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Background: HIV-1 and HCV are two of the most important blood-borne infectious agents. Hence, reliable, precise, and sensitive detection of these viruses in infected patients and donated blood units is highly important. Noticing the limitations of serological assays in detection of these infectious agents, this study was to use fast and sensitive molecular assays like real-time PCR. Materials and Methods: In this trial, a home-brewed SYBR green-based multiplex real time PCR, on the basis of melting curve analysis, was developed for the single or simultaneous detection of HCV and HIV-1 infections in plasma samples. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 16. Results: The results obtained from different reactions on several clinical samples showed that the analytical sensitivities of the developed assay for HIV-1 and HCV were 200 and 100 copies/ml, respectively. It was also shown that the primers designed for each virus had no interaction with each other and other interfering agents. Conclusion: Noticing the good level of sensitivity and specificity, easy handling, relatively low cost, and rapid analysis of samples, this method can be a useful and rapid approach for simple and effective detection of HCV and HIV-1 in plasma samples.

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Background: Several different molecular methods have been developed that are capable of detecting HIV-1 in clinical specimens with different levels of sensitivity and specificity. This article describes the results of a reliability study on the development and application of a new real-time TMA method for isothermal detection of HIV-1. Materials and Methods: In this ex Primental study, the molecular beacon primer and probe set were designed for a 176-base-pair region of HIV-1 pol gene using a specialized software. Logarithmic serial dilutions from 10-107 copies of an in-vitro transcribed RNA were used for determination of the analytical sensitivity of the assay. Clinical specimens that had previously been evaluated positive or negative by a valid commercial assay were used for assessing the clinical sensitivity and specificity of the assay. Results: The analytical and clinical sensitivities of the assay were determined 500 copies/ml and 93.3%, respectively. The primers and the probe were HIV-1 specific and no cross-reaction was observed with other blood-borne viruses and human genome bioinformatically. The clinical specificity of the developed real-time TMA assay was examined experimentally using 20 negative samples and determined to be 100%. Conclusion: The developed real-time TMA assay can be used as an appropriate tool for the rapid and isothermal detection of HIV-1 in patients' blood and plasma samples.

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Background: Food insecurity is defined as the limited or uncertain availability of enough food for an always active and healthy life. Diabetes mellitus, one of the most common metabolic diseases, has been associated with significant morbidity and mortality and it is considered a health priority in Iran. Recent studies indicate the widespread prevalence of food insecurity and diabetes mellitus in Iranian society. This study reviews the status of food insecurity and effective socio-economic factors in people with type 2 diabetes.

Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 135 patients, aged between 30 and 55, who had recently been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Demographic and socioeconomic characteristics and food insecurity status were assessed using demographic and the 18-item USDA household food security questionnaires, respectively. Physical activity also was evaluated by MET, physical activity questionnaire. Data were analyzed by Chi-square, t-test, and logistic regression.

Results: Prevalence of food insecurity was 66.7%. Food insecurity was significantly associated with economic status, education level, income, having child under 18 years of age, family size, and number of children (p<0.05) however, there was not a significant relationship between food insecurity and occupation, marital status, family history of diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease, age, and the amount of physical activity.

Conclusion: Considering the higher prevalence of food insecurity in diabetic patients, it can be said that it is likely that the incidence of diabetes is higher in food insecure people.

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Background: In 1970, human papillomavirus (HPV) was introduced as the main etiologic factor of cervical carcinoma. Since there is no possibility of detecting the virus and its subtypes using serological methods and cell culture, the molecular methods such as PCR have particular importance in accurate, early and definite diagnosis of the virus. So, in this research, our goal is to use a proprietary PCR assay based on L1 gene of human papillomavirus for molecular recognition of HPV and to evaluate its prevalence in patient samples.

Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, after collecting of samples from malignant cervical lesions, the viral DNA was extracted from paraffin blocks of 50 clinical samples and PCR was done by specific primers for L1 gene of human papillomavirus in all samples. After the analysis of PCR products by 2% agarose gel electrophoresis, sensitivity and specificity of the test were also evaluated.

