Publications by authors named "Marzieh Tavakol"

Background: The global COVID-19 pandemic, declared in January 2020, necessitated urgent preventive measures, with vaccination as a key strategy. Despite progress in vaccine development and distribution, widespread hesitancy persists, impeding global disease control efforts. This study specifically explores COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and acceptance among Iranian children with asthma, aiming to understand factors unique to this subgroup.

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  • The study aimed to compare the efficacy, safety, and immunogenicity of a new treatment (P043) for allergic asthma with the established drug, Xolair (omalizumab), focusing on the rate of asthma exacerbations.
  • Over a 28-week trial with 256 participants, results showed that both treatments had similar rates of exacerbations, asthma control test scores, and spirometry measurements, indicating that P043 is as effective as omalizumab.
  • Adverse events reported were comparable between both groups, with common issues being dyspnea and headache, and no significant issues with drug safety or immunogenicity observed for either treatment.
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  • The study evaluates the validity and reliability of the Persian version of the Vespid Allergy Quality of Life Questionnaire (VQLQ) to assess the quality of life in individuals with Hymenoptera venom allergy in Iran.
  • Over 115 patients participated, revealing that factors such as fear, anxiety, and outdoor activities significantly impacted their quality of life, with women experiencing more negative effects than men.
  • The findings suggest that the Persian VQLQ can effectively measure the quality of life in affected individuals and could assist allergists in optimizing treatment and support for those undergoing venom-specific immunotherapy.
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Due to the limited number of studies in children with focal epilepsy and the importance of choosing the most suitable drug to control seizures in children, the administration of the most effective medication with the most negligible adverse events is vital. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness and adverse events of carbamazepine vs. levetiracetam monotherapy in children with focal seizures.

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Background: Inborn errors of immunity (IEI) are a diverse range of genetic immune system illnesses affecting the innate and/or adaptive immune systems. Variable expressivity and incomplete penetrance have been reported in IEI patients with similar clinical diagnoses or even the same genetic mutation.

Methods: Among all recorded patients in the national IEI registry, 193 families with multiple cases have been recognized.

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Introduction: The periodic fever syndrome Familial Mediterranean Fever (FMF) is caused by mutations in MEFV, which promote inflammation and present with uncontrolled systemic and organ-specific inflammation that can resemble infectious conditions. It is diagnosed based on clinical criteria, including frequent symptoms such as abdominal and thoracic pain, family history, and response to treatment with colchicine, which is confirmed by genetic assessment. Herein, we present a case of FMF with a relatively uncommon presentation.

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The hyper-immunoglobulin E syndrome (HIES) is a primary immunodeficiency disease originally described as Job syndrome. The fundamental causative variant of the HIES is an autosomal dominant mutation in the signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) gene. It is characterized by recurrent staphylococcal cold skin abscess, sinopulmonary infection, eczema, head and face anomalies, frequent bone fractures, eosinophilia and extremely high serum IgE levels (IgE ≥ 2000 IU/mL).

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Background: Autoimmunity can be the first or predominant manifestation in patients with primary immunodeficiency disorder, also known as inborn errors of immunity (IEI). This study aims to evaluate the immune status of pediatric patients with polyautoimmunity to identify those with underlying immune defects.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, pediatric patients with polyautoimmunity including at least one confirmed autoimmune endocrine disease were enrolled.

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Background: Asthma is the most prevalent respiratory disease caused by chronic airway inflammation. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is children's most common psychological and neurodevelopmental disorder. Increased risk for ADHD in patients with inflammatory and autoimmune diseases supports the role of inflammatory mechanisms in the occurrence of ADHD.

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  • Skin manifestations are common first signs of inborn errors of immunity (IEI), often identified in patients before official diagnosis, with a study involving 521 patients from the Iranian IEI registry providing key insights.
  • Patients were categorized into various types of immunodeficiencies, with syndromic combined immunodeficiency (25.1%) and non-syndromic combined immunodeficiency (24.4%) being the most prevalent categories.
  • Cutaneous conditions appeared earlier in patients with a higher prevalence of consanguinity, with specific skin issues like eczema and autoimmune conditions linked to different types of IEI, highlighting a correlation between skin symptoms and the underlying immunological classification.
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  • Bird mites live on baby birds and can accidentally bite humans, causing itchy skin problems.
  • A 14-year-old boy had itchy bumps on his skin that felt like bugs moving around, and it didn’t get better with regular medicine.
  • After cleaning their balcony where baby pigeons were nesting, the boy's itchy skin problem got resolved, showing that bird mites should be checked for when people have unexplained itching.
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Purpose: Primary B cell defects manifesting as predominantly antibody deficiencies result from variable inborn errors of the B cell lineage and their development, including impairments in early bone marrow development, class switch recombination (CSR), or terminal B cell differentiation. In this study, we aimed to investigate autoimmunity in monogenic patients with B cell development and differentiation defects.

Methods: Patients with known genetic defects in the B cell development and differentiation were recruited from the Iranian inborn errors of immunity registry.

