Survivin c.-31G>C (rs9904341) gene transversion and urinary system cancers risk: A systematic review and a meta-analysis

Aim: To investigate the possible association between survivin c.-31G>C (rs9904341) gene polymorphism and urinary system cancers by a meta-analysis approach. Methods: Standard electronic literature databases were searched to find eligible studies. The odds ratios (ORs) with 95 CIs were estimated to find the associations possibility. Results: Overall meta-analysis revealed significant associations between c.-31G>C transversion and risk of urinary tract cancers in dominant (OR: 1.34; 95 CI: 1.02-1.75; p = 0.035), recessive (OR: 1.52; 95 CI: 1.33-1.74; p C transversion might be a risk factor for urinary system cancers. However, more articles with different ethnicities will help to obtain a more accurate conclusion. © 2018 Future Medicine Ltd

Association between two common transitions of H2BFWT gene and male infertility: a case�control, meta, and structural analysis

H2BFWT is one of the testis‐specific histones that plays a fundamental role in spermatogenesis, and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in this gene may result in male infertility. This study aimed to investigate the association between −9C>T and 368A>G transitions of H2BFWT gene and male infertility through a case–control, meta‐analysis, and a bioinformatics approach. In this case–control study, 490 subjects including 240 idiopathic infertile men and 250 healthy controls were included. The −9C>T and 368A>G SNPs genotyping were performed by a PCR–RFLP method. To find eligible studies for meta‐analysis, we searched valid scientific databases. The odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals were estimated to find the strength of these associations. Furthermore, the influences of two common transitions on the molecular features of H2BFWT were assessed by in silico tools. Our case–control data revealed that −9C>T is not associated with male infertility. But, there was a significant association between 368A>G and male infertility. In the meta‐analysis, five eligible studies were included. Our data revealed significant associations between −9C>T, 368A>G, and male infertility in overall and stratified analyses. Moreover, structural analysis showed that 368A>G could affect the protein structure (SNAP prediction: non‐neutral, score: 42, expected accuracy: 71%; SIFT prediction: deleterious, score: −2.55), while −9C>T may affect the binding nucleotide in the promoter region. Based on these findings, two aforementioned polymorphisms were associated with increased risk of male infertility. However, studies with larger sample size and different ethnicities are needed to obtain more accurate conclusions

The effect of melatonin on expression of p53 and ovarian preantral follicle development isolated from vitrified ovary

Ovarian vitrification is a strategy for conservation of fertility of young female patients, suffering from infertility, due to iatrogenic loss of ovarian function, resulting from chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy. The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of melatonin on expression of p53 and the developmental rate of preantral follicles isolated from vitrified and non-vitrified ovaries. This experimental study was carried out on 40, 14-day-old female mice (NMRI). One ovary from each mouse was used randomly for the vitrification procedure. Preantral follicles with a diameter of 120�140 μm derived from vitrified-warmed and non-vitrified ovarian tissues were cultured individually in α-MEM medium supplemented with or without melatonin. The expression of p53, diameter of follicle, survival rate, and number of antral follicles were compared using post hoc LSD, t test, and chi-square test, respectively in four groups: non-vitrified and non-melatonin (NVNM), non-vitrified and melatonin (NVM), vitrified and non-melatonin (VNM), vitrified and melatonin (VM). p53 gene was expressed in four groups and was strongly expressed in the antral follicles of VNM (p = 0.011). The addition of melatonin increased survival rate and the mean diameter of follicles in vitrified group (p = 0.001). There were no significant differences in antral formation of follicles between different groups. Adding melatonin to culture medium reduced expression of p53 apoptotic gene in vitrified group and improves in vitro maturation and survival rate in isolated follicles from vitrified ovaries. © 2017, Springer-Verlag London Ltd

CDX2 Protein Expression in Colorectal Cancer and ItsCorrelation with Clinical and Pathological Characteristics, Prognosis, and Survival Rate of Patients

