علی اکبر پور فتح الله

Red blood cell (RBC) storage lesions may dramatically reduce the function of these cells. One of these complications is the gradual increase in oxidative stress, which causes the destruction of RBCs during their storage. This study was designed to investigate the effect of glutathione additive as an antioxidant on the biochemical changes of leukoreduced-RBC (LR-RBC) bags during storage.

The study was experimental. In 2016, it was done in Tehran Blood Transfusion Organization. Ten bags of LR-RBC were collected, processed and stored according to standard procedures. Each unit was divided into two equal parts treated with glutathione or normal saline (control). Sampling of all bags was done during the time points of 3, 14, 21, 35 and 42 days after storage. Used the ELISA method to investigate changes in glutathione and 2,3-diphosphoglycerate (2,3-DPG) and the enzymatic method to measure biochemical parameters such as lactate-dehydrogenase (LDH), lactate concentration and glucose-6-phosphate-dehydrogenase (G6PD) enzyme activity.

The amount of glutathione in the treated group and the control group decreased by 70 % and 60% of the initial value, respectively. With the decrease of glutathione level in the last week of storage, a significant decrease in G6PD activity was observed. The amount of 2,3-DPG decreased to almost zero after 42 days of storage. LDH and lactate increased during storage.

Our results showed that, except for the amount of 2,3-DPG, the rest of the studied parameters were affected by glutathione and glutathione antioxidant was effective in reducing oxidative stress

One of the side effects of immunoglobulin administration is the activation of the complement system related to the high concentration of aggregates/large polymers in the production process. Measuring anticomplementary activity (ACA) is important in pharmaceutical quality control and is a criterion of spontaneous activation of complement system in immunoglobulin products prepared from human plasma.

In this experimental study, ACA was established based on the European Pharmacopoeia (EP) and ACA was measured and compared in two immunoglobulin products obtained by two modified Cohn's methods A or B. The measurement is based on the ability of immunoglobulin for binding to complement and prevent the lysis of sensitized sheep red blood cells (SRBC). Therefore, immunoglobulin was incubated with guinea pig complement and then the remaining complement was titrated by CH50 method and expressed as a percentage.

ACA values in two products in the two methods of A and B and in two consecutive days and eight times each day were determined to be 0.486 ± 0.08 and 0.466 ± 0.07 CH50/mg protein, respectively; compared to commercial IVIG (Biotest Company) that was 0.486 ± 0.07. ACA activity was measured as less than ≤ 1 CH50 ⁄mg IgG, which was in accordance with the requirements of the pharmacopoeia.

Quantitative and qualitative immunoglobulin measurements are as valuable as research and development in plasma purification processes. With the launch of the ACA test, ACA analysis has become possible during the production process as well as in the validation stages of immunoglobulin products.

Hypertension is one of the most important preventable risk factors for cardiovascular disease. This observational study aimed to depict the role of regular blood donation on the systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP and DBP, respectively) in hypertensive patients in comparison with normotensive people.

This study was performed as a cross-sectional descriptive study on 546 blood donors of Vesal Blood Donation Center in Tehran who donated between 1 and 4 times in the period of 2016-2017. Donors were divided into two groups (hypertension and normal blood pressure) based on the systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) at the time of the first donation. The trend of changes in blood pressure after each donation (second, third and fourth donation) was assessed using SPSS ver. 16 and One way-Anova statistical test.

In the group of hypertensive patients,, after four blood donations, systolic and diastolic blood pressure showed a statistically significant decrease after three or four donations.
Systolic blood pressure in this group after the fourth donation decreased from the mean of 149.1 to 141.6 mm Hg (P = 0.03) and diastolic blood pressure decreased from 90.04 to 86.08 mm Hg (P = 0.04 also), respectively. Decreased blood pressure was also observed in the normal group, although this significant decrease was not reported (P> 0.05).

Our results corroborated a down-regulatory effect of regular blood donation on BP in hypertensive people.  These findings are rather encouraging people toward voluntary blood donation and can be considered in therapy-related issues.

