ABSTRACT
According to the reports of World Health Organization [WHO] and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the prevalence of chronic hepatitis B infection in Iran has decreased from 2-7% in 2001 to 1.3-0.8% in children aged 2-14 years. In 2010 the Institute of Medicine recommended more comprehensive screening by primary care physicians [PCPs] for evaluation, vaccination, and management of infected patients for further decrease in the prevalence of chronic HBV infection. Thus, with contribution of the Health Department, we developed a practical flowchart for PCPs to start active screening of hepatitis B virus [HBV] in all visited patients and refer the positive cases for further evaluation and management to Taleghani Hospital. With collaboration of Health Department of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, physicians of health centers were asked to screen all their patients for HBsAg. Positive cases were referred to Taleghani Hospital. They were first registered and educated about their disease, life style, and prevention methods. Their first degree families were screened for HBV infection too and were referred for vaccination if needed. According to the results of lab tests, appropriate management was done by a hepatologist. Since implementation of this program, we have encountered a significant rise in patient detection [even in high risk groups]. Many of them were not aware of their disease and most of those who were aware of their disease were not managed appro priately. Family screening and vaccination were inadequate and need more emphasis
ABSTRACT
The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of HDV infection between HBV chronic patients referred to gastroenterology ward of Taleghani hospital Tehran, Iran and also investigating the risk factors in acquiring the HDV infection. Hepatitis B virus [HBV] and Hepatitis D virus [HDV] are major public health issues. Worldwide there are approximately 350 million individuals chronically infected with the HBV. A significant part of them, including 15 to 20 million coinfected with HDV. Hepatitis Delta virus is transferred mostly through blood and body fluids. HBV and HDV infections were evaluated by Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay [ELISA]. Liver functional tests were assessed through auto analyzer. Patients were interviewed and data along the test results were entered into SPSS program. We used chi-square, independent t-test and logistic regression for statistical analysis. 278 [54.6%] patients of the study group were male and 231 [45.4%] were female and the mean age of patients was 40.03 +/- 14.93. From 509 patients, 39[7.7%] had anti-HDV antibody. In a uni-variable analysis, age [p=0.001], periodontal procedures [p=0.015], endoscopy [p=0.024] and colonoscopy [p=0.012] were significantly related to HDV seropositivity. After adjustment by logistic regression, age remained the only significant factor in acquiring HDV infection. We highly recommend the health care workers to strictly follow the disinfection protocols of medical instruments. Since HDV seroprevalence changes over time, regular epidemiological studies are necessary to monitor the epidemiological trend of infection
ABSTRACT
This study investigated the role of CD86 +237 G/C polymorphism in intensifying the risk of CRC development. Colorectal cancer [CRC] is a multi-factorial diseases. Genetic background could affect the susceptibility of individuals to CRC development. CD86 is a co-stimulatory factor on antigen-presenting cells that plays key roles in several cancer related mechanisms such as autoimmunity, transplantation and tumor immunity. A total of 300 individuals, 150 known CRC patients and 150 healthy control individuals, were subjected for the study. CD86 rs17281995 single nucleotide polymorphism [SNP] was genotyped using Allelic Discrimination method. A statistically significant difference was found among CD86 gene polymorphism [rs17281995] and risk of CRC development. The frequency of GG, GC and CC in control subjects was determined as 38%, 57.3% and 4.7% respectively and in CRC subjects were determined as 42%, 85% and 23% respectively. The data shows a significant association between CC genotype [P=0.007] and C allele [P=0.017] of the studied polymorphism and risk of CRC. CC genotype and C allele are also more frequent in female patients when the data is stratified according to gender status. Our results suggest that CD86 gene alteration could affect the individual's risk for developing CRC among Iranian population and could be used as an important prognostic factor associated with risk of CRC