Anatomical distribution and demographic data of gastric cancer in Mashhad, Iran

Introduction: The global incidence of gastric cancer (GC) has been decreased dramatically in recent decades and characteristics of this cancer has been changed. Most of these changes can be resulted from changes in dietary and nutritional habits. This cancer is the most common cancer in north and northeast of Iran. In present report we will briefly summaries the gastric tumor location in a population from north east of Iran. Methods: We have evaluated the stomach tumors location according to patient’s gender and age. Among 212 Iranian patients who were lived in Mashhad, Iran, the cardia was the most common involved anatomic location. There wasn’t any significant relation between patient gender and tumor location as well as patient age and tumor location. Results: According to our results, the incidence of gastric cancer in patients who are aged between 60 to 69 years is decreasing in our population while the most common anatomic site of tumor remains the same. Conclusion: By knowing the most prevalent tumor site and related risk factors, more precise diagnostic and preventing programs can be established. Increasing global awareness about the risk factors of GC seems to be the main reason and efforts should be made to speed up this issue

Epigenetic drug therapy in the treatment of colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common cancers with a high rate of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The incidence of CRC is similar in men and women but is distributed uniformly globally. It has been demonstrated that epigenetic alterations which may cause changes in the expression of microRNA, DNA methylation and histone acetylation that results in inheritable modifications in gene expression in colorectal epithelial cells, plays a crucial role in the development of CRC. Recently, targeting epigenetic modification has emerged as a potentially important treatment approach in CRC. The US Food and Drug Association has approved the use of some epigenetic drugs that may be able to inhibit or reverse these alterations and also enhance sensitivity to chemotherapeutic agents and radiotherapy in CRC. In this review we have summarized the recent pre-clinical and clinical trial studies investigating the therapeutic value of using epigenetic drugs as novel therapeutic approach in CRC treatment. Keywords: epigenetic, colorectal cancer, drug, DNA methylation, histone acetylatio

Association between non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and colorectal cancer

Introduction: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a common malignancy and ranking fourth among the causes of cancer-related deaths globally. Its incidence has increased in recent decades, and now more than one million CRC patients are diagnosed and thousands die annually. The 5-year survival rate varies with the stage at diagnosis, being approximately 90% in the early stages of disease, and less than 10% in advanced disease. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which is a major cause of chronic liver disease, and characterized by the accumulation of fat in hepatocytes, has also emerged as a risk factor for CRC, and to be related with the development of colorectal polyps. Areas covered: The purpose of this current review is to summarize the main findings of studies that have investigated the role of NAFLD in development of CRC. Expert commentary: Various molecular pathways, are altered during the development of NAFLD, which are also important in CRC tumorigenesis. There is growing body of evidence showing the potential role of activation of pro-inflammatory, disruption of antiinflammatory pathways, increasing the activity of pathways involved in cell proliferation/survival. Thus targeting these deregulated pathways via novel inhibitors can be a potential therapy for CRC prevention in cases with NAFLD

Nutritional status and oxidative stress on admission and discharge of myocardial infarction patients

Introduction: The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of hospitalization on the nutritional status and prooxidant-antioxidant balance (PAB) of the patients with myocardial infarction (MI).Methods: This study was conducted on 57 patients diagnosed with MI with the mean age of 58.44±12.80 years. The patients were admitted to the cardiac care unit (CCU) of Ghaem Hospital in Mashhad, Iran. Nutritional status of the patients was assessed using the nutritional risk screening (NRS-2002) questionnaire. In addition, anthropometric and biochemical parameters and their changes were evaluated. PAB was also assessed as an oxidative stress marker. In total, 15 patients stayed in the hospital for more than one week. The measurements were performed upon admission and discharge.Results: Upon admission, 49.1% of the patients were well-nourished, and 50.9% were at nutritional risk. As expected, the patients were overweight (36.8%) or obese (19.2%), and all the measures of adiposity were high. Well-nourished patients had lower serum PAB comparatively, while the difference was not statistically significant. The prevalence of the suboptimal nutrition index increased from 46.7% upon admission to 53.3% upon discharge. However, the increase was not considered significant due to the small sample size. Serum PAB increased within one week after admission, while the change was not significant (P=0.249).Conclusion: According to the results, the prevalence of suboptimal nutrition was high in the MI patients in Iran and increases during hospitalization

Personalized peptide-based vaccination for treatment of colorectal cancer: rational and progress