Blood malignancies, one of the most common cancers in the world, cause a large number of deaths each year. Many inherited and acquired factors are involved in the development of this disease. Exosomes are a very small model of cells that are secreted by most cells in the body under physiological and pathological conditions. On the other hand, they have found a special place in the treatment of these diseases because of their very small structure and biodegradability. 

This study is a systematic review article. For this study, the electronic databases such as PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science were reviewed and 110 original and review articles were studied from 2000 to 2020. Exosome, blood malignancies and immunotherapy were used as keywords along with a number of other related terms such as tumor microenvironment, acute myeloid leukemia, acute lymphoid leukemia, chronic lymphoid leukemia and multiple myeloma (Exosome AND Leukemia, Leukemia AND Immunotherapy, Exosome AND Cancer, AML AND Exosome) to search in these databases. Finally, 51 sources that related to exosomes and myeloid and lymphoid blood malignancies were used.

The genomic profile of malignant cells and tumor microenvironment changes in the conditions of the disease. The contents of exosomes released by leukemic cells, including anti-apoptotic proteins, various microRNAs, angiogenic agents, heat shock proteins and oncogenes involved in the development of inflammatory phenotype in the target cells, are known as factors involved in the pathogenesis of leukemia. A variety of therapeutic materials such as anti-inflammatory drugs, recombinant proteins, siRNA and the inhibitor of various microRNAs can also be packaged in the exosomes with several ways and used to treat leukemia.

Exosomes derived from malignant cells play the important role in the growth and proliferation, angiogenesis, metastasis, resistance to chemotherapeutic agent, and the escape of cancer cells from the immune system by the modification of tumor microenvironment. The role of exosomes in the creation and development of blood malignancies has been proven. Therefore, using of them will probably be very helpful and promising in the treatment of these disorders with various forms.

Considering with the variability in the rate of blood and blood consumption in different medical centers, study of the transfusion practices in hospitals can affect the policies and planning related to the transfusion management. The aim of this study was to evaluate the transfusion practices in Rajaie cardiovascular hospital.

In this cross sectional study, we collected data from 399 adult patients underwent cardiac surgery at Ri cardiovascular medical center from February to July 2018 .The number of reserved and transfused units of blood components, frequency of transfused patients, and the frequency of blood components consumption were recorded. The frequency of transfused patients and number of blood components consumed were compared considering with the type of surgery. The data were analyzed by one way ANOVA and chi-square tests.

71% (282) of patients received at least one unit of blood product. 65% (259) of patients received RBC, 21% (83) FFP and 18% (71) received platelet. Of the 749 reserved RBC units, 256 units (34%) were transfused. 25% of patients had preoperative anemia. The mean trigger of hemoglobin for transfusion was 10.3 ± 3.1 g/dL. Comparison of the frequency of transfused patients as well as mean number of blood components did not show significant difference considering with the type of surgery.

Considering with the high rate of transfusion in this center, following a restrictive threshold of hemoglobin according to the blood transfusion guidelines as well as implementation of a preoperative anemia management guideline and MSBOS is recommended.

Human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) has been associated with two diseases in humans such as adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL) and HTLV-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic Para paresis (HAM/TSP). About 5 to 10 million people are infected with HTLV-1 worldwide. In order to improve the blood safety and to prevent false positive results in blood donors, methods for identifying infectious agents need to be highly sensitive and specific. The purpose of this study was to compare the electrochemical luminescence, western blotting, and PCR assays to confirm HTLV-1 virus.

This exprimental study was carried out in 2018 on 66 samples (62 males and 4 females) which had antibody against HTLV-1 virus.  All retested samples with the same ELISA kit were examined by electrochemical luminescence and western blotting. For virus detection by PCR method, blood donors were recalled for new samples. After DNA extraction, nested PCR was performed with primers in both TAX and LTR regions.

