Myofibroblastoma of the Breast: A Morphologic and Immunohistochemical Study of Three Cases

Myofibroblastoma (MFB) of the breast is an uncommon entity of benign spindle neoplasms of the breast. This tumour possesses a broad spectrum of histomorphological patterns. Distinguishing of myofibroblastoma variants from malignant mimics of this benign neoplasm is essential for pathologists to avoid further invasive surgical procedures. In this article, we report the clinical, morphological, and immunohistochemical features of three cases, including two females and one male patient with mammary myofibroblastoma with emphasis on the histomorphological findings. As there is not yet enough information about MFB, more reports of MFB are still required to more clarify the pathogenesis and potential predisposing factors of this rare type of breast tumours

The Prevalence, Risk Factors, and Clinical Correlates of Erosive Esophagitis and Barrett’s Esophagus in Iranian Patients with Reflux Symptoms

Background. Erosive esophagitis (EE) and Barrett’s esophagus (BE) are the two important complications of gastroesophageal reflux disease. We aimed to investigate the prevalence of and the risk factors for EE and BE in an Iranian group of patients with reflux symptoms. We also examined the relationship between reflux symptoms and endoscopic findings. Methods. A total of 736 patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) symptoms were enrolled and all underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. Diagnosis of Barrett’s esophagus was confirmed by pathologic examination and Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection was demonstrated by rapid urease test. Results. Two hundred eighty-three and 34 patients were found to have EE and BE, respectively. Multivariate analysis showed that hiatal hernia (P<0.001) and H. pylori infection (P<0.002) were the two significantly related risk factors for esophagitis. Only age was related to BE, with BE patients being more likely to be older (P<0.001) than others. Conclusions. Prevalence of EE and BE in Iranian reflux patients is similar to that seen in western countries. H. pylori infection and the presence of hiatal hernia may be strong risk factors for esophagitis as does older age for Barrett’s esophagus. Finally, reflux symptoms have no significant relationship with endoscopic findings

Inter/Intra-Observer Reproducibility of Gleason Scoring in Prostate Adenocarcinoma in Iranian Pathologists

PURPOSE: To measure the level of inter/intra-observer reproducibility among pathologists as far as Gleason scoring of adenocarcinoma of the prostate is concerned. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 101 prostate biopsy slides, diagnosed with adenocarcinoma of the prostate by five pathologists from different education centers, were exposed to Gleason scoring. Two months later, the slides were re-examined by three of the same pathologists. Thereafter, the kappa was calculated for the data provided in the first and second reports of each pathologist and compared between pathologists. RESULTS: Inter-observer reproducibility was inappropriate, but intra-observer diagnostic reproducibility was almost perfect with a corresponding percentage of agreement of 85.2%. CONCLUSION: The inter-observer reproducibility was poor

Evaluation of effective features in the diagnosis of Covid‐19 infection from routine blood tests with multilayer perceptron neural network: A cross‐sectional study

Abstract Background and Aim Coronavirus is an infectious disease that is now known as an epidemic, early and accurate diagnosis helps the patient receive more care. The aim of this study is to investigate Covid‐19 using blood tests and multilayer perceptron neural network and affective factors in improving and preventing Covid‐19. Methods This cross‐sectional study was performed on 200 patients referred to Sina Hospital, Tehran, Iran, who were confirmed cases of Covid‐19 by computerized tomography‐scan analysis between 2 March 2020 to 5 April 2020. After verification of lung involvement, blood sampling was done to separate the sera for C‐reactive protein (CRP), magnesium (Mg), lymphocyte percentage, and vitamin D analysis in healthy and unhealthy people. Blood samples from healthy and sick people were applied to the multilayer perceptron network for 70% of the data for training and 30% for testing. Result By examining the features, it was found that in patients with Covid‐19, there was a significant relationship between increased CRP and decreased lymphocyte levels, and increased Mg (p < 0.01). In these patients, the amount of CRP and Mg in women and the number of lymphocytes and vitamin D in men were significantly higher (p < 0.01). Conclusion The important advantage of using a multilayer perceptron neural network is to speed up the diagnosis and treatment

Vitamin D sufficiency, a serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D at least 30 ng/mL reduced risk for adverse clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19 infection.

BackgroundTo investigate the association between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and its effect on adverse clinical outcomes, and parameters of immune function and mortality due to a SARS-CoV-2 infection.Study designThe hospital data of 235 patients infected with COVID-19 were analyzed.ResultsBased on CDC criteria, among our study patients, 74% had severe COVID-19 infection and 32.8% were vitamin D sufficient. After adjusting for confounding factors, there was a significant association between vitamin D sufficiency and reduction in clinical severity, inpatient mortality serum levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) and an increase in lymphocyte percentage. Only 9.7% of patients older than 40 years who were vitamin D sufficient succumbed to the infection compared to 20% who had a circulating level of 25(OH)DConclusionTherefore, it is recommended that improving vitamin D status in the general population and in particular hospitalized patients has a potential benefit in reducing the severity of morbidities and mortality associated with acquiring COVID-19

Efficient three-step synthesis of benzo[<i>e</i>]imidazo[1,2-<i>c</i>][1,2,3]triazines

<p>A novel three-step sequence toward benzo[<i>e</i>]imidazo[1,2-<i>c</i>][1,2,3]triazine derivatives is investigated. This pathway started from commercially available starting materials afforded <b>5a–h</b> in good to excellent yields. In this method, we took the advantage of diazonium chemistry, which was followed by intramolecular N-N bond formation in the construction of N-rich cycles.</p

Novel Monoclonal Antibodies Specific for Human Ki67 and P53 Tumor Markers in Breast Cancer Tissue Samples

Background: Ki67 and P53 are important diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers expressed in several cancers. The current standard method for evaluating Ki67 and P53 in cancer tissues is immunohistochemistry (IHC), and having highly sensitive monoclonal antibodies against these biomarkers is necessary for an accurate diagnosis in the IHC test.Objective: To generate and characterize novel monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against human Ki67 and P53 antigens for IHC purposes.Methods: Ki67 and P53-specific mAbs were produced by the hybridoma method and screened by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and IHC techniques. Selected mAbs were characterized using Western blot and flow cytometry, and their affinities and isotypes were determined by ELISA. Moreover, using the IHC technique in 200 breast cancer tissue samples, we assessed the specificity, sensitivity, and accuracy of the produced mAbs.Results: Two anti-Ki67 (2C2 and 2H1) and three anti-P53 mAbs (2A6, 2G4, and 1G10) showed strong reactivity to their target antigens in IHC. The selected mAbs were also able to recognize their targets by flow cytometry as well as Western blotting using human tumor cell lines expressing these antigens. The specificity, sensitivity, and accuracy calculated for clone 2H1 were 94.2%, 99.0%, and 96.6%, and for clone 2A6 were 97.3%, 98.1%, and 97.5%, respectively. Using these two monoclonal antibodies, we found a significant correlation between Ki67 and P53 overexpression and lymph node metastasis in patients with breast cancer.Conclusion: The present study showed that the novel anti-Ki67 and anti-P53 mAbs could recognize their respective antigens with high specificity and sensitivity and therefore can be used in prognostic studies