فصلنامه آزمایشگاه و تشخیص
پیاپی 62 (زمستان 1402)

Cell adhesion molecules (CAM) are a subset of cell surface proteins. Their function is to connect cells to other cells or the extracellular matrix. Hence, these proteins help cells to stick to each other and to their surroundings. They are an important part of tissue structure maintenance factors. In addition to acting as adhesion molecules, they play an important role in growth, contact inhibition and apoptosis. Aberrant expression of these molecules leads to many diseases including cancer. ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 are two types of cell adhesion molecules.
ICAM-1 receptor is a cell adhesion molecule that is constitutively expressed in the membrane of leukocytes and endothelial cells. Also known as CD54 protein. In humans, this protein is encoded by the ICAM-1 gene. ICAM-1 is constantly present at low concentrations in the membrane of leukocytes and endothelial cells.
Vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) is a cytokine-inducible cell adhesion molecule that is expressed only on the membrane of vascular endothelial cells. It is also called CD106. This cell adhesion molecule is a protein encoded by the VCAM1 gene in humans. VCAM-1 is expressed in both large and small blood vessels after stimulation of endothelial cells by cytokines.
So far, they have been able to measure the soluble form of these molecules (sICAM-1 and sVCAM-1) in the body.
Many studies have shown that acute myocardial infarction and coronary syndromes are related to ICAM-1 and VCAM-1. Studying the threatening effect of ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 on vascular function, in addition to contributing to significant improvements in disease risk assessment, can serve as molecular therapy in management and prevention strategies.
Also, if the effect of these molecules can be eliminated in the metastasis of cancers, it will be a significant help in the treatment and recovery of these patients.
It is hoped that in the future, with more studies and investigations of these molecules, it will be possible to actually help improve these diseases.

Solid organ transplantation has made remarkable progress over the past three decades, evolving from a fascinating experiment in human immunobiology into the most effective means of rehabilitating patients with end-stage organ dysfunction of a variety of types. Today, at the best transplant centers, more than 90% long-term patient and allograft survival are being achieved following kidney, heart, and liver transplantation, with about 75% of lung-transplant recipients achieving these positive results. Because of these successes, the transplant community has been encouraged to ‘‘extend the envelope,’’ by bringing new forms of transplantation to the care of affected individuals. 
Invasive fungal infections remain a serious challenge to clinicians caring for immunocompromised patients. The proportion of vulnerable patients is increasing, paralleling the increased use of immunosuppressive therapies and the more effective supportive care in high-risk populations. Fungi responsible for these infections can be separated in two groups: the pathogenic and the opportunistic. The true pathogenic fungi cause self-limited disease in normal hosts but may cause devastating infections in compromised patients. Examples of such pathogens include Cryptococcus neoformans and the endemic fungi Histoplasma capsulatum, Coccidioides immitis, Paracoccidioides brasiliensis, and Blastomyces dermatitidis. These infections may remain in a latent state only to recru- desce when the patient is immunosuppressed. Opportunistic fungi rarely cause serious disease in normal hosts but are responsible for life-threatening infection in the setting of weakened host defenses. These fungi include Candida spp. and Aspergillus spp. and less commonly Zygomycete spp., Trichosporon spp., Fusarium spp., and Pseudoallescheria boydii among others.

Selection of competent managers is the first stage for establishment of healthcare system improvement. Although, it is also seems one of the main problem of Iranian health care organizations, especially clinical laboratories is ignoring the competency of managers. Therefore, this systematic scoping review was aimed to explain the competency model in selection of clinical laboratories’ managers.

This scoping systematic review was conducted using key words including healthcare organizations, clinical laboratory, managers’ competency from 2000-2023 by Persian and English data bases. Omalley and Arksey guideline was used for quality assessment of papers by mixed method tool including MMAT in six stages.

In this study, five main components including effective leadership, management, comprehensive knowledge, management functions, characteristics traits compatible with management job and organizational position, management quotients, and management skills extracted through open and inferential coding confirmed by researchers in the scope of MCAP.

Due to the great changes and developments created regarding organizational structure, organizing, and making smart clinical laboratories, these healthcare organizations need to create new models of managers’ selection based on competency in new century. Therefore, we suggest hybrid competency model for administration of clinical laboratories. Although, it is certain that managing of effective organizations is not individually, but these proposed model include all levels of clinical and administrative management in health care organizations and clinical laboratories to attain common desired results and outcomes using synergistic cooperation.

The 2023 Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded to Katalin Karikó and Drew Wiseman for the development of an mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine. The two scientists began researching mRNA as a platform for protein replacement therapies in the early 1990s but ran into problems due to its inflammatory properties. Their breakthrough discovery in 2005 showed that replacing uridine with pseudouridine renders mRNA non-immunogenic. This paved the way for the development of mRNA-based vaccines at an unprecedented rate and saved countless lives during the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this article is to express the mechanism of vaccines produced based on mRNA and to describe the related research.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is one of the main causes of death worldwide, and its prevalence continues to increase compared to previous decades due to the aging of the world population. Hospital cases of CVD, which are a critical health concern in low- and middle-income countries, are increasing every year. Primary prevention of CVD depends primarily on the ability to identify at-risk individuals before overt events development. This highlights the need for accurate risk stratification. Risk assessment is important to identify at-risk individuals who require immediate attention, as well as to guide the intensity of medical treatment to reduce subsequent CVD risk. There is a growing body of clinical research aimed at identifying these individuals by searching for biomolecules. Advances related to CVD in the past 30 years, as well as scientific advances in biomarker research, have led to more sensitive screening methods, greater emphasis on diagnosis, early detection of these diseases, improved treatments, and more favorable clinical outcomes in society.

A large number of new biomarkers have been identified for predicting cardiovascular events, and these markers play an important role in defining, predicting and deciding on the management of cardiovascular events. This review of the clinical applications of classical and new biomarkers such as cardiac troponin (cTn), high-sensitivity troponin (cTn-hs), galectin-3 (Gal3), Source of Tumorigenicity2 (ST2), type B and C natriuretic peptide (BNP and CNP), growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF-15), myeloperoxidase (MPO), heart-type fatty acid-binding protein (H-FABP), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2 ), microRNAs (miRNAs) and others have been discussed.

Most of the L-asparaginates have an intracellular nature, except for a few that have extracellular secretion. In the industrial landscape, the extracellular secretion of L-asparaginase enzyme is more useful because it is produced in abundance in the conditions of intracellular secretion in the culture medium, which in addition, is easier and economically economical to purify. Asparajinases are widely distributed in nature from bacteria to mammals and play a central role in the metabolism and use of amino acids. So far, two types of L-asparaginase enzyme have been found in prokaryotes that type I is expressed in cytoplasm and conductshydrolysisfor two amino acids L-glutamine and L-asparagine. Also, type II prokaryotic asparaginase has the ability to express under anaerobic conditions and in intermembrane space of bacteria that has a great specificity in binding to L-asparagine amino acid and can play a role in inhibiting tumors. The aim of this study was to review the production and treatment of L-asparaginase enzyme in medical applications.