In this study 8 (%12/1) samples from 66 samples were reacted with ELISA test. Also 4 (%6) samples had antibody against HTLV-1 by electrochemiluminescence test. Finally, four samples were confirmed by Western blotting and Nested PCR.

Conclusions :

The use of the electrochemical luminescence, western blotting and PCR assays, which had similar results in this study, is suitable for detection and confirmation of HTLV-1 virus.

Use of kits with high sensitivity and specificity to determine the prevalence of antibodies against hepatitis B virus (anti-HBc) core antigen is important. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of hepatitis B virus antibody in HBsAg negative blood donors using two anti-HBc enzyme immunoassay kits (DIA.PRO and SIEMENS). 

In this Cross-sectional study, a number of 4313 samples of HBsAg negative blood donors were collected. All samples were tested for the detection of anti-HBc (Total, IgM & IgG) by ELISA using Diapro and Siemens kits. Anti-HBc assay was performed by both kits in duplicate. Statistical analysis of data was performed using SPSS Ver. 22.0; chi-square tests were also performed. 

The study population consisted of 227 (5.3%) women and 4086 (94.7%) men. 498 (11.5%) and 384 (8.9%) samples reacted with Diapro and Siemens kits for Anti-HBc, respectively. All positive samples of both kits in duplicate test showed the same results as the previously reported results. 114 cases of reactive kits of DIA.PRO kit were negative in re-testing with SIEMENS kit. Significant differences were observed between the reactive results of the two kits (p = 0.00005).  The kappa coefficient for the reactive results of the two kits was 85%. 

Conclusions:

 Considering the significant difference between the results of the two kits, it is recommended to perform anti-HBc testing with anti-HBs and /or anti-HBe to determine the prevalence of anti-HBc in blood donors with past HBV infection.

  Preoperative anemia has been reported as a risk factor for poor clinical outcomes in various types of surgery. We surveyed the frequency of preoperative anemia as well as its relationship with transfusion requirements in patients undergoing elective cardiac surgeries in Rajaie Cardiovascular Hospital.

In this descriptive study, 181 adult patients scheduled for elective cardiac surgery at Rajaei cardiovascular medical center were included in a descriptive study between November 2015 and July 2016. Frequency of anemic patients was determined. The frequency of transfusion attempts was compared between anemic and non-anemic patients. The data were analyzed by SPSS 22, t-test, Perason test & c2 test.

Out of the total number of 181 enrolled patients, 54 (29.8%) of patients were anemic before surgery. Anemia was mild in 33 (61%), moderate in 14 (26%), and severe in 7 (13%) of anemic patients. Transfusion frequency was 77.8% in anemic patients and significantly higher than 39% in non-anemic patients (p < 0.001).

Our data showed that preoperative anemia has considerable frequency in patients undergoing elective cardiac surgery. It is associated with higher perioperative transfusion attempts. To prevent inappropriate transfusion, the anemic patients should be identified for anemia correction before surgery.

Background and Objectives The low number of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) in each unit of UCB is a limitation for clinical application of this source of HSCs. Ex vivo expansion of HSCs to obtain a sufficient number for therapeutic purposes is necessary. The sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and neurotransmitters regulate HSCs self-renewality, proliferation and differentiation in the bone marrow. The aim of this study was to evaluate the proliferative effect of NPY on the CB-HSCs in ex vivo condition.
Materials and Methods After isolation of HSCs, the comparison of HSCs Ex vivo expansion using 1 µM NPY and cytokine as test group with cytokine as control group was performed . TNC number and CD34 cell number were calculated on day 7. Colony formation assay was performed in methylcelloluse medium. LTC-IC assay was performed to investigate colonization potential of expanded cells in long time culture.
ResultsEx vivo expansion of CB-HSCs after 7 days resulted in significant increase in the number of total nucleated cells and CD34 cells in NPY-treated groups in comparison to control group. The formation of different cell colonies identified as erythrocytic, granulocytic and mix colonies in CFU assay reflect the differentiation potential of expanded CD34 cells. Treated group with NPY also retained their ability to formate colonies in long term culture.
Conclusions Our study demonstrated that Neuropeptide Y can successfully support expansion of CD34 hematopoietic stem cells while retaining their potential of being differentiated into various cell lineages after 7-day culture period with cytokine supplementation.

