Evaluation serum levels of Insulin Growth Factor-1 (IGF-1) and its association with clinical parameters in severe COVID-19

Inflammopharmacology - Severe coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) is associated with dysregulated immune response and extreme inflammatory injury. Considering the role of insulin growth factor-1...     

Investigating the correlation of the NF-κB and FoxP3 gene expression with the plasma levels of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines in rheumatoid arthritis patients

Clinical Rheumatology - Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory systemic autoimmune disease. Cytokines regulate a wide range of inflammatory processes involved in RA pathogenesis....     

Partners in crime: Autoantibodies complicit in COVID-19 pathogenesis

Autoantibodies (AABs) play a critical role in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases (AIDs) and serve as a diagnostic and prognostic tool in assessing these complex disorders. Viral infections have long been recognized as a principal environmental factor affecting the production of AABs and the development of autoimmunity. COVID-19 has primarily been considered a hyperinflammatory syndrome triggered by a cytokine storm. In the following, the role of maladaptive B cell response and AABs became more apparent in COVID-19 pathogenesis. The current review will primarily focus on the role of extrafollicular B cell response, Toll-like receptor-7 (TLR-7) activation, and neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) formation in the development of AABs following SARS-CoV-2 infection. In the following, this review will clarify how these AABs dysregulate immune response to SARS-CoV-2 by disrupting cytokine function and triggering neutrophil hyper-reactivity. Finally, the pathologic effects of these AABs will be further described in COVID-19 associate clinical manifestations, including venous and arterial thrombosis, a multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), and recently described post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC) or long-COVID.     

The T657C polymorphism on the SYCP3 gene is associated with recurrent pregnancy loss

SYCP3 (Sinaptonemal complex protein 3) plays a critical role in pairing and recombination of homologous chromosomes in meiosis 1. It has been shown that lack of this gene leads to infertility in male and weakened fertility in female mice. In a case–control study, we investigated the SYCP3T657C polymorphism in the genome of 100 Iranian women with recurrent pregnancy losses of unknown causes as well as 100 control samples of normal fertile women having at least one healthy child. The general aim of our study was to determine whether there is a relationship between genetic changes in the SYCP3 gene and recurrent pregnancy loss in human or not. Frequency of the heterozygous genotype and mutated allele C were significantly higher in women with recurrent pregnancy losses (P-value < 0.005). Our findings suggest that the T657C polymorphism of the SYCP3 gene is possibly associated with recurrent pregnancy loss of unknown cause in human.     

The Expanded Disability Status Scale Score and Demographic Indexes Are Correlated with the Severity of Cognitive Impairment in Multiple Sclerosis Patients

Background and PurposeCognitive impairment (CI) is a common symptom of multiple sclerosis (MS). Although demographic and clinical factors contribute to MS-dependent CI, previous findings have been inconsistent. This study aimed to identify the cognitive domains that are impaired in MS patients, and to determine the impacts of the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score and other clinical and demographic factors on them domains.MethodsThis study enrolled 115 MS patients. Cognitive performance was assessed using the Minimal Assessment of Cognitive Function in Multiple Sclerosis (MACFIMS) battery. CI severity was assessed based on the number of impaired tasks in the MACFIMS battery, with impairment in two or more tasks defined as CI cases. Correlation analysis was used to determine whether factors including current age, age at disease onset, EDSS score, disease duration, relapse rate, and education level affect the severity of CI.ResultsThe scores on the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test and Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System were the most and least affected, respectively. EDSS score (r=0.438, p<0.001), current age (r=0.393, p<0.001), and disease duration (r=0.486, p<0.001) were positively correlated with CI severity, whereas education level (r=−0.527, p<0.001) had a negative correlation with CI severity, and age at disease onset and relapse rate were not correlated with CI severity (r=0.150 and p=0.107, and r=0.052 and p=0.530, respectively). However, all variables (except EDSS score) significantly predicted CI severity in a multiple regression model (p<0.001, r=0.668).ConclusionsInformation processing speed and working memory were the most commonly affected cognitive domains in the present MS patients. CI severity had strong positive correlations with current age, EDSS score, and disease duration, and a negative correlation with education level. The relapse rate and age at disease onset were not correlated with CI severity.