Effect of fingolimod on white blood cell, lymphocyte and neutrophil counts in MS patients.

INTRODUCTION: Fingolimod is an immunomodulating oral treatment used for treating relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). The exact mechanism for its action in preventing relapses is unknown. Also, its affect on immune cell populations remains unestablished. OBJECTIVES: This study will measure the changes in cell populations of WBCs, lymphocytes, and neutrophils in MS patients after one month of treatment. METHODS: 66 MS patients from Isfahan Province with RRMS were chosen based on certain exclusion criteria and eligibility for fingolimod oral treatment. Initial cell counts for WBC, lymphocyte, and neutrophil cell populations were achieved. Fingolimod .5 mg daily treatment was then initiated under the supervision of a physician. After one month of treatment, cell counts were repeated. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS. RESULTS: Both lymphocyte and WBC mean cell counts were significantly decreased in this patient cohort. Neutrophil average cell counts were significantly increased in this 66 patient cohort. Only the decrease of WBC populations was significant for both male and female cohorts individually. Only female sub-cohorts were significantly changed for neutrophils and lymphocytes, increased and decreased respectively. Male sub-cohorts maintained the same directionality but failed to produce statistical significance. CONCLUSION: While fingolimod has been effectively proven as reducing lymphocyte cells in most patient populations, its effects on neutrophils have not been studied in abundance. Also, there may be sex-related differences in responses to fingolimod treatment with regards to lymphocytes and neutrophils, suggesting a possible difference in RRMS pathogenesis between males and females.

Effect of posterior fusion surgery on idiopathic scoliosis in Iran.

BACKGROUND: Scoliosis is a sideways curve in the spine. Considering that postoperative complications are common among these patients, the aim of this study is to examine the postoperative complications of posterior fusion surgery with instrumentation among adult patients with idiopathic scoliosis. METHODS: In this cross-sectional descriptive study, the postoperative complications were examined among 93 patients with idiopathic scoliosis who underwent posterior fusion surgery with instrumentation. The convenience sampling was used by referring to the files of these patients. The patients were classified into four groups according to the type of scoliosis deformity (long C-shaped, thoracic, thoracolumbar/lumbar, and double-curve) and the complications were compared together. RESULTS: Postoperative respiratory problems were significantly different between the four groups of scoliosis deformity (P = 0.009); 35 cases of postoperative complications occurred and 20 of them were related to postoperative pulmonary complications. CONCLUSION: Postoperative complications are common among patients with idiopathic scoliosis who underwent posterior fusion surgery with instrumentation; in addition, pulmonary complications are the most common postoperative complication among these patients.

Genetic variation assessment of acid lime accessions collected from south of Iran using SSR and ISSR molecular markers.

Iran has a long history of acid lime cultivation and propagation. In this study, genetic variation in 28 acid lime accessions from five regions of south of Iran, and their relatedness with other 19 citrus cultivars were analyzed using Simple Sequence Repeat (SSR) and Inter-Simple Sequence Repeat (ISSR) molecular markers. Nine primers for SSR and nine ISSR primers were used for allele scoring. In total, 49 SSR and 131 ISSR polymorphic alleles were detected. Cluster analysis of SSR and ISSR data showed that most of the acid lime accessions (19 genotypes) have hybrid origin and genetically distance with nucellar of Mexican lime (9 genotypes). As nucellar of Mexican lime are susceptible to phytoplasma, these acid lime genotypes can be used to evaluate their tolerance against biotic constricts like lime "witches' broom disease".

AFLP-Based Analysis of Genetic Diversity, Population Structure, and Relationships with Agronomic Traits in Rice Germplasm from North Region of Iran and World Core Germplasm Set.

Analysis of the genetic diversity and population structure of crops is very important for use in breeding programs and for genetic resources conservation. We analyzed the genetic diversity and population structure of 47 rice genotypes from diverse origins using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers and morphological characters. The 47 genotypes, which were composed of four populations: Iranian native varieties, Iranian improved varieties, International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) rice varieties, and world rice collections, were analyzed using ten primer combinations. A total of 221 scorable bands were produced with an average of 22.1 alleles per pair of primers, of which 120 (54.30%) were polymorphic. The polymorphism information content (PIC) values varied from 0.32 to 0.41 with an average of 0.35. The high percentage of polymorphic bands (%PB) was found to be 64.71 and the resolving power (R p) collections were 63.36. UPGMA clustering based on numerical data from AFLP patterns clustered all 47 genotypes into three large groups. The genetic similarity between individuals ranged from 0.54 to 0.94 with an average of 0.74. Population genetic tree showed that Iranian native cultivars formed far distant cluster from the other populations, which may indicate that these varieties had minimal genetic change over time. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) revealed that the largest proportion of the variation (84%) to be within populations showing the inbreeding nature of rice. Therefore, Iranian native varieties (landraces) may have unique genes, which can be used for future breeding programs and there is a need to conserve this unique diversity. Furthermore, crossing of Iranian genotypes with the genetically distant genotypes in the other three populations may result in useful combinations, which can be used as varieties and/or lines for future rice breeding programs.