In Iran, there is self-sufficiency for blood and blood components ensured by the widespread system of Iranian Blood Transfusion Organization (IBTO). To give a more comprehensive view, the status of blood collection, distribution, and the data on the discarded units in hospitals and blood centers in Iran from 2009 to 2015 were analyzed.
In this descriptive and retrospective study, all of the blood collection and blood processing centers over the country (totally 214 centers) collected the relevant data, registered them in the data base, and reported to the headquarters of IBTO.
During the study period, the mean production percentage rates of RBC, FFP and PC were 94.8 ± 1.9, 83.4 ± 1.9, and 50.7 ± 4.4, respectively. The mean distribution percentage rates of RBC, FFP and PC were 95 ± 2.8, 41 ± 5.1, and 79 ± 2.7, respectively. In addition, 11.1 ± 2.8%, 4.8 ± 0.8%, 1.4 ± 0.2% and 2.8 ± 0.2% of WB, RBC, FFP and PC in order accounted for the returned units.
This study provides information about the status of blood collection, and components preparation and distribution in Iran. It seems that due to the improvement in blood component usage, the number of distributed and returned units has decreased.

In recent years, Natural auto Abs (NAAbs) are considered as key factors in maintaining the immune homeostasis; NAAbs are also known as biomarkers in various diseases. This research, for the first time, was performed to identify NAAbs that are produced against RBCs following some physiologic changes in patients in comparison to healthy blood donors.
In this fundamental-applied research, two groups of samples including 600 healthy blood donors and 324 patients who have shown pathologic disorders participated. All samples were screened for NAAbs but the identification panel was performed only in the case of positive reaction. Results were analyzed through binominal test and by SPSS 16.
NAAbs were detected in 8.6% of healthy population and 17.9% of the patient population, all determined as positive reactions. Only two cases (1 anti-A1 and1 anti-P1) out of 30 were identifiable among the healthy group with auto antibody; however, in the patient group with auto antibody, 19 anti-IH cases, 1 anti-H cases, 2 anti-I cases, 2 anti-P1 cases, and 6 inconclusive cases were identified.
A significant difference between the frequency of NAAbs reactions against RBCs in the two groups was observed (p = 0.03). Furthermore, anti-IH increases in hematologic diseases.

Buying and selling blood as a common way to provide blood and blood products always have pros and cons. The unique feature of blood with compare to other organs of the body, attention to the blood donors as a permanent and renewable source, ease of transfusion, contributed medical and special applications of this vital element and its products in the fields of pharmaceutical, have led to goods assumption field as well as misuses, and, regardless of the risks of distributing contaminated blood, would jeopardize the moral and human values such as altruism and, put humans as a property. This ends in the intervention of international organizations through making statement, declaration, recommendations and resolutions and consequently, the development of legal systems in order to maintain the dignity and supreme dignity of humans. This study shows that buying and selling blood must be without commodity conception, with respect to being necessary to human life and to monitor the state and the full legislation in this area can be applied.

The oxidative stress destroys the red blood cells during preservation. The awareness about the stress oxidative process is important for the safety of blood bags and patients. The aim of the study was to evaluate the pro-oxidant-antioxidant balance (PAB) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) enzymes in blood bags in the weeks after donation.
In a descriptive study, a number of 100 blood bags were used for the blood donors between 18 to 57 years of age (the mean age of 35.5) in Bojnourd Blood Center. The blood bags were kept in standard conditions for 6 weeks and the adequate samples were taken for test. The test included PAB, SOD, and GPX and the repeated measures analysis was performed.
The pro-oxidant-antioxidant balance had a significant increase (p Results showed that pro-oxidant-antioxidant balance and antioxidant enzyme activities changed particularly in the first two weeks. Therefore, it is suggested that for the diseases related with oxidative stress such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and cancers, patients receive blood stored less than two weeks.

