The importance of small non-coding RNAs in human reproduction: A review article

Background: MicroRNAs (miRNA) play a key role in the regulation of gene expression through the translational suppression and control of post-transcriptional modifications. Aim: Previous studies demonstrated that miRNAs conduct the pathways involved in human reproduction including maintenance of primordial germ cells (PGCs), spermatogenesis, oocyte maturation, folliculogenesis and corpus luteum function. The association of miRNA expression with infertility, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), premature ovarian failure (POF), and repeated implantation failure (RIF) was previously revealed. Furthermore, there are evidences of the importance of miRNAs in embryonic development and implantation. Piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) and miRNAs play an important role in the post-transcriptional regulatory processes of germ cells. Indeed, the investigation of small RNAs including miRNAs and piRNAs increase our understanding of the mechanisms involved in fertility. In this review, the current knowledge of microRNAs in embryogenesis and fertility is discussed. Conclusion: Further research is necessary to provide new insights into the application of small RNAs in the diagnosis and therapeutic approaches to infertility

A comprehensive overview on osteoporosis and its risk factors

Farkhondeh Pouresmaeili,1,2 Behnam Kamalidehghan,2,3 Maryam Kamarehei,4 Yong Meng Goh51Infertility and Reproductive Health Research Center (IRHRC), Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; 2Medical Genetics Department, Faculty of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; 3Medical Genetics Center, National Institute of Genetics Engineering and Biotechnology (NIGEB), Tehran, Iran; 4Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics (IBB), University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran; 5Department of Veterinary Preclinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Serdang, Malaysia Abstract: Osteoporosis is a bone disorder with remarkable changes in bone biologic material and consequent bone structural distraction, affecting millions of people around the world from different ethnic groups. Bone fragility is the worse outcome of the disease, which needs long term therapy and medical management, especially in the elderly. Many involved genes including environmental factors have been introduced as the disease risk factors so far, of which genes should be considered as effective early diagnosis biomarkers, especially for the individuals from high-risk families. In this review, a number of important criteria involved in osteoporosis are addressed and discussed.Keywords: atherosclerosis, hyperparathyroidism (HPT), bone and hip fractures, bone mineral density (BMD

The emission factor adjustments of the passenger cars in multi-story car parks under drive modes

The drive mode is an important factor that affects the adjustment requirements for emission factors of the conventional simulation methods in multi-story car parks. In order to propose comprehensive emission factor adjustments for passenger cars based on the drive modes, the present study is aimed to investigate the effects of different drive modes on emission factors for multi-story car parks. Thus, to achieve this aim, the tailpipe emissions based on the on-board measurement and international vehicle emission (IVE) model are obtained. The results indicate that the drive modes significantly affect the emissions. Accordingly, the change in drive mode from minimum to maximum leads to an increase in the vehicle-specific power (VSP) by 106%. Furthermore, the results of emission factors show the discrepancy between on-board measurement and IVE model with the maximum and minimum adjustment factors by 3.28 and 1.28 for carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO ), respectively. [Abstract copyright: © 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.

The value of the plasma circulating cell-free DNA concentration and integrity index as a clinical tool for prostate cancer diagnosis: a prospective case–control cohort study in an Iranian population

Maryam Khani,1 Jalil Hosseini,2 Reza Mirfakhraie,1 Mohsen Habibi,3 Eznollah Azargashb,4 Farkhondeh Pouresmaeili1,21Medical Genetics Department, Faculty of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; 2Infertility and Reproductive Health Research Center (IRHRC), Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; 3Central laboratory, Faculty of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; 4Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IranIntroduction: Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most common cancer among men and the second cause of cancer death among men. For early detection and differentiating PCa from benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) tissue biopsy has been used for decades. However, circulating cell-free DNA (ccfDNA) testing is a noninvasive, fast, easily repeatable, and sensitive liquid biopsy for cancer detection. Hence, we aimed to investigate the value of the ccfDNA concentration and integrity index in peripheral blood of a population of Iranian prostatic patients for early diagnosis of the disease.Materials and methods: 100 subjects including 30 PCa, 40 BPH, and 30 healthy individuals were selected. ccfDNA was extracted from fresh blood plasma, and its total concentration and the integrity index were estimated by amplification of ALU115 and ALU247 repeat elements using quantitative real-time PCR.Results: In the PCa group, the ccfDNA concentration and its integrity were significantly higher than that of the BPH and healthy groups (P-value <0.001 and P-value <0.001). The ccfDNA concentration and its integrity were higher in BPH compared to the healthy group, although it was not statistically significant (P-value =0.836 and P-value =0.053, respectively).Conclusion: A significant relation between ccfDNA concentration, its integrity, and PCa suggests that the liquid biopsy can be used as a noninvasive early diagnostic biomarker. Determination of a cutoff or a diagnostic range value of the measured parameters for healthy, BPH, and PCa subjects in more samples of Iranian population results in timely, correct, and early detection, which results in better treatment outcomes. Moreover, this method may reduce overdiagnosis and overtreatment procedures.Keywords: prostate cancer, biopsy, ccfDNA, integrit