background hepatitis b virus (hbv) is a major cause of chronic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma (hcc). hb vaccination is an essential step in the prevention of the disease and its consequent complications. objectives immune status of medical personnel in teaching hospitals of khuzestan is not well known. since these personnel are usually at risk of needle stick and other...

or a number of years, immunologists have strived to Funderstand the mechanisms associated with treatment-induced eradication of hepatitis C virus (HCV). However, interferon (IFN)-a–based therapies did not allow studies examining the role of the virus itself on innate and adaptive immunity to HCV. The study by Serti et al published in this issue of Gastroenterology provides a unique opportunity ...

We have identified and characterized the cis-acting sequences at the termini of the bacterial transposon Tn7 that are necessary for its transposition. Tn7 participates in two kinds of transposition event: high-frequency transposition to a specific target site (attTn7) and low-frequency transposition to apparently random target sites. Our analyses suggest that the same sequences at the Tn7 ends ...

Fish epidermal mucus contains innate immune components, secreted by globlet cells that provide the primary defence against different pathogenic microbes and act as a barrier between fish and its immediate niche. The major function of mucus includes entrapment and sloughing of microbes. The mucus also contains many factors such as antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), lysozymes, lectins, proteases, etc...

Adjuvants play an essential role in the induction of acquired immunity upon vaccination with protein antigen. In this issue of EMBO Molecular Medicine, a classical type of adjuvant made of DNA oligonucleotide containing CpG motifs, which has already been used in humans, is shown to boost humoral immunity primarily by acting on monocyte-derived dendritic cells. This study provides novel insight ...

The innate immune response plays a key role in fighting infection by activating inflammation and stimulating the adaptive immune response. However, chronic activation of innate immunity can contribute to the pathogenesis of many diseases with an inflammatory component. Thus, various negatively acting factors turn off innate immunity subsequent to its activation to ensure that inflammation is se...

Acquired immunity is known to be a key modulator of the dynamics of many helminth parasites in domestic and human host populations, but its relative importance in natural populations is more controversial. A detailed long-term dataset on the gastrointestinal nematode Trichostrongylus retortaeformis in a wild population of European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) shows clear evidence of seasonal...