneity and assess the robustness of the findings. RESULTS: A total of 5794 diabetes patients with DKD, 4886 diabetes patients without DKD, and 2023 healthy controls were included in the 17 studies that made up this systematic review. In the investigation of DM (Diabetes Mellitus) with DKD vs. DM without DKD, the susceptibility for DKD for the EMLO1 rs741301 polymorphism indicated a significant difference under the dominant, homozygote, and recessive genetic models. The susceptibility for DKD for the EMLO1 rs1345365, rs10255208, and rs7782979 polymorphisms demonstrated a significant difference under the allele genetic models in the analysis of DM with DKD vs. DM without DKD groups. There was a considerable increase in DKD risk in the Middle East when the population was stratified by the region. CONCLUSION: The findings of the meta-analysis show that there are a significant connection between the EMLO1 rs741301 polymorphism and DKD susceptibility in overall analyses; as well as rs1345365, rs10255208, and rs7782979 polymorphisms; especially in the Middle East region.

Bibliometric overview of Ramadan fasting studies during 2010-2021.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: To quantify the bibliometric parameters of Ramadan fasting literature from 2010 to 2021. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Scopus was searched for all articles related to Ramadan fasting or Islamic fasting from the beginning of 2010 to the end of 2021. Only original articles and reviews were included and their bibliometric and scientometric parameters were determined using Excel, Graph Pad Prism, VOSviewer, and Sci2 tool software. RESULTS: Finally 1276 articles, including 1109 original articles and 167 reviews, were included. These articles had 14263 citations and an H-index of 48. Based on the number of publications, top institute, top journal, top country, and top authors were University of Sfax (n = 48 articles), Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice (n = 69), the United States (n = 144), and Chtourou H & Hassanein M (n = 38), respectively. Also, Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice had a strong bibliographic coupling with other journals. The recent bursting words were adrenal insufficiency and COVID-19. The most co-occurred topics were the effect of Ramadan fasting on diabetic patients, pregnant women, and glycemic state and body composition of diabetic patients. CONCLUSION: This study provided a comprehensive bibliometric overview of Ramadan fasting literature from 2010 to 2021. The temporal change in the number of publications and other analyses on the literature of 2019, 2020 and 2021 showed that substantial increasing publications with new emerging subjects had become of interest to many researchers during the last three years.

The global scientific publications on gut microbiota in type 2 diabetes; a bibliometric, Scientometric, and descriptive analysis.

Background: Modifying gut dysbiosis has achieved great success in managing type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and also T2DM affected the gut microbial composition. Objectives: To determine the research trend of scientific publications on the relationship between gut microbiota and T2DM through a bibliometric and descriptive approach. Method: We included originals and reviews related to both topics of gut microbiota and T2DM through searching in Scopus up to 31 December 2019 and then characterized their bibliometric profiles including the number of publications, citations, institutions, journals, countries, and the collaboration network of authors, countries, terms and keywords. Moreover, we performed a descriptive evaluation of the clinical trials based on their intervention type and its influence on gut dysbiosis. Results: We achieved 877 articles (436 originals and 441 reviews) according to our inclusion criteria. The annual publications were constantly increased over time and reached 220 publications in 2019. Out of 436 original articles, 231 animal studies and 174 human studies were found. The majority of human studies were clinical trials (n = 77) investigating the influence of drugs (n = 21), regimens (n = 21), pre/pro/symbiotic (n = 19), surgeries (n = 15), or both drug and regimen (n = 1) on gut dysbiosis. Roux-en-Y gastric bypass and metformin were assessed the most in these trials. Obesity side by side T2DM has been assessed in this area of literature based on term and keyword analyses showing their possible similar pathways mediated by gut microbiota. Conclusion: The exponentially growing documents on gut microbiota and T2DM had been published during the last decade and revealed gut microbiota alteration mediated antidiabetic effect of many interventions. Thus, we suggest other researchers to consider this pathway in efficacy assessment of therapeutic modalities and to find the optimal composition of gut microbiota that guarantees healthy insulin sensitivity. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40200-021-00920-1.

