Prevalence of common <Emphasis Type="Italic">MEFV</Emphasis> mutations and carrier frequencies in a large cohort of Iranian populations

Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is a hereditary autoinflammatory disorder caused by mutations in the MEFV gene. The disease is especially common among Armenian, Turkish, Jewish and Middle East Arab populations. To identify the frequency and the spectrum of common MEFV mutations in different Iranian populations, we investigated a cohort of 208 unselected asymptomatic individuals and 743 FMF patients. Nine hundred and fifty-one samples were analysed for the presence of 12 MEFV mutations by PCR and reverse-hybridization (FMF StripAssay, ViennaLab, Vienna, Austria). Confirmatory dideoxy sequencing of all MEFV gene exons was performed for 39 patients. Fifty-seven (27.4%) healthy individual carried mutant MEFV alleles. Three hundred and ninety-one (52.6%) FMF patients were found positive for either one (172/743; 23.1%), two or three MEFV mutations. Using dideoxy sequencing, three novel variants, A66P, R202W and H300Q, could be identified. Our analysis revealed an allele frequency and carrier rate of 15.6 and 27.4%, respectively, among healthy Iranians. Still moderate compared to neighbouring Armenia, but higher than in Turkey or Iraq, these data suggest that FMF is remarkably common among Iranian populations. E148Q was most frequent in the group of healthy individuals, whereas M694V was the most common mutation among FMF patients, thereby corroborating previous studies on MEFV mutational spectra in the Middle East. Accordingly, MEFV mutations are frequent in healthy Iranian individuals across different ethnic groups. Based on this finding, the awareness for FMF and the implementation of augmented carrier screening programmes considering the multiethnic nature of the Iranian population should be promoted.     

高产杀粉蝶菌素的链霉菌鉴定及其拮抗水稻白叶枯菌活性研究

【目的】为保证农业生产可持续性发展,研发和使用环境友好的生物农药受到全社会的高度重视。微生物代谢产物农药是我国目前应用最广的生物农药,也是未来发展绿色农药的一个重要方向。【方法】利用包含水稻白叶枯菌(Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae, Xoo) PXO99A的NA培养基琼脂平板,从水稻根际土壤中筛选能抑制Xoo生长的链霉菌。通过高效液相色谱和质谱分析活性代谢产物的化学结构;采用剪叶法接种Xoo到水稻叶片后,再喷施杀粉蝶菌素溶液(0.1 g/L),2周后测定叶枯症状;采用响应面分析法优化高产杀粉蝶菌素的发酵培养基;采用PacBio SMRT测序平台+Illumina HiSeq X Ten平台开展全基因组测序。平均核苷酸一致性(average nucleotide identity,ANI)用于比较HSW2009与其他链霉菌在全基因组水平的亲缘关系。【结果】分离到一株对Xoo生长有强抑制活性的链霉菌HSW2009,其活性代谢产物为杀粉蝶菌素A1(piericidin A1,简称PIE);喷施PIE可以减轻Xoo在水稻叶片内的侵染;优化HSW2009高产PIE的发...     

Autologous bone marrow–derived CD133 cells with core decompression as a novel treatment method for femoral head osteonecrosis: a pilot study

Background

Avascular necrosis (AVN) of femoral head is a progressive bone disease due to ischemia of femoral head; patients experience pain and they can not do normal activity. There is not an effective way to treat the cause of this disease. In recent studies, treatment of this disease using pluripotent stem cell–derived mesenchyme is safe and effective, but this method needs more investigation. In this study, the safety and efficacy of CD133+ cells were evaluated as a novel method of stem cell therapy to treat AVN.

Evaluation of point mutations in dystrophin gene in Iranian Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophy patients: introducing three novel variants

Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophies (DMD and BMD) are X-linked neuromuscular diseases characterized by progressive muscular weakness and degeneration of skeletal muscles. Approximately two-thirds of the patients have large deletions or duplications in the dystrophin gene and the remaining one-third have point mutations. This study was performed to evaluate point mutations in Iranian DMD/BMD male patients. A total of 29 DNA samples from patients who did not show any large deletion/duplication mutations following multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) screening were sequenced for detection of point mutations in exons 50–79. Also exon 44 was sequenced in one sample in which a false positive deletion was detected by MLPA method. Cycle sequencing revealed four nonsense, one frameshift and two splice site mutations as well as two missense variants.     

Experimental transmission of murine typhus by Xenopsylla cheopis flea bites

Transmission of Rickettsia typhi to rats by the bites of Xenopsylla cheopis (Rothschild) fleas was investigated. Procedures rigorously excluded the possibility of contamination of the host skin by flea faeces. Fleas with R. typhi infection (21-25 days post-infection) which fed through bolting cloth (45 min exposure to ten fleas) transmitted rickettsiae with a success rate of 20%. Infective fleas allowed free access to their host for 8 h (10-15 fleas/rat) gave transmission rates of 45-68%. They were also capable of inoculating R. typhi through a membrane of rat skin on a feeder. Only fleas which had been infected for 21 days or longer transmitted R. typhi orally. Oral transmission appeared to be the result of regurgitation of rickettsiae present in the foregut lumen rather than through salivary secretions.