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Background: Combined immune deficiencies (CIDs) with associated or syndromic features are a highly heterogeneous subgroup of inherited immune disorders. These patients represent specific clinical complications with an increased risk of autoimmune conditions.

Methods: We analyzed data of monogenic patients with syndromic CIDs adopted from the Iranian inborn errors of immunity registry up to January 2022.

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Genetic defects in the development, maturation, and/or function of the immune cells can lead to Inborn errors of immunity (IEI) which may predispose patients to malignancies. The overall risk for cancer in children with IEI ranges from 4 to 25% and the type of malignancy is highly dependent on the specific mutant gene underlying IEI. We investigated 3056 IEI patients registered in the Iranian national registry between the years 1999 and 2020 in this retrospective cohort study.

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  • This study is part of the Global Asthma Network and focuses on asthma symptoms in children and adolescents in Karaj, Iran, conducted between 2019-2020.
  • A total of 1,326 students from 40 schools were surveyed, revealing 24% of 6-7 year-olds and 18.8% of 13-14 year-olds experienced wheezing.
  • Results indicated that parental history of wheezing significantly increased the likelihood of children wheezing, with the prevalence of asthma symptoms in Karaj being higher than in other Iranian cities.
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  • Oral immunotherapy (OIT) is a new method for treating food allergies, specifically designed to help patients with wheat allergies develop tolerance.
  • A study conducted from 2015 to 2017 involved 26 patients with confirmed wheat allergies, where they underwent OIT treatment and had their specific IgE levels and regulatory T cells monitored.
  • Results indicated a high success rate of 100% for desensitization and 93.3% for tolerance, along with a significant drop in specific IgE levels after 12 months, suggesting OIT is an effective approach for wheat allergy management.
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Background: Common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) is the most prevalent symptomatic primary immunodeficiencies. LPS-responsive beige-like anchor protein (LRBA) deficiency is a combined immunodeficiency characterized by a CVID-like phenotype. Affected patients by LRBA and CVID present a wide range of clinical manifestations, including hypogammaglobulinemia, recurrent infections, autoimmunity, as well as T cell abnormality.

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Background: Clinical presentations of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) among children with asthma have rarely been investigated. This study aimed to assess clinical manifestations and outcome of COVID-19 among children with asthma, and whether the use of asthma medications was associated with outcomes of interest.

Methods: The Global Asthma Network (GAN) conducted a global survey among GAN centers.

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Background: Severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) is a group of relatively rare primary immunodeficiency disorders (PIDs), characterized by disturbed development of T cells and B cells, caused by several genetic mutations that bring on different clinical presentations. SCID may be inherited as an autosomal recessive or an X-linked genetic trait.

Case Presentation: A 6-year-old male presented with a history of food allergy, productive coughs, and recurrent purulent rhinitis, poor weight gain and hypothyroidism.

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Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an emerging worldwide issue, that has affected a large number of people around the world. So far, many studies have aimed to develop a therapeutic approach against COVID-19. Montelukast (MK) is a safe asthma controller drug, which is considered as a potential antiviral drug for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

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Background: Intravenous immunoglobulins (IVIg) are the major treatment in inborn errors of immunity (IEI) disorders; However, IVIg infusions show some adverse effects. We aimed to assess the adverse reactions of IVIg infusions.

Methods: Data of IVIg infusions in IEI patients were collected from 2011 to 2021.

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Background: The inborn errors of immunity (IEIs) are a group of heterogeneous disorders mainly characterized by severe and recurrent infections besides other complications including autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. In this study, we aim to evaluate clinical, immunologic, and molecular data of monogenic IEI patients with and without autoimmune manifestations.

Methods: We have retrospectively screened cases of monogenic IEI in the Iranian PID registry for the occurrence of autoimmunity and immune dysregulation.

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Asthma is the most common chronic inflammatory respiratory disorder in children. This study was designed to assess the prevalence of asthma in 13-14-year-old adolescents in Karaj, Alborz province in Iran, using the international study of asthma and allergies in childhood (ISAAC) questionnaire. Totally 950 adolescents attending 40 schools located in 4 regions of Karaj city were enrolled in the survey.

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Introduction: During the last 4 decades, registration of patients with primary immunodeficiencies (PID) has played an essential role in different aspects of these diseases worldwide including epidemiological indexes, policymaking, quality controls of care/life, facilitation of genetic studies and clinical trials as well as improving our understanding about the natural history of the disease and the immune system function. However, due to the limitation of sustainable resources supporting these registries, inconsistency in diagnostic criteria and lack of molecular diagnosis as well as difficulties in the documentation and designing any universal platform, the global perspective of these diseases remains unclear.

Areas Covered: Published and unpublished studies from January 1981 to June 2020 were systematically reviewed on PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus.

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Article Synopsis
  • A study of 25 Iranian patients with infantile inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) revealed that 56% had identifiable monogenic defects through whole exome sequencing.
  • Four patients had specific missense mutations and one had a large deletion, while others had mutations affecting host:microbiome balance or combined immunodeficiencies.
  • The majority of patients with monogenic defects resulted from consanguineous relationships, with only 4 of the 14 patients still alive.
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