BACKGROUND Currently, there are no effective vaccines against leishmaniasis, and treatment using pentavalent antimonial drugs is occasionally effective and often toxic for patients. The PTR1 enzyme, which causes antifolate drug resistance in Leishmania parasites encoded by gene pteridine reductase 1 (ptr1). Since Leishmania lacks pteridine and folate metabolism, it cannot synthesize the pteridi...

OBJECTIVE To determine the frequency of DYT1 mutation in Iranian patients affected with primary dystonia. MATERIALS AND METHODS In this study, we investigated 60 patients with primary dystonia who referred to the Tehran Medical Genetics Laboratory (TMGL) to determine the deletional mutation of 904-906 del GAG in the DYT1 gene. DNA extracted from patients' peripheral blood was subjected to PCR...

Coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) is an aromatic member of the Apiaceae with a wide diversity of uses (Diederichsen 1996). Its rapid life cycle allows it to fit into different growing seasons, making it possible to grow the crop under a wide range of conditions. Three subspecies and 10 botanical varieties of coriander have been proposed at the infraspecific level (Diederichsen and Hammer 2003) ...

Plant domestication can be seen as a long-term process that involves a complex interplay among demographic processes and evolutionary forces. Previous studies have suggested two domestication scenarios for Lima bean in Mesoamerica: two separate domestication events, one from gene pool MI in central-western Mexico and another one from gene pool MII in the area Guatemala-Costa Rica, or a single d...

BACKGROUND Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an immune-mediated disease of polygenic etiology. Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) microsatellite as a proinflammatory cytokine is believed to play an important role in the etiology of this disease. OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to investigate the association of TNF-α microsatellite sequence variation in patients with MS and its risk factor in the s...

Propionibacterium acnes is a Gram-positive bacterium that is intimately associated with humans. The nature and consequences of this symbiosis are poorly understood; it might comprise both mutualistic and parasitic properties. Recent advances in distinguishing phylotypes of P. acnes have revealed that certain type I lineages are predominantly associated with acne vulgaris. Genome analyses reveal...

This is a report of novel variant the α1-globin gene—(α1) α51 Gly > Cys (CE9), c.154 GGC TGC, named Hb Mazandaran, which was observed in an Iranian family. gives rise to previously undescribed haemoglobin that undetectable by capillary electrophoresis (CE). detected two cases combination with β-globin mutation, and it does not seem be associated severe haematological abnormalities carriers.

BACKGROUND The p16 tumor suppressor gene is an important negative regulator of the cell cycle. Inactivation of p16, especially via promoter hypermethylation, has been found in numerous human cancers such as breast, lung, colorectal, and liver. OBJECTIVES To determine the role of epigenetic methylation in p16 regulation in Iranian patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). PATIENTS AND ME...

Phenylketonuria (PKU) is the most common autosomal recessive disorder of amino acid metabolism. The disease is caused mainly by mutations in the phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH) gene, encoding phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH) enzyme. The PAH enzyme deficiency results in the elevation of phenylalanine in the blood, which may cause severe irreversible mental retardation in the affected individuals....