The global trend of exosome in diabetes research: A bibliometric approach.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Exosome as a novel biomarker reflecting cell behavior in normal and pathological conditions such as diabetes is being the center of academic attention. Therefore, we aimed to study the research output of exosome in diabetes globally. METHODS: We conducted a bibliometric approach to analyze publications on exosome and diabetes from the beginning to 2021 based on keyword search in the Scopus. Annual publications, citations, contributions, co-authorships, and co-occurrences were analyzed and plotted using VOSviewer and GraphPad Prism. RESULTS: 410 original articles and 149 reviews have published between 2009 and 2021. China and the USA were top countries in research output, sponsorship, and international collaborations. The top journals were Scientific Reports, Stem Cell Research and Therapy and Diabetes. The top institution was the University of Queensland in Australia. The top author was Chopp M. Co-occurrence analysis indicated that researchers focused on 1) extracellular vesicles in insulin resistance induced by metabolic disorders like obesity and diabetes mellitus; 2) diagnostic applicability of exosomal microRNAs as biomarkers for diabetic nephropathy; 3) therapeutic effect of exosome in wound healing and endothelial dysfunction during diabetes mellitus; and 4) The oxidative stress, autophagy, apoptosis, fibrosis, inflammation and angiogenesis mediated by exosomes during diabetes. CONCLUSION: The trend in research output has been increased in this field, and advanced countries are involved much more than other countries in terms of research, financial support, and international collaboration. The bibliometric results could be beneficial for further studies in better understanding of novel ideas in exosome and diabetes fields.

The roles of Eph receptors, neuropilin-1, P2X7, and CD147 in COVID-19-associated neurodegenerative diseases: inflammasome and JaK inhibitors as potential promising therapies.

The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has spread worldwide, and finding a safe therapeutic strategy and effective vaccine is critical to overcoming severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Therefore, elucidation of pathogenesis mechanisms, especially entry routes of SARS-CoV-2 may help propose antiviral drugs and novel vaccines. Several receptors have been demonstrated for the interaction of spike (S) protein of SARS-CoV-2 with host cells, including angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE2), ephrin ligands and Eph receptors, neuropilin 1 (NRP-1), P2X7, and CD147. The expression of these entry receptors in the central nervous system (CNS) may make the CNS prone to SARS-CoV-2 invasion, leading to neurodegenerative diseases. The present review provides potential pathological mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the CNS, including entry receptors and cytokines involved in neuroinflammatory conditions. Moreover, it explains several neurodegenerative disorders associated with COVID-19. Finally, we suggest inflammasome and JaK inhibitors as potential therapeutic strategies for neurodegenerative diseases.

The trend in application of omics in type 2 diabetes researches; A bibliometric study.

AIMS: Due to the importance of omics approaches in diabetes diagnosis, we were assumed to study the scientific activities on omics and type 2 diabetes worldwide. METHOD: Bibliometric approach was utilized to evaluate the documents on proteomics, lipidomics, and metabolomics in patients with type 2 diabetes in the Scopus database from the beginning to 2020. The articles were screened by two reviewers and the number of publications and citations on omics and type 2 diabetes, top-ranked journals, top-cited articles, country co-contributions, co-authorships, author keywords, and terms were analyzed. RESULTS: The scientific publications in this field consisted of 551 original articles, of which the USA shares the most percent, followed by China and Germany. The frequent keywords showed that the following hotspots were of interest: "Metabolomics, proteomics, and lipidomics as biomarkers for diabetes", "Omics and diabetic nephropathy", "The application of omics in obesity, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes". CONCLUSION: This study showed an increasing trend in applying omics in type 2 diabetes researches and determined the leading producers in this field. Besides, the research hotspots and the main subjects of documents were provided for future research and policy decision-making.