Purpose: Caudal-type homeobox transcription factor 2 (CDX2) is expressed in the nucleus of the intestinal epithelial cells and is essential for embryonic formation and differentiation of the intestine, whose reduced expression can result in metastatic tumors. This study was to investigate the association of CDX2 expression level in colorectal cancer (CRC) with age, gender, microscopic histopathology, tumor staging, tumor grading, 3-year survival rate, and prognosis. Methods: After preparing paraffin tissue blocks, CDX2 protein expression was assayed by immunohistochemistry in 82 CRC patients. Hematoxylin and eosin staining was used to detect tumor histology, tumor grading, tumor staging, and blood-lymphatic, and neural invasion. The collected data includes age, gender, tumor site, and 3-year survival rate of patients after diagnosis. Results: The CDX2 expression was significantly higher in men than in women, and it was significantly lower in right-sided tumors as in transverse colon and left-sided tumors. Also, the CDX2 expression was significantly higher in adenocarcinoma than in mucinous. In addition, a significant correlation was found between downregulated CDX2 and lymph node involvement. In tumor grading, there was a significant correlation between CDX2 downregulation and high-grade tumor. Moreover, there was a significant correlation between downregulated CDX2 expression and overall pathological staging. Conclusion: The downregulated CDX2 expression is associated with female gender, right-sided tumors, mucinous tumors, lymph node involvement, high-grade tumor, and advanced overall pathological staging and can be considered as a possible prognostic factor for patients follow-up. However, our study is a preliminary study and further studies with larger sample sizes in different ethnic groups are required. © 2019, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature

Survivin polymorphisms and susceptibility to prostate cancer: A genetic association study and an in Silico analysis

Survivin is a member of the apoptosis inhibitor protein family and its polymorphisms may lead to susceptibility to cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible association of c.-31G>C (rs9904341), c.454G>A (rs2071214), c.*148T>C (rs2239680) and c.*571T>C (rs1042489) polymorphisms of survivin gene with prostate cancer risk and provide some justification using in silico analysis. The 157 men with prostate cancer and 145 healthy controls were included in a case-control study. The studied polymorphisms were genotyped using PCRRFLP method. An in silico approach was employed to show the possible effects of the polymorphisms on the survivin gene function. The study revealed that there are significant associations between c.-31CC genotype (OR= 2.29, 95 CI= 1.20-4.37, p= 0.012), c.-31C allele (OR= 1.62, 95 CI= 1.17-2.26, p= 0.004), c.454AG genotype (OR= 2.03, 95 CI= 1.02-4.04, p= 0.043), and c.*148C allele (OR= 1.49, 95 CI= 1.04-2.15, p= 0.031) with prostate cancer. Using stratified analysis, we found also significant effects of age distribution on the association of c.-31G>C with prostate cancer risk (OR= 2.10, 95 CI= 1.08-4.10, p= 0.030). Also as a preliminary study, it was shown that smoking status has significant effects on the association of c.-31G>C (OR= 1.94, 95 CI= 1.08- 3.49, p= 0.027) and c.*148T>C (OR= 2.60, 95 CI= 1.47-4.60, p= 0.001) polymorphisms with prostate cancer risk. Finally, in silico analysis revealed that c.-31G>C, which is located in a CpG island of the promoter may change transcriptional regulation of survivin gene and c.454G>A and *148T>C could affect protein structure and possible miRNA interaction with 3'-UTR of survivin transcript respectively. According to the results, c.-31G>C, c.454G>A, and c.*148T>C polymorphisms could be genetic risk factors for prostate cancer in an Iranian population. However, further studies with larger sample size and different ethnicities are required to obtain more comprehensive results. © 2018, Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors. All rights reserved

Electrochemical-Based Biosensors: New Diagnosis Platforms for Cardiovascular Disease

