Association between hair dye use and cancer in women: a systematic review and meta-analysis of case-control studies

Background: The use of hair dye for cosmetic purposes appears to be increasing worldwide. As 50-80% of women use hair dye throughout their lifetimes, the possible association between hair dye use and cancer is a public health concern. Method: This systematic review was performed by retrieving studies from PubMed, Scopus, WOS, and ProQuest databases. The inclusion criteria were case-control studies evaluating the association between hair dye use and cancer in women. Women with cancer who have used any hair dye were the focus of our study. Results: The present study combined 28 studies, to assess the association between hair dye use and cancer. The pooled odds ratio (OR) of hematopoietic system cancers among those who have generally ever used any type of hair dyes was 1.10 (95% CI:1.01-1.20) in 17 studies. In 11 studies investigating hair dye made before and after 1980 as a risk factor for cancer, the pooled OR for cancer was 1.31(95% CI:1.08-1.59). Likewise, in the 13 studies that evaluated the association of light and dark hair dye with cancer, the risk among those using dark hair dye increased by 9%, compared to non-users (OR=1.09; 95% CI:0.95-1.25). Conclusion: The present study suggests that, although the use of hair dye may increase the risk of cancer among users, a more detailed evaluation is required to assess the type of hair dye use in terms of guidelines and metrics. Keywords: Hair dye; cancer; meta-analysis

Molecular perception of interactions between bis(7)tacrine and cystamine-tacrine dimer with cholinesterases as the promising proposed agents for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease

<p>The infamous chronic neurodegenerative disease, Alzheimer’s, that starts with short-term memory loss and eventually leads to gradual bodily function decline which has been attributed to the deficiency in brain neurotransmitters, acetylcholine, and butylcholine. As a matter of fact, design of compounds that can inhibit cholinesterases activities (acetylcholinesterase and butylcholinesterase) has been introduced as an efficient method to treat Alzheimer’s. Among proposed compounds, bis(7)tacrine (B7T) is recognized as a noteworthy suppressor for Alzheimer’s disease. Recently a new analog of B7T, cystamine-tacrine dimer is offered as an agent to detain Alzheimer’s complications, even better than the parent compound. In this study, classical molecular dynamic simulations have been employed to take a closer look into the modes of interactions between the mentioned ligands and both cholinesterase enzymes. According to our obtained results, the structural differences in the target enzymes active sites result in different modes of interactions and inhibition potencies of the ligands against both enzymes. The obtained information can help to investigate those favorable fragments in the studied ligands skeletons that have raised the potency of the analog in comparison with the parent compound to design more potent multi target ligands to heal Alzheimer’s disease.</p

Deep analysis of N-cadherin/ADH-1 interaction: a computational survey

<p>Due to the considerable role of N-cadherin in cancer metastasis, tumor growth, and progression, inhibition of this protein has been highly regarded in recent years. Although ADH-1 has been known as an appropriate inhibitor of N-cadherin in clinical trials, its chemical nature and binding mode with N-cadherin have not been precisely specified yet. Accordingly, in this study, quantum mechanics calculations were used to investigate the chemical nature of ADH-1. These calculations clarify the molecular properties of ADH-1 and determine its reactive sites. Based on the results, the oxygen atoms are suitable for electrophilic reactivity, while the hydrogen atoms that are connected to nitrogen atoms are the favorite sites for nucleophilic reactivity. The higher electronegativity of the oxygen atoms makes them the most reactive portions in this molecule. Molecular docking and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation have also been applied to specify the binding mode of ADH-1 with N-cadherin and determine the important residues of N-cadherin involving in the interaction with ADH-1. Moreover, the verified model by MD simulation has been studied to extract the free energy value and find driving forces. These calculations and molecular electrostatic potential map of ADH-1 indicated that hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions are almost equally involved in the implantation of ADH-1 in the N-cadherin binding site. The presented results not only enable a closer examination of N-cadherin in complex with ADH-1 molecule, but also are very beneficial in designing new inhibitors for N-cadherin and can help to save time and cost in this field.</p

Author Correction: A systems pharmacology approach to identify the autophagy‑inducing effects of Traditional Persian medicinal plants

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper

An imbalance in serum concentrations of inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines in hypertension

Hypertension is an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease and there is increasing evidence that inflammation and abnormal immune responses are involved in the pathogenesis of hypertension. However, the data on the association between specific cytokine concentrations and hypertension are inconsistent. We have evaluated the association between 12 cytokines/growth factors and the presence of different degrees of hypertension, comparing these concentrations to values in a healthy group of subjects. The concentrations of interleukin (IL)-1α, -1β, -2, -4, -6, -8, -10, tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α), interferon-γ (IFN-γ), monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP-1), epidermal growth factor, and vascular endothelial growth factor were measured in 155 hypertensive patients and 148 healthy subjects, using EV-3513 cytokine biochip arrays, a competitive chemiluminescence immunoassay. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to evaluate the association of specific cytokines and growth factors with systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP). Hypertensive subjects had higher serum concentrations of IL-1α, -2, -8, vascular endothelial growth factor, IFN-γ, TNF-α, MCP-1, and epidermal growth factor; and lower concentrations of anti-inflammatory cytokine, IL-10 (P < .05), compared with the healthy individuals. The serum concentrations of IL-4, -6, and -1β did not differ between the hypertensive subjects and control group. Univariate and multivariate analyses revealed that IL-1α and IFN-γ were independent predictors of a high SBP, while IFN-γ, IL-1α, TNF-α, and MCP-1 remained statistically significant for DBP after correction for age, gender, Body mass index, smoking, fasting blood glucose, and triglycerides. There was a significant association between the concentrations of several cytokines and hypertension. These associations may either be related to common underlying factors that cause hypertension and may also be proinflammatory or because these inflammatory cytokines might directly be involved in the etiology of hypertension