zabihollah shoja

Although several studies have been achieved on the frequency of the HPV types among wom- en with cervical cancer in Iran, HPV-positive samples were in some cases directed to specific-primer genotyping of HPV 16 and 18. Therefore, the other HPV types are underestimated. Several studies have also reported a greater prevalence of HPV 16 in cervical cancer in Iran than in the world. To clarify these subjects, the distribution of HPV types in women referred for colposcopy in Tehran was investigated.

In this cross-sectional study, a total of 148 cervical samples from women with normal, atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance, cervical intraepithelial neoplasia I-III, and invasive cervical cancer histopa- thology were included. HPV was detected by PCR assay and all HPV-positive specimens were subjected to direct nucleotide sequencing.

Our results demonstrated that the total prevalence of HPV was 92.5%. The five most common HPV types were HPV 16 (49.3%), 18 (14.8%), 6 (7.4%), 31 (4.1%), and 11 (2.7%). About the histopathological stage, HPV 16 and 18 were dominant in all studied groups. In cervical cancer, HPV 16 and 18 were detected in 60% and 20% of cases, respectively.

HPV 16 and 18 were the most common in cervical cancer in Iran.

Since the discovery of rotaviruses in 1973, these viruses have been identified as one of the most important and common causes of diarrhea in infants and children all over the world. Before the introduction of rotavirus vaccination, this virus led to the death of more than 500,000 children in the world annually, which mainly occurs in developing countries. With the introduction of Rotarix and RotaTeq vaccines as well as ROTAVAC and ROTASIIL in the world, the death rate has decreased by 50%. Iran, like many countries, is in the period before rotavirus vaccination, and considering putting the rotavirus vaccine in the vaccination program is one of the priorities of the country's health system. Therefore, knowing the genotypes circulating in Iran in the past and recent years and their comparison with vaccine strains is very important. Our aim in the current study is to review the prevalence of rotavirus and its genotypes circulating in Iran and whether the existing vaccines based on the circulating strains in Iran can be effective.

Studies regard to the prevalence and genotypes of rotavirus in Iran were reviewed.

 G1P[8] genotype includes more than 50% of circulating genotypes. Non-G1P[8] genotypes, including G4P[8], G3P[8] and G9P[8], have also had a high frequency in some studies. In addition, in a recent study, it has been shown that the rare and uncommon genotype G9P[4] has been introduced as a common genotype.

Studies in Iran have shown that the country may face a change in the rotavirus genotype pattern in the future. This study can provide useful information to recommend appropriate policies for rotavirus vaccination before the start of the national vaccination program and may even change policies for the use of existing vaccines.

Human Enterovirus 71 (EV-A71) is the causative agent for many dermal to neurological diseases especially polio-like paralysis outbreaks around the world. This study, the first of this kind in Iran, aimed to find neutralizing antibodies against EV-A71 in serum of healthy individuals in different age groups based on neutralization test (NT).

In this cross-sectional study, 547 serum samples were collected from healthy individuals who were referring for routine checkup tests (aged from under 6 months to over 31 years old) to Imam-Khomeini Hospital in Tehran during January-December 2015. Serum samples were examined by NT in cell culture to detect neutralizing antibodies against EV-A71. In the next step, some of the positive samples were subjected to complete titration to determine the exact titer of anti-EV-A71 antibodies.

Of 547 samples, 310 (56.7%) were positive for EV-A71 neutralizing antibody. The presence of the antibody increased with age (p<0.001), and there was a significant statistical relationship between sex and the presence of antibody (p=0.009).

Our results demonstrated an apparent but limited circulation of EV-A71 in our society. After the worldwide eradication of poliovirus, EV-A71 which can cause polio-likes syndrome, might be the new challenge for our health care system as regard more in depth research is however needed.

