Visceral leishmaniasis (VL), a life-threatening parasitic infection, is endemic in the Mediterranean region. Diagnosis of VL is based on epidemiologic, clinical, and laboratory findings. However, sometimes, clinical features and laboratory findings overlap with those of autoimmune diseases. In some cases, autoantibodies are detected in patients with VL and this could be a potential diagnostic p...

Antineutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibodies (ANCA)-associated vasculitides (AAV) are a group of systemic vasculitis syndromes characterized by inflammation and necrosis of blood vessel walls. Genetic, epigenetic, and environmental factors contribute to the etiology and pathogenesis of AAV. On the basis of currently available clinical and experimental evidence, it is reasonable to believe that, in...

Protein A-immunoadsorption (IA) is an extracorporeal apheresis technique used in patients with autoimmune diseases which aims to remove pathogenic autoantibodies. Apart from the adsorption of immunoglobulins (IgG), IA may influence cellular and humoral immunity. The aim this study was observe effect protein A-IA on cytokine networks antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculit...

We report a 16-year-old previously healthy boy who was admitted to hospital with fever, constitutional symptoms, purpura, additive arthritis, dysentery, rapid progressive renal failure, resembling Henoch- Schuenlein purpura, accompanied with retropharyngeal abscess. Kidney biopsy revealed rapid progressive glomerulonephritis with crescent formation, without immune deposition in immune fluoresce...

OBJECTIVE To determine the prevalence of antineutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibodies (ANCA) in sera of patients with tuberculosis compared with healthy control subjects and a group of patients with atopic asthma. METHODS The presence of ANCA was examined in patients with tuberculosis, and in asthmatic patients and healthy subjects as control groups, by means of indirect immunofluorescence (IIF)...

background: inflammatory bowel disease unclassified (ibdu) is considered to be an aberrant immune response with loss of tolerance to many antigens. objective: this paper tries to address whether there is any value to test for auto-antibodies in such patients. methods: 60 patients with inflammatory bowel disease unclassified participated in the study. auto-antibodies to nuclear antigen, intestin...

background: patients with ulcerative colitis (uc) carry autoantibodies such as perinuclear antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (p-anca). objective: the aim of the present study was to evaluate the target antigens for p-anca in iranian patients with uc. methods: p-anca target antigens including elastase, lactoferrin, cathepsin g, myeloproxidase, lysozyme, and bactericidal permeability increasi...

Perinuclear type of antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (p-ANCA) have been found in patients with periarteritis nodosa, Churg-Strauss arteritis, or pauci-immune idiopathic crescentic glomerulonephritis. Recently, the association of p-ANCA and normotensive renal failure, in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc), was reported. We have studied the incidence of p-ANCA in patients with SSc and ha...