Upregulated expression of the growth arrest-specific-2 (gas2) gene in colorectal cancer, and its relation to cancer progression and prognosis

Background: Growth arrest-specific 2 (GAS2) gene is implicated in a variety of cellular functions such as cell cycle, apoptosis, and proliferation, and may be potentially involved in cancer progression. However, whether GAS2 is associated with colorectal cancer (CRC) progression and prognosis remains to be uncovered. Thus, this study investigated the association of GAS2 expression in tumor with CRC progression and prognosis. Methods: In the case-control study, surgical tumor and adjacent normal tissues from 40 patients with CRC were collected at Cancer Institute of Imam Khomeini Hospital in Tehran, Iran, and relative expression level of GAS2 in the tissues was assayed using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction method. The correlation of tumor GAS2 expression with the clinicopathological features and overall survival rate of patients was determined. Findings: The relative expression level of GAS2 in tumor tissues was significantly elevated compared to the adjacent normal tissues 1.96 (1.17-3.40) vs. 1.10 (1.00-1.31), P < 0.001. Moreover, the expression levels of GAS2 in tumor tissues were significantly associated with clinicopathological features of cancer including tumor stage in Tumor spread, Lymph node spread, and Metastasis (TNM) staging (P = 0.010), grade (P = 0.010), size (P = 0.030), and lymphatic (P = 0.030) and vascular invasion (P = 0.040) as well as the decreased overall survival (P = 0.040). Conclusion: Elevated expression of GAS2 in CRC is associated with cancer progression indices and poor prognosis; hence it may be served as a prognostic biomarker in CRC. © 2019, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences(IUMS). All rights reserved

Quercetin and its relative therapeutic potential against COVID-19: A retrospective review and prospective overview

COVID-19 is an emerging disease that is a major threat to the global community. The main challenge in this disease is the lack of proper or proven medication. The drugs used to treat this disease are only for symptomatic treatment. Studies of other coronaviruses, such as SARS and MERS, suggest that quercetin has sufficient potential to treat COVID-19. Previous studies have shown that quercetin reduces the entry of the virus into the cell by blocking the ACE2 receptor, as well as reducing the level of interleukin-6 in SARS and MERS patients. Therefore, the aim of this review was to scrutinize the potential of quercetin as a drug in the treatment of COVID-19 from a molecular perspective

PER and TEM Extended-Spectrum Beta-Lactamase-Producing Acinetobacter baumannii from Clinical Samples in Ilam, Iran

Acinetobacter baumannii is a common and opportunistic pathogen in hospitals. Intrinsic drug resistance and acquired resistance features have caused high drug resistance in this pathogen. The current research evaluated the antimicrobial resistance profile and identified the extended-spectrum beta-lactamases (ESBL) producing A. baumannii isolates by both phenotypic and genotypic methods. Totally seventy-three A. baumannii isolates were collected from various wards in hospitals and confirmed by standard phenotypic methods during winter 2021. For all isolates approved as A. baumannii, an antimicrobial susceptibility test was performed using the Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method. Next, the combined disk method was used to identify ESBL-producing isolates, and finally, the presence of blaTEM and blaPER was investigated in ES-BL-positive isolates with polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Of the 73 A. baumannii isolates, 58 isolates were resistant to all tested antibiotics and most of them were isolated from the ICU wards. The phenotypic test showed that 56 isolates were ESBL-producing (ESBL-positive). PCR screening revealed that 69.9 and 25 of ESBL-positive isolates contained blaTEM and blaPER genes, respectively. The high resistance to most antibiotics and the high prevalence of ESBLs-producing isolates detected in the current study may be due to the overuse or unsuitable use of antibiotics in this region. Therefore, paying more attention is needed to the prescribing practices for different antibiotics. © 2022, Bulgarian Society for Microbiology (Union of Scientists in Bulgaria). All rights reserved

Benefits, barriers, and facilitators of using speech recognition technology in nursing documentation and reporting: A cross-sectional study

Background and AimNursing reports are necessary for clinical communication and provide an accurate reflection of nursing assessments, care provided, changes in clinical status, and patient-related information to support the multidisciplinary team to provide individualized care. Nurses always face challenges in recording and documenting nursing reports. Speech recognition systems (SRS), as one of the documentation technologies, can play a potential role in recording medical reports. Therefore, this study seeks to identify the barriers, benefits, and facilitators of utilizing speech recognition technology in nursing reports. Materials and MethodsThis cross-sectional was conducted through a researcher-made questionnaire in 2022. Invitations were sent to 200 ICU nurses working in the three educational hospitals of Imam Reza (AS), Qaem and Imam Zaman in Mashhad city (Iran), 125 of whom accepted our invitation. Finally, 73 nurses included the study based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 22.0. ResultsAccording to the nurses, "paperwork reduction" (3.96, +/- 1.96), "performance improvement" (3.96, +/- 0.93), and "cost reduction" (3.95, +/- 1.07) were the most common benefits of using the SRS. "Lack of specialized, technical, and experienced staff to teach nurses how to work with speech recognition systems" (3.59, +/- 1.18), "insufficient training of nurses" (3.59, +/- 1.11), and "need to edit and control quality and correct documents" (3.59, +/- 1.03) were the most common barriers to using SRS. As well as "ability to fully review documentation processes" (3.62, +/- 1.13), "creation of integrated data in record documentation" (3.58, +/- 1.15), "possibility of error correction for nurses" (3.51, +/- 1.16) were the most common facilitators. There was no significant relationship between nurses' demographic information and the benefits, barriers, and facilitators. ConclusionsBy providing information on the benefits, barriers, and facilitators of using this technology, hospital managers, nursing managers, and information technology managers of healthcare centers can make more informed decisions in selecting and implementing SRS for nursing report documentation. This will help to avoid potential challenges that may reduce the efficiency, effectiveness, and productivity of the systems

