OBJECTIVE Leptin is an adipokine that regulates body weight and appetite. It is also an inflammatory cytokine that influences immune reactivity and autoimmunity. Leptin levels are increased in obesity and are higher in women than in men. We aimed to determine whether leptin levels, independent of sex and body mass index (BMI), are associated with thyroid autoimmunity. DESIGN This study uses d...

The anti-HNK-1 (Leu-7) monoclonal antibody (MAb) was revealed to be reactive with noncancerous and cancerous prostatic epithelial cells, although this antibody was originally found to be reactive against natural killer cells. However, the prognostic significance of HNK-1 antigen in prostatic cancer patients remains unknown. The expression of HNK-1 antigen on prostatic cancer was investigated im...

Background and Objectives: Vaccination is the major strategy to protect nurses against infection with hepatitis B virus. However, some nurses do not produce sufficient amount of anti-HBsAg antibody required for immunity against infection. Chronic occupational stress has been proposed as a risk factor to humoral immunity. Given that nursing staff is exposed to occupational stress risk, this stud...

The uptake, distribution, and fate of particulate horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-anti HRP aggregates has been studied in homogeneous monolayers of mouse macrophages in vitro. Macrophages rapidly interiorize the immune complexes after binding to the cell surface. The rate of interiorization is maximal for complexes formed in a broad zone of 4-fold antibody excess to equivalence and corresponds to ...

Gold nanoparticles modified with anti-mouse IgG have been used to trace oligonucleotides carrying a c-myc peptide. Two strategies, a dot-blot format as well as inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS) have been used to detect the nanoparticle tracer. For both cases, oligonucleotide-peptide conjugates were first applied to a nitrocellulose membrane using a manifold attached to a suct...

Results on localization of growth hormone receptor (GHR), interaction of growth hormone (GH) with receptor in buffalo adipose tissue and identification of activated signaling molecules in the action of GH are presented. Bovine GH (bGH) was labeled with fluorescein or biotin. Fluorescein-labelled bGH was used for localization of GHRs in buffalo adipocytes. The receptors were present on the cell ...

Background and aim: An epidemiological association of lichen planus (LP) with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection has been found only in certain parts of the world and in some countries no association has been noted. The present study was done to evaluate the association of LP with HCV in patients admitted to Sina hospital, Hamedan, Iran from 2002 to 2004.Materials and Methods: The presence of an...

A 81-year-old woman was diagnosed as having diabetes mellitus (DM) at 58 years of age. She started insulin therapy the following year, but her blood sugar levels were poorly controlled. At the age of 75, she tested positive for the anti-GAD antibody (7.8 U/ml) and was diagnosed as having slowly progressive type 1 DM (SPIDDM), as well as vitiligo vulgaris. At 78 years of age, chronic thyroiditis...