BACKGROUND While HPV infection is the main cause of cervical cancer, genetic susceptibility to HPV infection is not well understood. Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), involved in the defense against HPV infection, plays an important role in cervical cancer progression and regression. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the TNF-alpha rs1800629 polymorphism an...

This report describes a case of congenital toxoplasmosis in a newborn in Southern Italy. A pregnant mother had been admitted at the 20th week of her pregnancy on account of pharyngodynia and laterocervical lymphadenopathy. Although serological testing of the mother's serum documented a seroconversion with positive IgG and IgM anti-Toxoplasma antibodies during II trimester, the woman refused to ...

BACKGROUND Cardiomyopathies are myocardial disorders in which the heart muscle is structurally and functionally abnormal. Several mutations in sarcomere protein coding genes are responsible for different types of cardiomyopathies. ACTC1 is one of the main sarcomere components in heart muscle. Two mutations of E101K and M123V in this gene are shown to be associated with cardiomyopathies. METHO...

Objective: Assessment of relevance of IL-6 (-174G>C, -596G>A) genes polymorphisms in the etiology of preterm delivery (PTD). Material and methods: Study group: 150 women with PTD (22+0 36 + 6 gw.); controls: 150 women who delivered > 37 gw. Genetical analysis was performed by PCR/RLFP method. Results: In PTD group -596GA genotype (48.6 vs. 42.7%) and -596AA genotype (24.7 vs. 21.3%) occurred mo...

BACKGROUND AND AIM Chemokine/receptor axis is a predominant actor of clinical disorders. They are key factors of pathogenesis of almost all clinical situations including asthma. Correspondingly, CXCL12 is involved in the immune responses. Therefore, this study was designed to explore the association between gene polymorphism at position +801 of CXCL12, known as SDF-1α3'A, and susceptibility to ...

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was DNA extraction from protoscolecses of Echinococcus granulosus and identification of these strains in West-Azerbaijan Province, north western Iran. METHODS Thirty one livestock isolates from sheep and cattle were collected from abattoirs of the province. To investigate the genetic variation of the isolates, after DNA extraction by Glass beads-phenol chlorof...

Nitric oxide plays a major role in the regulation of cerebral blood flow and loss of its function leads to alteration of the vascular relaxation given its central role in the physiology of the vascular system. G894T eNOS polymorphism could have adverse effects on the expression and activity of endothelial nitric oxide synthase, which can result in functional impairment of the endothelium and co...

PURPUSE: The aim of this study was to investigate the involvement of functional interleukin 10 (IL-10) and tumor necrosis factor  (TNF-) promoter polymorphisms on the susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in Bulgarian population. METHODS: Genotyping for -1082A/G IL10 (rs1800896) and 308G/A TNFA (rs1800629) polymorphisms were performed using allele specific PCR and restriction fragment l...