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common cancers globally and is associated with a high rate of morbidity and mortality. A large proportion of patients with early stage CRC who undergo conventional treatments develop local recurrence or distant metastasis and in this group of advanced disease, the survival rate is low. Furthermore there is often a poor response and/or toxicity associated with chemotherapy and chemo-resistance may limit continuing conventional treatment alone. Choosing novel and targeted therapeutic approaches based on clinicopathological and molecular features of tumors in combination with conventional therapeutic approach could be used to eradicate residual micrometastasis and therefore improve patient prognosis and also be used preventively. Peptide-based vaccination therapy is one class of cancer treatment that could be used to induce tumor-specific immune responses, through the recognition of specific antigen-derived peptides in tumor cells, and this has emerged as a promising anti-cancer therapeutic strategy. The aim of this review was to summarize the main findings of recent studies in exciting field of peptide-based vaccination therapy in CRC patients as a novel therapeutic approach in treatment of CRC

Photoelectron Spectra of Some Important Biological Molecules: Symmetry-Adapted-Cluster Configuration Interaction Study

In this work, the valence vertical ionization energies (up to 5) of some important biologically active molecules including 2,4-dinitrophenol, 2,4-dinitroanisole, nicotinic acid, nicotinic acid methyl ester, nicotinamide, <i>N</i>,<i>N</i>-diethylnicotinamide, barbituric acid, uric acid, cytosine, β-carotene, and menadione were calculated in the gas phase and compared with the experimental data reported in the literature. The symmetry-adapted-cluster configuration interaction (SAC-CI) general-R method was used to calculate the ionization energies. The intensity of each ionization band was evaluated using the monopole approximation. Comparison of the calculated photoelectron spectrum of each molecule with its corresponding experimental spectra allowed for assigning the photoelectron bands by natural bonding orbital (NBO) calculations even though some of the associated bands were significantly overlapped for some molecules. Among the considered molecules, there was no agreement between the experimental and calculated photoelectron spectrum of β-carotene. The reason for this disagreement was theoretically investigated and attributed to the degradation and decomposition of β-carotene. The calculated first ionization energies of the considered molecules were correlated with their Hückel <i>k</i>-index to obtain Coulomb (α) and resonance (β) integrals of the Hückel molecular orbital theory for the biomolecules considered in this study. A linear correlation was found between the first ionization energy and the Hückel <i>k</i>-index

Missense Mutation in Fam83H Gene in Iranian Patients with Amelogenesis Imperfecta.

Amelogenesis Imperfecta (AI) is a disorder of tooth development where there is an abnormal formation of enamel or the external layer of teeth. The aim of this study was to screen mutations in the four most important candidate genes, ENAM, KLK4, MMP20 and FAM83H responsible for amelogenesis imperfect.Geneomic DNA was isolated from five Iranian families with 22 members affected with enamel malformations. The PCR amplifications were typically carried out for amplification the coding regions for AI patients and unaffected family members. The PCR products were subjected to direct sequencing. The pedigree analysis was performed using Cyrillic software.One family had four affected members with autosomal dominant hypocalcified amelogenesis imperfecta (ADHPCAI); pedigree analysis revealed four consanguineous families with 18 patients with autosomal recessive hypoplastic amelogenesis imperfecta (ARHPAI). One non-synonymous single-nucleotide substitution, c.1150T>A, p. Ser 342Thr was identified in the FAM83H, which resulted in ADHCAI. Furthermore, different polymorphisms or unclassified variants were detected in MMP20, ENAM and KLK4.Our results are consistent with other studies and provide further evidence for pathogenic mutations of FAM83H gene. These findings suggest different loci and genes could be implicated in the pathogenesis of AI

Soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy of Ar2 and ArNe dimers and small Ar clusters

The X-ray absorption spectra (XAS) of Ar2 and ArNe dimers and small Ar clusters in the L2,3 region (244&#8211;252 eV) of the Ar atom have been recorded using synchrotron light and a combination of coincidence methods and kinetic energy discrimination of energetic ions. The absorption peaks in the spectra of the dimers and clusters were found to be shifted and broadened relative to the peaks in the spectrum of the Ar atom. In order to unambiguously relate these chemical shifts to the electronic structure of the core excited states in dimers, we performed ab initio calculations of the XAS spectra. Implications of the results for the use of XAS as a structure determination method in large rare gas clusters are discussed