The Ethical Code of Blood Donation and Transfusion as a transnationaldocument have provided for affirmative and negative norms aiming at the explanation of the rights and duties of volunteers of blood donation, centers of blood transfusion and needy patients. It may be claimed that observing those norms firstly will guarantee the safety of donated blood and products; secondly, will help the continuance of blood donation by the people and enhance their motives; and thirdly, will guarantee the rights of blood donors and receivers from the outset of the screening process up to the blood injection and the related product and will prevent from their violations. This document has, also by providing for a common ethical system presented a basis for encountering ethical challenges related to the medicine of blood transfusion and taking decision and a proper solution. In this paper, we will seek to describe and analyze the mentioned norms within a legal framework and discuss on its bases.
The writers of this paper believe that blood transfusion, due to its particular nature and requirements, needs a proportionate legal and compensatory regime within Iran too, like certain countries specially the US. We will also deal with the explanation of this situation and claim as it may be proper in the present paper.

This article has aimed to analyzing right to childbearing of couples who due to having faulty genes، the risk of similar disorders for their children is high. In other words given that when the parents suffer genetic disorder simultaneously the risk of similar disorders for their children is high، could we prevent them from natural childbearing? It is evident that this question is apart from the medical measures such as diagnostic tests which we should use them in this article for decrease the related probability. We try to study legal and ethical propositions that they are heard from Politicians and experts about the necessity of prevention of couples with genetic disorders from childbearing. This proposition is being raised even for specialists in infertility treatment. So we studied human rights documents and internal regulations about right to childbearing of couples with genetic disorders and then we analyzed legally and ethically to get this right. This article emphasizes on the necessity multidimensional analysis and to avoid ignoring the issues that they are apparently less important or they don’t stimulate tendency for defend under influence of the dominant and popular debates.

Umbilical cord blood (UCB) is an accessible source of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). Along with the advantages, UCB also has limitations: the low volume and the absolute number of HSCs available in UCB leading to the delayed engraftment. Given the limitations, many investigators have sought to accelerate engraftment and increase the absolute number of stem cells in UCB units. In the present study more than 200 published articles about UCB were reviewed. This review article is aimed to focus on the importance of using cord blood, the nature of stem cells in cord blood, and the ex vivo expansion techniques of UCB HSC. UCB HSCs possess higher proliferative potentials and contain a higher proportion of primitive compartment as compared to bone marrow and peripheral blood. Several studies have reported the presence of different cell populations besides HSCs in cord blood that enable the use of these sources in immunotherapy, tissue engineering, and regenerative medicine. Thus, the strategies to isolate and expand selected subpopulations from UCB and the use of these cells in treatment of various diseases are the areas of active research. Umbilical cord blood is an attractive source in both research and modern clinical applications providinh a potentially useful alternative for patients who do not have an HLA-matched bone marrow donor. Besides the safety and feasibility of UCB, the other areas including the acceleration of the engraftment, the extension of access, the quality assurance, and the outcomes in the specific subgroups of patients are also required to be investigated.

Over 90 years, the blood suspension has been used to save the lives of many people. Nowadays, by the use of new techniques and blood bags, separation and storage of blood components have become possible outside the body. However, the effects of blood storage bags challenge blood transfusion. One of the side effects is oxidative stress that increases as a result of an imbalance between reactive oxygen species and antioxidants. The aim of this study was to investigate the balance of pro - oxidant - antioxidant (PAB) in consecutive weeks after blood donation. 100 blood bags produced from people's blood between 18 to 57 years old averaging 35.5 years in blood donation center of Bojnurd. The bags were kept in standard conditions for 5 weeks and after checking the health of blood in each week the needed amount were taken for examination. PAB tests were performed on samples every week. Findings showed a significant increase in oxidant - antioxidant balance in consecutive weeks after blood donation (p=0.000). It was also found that oxidants increase in the first week after the donation. Oxidative stress gradually increases in blood bags as time passes after taking the bloods.