Hemophilia is a well-known bleeding disorder with worldwide distribution. Replacement therapy, using plasma-derived or recombinant coagulation factors, comprises a gold standard regimen for the treatment. Regardless of the advancements made in viral inactivation methods in the production of plasmaderived coagulation factors, the possibility of transmission of new viral infections remained as a noticeable concern yet. The aim of the current study was to investigate the status of parvovirus 4 (PARV4) in severe hemophilia A, von Willebrand disease (vWD), and healthy control.

In the current case-control study, 76 patients with hemophilia and vWD and 60 individuals from their family members entered the study. Nested PCR used to determine the presence of PARV4 in study subjects (76 cases). To characterize the PARV4 genotype, positive samples subjected to sequencing and phylogenetic analysis.

PARV4 genome detected in 11 (14.47%) patients with bleeding disorders. Among whom, nine patients (14.75%) were with severe hemophilia A and two (13.33%) patients with vWD. Only five healthy controls (8.33%) were positive for PARV4. All PARV4 sequences were found to be genotype 1.

PARV4 infection in patients with hemophilia and vWD was higher than the control group. While detection of PARV4 DNA in patients with bleeding disorders may not necessarily reflect a clinical urgency, future investigations are needed to define the clinical significance of PARV4. It seems the detection of the virus immune signature of PARV4 infection, particularly in the context of acute and persistent infections, needs to focus on cellular and tissue targets.

Acute gastroenteritis is one of the most important causes of death in children in developing countries which cause by different enteropathogens, including bacteria, viruses, and parasites. Among these, most of the acute gastroenteritis in children are caused by viral infections mainly by rotavirus and norovirus. This study aimed to study the epidemiological and clinical status of acute gastroenteritis resulting from rotavirus and norovirus in children between June 2015 and June 2016 in Iran. A total of 211 stool specimens were collected from Ali Asghar Children's Hospital and Bahrami Children's Hospital in Tehran, from June 2015 to June 2016. The samples were screened by commercial enzyme immunoassay (EIA) Ridascreen kit and real time RT-PCR to detect rotavirus and norovirus genogroups I and II, respectively. The information on demographic and clinical manifestations was collected, and data analyzed using IBM SPSS statistics version 22. Overall, the detection rate of rotavirus was 25.6 %, and for norovirus infection, it was 17.5%. All norovirus positive specimens belonged to genogroup II. Higher rates of rotavirus infections were observed in children from 7 to 24 months, and higher rates of norovirus infections were detected in children from 1 to 12 months. Clinical symptoms were not different between rotavirus and norovirus case-patients. The present study not only highlights the importance of rotavirus and norovirus infections in Iran but also verifies the relevance of norovirus as the cause of severe gastroenteritis in children.

Rotaviruses are the most common cause of severe diarrhea in children under 5 years of age worldwide with a higher prevalence in developing countries. In accordance with the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations for the global use of rotavirus vaccines, it is important to review trends of rotavirus epidemiology, distribution and diversity of rotavirus strains in the pre-vaccine period. In Iran, the average rotavirus positivity rate is 40.04% in all patients under 5 years of age hospitalized for acute gastroenteritis (AGE). Studies have shown a substantial increase in the rotavirus detection rate over time from 1986 to 2013. Moreover, there has been continued predominance of G (G1) and P (P[8]) genotypes, although the peak prevalence of G1 appeared to decline in 2007-2011 compared to 2001-2006. The data presented in this review, which suggests a change in the pattern of rotavirus genotypes in the Iranian population, further highlights the important role of continuous monitoring of rotavirus genotypes before starting any national rotavirus vaccination program.

