CagA-positive and CagA-negative Helicobacter pylori strains differentially affect the expression of micro RNAs 21, 92a, 155 and 663 in human umbilical vein endothelial cells.

Given that the basic mechanism of the effect of Helicobacter (H.) pylori in the induction of atherosclerosis remains unknown and regarding the regulatory role of micro RNAs (miRNAs) in endothelial cell (EC) functions, we aimed to investigate the effect of H. pylori on the expression of miRNAs involved in atherosclerosis (atheromiRs) and their correlation with apoptosis in human umbilical vein EC (HUVEC). HUVECs were treated with different cytotoxin associated gene A (CagA) positive and negative H. pylori derived products, then the levels of apoptosis and miR-21, 92a, 155 and 663 were measured using flowcytometry and real time-PCR methods, respectively. Although, comparing induced apoptosis and necrosis in HUVECs revealed that water extract of CagA+ H. pylori (HpWE) was more potent than CagA- one and H. pylori lipopolysacharide (Hp-LPS), no significant difference was observed between LPS extracted from CagA+ and CagA- strains. Besides, CagA+ HpWE significantly increased the levels of anti-apoptotic miR-21, and inflammatory miRNAs 155 and 663 but not miR-92a. A positive correlation was observed between apoptosis and necrosis and miR-155 as well as the expressions of miR-21 with miR-155 (P=0.024) and miR-663 (P=0.0001). As H. pylori products differentially influenced phenotypic and epigenetic changes in ECs pictured in apoptosis and in the expression of atheromiRs, we suggest that the presence of CagA molecule accompanied by these atheromiRs may act as beneficial biomarkers predicting ECs apoptosis as a sign of plaque rupture.

Frequency of genital involvement in women with oral lichen planus in southern iran.

Background. Lichen Planus is a chronic mucocutaneous disease of immunological basis and unknown etiology. women with oral lichen planus may have concomitant manifestations in vulvovaginal areas. Objective. To determine the frequency and risk factors of genital involvement in a group of Iranian women affected by oral lichen planus. Methods. Thirty-six women with clinical and histopathological diagnosis of oral lichen planus were evaluated for demographic, historical, and clinical parameters of the oral disease. All the patients were referred for careful vulvovaginal examination, as well as histopathological assessment upon clinical indication. Results. Nineteen patients complained from genital symptoms but the number of women with the final diagnosis of genital lichen planus (n = 2) was too small to show any correlation with the parameters evaluated. Conclusion. In spite of low genital involvement possibly due to inadequate patient population, lack of follow-up visits, and contribution of genetic or ethnic factors, for conservative patient care, women with the oral lichen planus in particular those having some relevant genital symptoms, should preferably be referred for careful vulvovaginal examination. Multicenter cohort studies on women of different geographical regions or ethnicities who have genital lichen planus alone or in combination with other common sites are encouraged.

Heterozygosity in CTLA-4 gene and severe preeclampsia.

OBJECTIVE: One of the major complications of pregnancy, preeclampsia makes pregnancy termination inevitable in most cases. Similarities exist between the mechanisms that maintain normal pregnancy, allograft transplants, and, it is postulated, peripheral self-tolerance. In addition, the critical role of the cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA-4) molecule in maintaining self-tolerance has been established. Therefore, the frequency of CTLA-4 A49G polymorphism was investigated in severe preeclampsia. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Genomic DNA extracted from mononuclear cells of the peripheral blood of 36 pregnant women with severe preeclampsia and 151 healthy women was analyzed. A49G polymorphism in position 49 of exon-1 of the CTLA-4 gene was studied by the polymerase chain reaction-single-strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) method. RESULTS: The frequency of the GG genotype was 2 (5.6%) in patients and 19 (12.6%) in controls, while the frequency of the AA genotype was 4 (11.1%) and 60 (39.7%). Interestingly, the frequency of the AG genotype was significantly higher in preeclamptic than in healthy women from the general population (83.3% vs. 47.7%; P=0.0005). CONCLUSION: These data suggest that heterozygosity in the CTLA-4 A49G allele might be a predisposing factor for severe preeclampsia. Whether the observed association results from linkage imbalance with other loci on chromosome 2 or other polymorphisms of the CTLA-4 gene or even from a preferential transfer and/or expression of one allele from a heterozygous mother to the fetus will be the subject of future investigations.

Placental transfer of tetanus-specific immunoglobulin G in Iranian mothers.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate placental transfer of anti-tetanus immunoglobulin (Ig)G antibodies in Iranian mothers. METHODS: Sera collected from 209 pregnant women and their paired infants were evaluated for tetanus-specific antibodies by a commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: In total, 15 (7.2%) out of 209 mothers and 12 (5.7%) out of 209 newborns were negative for anti-tetanus IgG. A highly significant correlation was observed between maternal and fetal anti-tetanus IgG (r = 0.80). The mean cord/maternal blood ratio of anti-tetanus IgG was 1.22 +/- 0.97. The mean cord/maternal blood ratio of anti-tetanus IgG in mothers with blood groups B+ and AB+ was lower than in mothers with other blood groups (p = 0.027). In addition, among mothers who had more than 0.5 IU/ml anti-tetanus IgG, a higher percentage of cases with cord/maternal blood ratio of < 1 was observed in carriers of blood groups B+ and AB+ compared to those with other blood groups (45.2% vs. 41.8%). Parity of more than 4 had a significant negative effect on both frequency of high positive sera and the mean of anti-tetanus IgG level in maternal and neonatal sera. CONCLUSIONS: A relatively high percentage of pregnant women were not immune against tetanus. It was also found that the main factors that affect infants' tetanus-specific IgG are maternal concentration of this immunoglobulin, parity and maternal blood group.

Placental transfer of rubella-specific IgG in fullterm and preterm newborns.

OBJECTIVES: This study was undertaken to investigate placental transfer of anti-rubella IgG immunoglobulins in Iranian mothers. METHODS: In total, 231 pregnant women and their paired infants enrolled in this study of which, 197 gave birth to fullterm and 26 gave birth to preterm infants. Rubella specific antibodies were detected by an in-house whole-virus ELISA assay in maternal and cord sera of 188 fullterm and 26 preterm infants. RESULTS: A highly significant correlation was observed between anti-rubella IgG in newborns in total, in preterm and fullterm neonates with their paired mothers (P-values=0.0001, 0.002, 0.0001, respectively). A borderline significant difference was observed between mean anti-rubella IgG in fullterm and preterm neonates (P=0.04). Mean cord/maternal ratio of anti-rubella IgG was 0.83 which was surprisingly low. A significant lower anti-rubella IgG was observed in newborns born from mothers with blood group B+ than those born from mothers with blood groups A+ (P=0.04) and O+ (P=0.02), respectively. The same difference was observed between mean maternal anti-rubella IgG in those with blood groups B+ and A+ (P=0.04) and those with blood groups B+ and O+ (P=0.05). In addition, a low frequency of B+ blood group in high positive sera and a high frequency of this blood group among low positive and negative sera was detected. CONCLUSIONS: Our data suggest that the main factors that influence the infants' rubella-specific IgG concentration are maternal concentration of this immunoglobulin, maternal blood group, and neonatal gestational age.