Review on oxidative stress relation on COVID-19: Biomolecular and bioanalytical approach.

COVID-19 disease has put life of people in stress worldwide from many aspects. Since the virus has mutated in absolutely short period of time the challenge to find a suitable vaccine has become harder. Infection to COVID-19, especially at severe life threatening states is highly dependent on the strength of the host immune system. This system is partially dependent on the balance between oxidative stress and antioxidant. Besides, this virus still has unknown mechanism of action companied by a probable commune period. From another hand, some reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels can be helpful on the state determination of the disease. Thus it could be possible to use modern bioanalytical techniques for their detection and determination, which could indicate the disease state at the golden time window since they have the potential to show whether specific DNA, RNA, enzymes and proteins are affected. This also could be used as a preclude study or a reliable pathway to define the best optimized time of cure beside effective medical actions. Herein, some ROS and their relation with SARS-CoV-2 virus have been considered. In addition, modern bioelectroanalytical techniques on this approach from quantitative and qualitative points of view have been reviewed.

Association of circulating omega 3, 6 and 9 fatty acids with gestational diabetes mellitus: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is associated with increased risks of disease for mother and child during pregnancy and after that. Early diagnosis of GDM would promote both maternal and fetal health. Metabolomics can simplify and develop our understanding of the etiology, manifestation, or pathophysiology of the disease. This systematic review investigates the association of circulating omega 3, 6, and 9 fatty acids with GDM. METHODS: We conducted a systematic search of PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and EMBASE databases up to May 8, 2020, using the key term combinations of all types of omega fatty acids with gestational diabetes mellitus. Additional articles were identified through searching the reference lists of included studies. RESULTS: This systematic review included 15 articles. Five were cohort studies, four included nested case-control studies and four were case-control studies. The results of this study demonstrate an increasing trend in the amount of oleic acid and palmitoleic acid in the second trimester and an increase in decosahexanoic acid in the third trimester of GDM mothers. The changes in other fatty acids of interest are either not significant or if significant, their results are inconsistent with the other existing articles. CONCLUSIONS: Omega fatty acids, as potential biomarkers, are considered to be associated with GDM risk and thus provide useful information regarding the prevention and early diagnosis of GDM. Moreover, existing metabolomic studies on GDM are shown to provide conflicting results about metabolite profile characteristics. This systematic review was registered at PROSPERO ( www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO ) as CRD42020196122.

Global scientific output trend for Akkermansia muciniphila research: a bibliometric and scientometric analysis.

BACKGROUND: Akkermansia muciniphila is an anaerobic bacterium residing in the healthy intestinal tract of host and its quantity has a negative correlation with various host diseases. This study for the first time provides a holistic bibliometric aspect of Akkermansi muciniphila research in the literature and shows the hot topic terms of these articles in any period of time. METHODS: Scopus database was selected to retrieve documents relevant to Akkermansia muciniphila in any language up to 2019. The bibliometric profile of Akkermansia muciniphila articles including subject area, year distribution, citations, institutions, journals, authors, and countries was systematically characterized and the collaboration networks of authors and countries as well as the burst detection algorithm of the words in the titles, abstracts and keywords were visualized. RESULTS: There is a progressive growing trend in research on Akkermansia from 2004 to 2019 with a total of 566 articles during this period. Out of 353 original articles, there are 194 animal studies (155 studies on mice) and 112 human studies. Also, 65 various diseases were investigated in these studies. The most focused conditions are obesity (71 articles) and type2 diabetes (39 articles). The United States is the leading country on Akkermansia publications (n = 132), followed by China (n = 95). Frontiers in Microbiology is the most dominant journal with 23 Akkermansia publications. In addition, "cancer" is the hot topic of recent Akkermansia research. CONCLUSION: Akkermansia research is of progressive interest during the last decade and the studies on this subject move towards its relationship with cancer and its promising effect on health.

