Nigella sativa powder for helicobacter pylori infected patients: a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial

Abstract Objective This double-blind, placebo-controlled, clinical trial was conducted to define the effects of Nigella sativa (N. Sativa) powder plus conventional medical treatment of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) on serum ghrelin level and appetite in H. pylori-infected patients. Methods In the present study, 51 H. pylori-positive patients were randomly allocated to treatment (n = 26) or placebo (n = 25) groups. They received 2 g/day N. Sativa with quadruple therapy or 2 g/day placebo plus quadruple therapy for 8 weeks. The serum level of ghrelin was assessed before and after the intervention. Appetite was evaluated at the onset and at the end of the intervention. Results At the end of the study, the appetite of the treatment group improved significantly compared with the placebo group (P = 0.02). Statistically, the difference in serum ghrelin levels between the study’s groups was insignificant (P > 0.05). Conclusion Supplementation with N. Sativa powder may be a beneficial adjunctive therapy in H. pylori-infected patients. Trial registration This study was registered in the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (IRCT20170916036204N7) on 08/08/2018

Validity and Reliability of pre-internship Objective Structured Clinical Examination in Shiraz Medical School

Introduction: Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) is one of the most appropriate methods for assessment of clinical skills.Validity and reliability assurance is a mandatory factor for any assessment tool. In Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, medical students’ clinical competences are evaluated by a pre-internship OSCE. This study is designed to examine the validity and reliability of this exam. Validity is the extent to which the test measures what it intends to measure. Reliability refers to the accuracy of measurement and the consistency of test results. Methods: Content validity was evaluated by expert opinion about blueprinting and station checklists. To determine the construct validity, station scores correlation with the total OSCE score and inter station correlations were calculated. The inter examiner reliability was assessed by coefficient of correlation. Results: Content validity was established by alignment between the curriculum and the blueprint using expert opinion. Correlation of the station scores with the total OSCE score were positive and statistically significant in all stations except the 16th station (suturing). Inter examiner reliability coefficients of correlations ranged 0.33 – 0.99, with an average of 0.83. Conclusions: Our findings support the assumption that the pre-internship OSCE is valid, reliable and suitable to assess students’ clinical competence. Validity and reliability studies should be performed for all new assessment tools, particularly in high-stakes assessments

Validity and reliability of Persian version of chronic liver disease questionnaire (CLDQ)

Purpose The aim of this study is to test the psychometric properties of the Persian version of the Chronic Liver Disease Questionnaire (CLDQ) in Iranian candidates for liver transplantation. Method One hundred and fifty-five consecutive adult patients awaiting liver transplantation completed the Persian version of CLDQ and the short-form health survey (SF-36). The etiology of cirrhosis, Child Pugh classification and Model for End stage Liver Disease (MELD) scores were taken from medical records. Results The scaling success rate for convergent validity was 100% for all domains, and the success rate for item discriminant validity was 95.8% (139/145). The internal consistency (Cronbach alpha) for the domains ranged from 0.65 to 0.89. Multitrait-multimethod correlation matrix and factor analysis revealed that the CLDQ and SF-36 measure different constructs of quality of life. Conclusion The Persian version of the CLDQ, a disease-specific questionnaire for measuring health-related quality of life, is accepted by liver transplantation candidates with adequate reliability and validity. There is no significant correlation of Child Pugh classification and MELD score with quality of life

Altered ARID1A expression in colorectal cancer

Abstract Background ARID1A has been described as a tumor suppressor gene, participating in chromatin re-modeling, epithelial-mesenchymal-transition and many other cellular and molecular processes. It has been cited as a contribute in tumorigenesis. The role of ARID1A in CRC is not yet defined. Aim To investigate the role of ARID1A methylation and CNV in its expression in CRC cell lines and to examine the relationship between ARID1A status with survival and clinicopathologic characteristics in patients with CRC. Methods We used RT-PCR to determine both CNV and expression of ARID1A from six CRC cell lines. We used MSP to evaluate methylation of ARID1A. IHC was used to assess ARID1A protein expression. We also evaluated MSI and EMAST status in 18 paired CRC and adjacent normal tissues. 5AzadC was used to assess effect of DNA demethylation on ARID1A expression. Statistical analysis was performed to establish correlations between ARID1A expression and other parameters. Results Among the 18 CRC tumors studied, 7 (38.8%) and 5 tumors (27.7%) showed no or low ARID1A expression, respectively. We observed no significant difference in ARID1A expression for overall patient survival, and no difference between clinicopathological parameters including MSI and EMAST. However, lymphatic invasion was more pronounced in the low/no ARID1A expression group when compared to moderate and high expression group (33% VS. 16.6% respectively. ARID1A promoter methylation was observed in 4/6 (66%) cell lines and correlated with ARID1A mRNA expression level ranging from very low in SW48, to more pronounced in HCT116 and HT-29/219. Treatment with the methyltransferase inhibitor 5-Azacytidine (5-aza) resulted in a 25.4-fold and 6.1-fold increase in ARID1A mRNA expression in SW48 and SW742 cells, respectively, while there was no change in SW480 and LS180 cells. No ARID1A CNV was observed in the CRC cell lines. Conclusion ARID1A expression is downregulated in CRC tissues which correlates with it being a tumor suppressor protein. This finding confirms ARID1A loss of expression in CRC development. Our in-vitro results suggest high methylation status associates with reduced ARID1A expression and contributes to CRC tumorigenesis. However, there was no significant association between ARID1A loss of expression and clinicopathological characteristics. Future in-vivo analysis is warranted to further establish ARID1A role in colorectal neoplastic transformation.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/173537/1/12885_2020_Article_6706.pd