Journal of Isfahan Medical School
Year:2020 | Volume:38 | Issue:592|Papers Count:3

Background: Regarding the increasing importance of influenza, especially in those at risk, this study aimed to explore the effectiveness and the effective factors of influenza vaccination acceptance among the staff of Alzahra hospital, Isfahan, Iran Methods: This cohort study was performed in Alzahra hospital for 9 months from September 2018 to May 2019. The staffs of different occupations who received influenza vaccination considered as treatment (vaccinated) group, and equal numbers of staffs who did not receive vaccination were selected as the control (unvaccinated) group. In both groups, a questionnaire of knowledge and attitude to vaccination and a checklist of demographic and occupational variables, vaccination acceptance or rejection factors, and influenza infection rate were completed in the study. Findings: During the study, one case in exposed group, and 3 cases in control group got the influenza, and there was no significant difference between two groups (P = 0. 130). The relative risk of influenza was 0. 33. There was a significant difference between the two groups based on vaccination in previous years (P = 0. 001). Moreover, the knowledge and attitude in the vaccinated group was higher than the non-vaccinated group (P <0. 050). Conclusion: Increasing awareness and attitude to influenza and its vaccination, as well as the availability of vaccination at the right time, can be effective in health care workers’ tendency for influenza vaccine.

Background: In asthma, the relationship between number of eosinophils and severity of this disease supports the hypothesis that eosinophil is the major effector cell in inflammation of airway. Evolution of eosinophils is regulated by interlukin-5 (IL-5). Therefore, by blocking IL-5, at least one major reason of asthma would be prevented. To produce antagonists against IL-5 (like aptamer), it is necessary to have this protein in large scale and high purity. This study aimed to optimize IL-5 protein expression of BL21 strain of Escherichia coli (E. coli) to be used instead of antibody. Methods: At first, complementary DNA (cDNA) construct encoding IL-5 was designed, and was ordered to be produced in pET28a vector. Expression vector was transformed into competent E. coli Bl21 (DE3) origami. Then, protein expression was optimized by altering temperature, incubation time, and the amount of isopropyl β-d-1-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG). Protein expression was assessed using sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and western blot in different levels of the test. Findings: The optimum conditions for protein expression were gained when the density of bacteria at the OD600 reached to 0. 6 to 0. 8, and culturing was done at 29 ° C for 18 hours and 150 rpm, andinduction with 1mM IPTG. There was a 13-kDa protein band on SDS-PAGE and western blot that confirmed the expression of IL-5 protein. Conclusion: This protein can be used for producing aptamers against IL-5 and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit for measuring IL-5. In all these process, there is no need to perfect folding of the protein. Therefore, the expression can be done in prokaryotic system, as it has high efficiency.

Background: The severity of the disease is the sum of the disease activity and the damage caused by the disease, and the severity of an organ involvement may change over time. The present study aimed to determine the severity of rheumatoid arthritis and its related factors in the post-diagnosis care period using generalized estimator equations (GEE) model. Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, data were collected from 107 patients with arthritis rheumatoid who were under intensive care in Shariati Hospital, Tehran, Iran, for three years (2015-2017). The severity of the disease was calculated using the Disease Activity Score-28 (DAS28) index, as an important clinical criterion, and was introduced as an ordinal response variable. Findings: The mean age of the patients was 53. 6 ± 13. 12 years. 84 patients (78. 5%) were women and 17 patients (15. 9%) had a history of smoking. The severity of the disease had a very slow downward trend over three years, although this process was very weak. The duration of care (P = 0. 004) and being men (P = 0. 038) were identified as significant related factors with decreased severity of the disease. Conclusion: According to our findings, controlling the severity of the disease during the care period does not show the desired condition. In addition to continuous care, it is recommended to apply more supervision on patients.