Bibliometric analysis of global scientific research on Coronavirus (COVID-19).

Background: Since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease from Wuhan, China, in early December 2019, many scientists focused on this infection to find a way to deal with it. Due to the dramatic scientific growth in this field, we conducted a scientometric study to gain a better understanding of the scientific literature on COVID-19. Methods: We extracted all COVID-19 documents indexed in the Scopus from December 1, 2019, to April 1, 2020, without any language limitation and determined their bibliometric characteristics, including document type, open accessibility status, citation counting, H-index, top cited documents, the most productive countries, institutions and journals, international collaboration, the most frequent terms and keywords, journal bibliographic coupling and cocitations. Results: A total of 923 documents on COVID-19 were retrieved, of which 418 were original articles. All documents had received 2551 citations with an average citation of 2.76 per document and an h-index of 23. China ranked first with 348 documents, followed by the United States (n = 160). The Lancet and BMJ Clinical Research Ed published the most documents (each with 74 documents) and 2 institutions (University of Hong Kong and Huazhong University of Science and Technology) ranked first in this regard. In addition, the present study analyzed the top 25 highly-cited documents (those that had received 70% of all citations). Conclusion: This study highlighted the focused subjects on various aspects of COVID-19 literature such as pathogenesis, epidemiology, transmission, diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and its complications.

The landscape of microbiota research in Iran; a bibliometric and network analysis.

OBJECTIVES: To introduce bibliometric features of Iranian documents on microbiota and to provide descriptive information about retrieved documents related to the medical sciences and documents utilizing molecular techniques for microbiota detection. METHODS: This is a descriptive bibliometric study of all Iranian documents on microbiota in any language that were indexed in Scopus before 7 September 2019. We assessed the research performance through statistical analysis of the bibliometric indicators, including number of publications, citations, institutions and journals activities, co-citations and bibliographic couplings, and network analysis of co-authorships, countries' collaborations, terms and keywords. RESULTS: We extracted 425 relevant documents, 260 of which pertain to the medical sciences. The most focused microbiota modulating interventions and diseases in 33 clinical trials are 'synbiotics' (n = 8) and 'probiotics' (n = 8), and 'Obesity' (n = 3) and 'non-alcoholic fatty liver disease' (n = 3), respectively. During the last decade, Iranian microbiota publications have increasingly grown with a constant upward slope, particularly in the area of medical sciences after 2016. Citation counting reveals that originals and reviews have been cited 4221 times, with an average 10.76 citations and H-index of 34. The most significant performance in publishing Iranian microbiota documents belongs to 'Tehran University of Medical Sciences' as the active institution (n = 89 publications) and the supporting sponsor (n = 19), 'Microbial Pathogenesis' as the productive journal (n = 12), 'Seidavi A' as the most authorships (n = 19), and 'the United States' as the collaborative country (n = 46). CONCLUSIONS: The qualitative and quantitative information of this study will be a practical guidance for future study planning and policy-decision making.

JAK Inhibition as a New Treatment Strategy for Patients with COVID-19.

After the advent of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) commenced across the world. Understanding the Immunopathogenesis of COVID-19 is essential for interrupting viral infectivity and preventing aberrant immune responses before a vaccine can be developed. In this review, we provide the latest insights into the roles of angiotensin-converting enzyme II (ACE2) and Ang II receptor-1 (AT1-R) in this disease. Novel therapeutic strategies, including recombinant ACE2, ACE inhibitors, AT1-R blockers, and Ang 1-7 peptides, may prevent or reduce viruses-induced pulmonary, cardiac, and renal injuries. However, more studies are needed to clarify the efficacy of these therapeutics. Furthermore, considering the common role of the Janus kinase-signal transducer and activator of transcription (JAK-STAT) pathway in AT1-R expressed on peripheral tissues and cytokine receptors on the surface of immune cells, potential targeting of this pathway using JAK inhibitors (JAKinibs) is suggested as a promising approach in patients with COVID-19 who are admitted to hospitals. In addition to antiviral therapy, potential ACE2- and AT1-R-inhibiting strategies, and other supportive care, we suggest other potential JAKinibs and novel anti-inflammatory combination therapies that affect the JAK-STAT pathway in patients with COVID-19. Since the combination of MTX and baricitinib leads to outstanding clinical outcomes, the addition of baricitinib to MTX might be a potential strategy.

