Prevalence of hepatitis C virus infection among hemodialysis patients in the Middle-East: A systematic review and meta-analysis

AIM To determine hepatitis C virus(HCV)infection prevalence in each country of the Middle-East and the overall prevalence of the region.METHODS In this systematic review,we gathered all documents related to HCV infection prevalence among hemodialysis patients in 17 middle-east countries from April 2006 to March 2016.We selected only cross-sectional studies that had proper sampling and measurement methods as well as a valid statistical analysis.RESULTS After screening of 7311 documents,56 studies were selected reporting the prevalence of HCV infection among hemodialysis patients from 10 countries of the region.Seven countries including United Arab Emirates,Afghanistan,Qatar,Bahrain,Kuwait,Oman,Israel,and Cyprus did not have any relevant document;thus,their latest reports were just mentioned.We performed the meta-analysis and determined the prevalence rates for each country as well as the whole region.The overall HCV infection prevalence among hemodialysis patients in the region was reported to be 25.3%;Egypt and Syria had the highest reported rates while Iran and Lebanon had the lowest.Further investigations are still needed to provide more reliable databases,find main risk factors,and to improve diagnosis and treatment plans,particularly in higher prevalent countries.CONCLUSION Controlling the prevalence and improving the management methods of HCV infection among hemodialysis patients are of a great concern in the Middle-East region.

Middle-East respiratory syndrome coronavirus: Is it worth a world panic?

In- 2012 Middle-East respiratory syn-drome coron-avirus(MERS-CoV) was evolved in- the Arabian- Pen-in-sula. Tre-men-dous an-d successful efforts have been- con-ducted to discover the gen-ome structure, epidemiology, clin-ical sign-s, pathogen-esis, diagn-osis an-d an-tiviral therapy. Taphozous perforatus bats are the in-crimin-ated reservoir host and camels are the currently confirmed an-imal lin-ker. The virus resulted in- less than- 1000 in-fected cases an-d 355 deaths. The case fatality rate of the MERS-Co V is high, however, man-y survivors of MERS-CoV in-fection- showed in-apparen-t in-fection-s an-d, in- several cases, multiple co-in-fectin-g agen-ts did exist. Although MERS-CoV appears to be a dan-gerous disease, it is argued here that a full assessmen-t of curren-t kn-owledge about the disease does n-ot suggest that it is a truly scary killer.

Structural and mutational analysis of the interaction between the Middle-East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) papain-like protease and human ubiquitin

The papain-like protease(PL^(pro)) of Middle-East respiratory syndrome coronavirus(MERS-CoV) has proteolytic,deubiquitinating,and de ISGylating activities.The latter two are involved in the suppression of the antiviral innate immune response of the host cell.To contribute to an understanding of this process,we present here the X-ray crystal structure of a complex between MERS-CoV PL^(pro) and human ubiquitin(Ub) that is devoid of any covalent linkage between the two proteins.Five regions of the PL^(pro) bind to two areas of the Ub.The C-terminal five residues of Ub,RLRGG,are similar to the P5–P1 residues of the polyprotein substrates of the PL^(pro) and are responsible for the major part of the interaction between the two macromolecules.Through sitedirected mutagenesis,we demonstrate that conserved Asp165 and non-conserved Asp164 are important for the catalytic activities of MERS-CoV PL^(pro).The enzyme appears not to be optimized for catalytic efficiency; thus,replacement of Phe269 by Tyr leads to increased peptidolytic and deubiquitinating activities.Ubiquitin binding by MERS-CoV PL^(pro) involves remarkable differences compared to the corresponding complex with SARS-CoV PL^(pro).The structure and the mutational study help understand common and unique features of the deubiquitinating activity of MERS-CoV PL^(pro).

NATO and Russia＇s Security Dilemma Within the European Union＇s Far Neighbors

This paper presents a viewpoint for NATO and Russia＇s security dilemma by analyzing what happened in Georgia, Ukraine, Libya and Syria. At the end of the Cold War re-building of NATO, inheriting Missile defense System by the US government and Russia＇s growing concern regarding NATO＇s eastward expansion made clear that Russia will not abandon her sphere of influence. Thus, the main objective of this study is to analyze the questions of what is the motivation behind NATO＇s new strategy. This will be followed by another question NATO and EU enlargement will push Russia in what direction. The hypothesis of the study is that NATO＇s strategy of taking position in the areas where identified as Russia＇s backyard and sphere of influence is considered as ＂casus belli＂ by Russia. Therefore, Russia, despite NATO＇s involvement in the specified area, will not abandon these areas and will continue to use her energy resources and geopolitical advantages as a coercion, especially against NATO members among EU countries.

Distribution of intraocular pressure and its determinants in an Iranian adult population

AIMTo determine the distribution of intraocular pressure (IOP) and its determinants in an Iranian population.METHODSIn a cross-sectional survey, random cluster sampling was conducted from the 40-64 years old population of Shahroud, in the north of Iran. All participants had optometry and ophthalmic exams. IOP was determined using the Goldmann tonometry method and biometric components were measured.RESULTSOf the 6311 people selected for the study, 5190 (82.2%) participated. The mean age of the participants was 50.9±6.2y and 58.7% of them were female. Mean IOP was 12.87±2.27 mm Hg. In this study 0.3% of the participants had an IOP higher than 21 mm Hg. The multiple linear regression model revealed that sex (Coef=-0.30; 95% CI: -0.43 to -0.17), diabetes (Coef=0.43; 95% CI: 0.19 to 0.67), high systolic blood pressure (Coef=0.02; 95% CI: 0.01 to 0.02), high body mass index (BMI) (Coef=0.03; 95% CI: 0.01 to 0.04), higher education (Coef=0.02, 95% CI: 0.01 to 0.04), thicker central corneal thickness (Coef=0.01; 95% CI: 0.01 to 0.02), and myopic shift in spherical equivalent (Coef=-0.14; 95% CI: -0.18 to -0.10) significantly correlated with high IOP.CONCLUSIONThe IOP in this 40-64 years old population is low overall. In the north of Iran, average IOP is statistically significantly correlated with female sex, diabetes, higher BMI, systolic blood pressure, higher education, thicker cornea, and myopic refractive error.