Epidemiology of tuberculosis in northeast of Iran: A population-based study

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is currently one of the greatest problems in public health. Mycobacterium tuberculosis infects about one third of the world's population, of whom more than 80% are living in developing countries. The incidence and prevalence of TB are very different in various parts of Iran and also throughout the world. Golestan province is one of the areas in the country where the risk of TB is the highest because of its ethnically varied population and special location. We aimed to describe the prevalence of TB and related demographic data in Golestan province (northeast of Iran). Methods: We collected all data of patients with TB who registered in 2005 and 2006 in each of the 11 districts of Golestan province. Data were entered into the computer database and age-specific incidence rates per 100 000 population were calculated. Results: There were 321 new smear-positive cases. The incidence and prevalence of TB were 20.88 and 38.15 per 100 000 population, respectively. The male to female ratio was 0.96. Relapse of TB was reported in 20 patients. We found 141 cases of extrapulmonary TB, with a significant predominance in women. The organ most frequently involved in extrapulmonary TB was the lymph nodes. Generally, smear-negative TB was more common in men and extrapulmonary TB was more common in women. Conclusion: The incidence and prevalence of TB were higher in Golestan province in comparison with other provinces in Iran. We suggest using improved screening strategies and better education about TB for high-risk groups and physicians

Efficacy of flour fortification with folic acid in women of childbearing age in Iran

Background: Flour fortification with folic acid is one of the main strategies for improving folate status in women of childbearing age. No interventional trial on the efficacy of folic acid fortification has been conducted so far in Iran. Objectives: To study the effects of flour fortification with folic acid on any reduction in neural tube defects (NTDs) and folate status of women of childbearing age. Methods: In a longitudinal hospital-based study, 13,361 postpartum women were studied after admission for childbirth before and after fortification. In addition, two cross-sectional surveys were conducted before (2006) and after flour fortification (2008). The cluster sampling method was used and 580 women, 15-49 years old, were studied as a representative sample of Golestan province in the north of Iran. Fasting blood samples were collected to measure serum vitamin B 12, folate and plasma homocysteine. Sociodemographic data, health characteristics and dietary intake were determined. Results: The mean daily intakes of folate from natural food before and after flour fortification were 198.3 and 200.8 μg/day, respectively. The total folate intake increased significantly from 198.3 to 413.7 μg/day after fortification (p < 0.001). Folate intake increased by an average of 226 μg/day from fortified bread. The mean serum folate level increased from 13.6 to 18.1 nmol/l; folate deficiency decreased from 14.3 to 2.3% (p < 0.001). The incidence rate of NTDs declined by 31% (p < 0.01) in the post-fortification period (2.19 per 1,000 births; December 2007 to December 2008) compared to the pre-fortification period (3.16 per 1,000 births; September 2006 to July 2007). Conclusions: Implementation of mandatory flour fortification with folic acid can lead to a significant increase in serum folate and a significant decrease in NTDs. Copyright © 2011 S. Karger AG, Basel

Gestational diabetes influences bone morphogenic protein signaling during heart development in C57BL mice

Introduction: Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) is one of the most common metabolic complications of pregnancy that causes fetal mortality and morbidity. As uncontrolled gestational diabetes could induce congenital heart defects in the offspring. Therefore, this study was done to evaluate the effect of GDM on bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) gene expression during heart development in the C57BL mouse embryo. Material and Methods: In this experimental study, twelve 8-week old pregnant C57BL with an approximate weight of 130 g were randomly allocated into control and induced diabetic groups. On day 1 of gestation, the dams of the Diabetic group were received 150 mg/kg streptozotocin. While that of the control group were received an equivalent volume of normal saline. On day 11.5 of pregnancy, six embryos were withdrawn from each group. Total RNA was extracted from the cardiac tissue pieces of the embryos for expression of BMPs by quantitative real-time PCR. Results: BMP6 of the induced diabetic group increased to 2.4018-fold compared to the controls (P<0.05). While BMP 5,7, and 10 increased to (1.58, 1.0445, and 1.7623, respectively) and 1.7623-fold respectively in GDM in comparison to controls. Discussion and Conclusion: Therefore, it is suggested that the GDM could induce heart malformations by the upregulation of BMPs, particularly BMP6 expression. © 2021 Journal of the Anatomical Society of India | Published by Wolters Kluwer - Medknow

On the spectral coherence between two periodically correlated processes

We introduce a general class of multivariate periodically correlated processes and their corresponding time-domain and spectral-domain characterizations. A spectral coherence based on the Hilbert�Schmidt inner product of the Fourier transforms is introduced to measure the dependence of two periodically correlated (PC) processes. An estimator for the spectral coherence is introduced and studied. A hypothesis on the presence of significant dependence is formulated and the corresponding testing procedure established. Numerical illustrations on the performance of the spectral coherence and its estimator are given using simulated and real PC time series. © 2021 Statistical Society of Canada

Human Papillomavirus Genotype as a Major Determinant of the Course of Cervical Cancer