Local eosinophils are associated with increased IgA subclass levels in the sinonasal mucosa of chronic rhinosinusitis with polyp patients.

BACKGROUND: Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) describes an inflammatory condition affecting the sinonasal mucosa. As the immune system players such as immunoglobulins play prominent roles in the development of CRS, we aimed to investigate the expression of IgA subclasses and factors involved in IgA class switching in the sinonasal mucosa of CRS patients. METHODS: Specimens were collected from the sinonasal mucosa of the healthy controls and CRS patients. Histological assessments were performed by H&E and immunohistochemistry. Real-time PCR and ELISA methods were applied to measure gene expression and protein levels extracted from tissue samples, respectively. RESULTS: We observed that total IgA and subclass-positive cells were higher in the patient groups than controls. There was a significant correlation between the number of eosinophils and total IgA and subclasses-positive cells (Pv < 0.0001). The expression of CXCL13, BAFF, AID, and germline transcripts were increased in CRSwNP patients. In contrast to IgA2 levels, IgA1 levels were significantly increased in the sinonasal tissue of CRSwNP patients (Pv < 0.01). TGF-ß was significantly elevated in the sinonasal tissue of patients with CRSsNP. CONCLUSIONS: Increased protein levels of IgA subclasses and related antibody-producing cells were associated with elevated eosinophils in CRSwNP patients which may result in eosinophil pathological functions. Several therapeutic approaches might be developed to modulate the IgA production to ameliorate the inflammatory mechanisms in CRSwNP patients.

32-Year Scientometric analysis of the Medical Journal of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Background: Of scientometric goals are to explore scientific productivity and trend, elicit scientific collaborations and inter/intra and cross disciplinary relations within a realm of study. This is a descriptive scientometric analysis of Medical Journal of the Islamic Republic of Iran (MJIRI) from 1987 to 2018. Methods: The data were collected from 1987 to 2018 including the MJIRI annual publication number, annual growth rate (AGR), annual citation indicators, annual degree of collaboration (DC), the most active universities, and the most co-occurred keywords being used in MJIRI articles. Results: MJIRI has published 2166 articles in the field of health and medicine between 1987 and 2018, over a third of which have been published during the last five years (2014-2018). The highest and lowest AGR were recorded in 2014 (AGR=276.190%) and 2001(AGR=-28.75%), respectively. The journal CiteScore has increased from 0.26 in 2013 to 0.94 in 2018; the SCImago Journal Rank has promoted from 0.123 in 2013 to 0.320 in 2018. The Source Normalized Impact per Paper has enhanced from 0.398 in 2013 to 0.552 in 2018. The overall degree of collaboration of MJIRI articles was 0.89. Also, the most co-occurred keywords pertaining to the specific field of medicine were "Breast cancer", "Pregnancy", "Tuberculosis", and "Hypertension". Conclusion: The current quantitative evaluation of MJIRI provides a holistic landscape of journal performance for 32 years.

The inter-talk between Mycobacterium tuberculosis and the epigenetic mechanisms.

Epigenetics regulate gene function without any alteration in the DNA sequence. The epigenetics represent one of the most important regulators in different cellular processes and have initially been developed in microorganisms as a protective strategy. The evaluation of the epigenetic mechanisms is also important in achieving an efficient control strategy in tuberculosis (TB). TB is one of the most significant epidemiological concerns in human history. Despite several in vivo and in vitro studies that have evaluated different epigenetic modifications in TB, many aspects of the association between epigenetics and TB are not fully understood. The current paper is aimed at reviewing our knowledge on histone modifications and DNA methylation modifications, as well as miRNAs regulation in TB.

