Decrease expression and clinicopathological significance of miR-148a with poor survival in hepatocellular carcinoma tissues

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide, mainly due to its high rates of postoperative recurrence and metastasis. Please remove, it currently ranks as the third most common cause of cancer-related deaths. MiRNAs are a set of small, single-stranded, non-coding RNA molecules that negatively regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. In this study, we demonstrated the down-regulation of miR-148a in HCC and non-cancerous tissues using qRT-PCR. Methods: Ninety six HCC samples and their noncancerous normal liver tissues were collected. Total mRNA including miRNA was extracted, and miR-148a expression was determined using qRT-PCR. Furthermore, the correlation between the miR-148a expression and clinicopathological parameters was investigated. Results: The result showed that reduction of miR-148a expression was associated with TNM stage, metastasis, and number of tumor nodes. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards model analysis showed that low expression of miR-148a was independently associated with recurrence of HCC in the current study. Moreover, our result showed that lower expression in tumor tissues in comparison with corresponding normal control tissues. Conclusion: Down-regulation of miR-148a is related to HCC carcinogenesis and deterioration of HCC. MicroRNA-148a may act as a suppressor miRNA of HCC, and it is therefore a potential prognostic biomarker for HCC patients. © 2015 Ajdarkosh et al

Retraction note: Decrease expression and clinicopathological significance of miR-148a with poor survival in hepatocellular carcinoma tissues Diagn Pathol., 10 (2015) (135)

The Editor-in-Chief and Publisher have retracted this article 1 because the scientific integrity of the content cannot be guaranteed. An investigation by the Publisher found it to be one of a group of articles we have identified as showing evidence suggestive of attempts to subvert the peer review and publication system to inappropriately obtain or allocate authorship. This article showed evidence of plagiarism (most notably from the articles cited 2, 3) and authorship manipulation. © The Author(s). 2016

Histological evaluation of the effect of petroleum ether root extract ointment of Onosma dichroanthum Boiss on open skin wound healing in rat

Background: Onosma dichroanthum Boiss. belongs to the Boraginaceae family and is one of the most important medicinal plants in north of Iran. This study aimed to examine the effect of the petroleum ether root extract ointment of Onosma dichroanthum Boiss. on healing of a surgically induced open skin wound in rats. Materials and Methods: In this study, 54 male adult Wistar rats were randomly allocated into control, vehicle, and experimental groups. A 20-mm cephalocaudal incision was made on the back skin of rats. Rats were sacrificed on days 4, 7 and 14 and histological examination (the number of fibroblasts, neutrophil, blood vessel sections and thickness of epiderm) was performed on skin samples. Results: On day 4, the number of fibroblasts was significantly increased in the experimental group compared to the vehicle (P<0.003) and control (P<0.001) groups. On day 7, no significant difference was seen in the number of fibroblasts in the experimental group compared to the vehicle group (P<0.680) and fibroblasts were significantly increased in the experimental and vehicle groups compared to the control (P<0.001). On day 14, fibroblasts were significantly increased in the experimental and control groups compared to the vehicle (P<0.001) and there was no significant difference in the number of fibroblasts in the experimental group compared to the control (P<0.843). Also, no significant difference was seen in the number of neutrophils, blood vessel sections and thickness of epiderm on days 4, 7 and 14 among the groups. Conclusion: Topical application of the petroleum ether root extract of onosma dichroanthum Boiss. has no significant effect on the healing of skin wound in rats

Biomechanical evaluation of root extracts of Onosma dichroanthum Boiss. on skin wound healing in rat

Background and Objective: Onosma dichroanthum Boiss. is one of the most important mountainous medicinal plants in Iran. This study was done to determine the biomechanical evaluation of root extract ointment of Onosma dichroanthum Boiss. on wound healing in rats. Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, 18 male adult Wistar rats were randomly allocated into control (I), vehicle (II) and treated group with ointment containing of extract 1% of root of Onosma dichroanthum Boiss., (III). 20 mm vertical skin incision wound were made on rats back side. The assessment of the wound healing was carried out at day 14. At the end of study, rats were sacrificed, skin sample were extracted and evaluated by biomechanical method (maximum force, elastic stiffness, energy absorption). Results: There was no significant difference in biomechanical parameters among the treated, vehicle and control groups. Conclusion: Topical application of Onosma dichroanthum Boiss. root have no effect on healing of skin wound in animal model

Evaluating the effect of low-level laser therapy on healing of tentomized Achilles tendon in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats by light microscopical and gene expression examinations

Tendon healing is impaired in individuals diagnosed with diabetes mellitus (DM). According to research, there is considerable improvement in the healing of surgically tenotomized Achilles tendons following low-level laser therapy (LLLT) in non-diabetic, healthy animals. This study uses light microscopic (LM) and semi-quantitative reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) analyses to evaluate the ability of LLLT in healing Achilles tendons from streptozotocin-induced diabetic (STZ-D) rats. A total of 88 rats were randomly divided into two groups, non-diabetic and diabetic. DM was induced in the rats by injections of STZ. The right Achilles tendons of all rats were tenotomized 1 month after administration of STZ. Laser-treated rats were treated with a helium-neon (He-Ne) laser that had a 632.8-nm wavelength and 7.2-mW average power. Experimental group rats received a daily dose of 0.014 J (energy density, 2.9 J/cm2). Control rats did not receive LLLT. Animals were sacrificed on days 5, 10, and 15 post-operatively for semi-quantitative LM and semi-quantitative RT-PCR examinations of transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-β1) gene expression. The chi-square test showed that LLLT significantly reduced inflammation in non-diabetic rats compared with their non-diabetic controls (p = 0.02). LLLT significantly decreased inflammation in diabetic rats on days 5 (p = 0.03) and 10 (p = 0.02) compared to the corresponding control diabetic rats. According to the student's t test, LLLT significantly increased TGF-β1 gene expression in healthy (p = 0.000) and diabetic (p = 0.000) rats compared to their relevant controls. The He-Ne laser was effective in altering the inflammatory reaction and increasing TGF-β1 gene production. © 2014 Springer-Verlag

Do cost efficiency gap and foreign competitors matter concerning optimal privatization policy at the free entry market?

Partial privatization, Cost efficiency gap, Foreign competitors, Free entry, H42, L3, C72,