Natural autoantibodies (N-Auto-Abs) are a class of antibodies that are formed without any previous provocation against their own. Currently an important role has been proposed for these antibodies in immune homeostasis; as we can study them as biological markers to predict the onset of the disease. For the first time, we studied the prevalence of N-Auto-Abs against RBC antigens as well as the prevalence of cold antibodies in blood donors. hree hundred healthy individuals who donated at Tehran Blood Transfusion Center were selected randomly; their blood samples were collected including 289 (96.3%) males and 11 (3.7%) female. Their age range is within 17-64 years. EDTA plasma was evaluated for the study of N-Auto-Abs that reacted at 4C. 28 individuals (9.34%) showed positive reaction with their own cell suspension. In addition, 55 individuals (18.34%) were positive for cold antibodies. Twenty eight individuals (9.34%) showed positive reaction with their own cell suspension. In addition, 55 individuals (18.34%) were positive for cold antibodies.

The important role of co-stimulatory molecules in immunological responses has been clearly demonstrated. With the development of new methods in molecular immunology, preventing the co-stimulatory signals in order to induce tolerance has emerged as a novel strategy. RNA interference is a new method that can specifically and effectively reduce target gene expression. In this study, we used a lentiviral system to target the expression of CD40 gene in dendritic cells. ShRNA sequence is able to reduce the expression of CD40 gene on murine dendritic cells. Our results indicate 64-fold decreased expression of CD40 mRNA in the group receiving lentiviral shRNACD40 as well as 31% decrease in expression of CD40 protein on the surface of dentridic cells (p<0.0001). Also, dendritic cells cannot stimulate T cells upon contact with them. This study indicates that a decrease in expression of CD40 molecule induces tolerogenic dendritic cells and prevents Th1 immunological response. Prevention of Th1 response would shift the immunological responses to Th2 response, and this type of response can be effective in autoimmune diseases including rheumatoid arthritis and type I diabetes. References 1- Groux H, Fournier N, Cottrez F. Role of dendritic cells in the generation of regulatory T cells. Sem in Immunol. 2004; 16: 99-106. 2- Kanako L, Reizis L, Reizis B. Dendritic Cells: Arbiters of Immunity and Immunological Tolerance. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol. 2012; 4: a007401. Avalable from: www.cshperspectives.org. 3- Morel PA. Dendritic cell subsets in type1diabetes: friend or foe? Frontiers in Immunol. 2013; 4. Avalable from: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1155/ 2013/972865. 4- Machen J, Harnaha JO, Lakomy R, Styche A, Trucco M, Giannoukakis N. Antisense oligonucleotides down-regulating costimulation confer diabetes-preventive properties to nonobese diabetic mouse dendritic cells. The J Immunol. 2004; 173: 4331-41. 5- Maldonado R, Andrian UH. How tolerogenic dendritic cells induce regulatory T cells. Adv Immunol. 2010; 108: 111-165. 6- Peters AL, Stunz LL, Bishop GA. CD40 and autoimmunity: the dark side of a great activator. Sem Immunol. 2009; 21: 293-300. 7- Li L, Wang H, Wang B. Anergic cells generated by blocking CD28 and CD40 costimulatory pathways in vitro ameliorate collagen induced arthritis. Cell Immunol. 2008; 254: 39-45. 8- Zheng X, Suzuki M, Zhang Z, et al. RNAi-mediated CD40-CD154 interruption promotes tolerance in autoimmune arthritis. Arth Res & Ther. 2010; 12: R13. 9- Pletinckx K, Dohler A, Pavlovic V, Lutz M.B. Role of dendritic cells maturity/ costimulation for generation, homeaostasis and suppressive activity of regulatory T cells. Fronties in Immunol. 2011; 2: 7-22. 10- Gavrilov K, Saltzman WM. Therapeutic siRNA: Principles, challenges and strategies. Yale J Biol Med. 2012; 85(2): 187-200. 11- Manjunath N, Wu H, Subramanya S, Shankar P. Lentiviral delivery of short hairpin RNAs. Adv Drug Delivery Rev. 2009; 61: 732-45. 12- Inaba K, Inaba M, Romani M, et al. Generation of large numbers of dendritic cells from mouse bone marrow cultures supplemented with GM-CSF. J Exp Med. 1992; 176: 1693-702. 13- Virus packaging protocol. Stem Cell Biotechnology Research Center protocol, Iran. 2013. Avalable from: www.stemcellstech. com/index.php/fa/. 14- Muller G, Muller A, Jonuleit H. Fetal calf serum –free generation of functionally active murine dendritic cells suitable for invivo therapeutic approaches. J Inv Dermatol. 2000; 114: 142-8. 15- Marin-Gallen S, Clemente-Casares X, Planas R, et al. Dendritic cells pulsed with antigen-specific apoptotic bodies prevent experimental type 1 diabetes. Clin and Exp Immunol. 2009; 160: 207-14. 16- Hasse C, Ejrnaes M, Juedes AE, Wolf T. Immunomodulatory dendritic cells require autologous serum to circumvent nonspecific immunosuuressive activity in vivo. Blood. 2005; 106: 4225-33. 17- Feili-Hariri M, Dong X, Alber SM, Watkins SC, Salter RD, Morel PA. Immunotherapy of NOD mice with bone marrow–derived dendritic cells. Diabetes. 1999; 48: 2300-08. 18- Karimi MH, Ebadi P, Pourfathollah AA, et al. Immune modulation through RNA interference-mediated silencing of CD40 in dendritic cells. Cellular Immunol. 2009; 259: 74-81. 19- Mei S, Jin-Dong LI, Rui J, et al. Construction and characterization of lentiviral shRNA expression vector targeting rat CD40 gene in dendritic cells. Chem Res. 2009; 25(5): 666-72. 20- Jantsch J, Turza N, Volke M, et al. Small interfering RNA (siRNA) delivery into murine bone marrow-derived dendritic cells by electroporation. J of Immunological Methods. 2008; 337: 71-7. 21- Giannoukakis N, Trucco M. Dendritic cell therapy for type 1 diabetes suppression. Immunother. 2012; 4(10): 1-12. 22- Giannoukakis N. Tolerogenic dendritic cells for type 1 diabetes. Immunother. 2013; 5(6): 1-3. 23- Lee CN, Lew AM, Wu L. The potential role of dendritic cells in the therapy of Type1 diabetes. Immunother. 2013; 5(6): 591-606.