Gastric Cancer Stem Cells Effect on Th17/Treg Balance; A Bench to Beside Perspective.

Gastric cancer stem cells (GCSCs), a small population among tumor cells, are responsible for tumor initiation, development, metastasis, and recurrence. They play a crucial role in immune evasion, immunomodulation, and impairment of effector immunity and believed to be emerged to change the balance of the immune system, importantly CD4+ T cells in the chronic inflamed tumor site. However, different subtypes of innate and adaptive immune cells are involved in the formation of the immune system in the tumor microenvironment, we would look at T cells in this study. Tumor microenvironment induces differentiation of CD4+ T cells into different subsets of T cells, mainly suppressive regulatory T cells (Treg), and T helper 17 (Th17) cells, although their exact role in tumor immunity is still under debate depending on tumor types and stages. Counterbalance between Th17 and Treg cells in the gastrointestinal system result in the homeostasis and normal function of the immune system, particularly mucosal immunity. Recent data demonstrated a high infiltration of Th17 and Treg cells into the gastric tumor site and proved that tumor microenvironment might disturb the balance between Th17 and Treg. It is possible to assume an association between activation of CSCs which contribute to metastasis in late stages, and the imbalanced Th17/Treg cells observed in advanced gastric cancer patients. This review intends to clarify the importance of gastric tumor microenvironment specifically CSCs in relation to Th17/Tregs balance firstly and to highlight the relevance of imbalanced Th17/Treg subsets in determining the stages and behavior of the tumor secondly. Finally, the present study suggests a clinical approach looking at the plasticity of T cells with a focus on Th17 as a promising dedicated arm in cancer immunotherapy.

Saddle seat reduces musculoskeletal discomfort in microsurgery surgeons.

Background. Microsurgery is a surgical procedure requiring a high degree of precision and is commonly facilitated through the use of an intraoperative microscope. When operating the microscope system, the long-term posture leads to musculoskeletal disorders in surgeons, and seats are commonly employed to diminish these problems. The present study was conducted to evaluate musculoskeletal discomfort during work with a saddle seat in comparison with conventional seats for microscopic work. Methods. Two types of seats, a saddle and a conventional one, were evaluated for 73 microsurgical surgeons in terms of musculoskeletal discomfort. Corlett and Bishop's body part discomfort scale was used to assess musculoskeletal discomfort before and after working with the seats. Results. The highest amount of discomfort that microsurgical surgeons acquire in the workplace was focused on their neck, shoulders, arms and back. During work with a saddle seat, a significant reduction was found for discomfort values in the neck, shoulder, arm, back, elbow and forearm, as well as the whole body (p < 0.05). Conclusion. This study showed that the use of saddle seats provides a more appropriate physical posture at work, and can decrease musculoskeletal discomfort in different parts of the body of microsurgical surgeons.

Frequency of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in Iranian chronic rhinosinusitis patients.

