Evaluating the expression of IL-17 and IL-23R genes in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear cells in Rheumatoid Arthritis patients

Background Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease caused by accumulation of numerous inflammatory cells in the joints and secretion of various cytokines leading to cartilage and bone damage. IL-17 and IL-23 are inflammatory cytokines that their definite role has not been clearly distinguished in RA pathogenesis. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the expression and association of IL-17 and IL-23R in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in RA patients. Methods This study was case-control. We gathered peripheral blood from 37 patients with RA and the same number of healthy individuals as a control group. In brief, PBMCs were isolated by Ficoll centrifugation. After RNA extraction and cDNA synthesis, IL-17 and IL-23R expression mRNA levels were determined in PBMCs by real-time PCR technique and Taqman probe method. Results The mean±standard deviation of the ages in patient group was 46.86±1.328 yr. and in controls was 44.73±1.392 yr. The expression of IL-17 was increased in RA patients in comparison to healthy controls (P= 0.002). Whereas, after comparison of IL-23R expression in patient and healthy groups, no significant difference was observed (P = 0.22). Conclusion In this study, upregulated expression of IL-17 implicated the important role of this cytokine in RA pathogenesis. Therefore, novel therapeutic and more effective strategies can be suggested by further investigations to specifically inhibit IL-17 using monoclonal antibodies (biologic drugs) Keywords:Rheumatoid Arthritis , Peripheral Blood Mononuclear cells , IL , 17 , IL , 23

The expression of miRNA-152-3p and miRNA-185 in tumor tissues versus margin tissues of patients with chemo-treated breast cancer

Abstract Objective Breast cancer (BC) is the most significant and lethal type of cancer in women. Although there are many newly develop chemotherapy drugs for patients with BC treating at various stages, drug resistance is the most important obstacle in their effectiveness for BC treatment. On the other hand, microRNAs are considered key regulators of genes involved in carcinogenesis and chemoresistance in cancers. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the role of miR-152-3p and miR-185 in intrinsic chemoresistance and proliferation of BC. In addition, the potential role of these miRNAs during chemoresistance was evaluated through possible signaling pathways. Results Here, miR-152-3p was significantly downregulated in tumor tissues compared to the corresponding margin tissues in patients with BC (p-value ≥ 0.04407 and fold change = − 2.0552). In contrast, no statistically significant difference was observed in the miR-185 expression between the two groups. Furthermore, no significant correlation was found between the expression of these two miRNAs and subfactors, including cancer family history, abortion, and age. Downregulation of miR-152-3p could be considered a promising regulator of BC chemoresistance