It is important to have data on human papillomavirus (HPV) from different geographical regions of Iran for health policymakers to make decisions on national programs of HPV vaccination. Because no study was found on HPV genotyping in Kermanshah Province, this study appeared necessary.
Fifty-three paraffin-embedded cervical tissue samples were collected. All samples were evaluated by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or nested-polymerase chain reaction assays with specific primers designed for L1 gene. Positive samples were subjected to sequence and phylogenic tree analysis.
Thirty-one out of 53 samples (58.5%) were found to be HPV positive. Prominent HPV genotype was HPV16 followed by HPV6, 31 and 53. Based on the histology of cervicitis, only HPV16 was found both in cervicitis and adenocarcinoma while HPV6 and 16 were found in cervical intraepithelial neoplasia I, and HPV6 and 53 were found in cervical intraepithelial neoplasia II. HPV16 and 31 were also found in squamous cell carcinoma.
Findings from this study support a strong correlation of HPV16 as a leading cause of cervical cancer in this region. It appears that HPV vaccines could drastically reduce the incidence of cervical cancer.

Multiple sclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease of the central nervous system characterized by a complex immune response. Because of the complex nature of MS pathogenesis, a panel of biomarkers derived from different platforms will be required to reflect disease-related alterations. Monitoring and evaluation of molecules associated with the pathogenesis of the disease would provide useful information on disease progression and therapeutic assessment. In view of this, we evaluated the mRNA expression levels of B-cell activating factor (BAFF), high mobility group box 1 (HMGB-1), Toll like receptor (TLR) 4 and TLR7 in MS. These molecules are implicated in the pathogenesis of MS; however, they havereceived little attention. PBMCs were isolated from whole blood of 84 Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis patients and 70 healthy controls. Relative quantitative RT-PCR was applied to quantify the transcriptional levels of the immune markers. The mRNA expression levels of TLR7 were significantly elevated in RRMS patients than healthy controls. Whereas, TLR4 expression was found to be significantly lower in the patients than control group. We found no difference analyzing the mRNA levels of BAFF and HMGB1. Our data highlights the immune marker correlates in RRMS patients. However, further in-depth studies are warranted to check for their reliability of biomarkers in autoimmune diseases such as MS.

Rotaviruses (RVs), a member of Reoviridae family, are a major cause of severe diarrhea in children < 5 years of age worldwide, infecting mainly the gastrointestinal tract although recent findings have shown extraintestinal spread of RV infections. The RV is known to cause systemic infection in children with acute gastroenteritis (AGE). The systemic RV infection may lead to the virus reaching extraintestinal organs, therefore developing clinical symptoms. RV RNA, antigen, and infectious particles have been found in serum, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and extraintestinal tissues in children with acute gastroenteritis (AGE). According to previous studies on molecular genotyping of RV, no specific association has been yet found between antigenemia and RV G genotype. However, nucleotide changes and genotype discordance in RVs have been detected in paired stool and serum samples. In children, who show the evidence of antigenemia, RV genome is detectable in extraintestinal organs. Although, clinical significance of the laboratory findings remains to be determined.

Preventing the seasonal or pandemic outbreak of influenza can be powerful and cost-effective.. In this study, we constructed a novel virus-like particle (VLP) platform that contains two hemagglutinin (HA) subtypes and evaluated immunogenicity of constructed VLP in mice.. This recombinant candidate vaccine model resulted in the expression of two HAs of H1N1 and H3N2 subtypes co-localized within a VLP. Following infection of insect cells with recombinant baculovirus co-expressing H1, H3 and M1 proteins, VLPs with size of 80–120 nm were self-assembled, budding, and released into the insect culture medium. The resulting VLPs which contained two different subtypes of hemagglutinin were purified by ultracentrifugation. The immunogenicity of VLPs was evaluated in mice following immunization.. Our data showed that vaccination using VLPs elicited robust levels of serum IgG, and viral neutralizing antibodies against A/PR8 (H1N1) and A/HK (H3N2) viruses. Following challenge with lethal dose of A/PR8 (H1N1) and A/HK (H3N2), vaccinated mice were protected, displaying no sign of weight loss and mortality compared to non-vaccinated control mice.. VLPs can serve as a promising vaccination strategy to control influenza virus..