: Background: Domestic violence against women can lead to short and long term health-related issues. We aimed to estimate the prevalence of domestic violence against married women and its correlates in southwestern, Iran. Methods: A population-based survey was carried out from February 1st to May 30th, 2018 in Shiraz, Iran. Currently married or recently separated/divorced women who visited healthcare centers were voluntarily interviewed. World Health Organization (WHO) standard domestic violence questionnaire was used to measure domestic violence. Hence, its prevalence and correlates were assessed. Data were analyzed using multivariable logistic regression. Results: Lifetime prevalence of overall, mental, physical, and sexual domestic violence were 54.5% (95% CI: 49.6, 59.4), 52.0% (95% CI: 47.1, 57.0), 18.2 % (95% CI: 14.4, 22.0) and 14.0 % (95% CI: 10.6, 17.4), respectively. Living separately, increasing spouse’s age, the higher number of children, rental housing, middle to low monthly income, and history of domestic violence in the family of husband and/or wife had a positive correlation with domestic violence in some categories. Conclusions: More than half of the married women in southwestern Iran are experiencing domestic violence, and mental domestic violence is the most common type. Economic instability and witnessing domestic violence in childhood are the most correlates of domestic violence. Family violence preventive services and other population-based measures are highly necessary for this region.

Background:Immunotherapy is a promising prospective new treatment for cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections. Neutralizing effects have been reported using monoclonal antibodies. Recombinant single chain antibodies (scFvs) due to their advantages over monoclonal antibodies are potential alternatives and provide valuable clinical agents.Objectives:The aim of this study was to select specific single chain antibodies against gp55 of CMV and to evaluate their neutralizing effects. In the present study, we selected specific single chain antibodies against glycoprotein 55 (gp55) of CMV for their use in treatment and diagnosis.Materials and Methods:Single chain antibodies specific against an epitope located in the C-terminal part of gp55 were selected from a phage antibody display library. After four rounds of panning, twenty clones were amplified by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and fingerprinted by MvaI restriction enzyme. The reactivities of the specific clones were tested by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and the neutralizing effects were evaluated by the plaque reduction assay.Results:Fingerprinting of selected clones revealed three specific single chain antibodies (scFv1, scFv2 and scFv3) with frequencies 25%, 20 and 20%. The clones produced positive ELISA with the corresponding peptide. The percentages of plaque reduction for scFv1, scFv2 and scFv3 were 23.7, 68.8 and 11.6, respectively.Conclusions:Gp55 of human CMV is considered as an important candidate for immunotherapy. In this study, we selected three specific clones against gp55. The scFvs reacted only with the corresponding peptide in a positive ELISA. The scFv2 with 68.8% neutralizing effect showed the potential to be considered for prophylaxis and treatment of CMV infections, especially in solid organ transplant recipients, for whom treatment of CMV is urgently needed. The scFv2 with neutralizing effect of 68.8%, has the potential to be considered for treatment of these patients. The specific scFv1 and scFv3 with lower neutralizing effects can be used for diagnostic purposes.

Background: Single chain antibody (scFv) has shown interesting results in cancer immunotargeting approaches, due to its advantages over monoclonal antibodies. Regeneration and tolerance factor (RTF) is one of the most important regulators of extracellular and intracellular pH in eukaryotic cells. In this study, the inhibitory effects of a specific anti-RTF scFv were investigated and compared between three types of prostate cancer and two types of glioblastoma cells.  Methods: A phage antibody display library of scFv was used to select specific scFvs against RTF using panning process. The reactivity of a selected scFv was assessed by phage ELISA. The anti-proliferative and apoptotic effects of the antibody on prostate cancer (PC-3, Du-145 and LNCaP) and glioblastoma (U-87 MG and A-172) cell lines were investigated by MTT and Annexin V/PI assays.  Results: A specific scFv with frequency 35% was selected against RTF epitope. This significantly inhibited the proliferation of the prostate cells after 24 h. The percentages of cell viability (using 1000 scFv/cell) were 52, 61 and 73% for PC-3, Du-145 and LNCaP cells, respectively, compared to untreated cells. The antibody (1000 scFv/cell) induced apoptosis at 50, 40 and 25% in PC-3, Du-145 and LNCaP cells, respectively. No growth inhibition and apoptotic induction was detected for U-87 and A172 glioblastoma cells.  Conclusions: Anti-RTFscFv significantly reduced the proliferation of the prostate cancer cells. The inhibition of cell growth and apoptotic induction effects in PC-3 cells were greater than Du-145 and LNCaP cells. This might be due to higher expression of RTF antigen in PC-3 cells and/or better accessibility of RTF to scFv antibody. The resistance of glioblastoma cells to anti-RTF scFv offers the existence of mechanism(s) that abrogate the inhibitory effect(s) of the antibody to RTF. The results suggest that the selected anti-RTF scFv antibody could be an effective new alternative for prostate cancer immunotherapy.

No abstract

No abstract