Effects of human chorionic gonadotropin-producing peripheral blood mononuclear cells on the endometrial receptivity and implantation sites of the mouse uterus

Objective: This research investigated the effects of human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG)-producing peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) on the implantation rate and embryo attachment in mice. Methods: In this experimental study, a DNA fragment of the HCG gene was cloned into an expression vector, which was transfected into PB-MCs. The concentration of the produced HCG was measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Embryo attachment was investi-gated on the co-cultured endometrial cells and PBMCs in vitro. As an in vivo experiment, intrauterine administration of PBMCs was done in plaque-positive female mice. Studied mice were distributed into five groups: control, embryo implantation dysfunction (EID), EID with pro-duced HCG, EID with PBMCs, and EID with HCG-producing PBMCs. Uterine horns were excised to characterize the number of implantation sites and pregnancy rate on day 7.5 post-coitum. During an implantation window, the mRNA expression of genes was evaluated using re-al-time polymerase chain reaction.Results: DNA fragments were cloned between the BamHI and EcoRI sites in the vector. About 465 pg/mL of HCG was produced in the trans-fected PBMCs. The attachment rate, pregnancy rate, and the number of implantation sites were substantially higher in the HCG-producing PBMCs group than in the other groups. Significantly elevated expression of the target genes was observed in the EID with HCG-producing PBMCs group.Conclusion: Alterations in gene expression following the intrauterine injection of HCG-producing PBMCs, could be considered a possible cause of increased embryo attachment rate, pregnancy rate, and the number of implantation sites

On-Admission Anemia and Survival Rate in COVID-19 Patients

Anemia often worsens the severity of respiratory illnesses, and few studies have so far elucidated the impact of anemia on COVID-19 infection. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of anemia at admission on the overall survival of COVID-19 patients using accelerated failure time (AFT) models. This registry-based, single-center retrospective cohort study was conducted in a university hospital in Ilam, the southwest of Iran, between March 2020 and September 2021. AFT models were applied to set the data of 2,441 COVID-19 patients. Performance of AFT models was assessed using Akaike's information criterion (AIC) and Cox-Snell residual. On-admission anemia was defined as hemoglobin (Hb) concentration <120 g/l in men, <110 g/l in women, and <100 g/l in pregnant women. The median in-hospital survival times for anemic and non-anemic patients were 27 and 31 days, respectively. Based on the AIC and Cox-Snell residual graph, the Weibull model had the lowest AIC and it was the best fitted model to the data set among AFT models. In the adjusted model, the results of the Weibull model suggested that the anemia (adjusted time ratio: 1.04; 95 CI: 1.00-1.08; p = 0.03) was the accelerated factor for progression to death in COVID-19 patients. Each unit of increase in hemoglobin in COVID-19 patients enhanced the survival rate by 4. Anemia is an independent risk factor associated with the risk of mortality from COVID-19 infection. Therefore, healthcare professionals should be more sensitive to the Hb level of COVID-19 patients upon admission

Immune system and new avenues in Parkinson's disease research and treatment

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurological disorder characterized by degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra. However, although 200 years have now passed since the primary clinical description of PD by James Parkinson, the etiology and mechanisms of neuronal loss in this disease are still not fully understood. In addition to genetic and environmental factors, activation of immunologic responses seems to have a crucial role in PD pathology. Intraneuronal accumulation of alpha-synuclein (alpha-Syn), as the main pathological hallmark of PD, potentially mediates initiation of the autoimmune and inflammatory events through, possibly, auto-reactive T cells. While current therapeutic regimens are mainly used to symptomatically suppress PD signs, application of the disease-modifying therapies including immunomodulatory strategies may slow down the progressive neurodegeneration process of PD. The aim of this review is to summarize knowledge regarding previous studies on the relationships between autoimmune reactions and PD pathology as well as to discuss current opportunities for immunomodulatory therapy

Hypo-and Hyperphosphatemia at Admission as Independent Factors in the Mortality of COVID-19 Patients: Findings from a Retrospective Cohort Study

Background: Electrolyte imbalances are common in COVID-19 infection and are associated with poor outcomes in hospitalized patients. Objectives: This study examined whether serum phosphate imbalances at admission are associated with mortality in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Methods: In this registry-based single-center retrospective cohort study, 1349 inpatients with COVID-19 were included from March 2020 to March 2021 in an academic hospital in Ilam (southwest Iran). The Cox proportional hazard (PH) regression model was ap-plied to the data set of COVID-19. Results: The in-hospital median survival time for patients with low, normal, and high serum phosphate levels was 14, 25, and 8 days, respectively. In a multivariate model, adjusted for the other variables, patients with hypophosphatemia (adjusted hazard ratio HR, 2.53; 95% CI, 1.15-5.58; P = 0.02) and hyperphosphatemia (adjusted HR, 1.77; 95% CI, 1.00-3.14; P = 0.05) had an increased mortality hazard compared with those who had normal levels of serum phosphate. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate a strong effect of hypophosphatemia and hyperphosphatemia with increased in-hospital mortality in COVID-19 patients. Intensive medical care and more attention must be paid to COVID-19 patients with serum phosphate imbalances at admission. © 2022, International Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism