Death associated protein kinase-1 gene methylation pattern in some leukemic patients attending Zagazig University hospitals: is it a clue?

Background: Leukemia is a type of cancer arising from white blood cells (WBCs) and resulting from malignant transformation of different types of white blood cell precursors. The objective was to study the DAPK-1 gene methylation pattern in leukemic patients and to through some light on its possible role as a risk factor for leukemia.Methods: Forty-one patients diagnosed as leukemic patients and 41 age-matched healthy unrelated volunteers taken as a control group. The analysis of aberrant promoter DAPK1 gene methylation was done by specific polymerase chain reaction.Results: The results of the present study showed that there was a significant association of methylated DAPK-1 promoter area among leukemic group than in control group Chi-square (X2) was 21.98, or value patients was 10.46 and there was a significant association when compared with the control group (p <0.001). And there was no significant association when compared according to gender Chi-square (X2) was 0.43 and (p=0.51). Our results revealed in the AML group DAPK-1 promoter area were methylated with percentage of 73.9%. or value for AML patients was 13.76 and there was a significant association when compared with the control group (p <0.001), in the ALL group 4 patients had methylated DAPK-1 promoter area with percentage of 57.1% or value for all patients was 6.47 and there was a significant association when compared with the control group (p=0.03) and in the CLL group 7 patients had methylated DAPK-1 promoter area with percentage of 63.6%. OR value for CCL patients was 8.5 and there was a significant association when compared with the control group (p=0.004). On the contrary, we didn’t observe any significant associations between DAPK-1 promoter area methylation and the type of leukemia (p = 0.65).Conclusions: These results suggested that DAPK1 promoter methylation might play a significant role in the pathogenesis of different types of leukemia. And the DAPK1 promoter methylation has a predictive value in the prediction of leukemia occurrence.

University is a non-Muslim experience, you know? The experience is as good as it can be’: Satisfied settling in Muslim students’ experiences and implications for Muslim student voice

We report findings from a cross-institutional investigation testing the applicability of a new concept, ‘satisfied settling’, which describes the ways in which students are unconsciously ‘settling for less’ in terms of their university experiences. The context of exploration for this article was that of Muslim students’ experiences as a critical area which has received little previous focus. Our results describe a staged cognitive process undertaken by students to subconsciously excuse institutional failures to support their religious needs by settling for lower levels of satisfaction. The ‘counter stories’ told by 19 Muslim students (via semi-structured interviews) detail how their voices are heard or silenced around the deep importance of religious provisions in their university experiences. Satisfied settling was ultimately found to translate across institutional contexts, and the applicability of the concept is discussed in extending to other marginalised student groups.</p

The Association of Schizophrenia Risk -Amino Acid Oxidase Polymorphisms With Sensorimotor Gating, Working Memory and Personality in Healthy Males

There is evidence supporting a role for the -amino acid oxidase (DAO) locus in schizophrenia. This study aimed to determine the relationship of five single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within the DAO gene identified as promising schizophrenia risk genes (rs4623951, rs2111902, rs3918346, rs3741775, and rs3825251) to acoustic startle, prepulse inhibition (PPI), working memory, and personality dimensions. A highly homogeneous study entry cohort (n=530) of healthy, young male army conscripts (n=703) originating from the Greek LOGOS project (Learning On Genetics Of Schizophrenia Spectrum) underwent PPI of the acoustic startle reflex, working memory, and personality assessment. The QTPHASE from the UNPHASED package was used for the association analysis of each SNP or haplotype data, with p-values corrected for multiple testing by running 10 000 permutations of the data. The rs4623951_T-rs3741775_G and rs4623951_T-rs2111902_T diplotypes were associated with reduced PPI and worse performance in working memory tasks and a personality pattern characterized by attenuated anxiety. Median stratification analysis of the risk diplotype group (ie, those individuals homozygous for the T and G alleles (TG+)) showed reduced PPI and working memory performance only in TG+ individuals with high trait anxiety. The rs4623951_T allele, which is the DAO polymorphism most strongly associated with schizophrenia, might tag a haplotype that affects PPI, cognition, and personality traits in general population. Our findings suggest an influence of the gene in the neural substrate mediating sensorimotor gating and working memory, especially when combined with high anxiety and further validate DAO as a candidate gene for schizophrenia and spectrum disorders