Introduction: Certain types of human papillomavrus (HPV) are associated with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). The aim of theobservations reported here was to determine whether the prognosis for invasive cancers of the uterine cervix is related to the type of human papillomavirus asociated with the tumor. Material and Methods: Twenty Patients with invasive cervical cancer were prospectively registered from 2000 to 2001. HPV typing was performed by insitu hybridization(ISH) on DNA extracted from frozen, formal in-fixed, paraffin-embedded tumor specimens. The specimens mostly represented classifications SCC Stage 1 and Stage 2 of the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (Table 1). HPV- DNA was detected by insituhybridization, using three different DNA Probes: types 6/11, 16/18 and 31/33/51. Results: HPV DNA was detected in the nuclei of SCC tumor cells in 13(65%) of 20 cases. Of the 13 HPV-DNA positive cases three reacted only with the HPV 31/33/51 probe, two reacted only with the 16/18 probe, three showed strong hybridization for both 31/33/51 and 6/11probes, four showed 6/11 and 16/18 genotypes and one case reacted with 31/33/51,6/11and16/18probes. Conclusion: The prognosis for invasive cancers of the uterine cervix is dependent on the oncogenic potential of the associated HPV type. HPV typing may provide a prognostic indicator for individual patients and is of potential use in defining specific therapies against HPV harboring tumor cells. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that HPV infection is the primary cause of cervical neoplasia. Furthermore, they support HPV vaccine research to prevent cervical cancer and efforts to develop HPV DNA diagnostic tests

On the spectral coherence between two periodically correlated processes

We introduce a general class of multivariate periodically correlated processes and their corresponding time-domain and spectral-domain characterizations. A spectral coherence based on the Hilbert�Schmidt inner product of the Fourier transforms is introduced to measure the dependence of two periodically correlated (PC) processes. An estimator for the spectral coherence is introduced and studied. A hypothesis on the presence of significant dependence is formulated and the corresponding testing procedure established. Numerical illustrations on the performance of the spectral coherence and its estimator are given using simulated and real PC time series. © 2021 Statistical Society of Canada

Effect of indole-3-carbinol on transcriptional profiling of wound-healing genes in macrophages of systemic lupus erythematosus patients: an RNA sequencing assay

Background: Relapses and flares with delayed wound healing are among the main symptoms of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), a rheumatic autoimmune disease. The orientation of immune responses in SLE disease depends on the function of the population of macrophages. This study investigated the effect of indole-3-carbinol (I3C) on transcriptional profiling of macrophage-derived monocytes (MDMs) in four stages of the wound-healing process. Methods: In the first phase of study, MDMs were generated from peripheral blood mononuclear cells of three new SLE cases (unmedicated) and two healthy controls. The cases and controls were then divided into I3C treated and untreated groups after 24 hours of exposure to I3C. Single-end RNA sequencing was performed using an Illumina NextSeq 500 platform. After comprehensive analysis among differentially expressed genes, CDKN1A, FN1 and MMP15 were validated by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction as upregulated ranked genes involved in wound-healing stages. Results: The RNA sequencing analysis of treated cases and treated controls versus untreated cases and untreated controls (group 3 vs. group 4) revealed upregulation of various genes, for example: C1S, C1R, IGKV1-5, IGKV4-1, SERPING1, IGLC1 and IGLC2 in coagulation; ADAM19, CEACAM1 and CEACAM8 in M2 reprogramming; IRS1, FN1, THBS1 and LIMS2 in extracellular matrix organization; and STAT1, THBS1 and ATP2A3 in the proliferation stage of wound healing. Conclusions: The results showed that treatment with I3C could modulate the gene expression involved in wound healing in SLE cases and healthy controls. © The Author(s) 2020

Investigations on the wound healing properties of Onosma dichroantha Boiss root extracts

Onosma dichroantha Boiss. (Boraginaceae), has been used in traditional medicine in Iran as anti-inflammatory for healing wounds and burns. This study aimed to investigate the wound healing potential of different extracts of roots of Onosma dichroantha. The roots were extracted successively with cyclohexane (CE), ethyl acetate (EtOAc), and methanol (MeOH). The extracts were tested for anti-inflammatory assay, and fibroblast proliferation. The most potent extract, CE, was further subjected to migration assay and angiogenic assay. Furthermore, LC�MS/MS analysis was used for identification of bioactive compounds present in CE extract. CE extract at 62.5 and 1000 μg/mL was the most effective in inhibiting LPS-induced inflammation assay and promoting Hs27 fibroblast proliferation, respectively. About 92 closing of the wound was observed after 24 h treatment of HMEC-1 cells with CE extract at concentration of 125 μg/mL in scratch test. Angiogenic effect of CE extract at the concentration of 0.5 μg/mL was also confirmed in vivo in transgenic zebrafish embryos by increasing the sprout number. LC�MS/MS studies revealed that compounds shikonin, β,β-dimethylacrylalkannin and β,β-dimethylacrylshikonin (arnebin-1) were present in the crude CE extract. These results provided scientific evidences to support the traditional use of O. dichroantha roots in treating wounds and ulcers. © 201