Amplification of Tumor Transcripts from Limited Quantity of Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma Tissue Samples

To examine the template-switching technology accompanied by in vitro transcription (the Switch Mechanism At the 5ʹ end of Reverse Transcript) to amplify enough amount of mRNA as input for gene expression experiments. We amplified limited quantity of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) transcripts samples using generated ds cDNA as template and in vitro transcription (IVT) reaction. In addition, the quality and quantity of amplified mRNA were assessed by comparative real-time PCR of genes such as stem cell markers CD44, OCT4 and SNAIL as well as MAGE-A4 as a cancer-testis antigens, and XRCC5 as an underexpressed gene in ESCC.The results obtained from this study demonstrated that optimal amounts of mRNA are generated by template-switching and IVT reaction. Integrity and purity of all RNA samples were assessed. By using this approach, over 10 micrograms of amplified mRNA were generated from 100 ng of starting total RNA. The results of comparative real-time PCR of five genes with different levels of expression illustrated that the expression level of amplified sense RNA was almost similar when compared with non-amplified RNA. Our results clearly showed the usefulness of the T7-based IVT technique for amplification of limited quantity of input total RNA

Cognitive Memory Comparison Between Tinnitus and Normal Cases Using Event-Related Potentials

About 20 percent of people above 60 years old suffer from tinnitus though no definitive treatment has been found for it. Evaluation of electrical brain activity using Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) is one of the methods to investigate the underlying reasons of tinnitus perception. Previous studies using ERPs suggest that the precognitive memory in tinnitus groups is negatively affected in comparison to the normal hearing groups. In this study, cognitive memory has been assessed using visual and auditory P300 response with oddball paradigm. Fifteen chronic tinnitus subjects and six normal hearing subjects participated in the experiment. T-test with significance level of 0.05 was applied on amplitude and latency of auditory and visual P300 for all electroencephalography (EEG) channels separately to compare tinnitus and normal hearing groups where the tinnitus group showed meaningful lower amplitude of auditory P300 peak in three EEG channels

Family history of cardiovascular disease as a risk factor for coronary artery disease in adult offspring

Background and aims: There is controversy about the role of positive family history as an independent risk factor for coronary artery disease. The aim of this work was to investigate the influence of family history on presentation of coronary artery disease in adult offspring, and on its severity. Methods: In a retrospective cross-sectional study at Tehran Heart Center (University of Tehran Medical Sciences), 6399 patients with established coronary artery disease who underwent coronary angiography for standard indications were assessed. Coronary artery disease was defined as atherosclerotic involvement of more than 50% in at least one major coronary artery. Results: 953 patients (14.9%) had a verified positive family history of coronary artery disease, of whom 193 patients (20.2%) and 215 patients (22.5%) had paternal and maternal positive history, respectively. The mean age of clinical onset of ischemic heart disease in patients with a positive history was significantly lower than patients with no history (p < 0.001). Left main coronary lesion was significantly more frequent in patients with positive history (p = 0.017). Multivariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated that presentation of coronary artery disease in the form of acute coronary syndrome was significantly more prevalent in the background of positive family history (odds ratio, OR = 1.44, 95% confidence interval, CI: 1.14-1.83, p = 0.002), especially above 45 years old. Conclusion: These findings indicate that positive family history is a major risk factor for coronary artery disease which strongly predisposes to the atherosclerotic process at younger ages; therefore, these patients should be evaluated and managed more intensively for other risk factors

Brain Waves Evaluation of Sound Therapy in Chronic Subjective Tinnitus Cases Using Wavelet Decomposition

Management and treatment of subjective tinnitus is an ongoing focus of research activities. One of the most viable assessments of such treatment is the evaluation of brain activity in addition to patient response and clinical assessment. This study focuses on sound therapy and evaluation of patients’ electroencephalogram (EEG) in order to verify the potency of this approach. Broadband sound therapy was applied to nineteen participants aging from 25 to 64 and suffering from chronic subjective tinnitus to study the difference of brain activity, a) before fake treatment, b) after fake treatment and c) after the main treatment, using EEG and Visual Analog Scale (VAS) for evaluating Residual Inhibition (RI). Four features were extracted using 4-level wavelet decomposition with Symlet 8 as its mother wavelet. For the “After the main treatment” stage, the mean value of wavelet coefficients for the last wavelet level, which corresponded to delta band of EEG, was lower in the FC3 channel based on Two-Sample T-Test with significance level of 0.01, as compared to the same channel of the “before the treatment” stage, for cases in which decreased tinnitus loudness were reported

Expression analysis of CD44 isoforms S and V3, in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Objective(s):  CD44 is a member of the cell adhesion molecules family. Naturally, CD44S, along with CD44V3 influence the cell motility, migration, and adhesion, while in tumor cells they lead to tumor invasion, progression, and metastasis. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the CD44S and CD44V3 expression in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma (ESCC) and to reveal their correlations with clinicopathological features of patients. Materials and Methods:Fresh tumoral and distant tumor-free esophageal tissues were obtained from 50 patients with ESCC. Using quantitative real-time PCR, the expression levels of CD44S and CD44V3 were quantified and compared in both groups of cells. The patients had not received any therapeutic interference, such as chemotherapy or radiation, prior to sampling. Results:Significant overexpression of CD44S and CD44V3 mRNA was observed in 13 (26.0%, P=0.03) and 11 (22.0%, P=0.007) tumor specimens, respectively. The expression of the genes were significantly correlated not only with each other (P=0.0001), but also with differentiation grade of tumor (P=0.033), stage of tumor progression (P=0.003), and depth of tumor invasion         (P=0.00). In addition, low level of CD44V3 mRNA expression was attended to be associated with tumor invasion. Conclusion:There is no correlation between CD44S expression with clinicopathological features of patients; however, simultaneous expression of these genes has an important effect on tumorigenesis

Synthesis and characterization of α-Fe2O3/polyaniline nanotube composite as electrochemical sensor for uric acid detection

We report the synthesis of α-Fe2O3/polyaniline nanotube (PAn NTs) composite as an electrochemical sensor for uric acid (UA) detection. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) indicates a hexagonal shape of the α-Fe2O3 while a nanotube morphology of the PAn. Impedance spectroscopy results confirm a significant decrease in the charge transfer resistance of the glassy carbon electrode (GCE) modified with α-Fe2O3/PAn NTs due to the presence of PAn NTs. The results show that the increase in the conductivity of α-Fe2O3 in the presence of PAnNTs could improve the catalytic performance of α-Fe2O3/PAn NTs composite, compared to the pure α-Fe2O3 nanoparticles. From differential pulse voltammetry, a linear working range for the concentration of UA between 0.01 µM and 5 µM, with a LOD of 0.038 µM (S/N = 3) was obtained. The sensitivity of the linear segment is 0.433 μA µM−1. The reliability of the modified electrode towards the detection of UA was investigated in the presence of interfering acids such as ascorbic acid, citric acid and succinic acid