OBJECTIVE To test whether an association between HCV genotype, HLA class II alleles distribution and extra-hepatic manifestations (EHM ) can be demonstrated in a group of Italian patients with chronic HCV infection . METHODS Sixty patients affected by HCV infection with EHM were consecutively enrolled. 163 HCV patients without EHM were tested as controls for the prevalence of HCV genotypes, w...

Erythropoietin (EPO) was first known as a factor for red blood cell proliferation and differentiation. Recent studies show the effects of EPO on immune system. In this study the antihuman leukocyte antibody (anti-HLA) titer were determined in five groups of rats, which had been sensitized with human lymphocyte. Also, the effects of stimulation's frequency and dose of recombinant human erythropo...

BACKGROUND Human T-cell lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) is linked to adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATL) and HTLV-I-associated myelopathy (HAM; also known as tropical spastic paraparesis [TSP]), a chronic neurodegenerative disorder. Worldwide, several million HTLV-I carriers are at risk for disease, with an estimated lifetime cumulative risk of 1%-5%. However, the determinants of disease pr...

SIR, The association of klebsiella with HLA-B27 involves two separate theoretical models which have been the subject of some debate, recently discussed by Singh et al,' and deserve further comment. The first model deals with cross reactivity or molecular mimicry (cross tolerance hypothesis) between HLA-B27 and antigens found in some Gram negative bacteria (klebsiella, shigella, and yersinia), w...

BACKGROUND Racial differences and broad spectrum response to anti-hepatitis C (anti-HCV) therapy suggest a possible role for host genetic diversity in treatment outcomes. We aim to determine the association and predictive value of certain human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I alleles with either susceptibility to viral clearance or persistence following pegylated interferon (Peg-IFN) plus ribav...

Background: Pulmonary tuberculosis (PT) is one of the endemic diseases in Iraq, and among the suggested predisposing factors are alleles of the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) system. We sought to investigate the association between HLA-class I (A and B) and -class II (DR and DQ) alleles in a sample of PT Iraqi patients.Methods: lymphocytes of 105 PT patients and 40 controls were phenotyped for H...

Background: Hepatitis B is an important infectious disease.  Since several years ago, mass vaccination against this viral infection has become as part of routine vaccination schedule of Iran.  However, some healthy neonates, children and adults fail to generate a protective antibody response after vaccination.Objectives: To investigate distribution of HLA class-I and class-II antigens in health...

The Human Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) plays a crucial role in transplantation, transfusion, paternity test and assessment of susceptibility to some diseases associated with HLA-B27. Three of the most fashionable methods for determination of HLA antigens in clinical and research laboratories are microlymphocytotoxicity (MLCT), flowcytometry and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). T...