BACKGROUND: Chronic Rhinosinusitis (CRS) is a persistent inflammatory disease affecting paranasal sinuses. CRS is categorized into two distinct subgroups defined as CRS with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) and CRS without nasal polyps (CRSsNP). Although several immune cells are involved in the CRS pathogenesis, the role of T cells is not fully understood. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the frequency of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells and macrophages in the sinonasal mucosa of CRS patients, as well as to investigate the specific transcription factors for Th1, Th2, Th17, and Treg cells. METHODS: In this study, 15 healthy controls, 12 CRSsNP, and 23 CRSwNP patients participated. CD4+, CD8+, and CD68+ cells were investigated in the sinonasal tissues using immunohistochemistry. The expression of transcription factors related to Th subsets (T-bet, GATA3, Ror-γt, and FoxP3) was evaluated using real-time PCR. Furthermore, CRSwNP patients were defined as eosinophilic when eosinophils consisted of more than 10% of total inflammatory cells. The Kruskal-Wallis, Mann-Whitney, and Spearman tests were used in statistical analyses. RESULTS: The median (range) age of the studied groups was: 32 (14-67) for CRSwNP, 28 (10-43) for CRSsNP, and 27 (17-44) for controls. The number of eosinophils in CRSwNP patients was higher than two other groups, whereas neutrophils were elevated in both CRSwNP and CRSsNP groups in comparison to controls. The frequency of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, macrophages, and total inflammatory cells were significantly increased in CRSwNP and CRSsNP patients compared with controls. The mRNA expression of GATA3 was increased in CRSwNP patients while mRNA expression of Ror-γt was elevated in CRSsNP patients. No significant difference was observed in T-bet mRNA expression among three groups. Both CRSwNP and CRSsNP patients showed decreased FoxP3 mRNA expression in comparison to controls. CONCLUSION: The frequency of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells was elevated in CRS patients. In addition, we demonstrated Th2 dominance in CRSwNP patients and Th17 dominance in CRSsNP patients, implicating different mechanisms may underlie the disease. Better CRS classification and targeted therapeutic strategies may be achievable by determining the pattern of infiltrating inflammatory cells. Therefore, further experimental investigations on T cells are needed.

Levels of total IgA and IgA subclasses in the serum of chronic rhinosinusitis patients.

Background: Different inflammatory mechanisms take part in the immunopathogenesis of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS). Immunoglobulin (Ig) A is the first-line defense in the airway tracts and other mucosal sites, but little is reported regarding its serum level in CRS patients. The purpose of current study is to determine the serum levels of total IgA, and its subclasses (IgA1, and IgA2) in CRS with nasal polyps (CRSwNP), CRS without nasal polyps (CRSsNP), and control groups. Methods: In this case-control study the serum levels of total IgA and IgA subclasses were determined by Nephelometry and ELISA methods, respectively. The difference of the median concentrations was analyzed with the Kruskal-Wallis test. Collected data were analyzed using SPSS and presented by GraphPad Prism software. Results: A total of 10 CRSwNP patient, 10 CRSsNP patients and 10 healthy controls participated in our study. The mean age of the groups were 38.2±12.6, 25.6±10.54, and 30.1±9.5, respectively. The concentrations of total IgA were 156(120-165), 165 (149-173), and 172 (152.8-184.3) mg/dl, respectively. The concentrations of IgA1 were 107 (77.9-169.9), 156.1(112.8-175.6), and 130.4 (118.8- 175.2) mg/dl, respectively. The concentrations of IgA2 were 26.11 (18.41-38.11), 26.96 (15.48-38.39), and 23.2 (18.42-31.78) mg/dl, respectively. There was no significant difference in total IgA (p=0.120), IgA1 (p=0.397) and IgA2 (p=0.925) serum levels among three groups. Conclusion: Our study showed there is no difference in total IgA and IgA subclasses in the serum of CRS patients in comparison to healthy controls.

The role of JAK-STAT signaling pathway and its regulators in the fate of T helper cells.

The Janus kinase (JAK)-signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) pathway plays critical roles in orchestrating of immune system, especially cytokine receptors and they can modulate the polarization of T helper cells. This pathway is regulated by an array of regulator proteins, including Suppressors of Cytokine Signaling (SOCS), Protein Inhibitors of Activated STATs (PIAS) and Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases (PTPs) determining the initiation, duration and termination of the signaling cascades. Dysregulation of the JAK-STAT pathway in T helper cells may result in various immune disorders. In this review, we represent how the JAK-STAT pathway is generally regulated and then in Th cell subsets in more detail. Finally, we introduce novel targeted strategies as promising therapeutic approaches in the treatment of immune disorders. Studies are ongoing for identifying the other regulators of the JAK-STAT pathway and designing innovative therapeutic strategies. Therefore, further investigation is needed.