A case report of a rare Shwachman-Diamond syndrome with liver involvement

زمینه و هدف: سندرم شواخمن (SDS) یک بیماری نادر ارثی است که در سنین کودکی با علایم گرفتاری چند ارگان از جمله پانکراس اگزوکرین و مغز استخوان و نیز با علایم اختلال رشد تظاهر می کند. درگیری کبدی از تظاهرات کمتر شایع در این بیماران بوده و کمتر به آن توجه می شود. در این مقاله یک مورد شیرخوار مبتلا به سندرم شواخمن با گرفتاری کبد معرفی می گردد. معرفی بیمار: بیمار شیرخوار پسر 11 ماهه با اسهال حاد، دهیدراتاسیون، اختلال وزن گیری پس از 4 ماهگی و گزارش دفع مدفوع چرب مراجعه و به علت بزرگی کبد و افزایش آنزیم های کبدی مورد بررسی قرار گرفت. با توجه به چرب بودن مدفوع، استئوپنی، قیافه خاص در بیمار، مشاهده نوتروپنی و منتفی شدن تشخیص بیماری سیستیک فیبروزیس (CF) منجر به تشخیص نهایی سندرم شواخمن گردید. نتیجه گیری: معرفی بیمار حاضر ضمن یادآوری تشخیص این بیماری نادر در موارد اختلالات رشد کودکان توجه به درگیری کبد را یادآور می شود که ممکن است در بعضی مواقع به صورت تظاهر اولیه بیمار با اختلاف رشد باشد

Mitochondrial Variants in Pompe Disease: A Comparison between Classic and Non-classic Forms

Objective Pompe disease (PD) is a progressive neuromuscular disorder that is caused by glucosidase acid alpha (GAA) deleterious mutations. Mitochondrial involvement is an important contributor to neuromuscular diseases. In this study the sequence of MT-ATP 6/8 and Cytochrome C oxidase I/II genes along with the expression levels of the former genes were compared in classic and non-classic patients. Materials and Methods In this case-control study, the sequence of MT-ATP 6/8 and Cytochrome C oxidase was analyzed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-Sanger sequencing and expression of MT-ATP genes were quantified by real time-PCR (RT-PCR) in 28 Pompe patients. The results were then compared with 100 controls. All sequences were compared with the revised Cambridge reference sequence as reference. Results Screening of MT-ATP6/8 resulted in the identification of three novel variants, namely T9117A, A8456C and A8524C. There was a significant decrease in MT-ATP6 expression between classic (i.e. adult) and control groups (P=0.030). Additionally, the MT-ATP8 expression was significantly decreased in classic (P=0.004) and non-classic (i.e. infant) patients (P=0.013). In total, 22 variants were observed in Cytochrome C oxidase, five of which were non- synonymous, one leading to a stop codon and another (C9227G) being a novel heteroplasmic variant. The A8302G in the lysine tRNA gene was found in two brothers in a pedigree, while a T7572C variant in the aspartate tRNA gene was observed in two brothers in another pedigree. Conclusion The extent of mitochondrial involvement in the classic group was more significant than in the non-classic form. Beside GAA deleterious mutations, it seems that mtDNA variants have a secondary effect on PD. Understanding, the role of mitochondria in the pathogenesis of Pompe may potentially be helpful in developing new therapeutic strategies

miRNA-21 expression analysis in 35 colorectal cancer

Background: Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer in the world. Non-coding RNA especially miRNAs have important regulatory roles in cancer. miRNAs are small non coding RNA 21-23 nucleotides long which have different levels of expression between tumors and normal tissues. This study was designed to compare expression level of miRNA-21 between Iranian population colorectal cancer tissues and normal tissue. Methods: This case-control study has performed in medical genetics department of Tehran University of Medical Sciences from January to November 2013. We used 35 samples. The samples were isolated from tumor and adjacent normal tissues of colon. Thirty-five samples were divided into different groups according to cliniopathologic features including tumor size (>4 and 4 and <4 cm) and metastatic (+ and -), miRNA-21 over expressed in both groups, however the increase was not statistically significant. Conclusion: In this study, we found miR-21 over-expression in advanced stage in tu-moral tissue comparing with normal adjacent tissue. This means perhaps in the future it would be possible to use miRNA-21 as an informative prognostic biomarker to guide for better treatment strategies for colorectal cancer patients. Our findings also indicate that miRNA-21 is a promising new molecular target for designing novel therapeutic strategies to control colorectal cancer

Mitochondrial Copy Number and D-Loop Variants in Pompe Patients

Objective: Pompe disease is a rare neuromuscular genetic disorder and is classified into two forms of early and late-onset. Over the past two decades, mitochondrial abnormalities have been recognized as an important contributor to an array of neuromuscular diseases. We therefore aimed to compare mitochondrial copy number and mitochondrial displacement-loop sequence variation in infantile and adult Pompe patients. Materials and Methods: In this retrospective study, the mitochondrial D-loop sequence was analyzed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and direct sequencing to detect possible variation in 28 Pompe patients (17 infants and 11 adults). Results were compared with 100 healthy controls and sequences of all individuals were compared with the Cambridge reference sequence. Real-time PCR was used to quantify mitochondrial DNA copy number. Results: Among 59 variants identified, 37(62.71%) were present in the infant group, 14(23.333%) in the adult group and 8(13.333%) in both groups. Mitochondrial copy number in infant patients was lower than adults (P<0.05). A significant frequency difference was seen between the two groups for 12 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP). A novel insertion (317-318 ins CCC) was observed in patients and six SNPs were identified as neutral variants in controls. There was an inverse association between mitochondrial copy number and D-loop variant number (r=0.54). Conclusion: The 317-318 ins CCC was detected as a new mitochondrial variant in Pompe patients

The effect of ovalbumin on orthodontic induced root resorption

Background: This randomized trial was undertaken to investigate the effect of experimentally induced allergy on orthodontic induced root resorption. Materials and Methods: A total of 30 Wistar rats were divided randomly into test and control groups. Starting from the first 3 days, the rats in the test group were injected intra-peritoneally by 2 mg ovalbumin as allergen and 0.5 mg Alume as adjuvant. Afterward only allergen was injected once a week. The control group was injected by normal saline. After 21 days, Wistar immunoglobulin E was measured and peripheral matured eosinophil was counted. A total of 50 g nickel-titanium closed coil spring was ligated between right incisor and first molar. All animals were sacrificed after 14 days. The mesial root of the right and left first molar was dissected in a horizontal plane. The specimens were divided into four groups considering whether force and/or ovalbumin was applied or not. Root resorption was measured and compared among these groups. Repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA), and Bonferoni tests were used to analyze the data. The level of significance was determined at 0.05. Results: In general, the differences were insignificant (P > 0.05). As the only exception, the group in which both ovalbumin and force were applied had significantly more root resorption than the group in which neither force nor ovalbumin was applied (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Allergy may increase the susceptibility to root resorption. Application of light force, periodical monitoring of root resorption and control of allergy are advisable