---

Background: According to the report of Iranian Center of Disease Control, in the summer of 2005 an outbreak of cholera (Inaba serotype) occurred in Iran. The outbreak lasted the mid of September. The aim of this study was to use the result of different studies performed during this period to determine source of infection. Methods and Materials: This is a meta-analysis study, which studies performed in Qum, Arak, Karaj, Golestan and Ghazvin were eligible. All of these studies were case control ones performed during the August 2005. The total of cases were 531. Pooled odds ratios was used to estimate by fixed and random method. All computations were performed by Stata 8 software. Results: The estimated pooled odds ratios resulted from 5 differemt studies were used in the meta-analysis as the following: travelling (1.64 95% CI: 0.98-1.88), non-pasteurized ice cream (0.88 95%CI: 0.48-1.61), post toilet hand washing (3.72 95% CI: 0.86-16.05), eating meal outside home (2.38 95% CI: 1.46-3.90), raw fruit eating (0.98 95% CI: 0.42-2.18) and raw vegetables use (5.36 95%CI: 2.4-12). Conclusion: According to the results of this study raw vegetable use and having meal outside home were significantly associated to the cholera in mentioned provinc

---

Background: Leukemia is a malignant and progressive disease. Over-expression of inhibitors of apoptosis proteins (IAPs), such as survivin and its anti-apoptotic variants, including sur-ΔEx3, is the main cause of resistance to apoptotic effects of chemotherapy drugs. In the present study, the effects of CBX on apoptosis and expression level of survivin and sur-ΔEx3 and K562 cells (experimental model of chronic myeloid leukemia) were investigated. Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, human K562 cells were cultured and exposed to CBX. Trypan blue exclusion test was used to evaluate growth inhibitory and viability effects of the drug. Fluorescent microscopy (acridine orange/ ethidium bromide double staining) and DNA electrophoresis were applied to the study of apoptosis. The expression level of survivin and sur-ΔEx3 was studied by semiquantative RT- PCR. Results: The results showed that after the 48 h treatment of K562 cells with 150 µM CBX, significant growth inhibitory and apoptotic effects (up to 50%) were induced. In addition, after 2-4 h of treatment with CBX (150 µM), down-regulation of survivin and sur-∆Ex3 were observed. However, the expression level of survivin and sur-ΔEx3 increased to the level of control cells with longer treatment times (6-12 h). Conclusion: Noticing the apoptotic and down-regulatory effects of CBX on survivin and sur-∆Ex3 expression, this drug can be used as a potential candidate for further studies on CML treatment, especially for inhibition of drug resistance in leukemia cells.

---

Background: To date, several drugs have been proposed for the treatment of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) however, none of them has resulted in complete remission. Therefore, many efforts are in progress to find new drugs with the capability of inducing apoptosis. Recently, anti-carcinogenic effects have been reported for a drug named carbenoxolone (CBX) on several cell lines. In the present study, the effects of CBX on NB4 cell line, as an experimental model of APL, were examined. Materials and Methods: In this trial, NB4 cell line was cultured and treated with different concentrations of CBX (50-250µM) in various time intervals (12-48 hours). Trypan blue exclusion test was used to evaluate growth inhibitory and viability effects of the drug on NB4 cell line. Fluorescent microscopy (acridine orange/ethidium bromide double-staining) and agarose gel electrophoresis DNA were used to study apoptosis. Results: CBX induced growth inhibition of NB4 cells so that growth inhibition rates of NB4 cells, after the 48 hour of treatment with 50, 100, 150, 200, and 250 µM CBX were 32.65, 47.52, 60.73, 68.91, and 74.33%, respectively. Furthermore, the results of DNA fragmentation and fluorescent microscopy assays indicated that apoptosis is a major mode of cell death after treatment of NB4 cells with above concentrations of CBX. Conclusion: Noticing the growth inhibitory and apoptotic effects of CBX on human promyelocytic leukemia NB4 cells, it can be considered as a potential candidate for further studies on APL treatment.

---

Background: Hemophilia A is an X-linked bleeding disorder caused by heterogenous mutations in factor VIII gene that encodes coagulation factor VIII (F8) protein. Due to the high heterogeneity of mutations, large size (186 kb) and structural complexity of the F8 gene, direct mutation analysis is costly and time consuming. Alternatively, linkage analysis using informative polymorphic markers such as single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers has been introduced as a rapid and cost effective method for hemophilia A carrier detection in families with an affected individual. Several SNP markers associated with the F8 gene region have been studied.

Materials and Methods: In this exprimental study, the characteristics of A/T SNP (rs4898352) as an informative marker located in intron 18 of F8 gene region was investigated in Isfahanin population. rs4898352 marker was genotyped using tetra primer ARMS PCR method followed by agarose gel electrophoresis in 140 unrelated control healthy females in mentioned population. New primers were designed for rs4898352 marker using the oligo 7 software. The allele frequency, degree of heterozygosity and Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium were estimated by use of Genepop program. The polymorphism information content (PIC) value was estimated using the Powermarker software.

Results:  The results showed that the allele frequency of rs4898352 polymorphism for A and T alleles was 0.482 and 0.518, respectively. The observed heterozigosity rate was 60%. Analysis of Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium demonstrated that the Isfahan population was in equilibrium (p>0.05) for rs4898352 marker. Moreover, analysis of PIC value revealed that this marker could be considered as a highly informative marker in the mentioned population.

Conclusion: Together, the data suggested that rs4898352 could be introduced as an informative marker for molecular diagnosis of hemophilia A in Isfahan Population