One of the major reasons for mortality throughout the world is cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, bio-markers of cardiovascular disease are of high importance to diagnose and manage procedure. Detecting biomarkers provided a promising procedure in developing bio-sensors. Fast, selective, portable, accurate, inexpensive, and sensitive biomarker sensing instruments will be necessary for detecting and predicting diseases. One of the cardiac biomarkers may be ordered as C-reactive proteins, lipoprotein-linked phospho-lipase, troponin I or T, myoglobin, interleukin-6, interleukin-1, tumor necrosis factor alpha, LDL and myeloperoxidase. The biomarkers are applied to anticipate cardio-vascular illnesses. Initial diagnoses of these diseases are possible by several techniques; however, they are laborious and need costly apparatus. Current researches designed various bio-sensors for resolving the respective issues. Electrochemical instruments and the proposed bio-sensors are preferred over other methods due to its inexpensiveness, mobility, reliability, repeatability. The present review comprehensively dealt with detecting biomarkers of cardiovascular disease through electro-chemical techniques. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at [email protected]

Effects of continuous and interval training on different fitness parameters in athletes

Coaches and athletes are always looking for training methods to improve physical capabilities of athletes. Therefore, different training methods have been developed and used based on the science of physiology and exercise science. Effects of interval and intermittent exercises on weight and fitness have been widely studied but few studies focus on fitness training. So we planned to evaluate the effects of interval and continuous training on different cardio-respiratory factors in athletes. The results of our study showed that interval and continuous training have significant effects in cardiac indices, respiratory parameters and blood parameters. Thus, these kinds of trainings can be used for increasing aerobic and anaerobic fitness of the athletes. © IDOSI Publications, 2013

Electrocardiograph changes in acute ischemic cerebral stroke

Introduction: Electrocardiography (ECG) changes are observed in patients with acute stroke and may cause diagnostic and management dilemmas. The aim of this study is to determine the frequency of ECG changes in patients with acute ischemic stroke. Material and Methods: In a case-control hospital-based study 262 patients with cerebral infarction were observed for ECG changes during their hospitalization. The ECG changes were compared with those of the matched control group consisting of 102 individuals. Results: Of the 262 patients of the study group, 112 (42.8) were females and 150 (57.2) were males. The mean age was 67.5 ± 11.9 (range 34-91 years). The control group consisted of 48 (47) females and 54 (53) males. The mean age was 64.5 ± 11.9 (range 31-87 yrs). The frequency of the ECG changes observed in 179 (68.3) of patients with cerebral infarct and 30 (29.4) of the control group (P<0.001). ECG changes observed were mostly, but not at all, related to myocardial ischemia. Inversion of T wave and ST segment changes were the most common findings and observed in 98 (37.4) patients and 16 (15.7) of controls. Conclusions: The observations of this study suggest that electrocardiography abnormalities in patients with acute ischemic stroke are common and cardiac evaluation could have prognostic importance

Assessment of incidence and risk factors for development of postoperative complications of hypospadias surgery at Aliasghar hospital in 2017

Background: Due to the relatively high complications of hypospadias surgery, this survey aimed to resolve the incidence and risk factors for hypospadias surgery complications in children undergoing surgery at Aliasghar hospital in Tehran in 2017. Materials and Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was performed on 90 children over six months who underwent surgical treatment of hypospadias. Information on risk factors was collected by a researcher-made questionnaire at the time of admission and at the time of discharge. Also, surgical complications were evaluated two weeks after surgery and up to one year after that and entered in a questionnaire. Findings were analyzed using t-test and chi-square test or Fisher Exact test. Results: The only surgical complication was urethrocutaneous fistula, which was seen in 18.9% of patients. Risk factors associated with complications of hypospadias surgery include low birth weight, preoperative testosterone injection, presence of penoscrotal or scrotal hypospadias, Ducket`s surgical technique and Prolonged retention of the urinary catheter, but the age of the child at the time of surgery, gestational age, and family history of hypospadias were not associated with surgical complications. Conclusion: It is recommended to be more careful in terms of surgical technique, especially in children with low birth weight and penoscrotal or scrotal hypospadias, and if possible, avoid testosterone before surgery and Ducket`s technique for surgery