masoud hafizi

Immunoglobulin A (IgA) nephropathy is the most common type of glomerulonephritis worldwide characterized by excessive serum levels of glycosylated which triggers the generation of glycan-specific IgG and IgA autoantibodies. This pathological condition results in the formation of circulatory IgA immune complexes, which are essential for the development of glomerular inflammation, especially IgA nephropathy. The serum galactosylated IgA1, IgG, and IgA autoantibodies are suggested as the biomarkers of IgA nephropathy since IgA antibodies are early markers for disease activity too. Serum IgA antibodies emerged as the early COVID-19-specific antibody response about two days after initial symptoms of COVID-19 in comparison with IgG and IgM antibody concentrations, which appeared after five days. IgA nephropathy is frequently presented as microscopic or macroscopic hematuria and proteinuria with a male predominance. COVID-19 infection can include several organs aside from the lungs, such as kidneys through different mechanisms. It is demonstrated in most cases that short-lasting symptoms such as gross hematuria resolve either spontaneously or following a short course of steroids. This review summarized the reported cases of relapses or denovo reported cases of relapses or de-novo IgA nephropathy and IgA vasculitis following COVID-19 vaccination.

From the past and till now, infectious intestinal parasites have been widely distributed across the world. Parasitic diseases are a major health-economic concern in developing countries. The high prevalence of parasitic infections is mostly related to issues such as poor personal hygiene, unhealthy water supplies, and lack of health education. Due to geographic location and diverse climate conditions, Iran has a variety of human and animal parasites. In this study, the prevalence of intestinal parasites was reported in the samples collected from the Central Laboratory of Borujen, Iran. The sampling method was a survey sampling from all individuals referred to the Central Laboratory of Borujen. All of the stool specimens were prepared through a direct method (phylogenetic serum) and examined by light microscopy. Among positive cases, 42 (53.8%) were male and 36 (46.2%) were female, thus there was no significant correlation between the prevalence of infection and sex. The highest level of contamination was for Giardia lamblia to the extent of 75 cases (96.1%), two cases of Enterobius vermicularis (2.6%) and one case of Blastocystis hominis (1.3%). Out of the total number of positive cases, 76 cases (97.4%) infected with protozoa and 2 cases (2.6%) with helminths. The findings of this study showed that due to the good level of hygiene in addition to cold and dry weather of Borujen, the frequency of intestinal parasites in this city has been low. However, similar to other parts of the country, the most prevalence of contamination was related to young ages and Giardia

The chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the 4th cause of morbidity in world. Acute exacerbation of COPD (AECOPD) represents a common complaint that leads patients to seek medical attention. One of the major agents that cause AECOPD is Chlamydia pneumoniae. This study was aimed to investigate the prevalence of acute C. pneumoniae infection in patients admitted with AECOPD at Hajar hospital in Shahrekord. In this descriptive cross-sectional study، 100 patients with AECOPD were studied. In addition to clinical and radiological examinations، two blood samples were taken three weeks apart. Antibody titers against C. pneumoniae determined by enzyme- linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The prevalence of C. pneumoniae infection in AECOPD was 7% and no relation with age، sex، duration of disease، and clinical signs were observed (P>0. 05). However، a significant relationship between diabetic diseases: having family history and high pressure and similar diseases in family with AECOPD was observed (P<0. 05). Our results showed Acute C. pneumoniae infection is a low significant causative pathogen in AECOPD.