Polymorphisms in ctla-4 gene have been shown to be associated with the Graves' disease (GD) susceptibility in different populations in the world. This study was undertaken to disclose the probable association of exon-1 polymorphism of ctla-4 with GD in Iranian patients. A49G polymorphism was investigated in 90 patients and 90 age/sex matched normal healthy controls, using PCR-SSCP and PCR-RFLP methods. Frequencies of AA, AG and GG genotypes among patients were found to be 21 (23.3%), 49 (54.5%) and 20 (22.2%) while these frequencies among healthy controls were 30 (33.3%), 53 (58.9%) and 7(7.8%), respectively. A significant increase of GG genotype and G allele was observed in patients (p = 0.012 and p = 0.025). In conclusion, consistent with the results of most other studies, the presence of a G allele in position 49 of ctla-4 exon-1 is associated with susceptibility to GD in Iranian population.

Dysfunction of the central dopaminergic neurotransmission has been suggested to play an important role in the etiology of certain neuropsychiatric disorders such as drug abuse. It has been shown that the dopamine D2 receptor (DRD2) gene dysfunction is associated with multi-drug addiction. Addiction to opium is the most common form of drug abuse in Iran. We studied the allelic association between DRD2 Taq I A polymorphism in 100 opium-dependent Iranian patients and 130 unrelated controls. A 310 bp (base pair) region surrounding Taq I site at the DRD2 locus was amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and the PCR product was incubated with Taq I restriction enzyme. The A1 allele remained intact while the A2 allele was cut. Significant association was observed between A1 allele and addiction in the patients group (P < 0.0001). Moreover, the frequency of A1A1 genotype was significantly higher in opium users than controls (P < 0.0001). Our result indicates that DRD2 might be involved in the pathophysiology of opium addiction.

In the current study, influences of chitosan solutions on morphological characteristics, growth and yield components of lentil (Lens culinaris Med.) under rainfed conditions have been investigated. A field experiment was conducted in the Northwest of Iran using a split-plot experiment based on a completely randomized design with three replications. The response of twelve genotypes with different origins to chitosan application at the sowing (seed soaking), vegetative and reproductive stage (spraying chitosan onto leaves) was evaluated. Results revealed that chitosan application could significantly improve the number of pods per plant, 100-seed weight, grain yield per plant and harvest index in comparison to control plants. The comparison of yield components between chitosan treatments showed that spraying chitosan during the reproductive stage was more efficient than in other stages. However, the responses of the number of pods per plants and grain yield per plants to chitosan treatments were significantly different among the genotypes. Although the highest grain yield was recorded in the 78S 26013 genotype (from Jordan), its response to chitosan treatments was different from the other genotypes and showed the best performance in plants obtained from seed soaked in chitosan solutions. We suggest that the application of chitosan as an agronomic management strategy be further investigated for an efficient technique to induce resistance in lentil plants against biotic and drought stress in semi-arid regions.

Lentil (Lens culinarisMedic