Background: Fecal calprotectin (FC) has been used as a diagnostic marker in intestinal inflammatory conditions. Objectives: As a few studies have been dedicated to assess the role of FC in coeliac disease (CD), the current study aimed to address this issue. Methods: This study included 70 newly diagnosed CD (Marsh score 3) and 70 healthy children. The study was performed at the pediatric ward of Amir-Al-Momenin Hospital in Zabol city, the southeast of Iran, during June 2016-September 2017. The FC level was determined using a specific ELISA kit. Results: Women constituted 64.3% (45/70) and 55.1% (38/70) of CD and healthy children, respectively (P = 0.1). Three was no significant difference in the mean age between children with CD (6.3 ± 3.4) and without CD (8.3 ± 4.5) (P = 0.2). The mean level of FC was significantly higher in patients (239.1 ± 177.3 µg/g) than in healthy controls (38.5 ± 34.6 µg/g, P < 0.001). The titer of anti-tTG was significantly higher in patients than in healthy children (205.9 ± 156.2 U/mL vs. 6.7 ± 2.1 U/mL, respectively, P < 0.001). There was a significant correlation between the FC level and anti-tTG titer (r = 0.611, P < 0.001). However, the correlation was not statistically significant between FC and age (r = -0.154, 0.07). The ROC curve analysis revealed an AUC value of 0.893 (95% CI: 0.827 -0.960, P < 0.001). At the level of 50 µg/g, FC rendered the sensitivity and specificity of 90% and 92%, respectively, for the diagnosis of CD.Positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) of FC at this cutoff value were 95.5% and 90.5%, respectively. Conclusions: FC can be considered a screening complementary tool for detecting CD with high sensitivity and specificity.

AIM: Concurrent positivity for HBsAg and HBs antibody is an unusual serological pattern in hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. There is limited information on the clinical course of patients with this serological pattern. Here, we aimed to describe the clinical features of patients with chronic HBV infection presented with HBsAg+/HBsAb+ profile. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This was a retrospective study on 309 patients with chronic HBV infection. The patients received either tenofovir, lamivudine, or no treatment based on the levels of liver enzymes. Serological profiles were recorded at the diagnosis and six months afterwards. Statistical analysis was performed in SPSS 19 software. RESULTS: From 309 chronically HBsAg positive patients, 10(3.2%) showed concurrent positivity for HBsAg and HBsAb in their sera. There were no statistically significant association between this pattern with either gender, age, and HBeAg status. However, there was a close association between HBsAg+/HBsAb+ with seropositivity for anti-HBeAg (p = 0.05). There were also no significant associations between AST or ALT levels and HBsAg+/HBsAb+ neither at the diagnosis or six months afterwards. CONCLUSION: It seems that patients with chronic HBV infection and persistent concurrent reactivity for HBsAg and HBsAb render comparable clinical course with those patients with single HBsAg positivity.

Background: Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB) is a widespread life-threatening infection worldwide. There is an uncertainty in the association between the emergence of autoimmune antibodies and TB. Objectives: We hereby aimed to screen anti-tissue transglutaminase (anti-tTG) IgA in patients with TB in an Iranian population. Methods: This was a cross sectional study conducted on smear positive TB patients admitted to the Respiratory Diseases Management Center of the city of Zabol, Sistan and Baluchestan Province of Iran during 2017 -2018. Anti-tTG IgA level was determined using an ELISA kit (Pars Azmoun, Iran). Statistical analyses were performed in SPSS 19 software. Results: Overall, 162 patients were evaluated. Females and males constituted 87 (53.7%) and 75 (46.3%) of the patients respectively.The mean age was 51.7 ± 22.3 years (range of 1 -83). Afghan patients constituted 16 (9.9%) and the remaining were Iranians. The therapy course was successfully completed in 78 (48.1%) patients, and 67 (41.4%) improved following treatments. Overall, 5 patients had active TB with 2 drug-resistant cases. Pulmonary tuberculosis was diagnosed in 127 (78.4%) while 35 (21.6%) had extra-pulmonary disease. The mean titer of anti-tTG IgA was 22.59 ± 107.7 (range of 0.8 -940). Overall, 19 (11.9%) of the patients showed elevated levels of the antibody. There was no significant association between anti-tTG IgA titer with neither demographic nor clinical variables. Conclusions: Although anti-tTG IgA antibody test was positive in a relatively high ratio of our patients with TB, the clinical implications of this phenomenon were not significant.

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