Results: Among 50 patient samples, 33 cases were confirmed to be positive for HPV infection and 17 cases were negative, showing high frequency of HPV in this patient population (about 66%). The results of specificity assay were positive for papilloma samples and sensitivity of the assay was 20 copies of recombinant construct containing L1 per reaction.

Conclusion: This study showed that PCR by specific primers for L1 gene of human papilloma virus is a proper and accurate method for detection of this virus and the results confirm the previous reports of correlation between HPV and cervical carcinoma.

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Background: chitin and its derivates microparticles (MPs) have immunomodulatory activities. In this study, we examined the effect of size, purity and acetylation degree of chitin MPs on CHID1- encoding SI-CLP, involved in inflammation- gene expression in mixed leukocyte culture.

Materials and Methods: Small (<40m) and medium(40-70m) sized chitin MPs were prepared by sonication, and they were used in treatment of leukocyte mixed culture in comparison with chitosan and also shrimp shell small-sized MPs. Neutral red uptake assay and microscopic examination of apoptosis were used to assess cytotoxicity of MPs. Finally, following cell treatment with MPs (100 μg/mL) for 48h, expression levels of CHID1 gene were determined by Real Time PCR.

Results: Different concentrations of chitinous MPs hadn’t any cytotoxic effects. In gene expression analysis, small-sized chitin MPs (<40 µ) resulted in down regulation of CHID1 gene expression (p=0.004), while other MPs didn’t change it significantly.

Conclusion: Size, purity and acetylation degree of chitin MPs influence their interference in immune cells interactions and it seems small-sized chitin MPs can potentially modulate immune responses through decreasing CHID1 gene expression. Using small-sized chitin MPs may be effective to treat allergies which their treatment strategies rely on modulating the immune responses.

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Background: Breast cancer is one of the major causes of cancer-related death and the most common solid malignancy in women worldwide. Chemerin as a new adipokine has an inflammatory activity that initiates inflammation via chemotaxis of immature DCs and macrophages. This study aimed to evaluate the level of chemerin in patients with breast cancer.

Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study that was performed as a case-control study, we enrolled 45 patients with breast cancer in Vali-asr hospital from June to December 2015 (age range, 18-60 years) and 40 healthy volunteers as a control group (age range, 22-56 years). The patients with invasive breast were selected before mastectomy. The level of serum chemerin was measured by ELISA kit.

Results: The results showed that the mean serum chemerin level in the breast cancer patients (1536 ±608 ng/L) was significantly lower than the normal individuals (1919±544 ng/L),(p=0.04). There is no correlation between the level of chemerin with body weight, stage of disease, duration of disease and the number of white and red blood cells.

Conclusion: With due attention to the inflammatory role of chemerin, decreasing the serum chemerin level in patients with breast cancer may be related to the consumption of chemerin in the inflammatory responses or immunosuppression by tumor. The low level of chemrerin may be suitable for tumor growth and progression.

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Introduction: The growing increase in the elderly population requires more research to identify the health priorities of this group, especially in critical situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the current study was conducted to determine the influential components of marital satisfaction and its relationship with lifestyle in Urmia City in 2021.
Methods: In this descriptive-analytical and cross-sectional correlational study, 220 married elderly living in Urmia were selected through cluster sampling. The Miler's life satisfaction and Haynes's marital satisfaction questionnaires were used in addition to the demographic questionnaire to collect data in this research. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistical tests (mean and standard deviation, frequency, and percentage) and analytical (Pearson correlation coefficients and multiple linear regression) at a significant level of P ≤ 0.05.
Results: A step-by-step multiple linear regression model also revealed that variables of lifestyle (ß = -0.364), age (ß = 0.425), number of children (ß = 0.143), occupation (ß = 0.425) and illness (ß = 3.608) - had the most considerable contribution in the sensitive prediction of marital satisfaction. The regression model excluded other demographic variables.
Conclusions: This study showed that lifestyle and demographic variables such as age, number of children, occupation, and illness have the greatest contribution in predicting marital satisfaction. Therefore, it seems necessary to design counseling services in comprehensive health centers for this group so that counselors can teach healthy lifestyles to older adults to improve marital relationships.