Interleukin 9 serum level and single nucleotide polymorphism in patients with asthma.

BACKGROUND: Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of airways which accounts for a huge economic, morbidity and mortality burden. There are different cytokines that contribute to asthma pathophysiology. Learning about these cytokines leads to attaining novel anti-inflammatory treatments for asthma control. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study is to investigate the association between interleukin-9 serum level and gene polymorphism with asthma susceptibility. METHODS: This was a case-control study of 70 asthmatic patients and 77 healthy control adults aged 18-60. Asthma diagnosis and severity were based on physician diagnosis, pulmonary function test (PFT) and 2016 guild line of Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA). Interleukin 9(IL -9) serum level was measured using sandwich enzyme linked immunosorbent assay.  IL9 promoter single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) (rs2069882) was also assessed using Real-Time PCR System. RESULTS: There was no significant association between IL-9 SNP polymorphism and asthma. IL-9 serum level was significantly associated with asthma susceptibility (p value= 0.016) and absolute eosinophil count (AEC) (P value=0.033) however its corelation with atopic asthma type, asthma sivierity and Immunoglubin E serum level were not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: Although there was no association between IL-9 SNP and asthma, but IL-9 serum level was significantly correlated with asthma susceptibility and AEC.

Severe Combined Immunodeficiency: A Case Series and Review from a Tertiary Pediatric Hospital.

Severe combined immunodeficiency syndrome (SCID) is a life-threatening condition leading to early infant death as a result of severe infection, due to impaired cellular and humoral immune systems. Various forms of SCID are classified based on the presence or absence of T cells, B cells and natural killer cells. Patients usually present with recurrent infections and failure to thrive. Definitive treatment is hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. To achieve the best outcome, it should be performed prior to the development of severe infection. In This study, we described 10 patients (6 male and 4 female) with SCID who were admitted to Mofid Children Hospital, Tehran, Iran, from 2006 to 2013. We reviewed patients' clinical manifestation, laboratory data, family history and outcome. The mean age at the time of diagnosis was 131.8 days. One patient had non-consanguineous parents. Seven patients received BCG vaccine before the diagnosis of SCID, three of them showed disseminated BCG infection. One patient presented with invasive pulmonary aspergillosis. Flow cytometric analysis showed T⁻B⁺NK⁻ in three patients, T⁻B⁻NK⁺ in five patients, T⁻B⁻NK⁻ in one patient, and T⁻B⁺NK⁺ in one patient. This study highlights the importance of early diagnosis and patient referral before the occurrence of serious infection.

Allergic and nonallergic asthma in children: are they distinct phenotypes?

The aim of current study is to describe clinical similarities and differences between atopic and non-atopic asthma in children. In a cross-sectional study, 95 asthmatic children (75 allergics and 20 nonallergics) were included in the study. Demographic, clinical, and familial history were compared between two groups. There was no significant differences between variables like sex, age of onset (p=0.75), severity (p=0.70), and family history among the two groups (p=0.42). Patients with allergic asthma were significantly older than those with non- allergic asthma (11.28 ± 3.19 and 9.75 ± 2.35 years, respectively, p=0.02). The controversy lingers over the presence of a completely distinct phenotype of non-atopic asthma in children. Our study suggested that phenotypes of allergic and non-allergic asthma in children were not entirely distinct.