Regarding to various problems in the activation of dendritic cells and immune system’s responses, finding of a safe, effective and applicable agent is highly desirable. Chitosan is an effective gene delivery agent and also a part of nanoscaffolds. In the present study,chitosan nanopolymers effect on dendritic immune cells were assessed. In this experimental-laboratory study, chitosan (150 KD) in acetic acid 1% solution was depolymerized to 10 KD oligomers using NaNO2. The oligomers particles were obtained by means of 2 normal NAOH molecules. Denderitic cells were derived from the rats’ bone marrow using GM-SCF. On the treated denderitic cells CD40, CD86 and MHC-II maturation markers were evaluated by flowcytometery; and TNF-α release was evaluated using ELISA method and T cell proliferation. It was observed that dendrtic cells purity on the 8th day was more than 90%. Flowcytometery analysis showed an increase in all evaluated CD40, CD86 and MHC-II maturation markers (p<0.05). TNF-α release and T cell proliferation significantly increased by chitosan treated denderitic cells compared to unstimulated or lipofectamin treated cells (P<0.05). Results showed that chitosan nanopolymers significantly increased dendertic cell maturation phenotype, proinflamatory cytokine production, and induction of T cell proliferation. Therefore, chitosan nanocomplexes and scaffolds can induce and accelerate immune responses.