جستجوی مقالات مرتبط با کلیدواژه « عفونت های ویروسی » در نشریات گروه « پزشکی »

Viruses are sub-microscopic infectious agents that cause many diseases in humans, including several fatal infections that have emerged in the recent past. Rapid and accurate diagnosis of viral infections in the early stages is crucial in preventing the emergence of the pathogen. However, most of the currently available diagnostic methods are laborious, time-consuming, and less sensitive. On the other hand, the limited availability of antiviral treatments and the adverse effects associated with traditional antiviral drugs suggest the necessity of developing new therapeutic strategies to combat viral infections. In recent years, various types of nanomaterials have been investigated for the diagnosis and treatment of viral infections. In this review article, some of the nanotechnology-based approaches that have been developed for rapid and high-quality detection of viral infections, as well as antiviral therapeutic strategies related to nanomaterials, are also discussed with examples. Viral infections have emerged as a major threat to global health, especially in recent years. However, only a limited number of diagnostic tools and antiviral treatments are available to combat these viral infections. New approaches based on nanotechnology can provide a better platform for detecting viral infections in a short time with high sensitivity compared to existing viral detection methods. Also, nanomaterials may help overcome issues such as low solubility and bioavailability, rapid release, development of resistance, and adverse effects often associated with conventional antiviral therapies. Therefore, nanotechnology appears as a new and promising tool in the effective management of viral infections in future medicine.

In the last few years, mRNA vaccines have been considered for the treatment of cancer and viral and autoimmune diseases. Several mRNA vaccine have been evaluated in the preclinical and clinical stages; these experiments have shown that mRNA vaccines elicit a long-term immune response in both animal models and humans. Due to their significant immune responses, the effectiveness of mRNA vaccines against cancers and pathogens are much higher than other vaccines that do not induce significant immune responses. The results of recent developments in various fields have provided the basis for the production of mRNA vaccines with high efficiency and effectiveness. The aim of this review article was to examine the most important developments in the field of mRNA vaccines production as well as the challenges facing this field.

The present study is a review article in which, numerous articles indexed in PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, and Google Scholar search engines were analyzed with the mRNA vaccine and viral infections keywords.

The results of several studies indicated that mRNA-based vaccines have the ability to induce humoral and cellular immune system responses against a wide range of infectious and non-infectious diseases. With the advances in mRNA transfer methods and increased their stability, these vaccines have been introduced as a promising, effective, and safe methods in the treatment and prevention of infectious and non-infectious diseases and cancers.

The robust, long-lasting and safe immune responses observed in animal models, as well as promising data from early human clinical trials, make mRNA-based vaccination as an appropriate alternative to conventional vaccine approaches.

Systemic lupus erythematosus is a systemic autoimmune disease that affects almost all organs of the body, and viral infections are involved in its development and progression. The present study aimed to evaluate the serological status of some viral infections in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and a healthy population.

This descriptive study conducted from May 2017 to April 2018 at Shiraz HIV/AIDS Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran on 70 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and 70 healthy individuals who had no autoimmune diseases and were matched with the patient group for age and sex. All patients had active records and were routinely visited in rheumatology clinic of Hafez hospital, affiliated with Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. The evidence of active disease was assessed by the physicians of this practice according to the American College of Rheumatology criteria. Peripheral blood samples were collected in tubes containing EDTA and centrifuged at 3000 rpm for 5 min. The plasma of study participants was evaluated for HBsAg, HCVAb, HIVAb, EBV-VCA-IgG, and CMV-IgG using a commercially available ELISA kit.

The seropositivity of CMV-IgG and EBV-VCA-IgG in the systemic lupus erythematosus group was 70 (100%) and 65 (92.9%), and in healthy individuals was 68 (97.1%) and 57 (81.4%), respectively. The prevalence of EBV-VCA-IgG in the systemic lupus erythematosus group was significantly higher than healthy ones (P=0.043). The optical density (OD) of CMV-IgG and EBV-VCA-IgG in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus was significantly higher than in healthy individuals (P<0.0001). All patients with systemic lupus erythematosus were negative for HBsAg and HIVAb, but HCVAb was detected in 1 (1.4%) patient.

Considering the higher frequency of EBV-VCA-IgG and the higher titer of antibodies against CMV and EBV in patient groups compared to healthy individuals group, it seems that periodical assessment of viral load in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus will be beneficial to prescribe medication by physicians if it is needed.

The exact cause of most autoimmune diseases is still unknown; however, several factors play a role in causing or exacerbating autoimmune reactions. In addition to environmental factors such as bacterial, parasitic, fungal and viral infections, factors such as genetic characteristics and lifestyle are also included. Infections caused by viruses usually trigger a strong immune response that is essential to control the infection. However, in some cases, failure to regulate this immune response may lead to destructive immune reactions against host antigens. The present article discusses about mechanisms that viral infections and the path way that immune system responds to those infections. In addition, the present article review data related to ncidence of viral infections in development or exacerbation of autoimmune diseases.
Methods and Materials: This review article has been performed by searching in international databases including PubMed, Scopus, and Google scholar as well as Persian databases such as SID and Magiran.

Epidemiological studies on humans as well as experimental studies on animals have shown that viral infections can cause autoimmune damage depending on various factors including genetic characteristics, host immune responses, type of virus strain, viral load, and time of onset of infection. They can induce or protect against its occurrence. However, limited data are available to describe the apparent interaction between the virus and the immune system to induce immune reactions.
Discussion and

Available data indicates that autoimmunity derived from viral infections can be activated through a number of mechanisms including molecular mimicry, epitope spreading, bystander activation, and immortalization of infected B cells. Protective effects can be achieved through overlooking autoimmune responses that were suppressed autoimmune events. Therefore, it is essential to have a better understanding of immune-related molecular processes in autoimmunity arises from viral infections.

Scleroderma is a chronic systemic disorder that affects the connective tissues. It is characterized by several immune manifestations, inflammation, vascular damage, and fibrosis. Some of the viral infections with complex mechanisms are involved in the development and progression of many autoimmune diseases, such as scleroderma. The present study aimed to investigate the serological prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), and cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections in Iranian patients with scleroderma.

In this descriptive study 65 patients with scleroderma and 65 healthy individuals who had no autoimmune diseases and matched for age and sex, from May 2017 to April 2018 at Shiraz HIV/AIDS Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran, were included. The serum of study participants were evaluated for cytomegalovirus specific immunoglobulin G (CMV-IgG), Epstein-Barr virus viral capsid antigen immunoglobulin G (EBV-VCA-IgG), hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), hepatitis C virus antibody (HCVAb), and human immunodeficiency virus antibody (HIVAb) using commercially available the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit.

CMV-IgG was diagnosed in serum of all patients with scleroderma, while 49 (98%) healthy subjects had positive results for this test. In addition, EBV-VCA-IgG was diagnosed in 58 (89.2%) sclerodermic patients and 40 (80%) healthy subjects. The prevalence of CMV-IgG and EBV-VCA-IgG was not significantly different between patients and healthy subjects and had no significant relationship with age and sex. However, the titer of antibodies against CMV and EBV infections in the scleroderma group was higher than that in the control group (P<0.0001, and P<0.0001), respectively. The presence of HBsAg and HIVAb was not confirmed in any of the patients with scleroderma, but HCVAb was detected only in one patient. All of the individuals in control group were serologically negative for HBsAg, HCVAb, and HIVAb.

Serological prevalence of HBV, HCV, HIV, EBV, and CMV infections in patients with scleroderma is similar to the healthy group.