EGFR expression evaluation in esophageal cancer patients

Background and aims: Esophageal cancer is the eighth most common cancer and the sixth leading cause of cancer death worldwide. In Iran, esophageal cancer is the second and third most common cancer in the men and women, respectively. The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is a receptor of tyrosine kinase from the ErbB family, with its disorder in the pathophysiology of many epithelial malignancies, including esophageal cancer, and is the important agent in prognosis and clinical progression of the disease. In this research project, the EGFR expression was investigated in Iranian patients with esophageal cancer using the qRT-PCR. Methods: This research was a cohort historical study. Thirty paraffin-embedded tissue samples of normal esophageal and cancer tissues were analyzed to measure the EGFR expression. PCR reactions for EGFR and β-actin were carried out by Livac method. All data were analyzed by SPSS software. Results: The results showed a significant difference between the EGFR expression in patients compared to control group (P<0.05). The EGFR overexpression in patients was 4.25 times higher compared to healthy group. Conclusion: EGFR increased in the patients compared to the control group, which may be used as a potential biomarker for esophageal cancer in the Iranian population

Protective effects of licorice extract on ovarian morphology, oocyte maturation, and embryo development in PCOS-induced mice: An experimental study

Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is an oxidative state resulting in ovarian dysfunction. Licorice is one of the natural antioxidants used for the treatment of infertility. Objective: To evaluate the effect of licorice extract on ovarian morphology, oocyte maturation, and embryo development in PCOS-induced mice. Materials and Methods: thirty-two female NMIR mice were divided into four groups (n = 8/each): control group receiving no treatment (group I); PCOS group injected with estradiol valerate once daily for 21 days (group II); and experimental groups receiving either 100 mg/kg (group III) or 150 mg/kg (group IV) licorice by gavage along with estradiol valerate once daily for 3 wk. Serum levels of the testosterone and estrogen were measured using ELISA kit. Histological study of ovaries was evaluated, and oocyte maturation, fertilization rate, and embryo development were determined after in vitro maturation. Results: Experimental groups (III, IV) had significantly higher testosterone and estradiol levels compared to the PCOS group (p ≤ 0.001). A significant increase in the number of healthy follicles (primary, preantral follicles) (p = 0.001), corpus luteum (p = 0.001) with significant decrease in the number of atretic follicles (primary, preantral, cystic follicles) (p ≤ 0.001) was seen in the experimental groups. Increase in the fertilization rate (p ≤ 0.001) and blastocyst stage embryos (p = 0.02, p = 0.004) were observed in the experimental groups. Conclusions: It appears that the two doses (100 mg and 150 mg) of licorice could decrease ovarian cyst and improve the fertilization rate of oocyte and embryo development in PCOS mice. However, there was no statistically significant difference between the two experimental groups. Key words: Polycystic ovary syndrome, Mice, Licorice, Histology, In vitro maturation, In vitro fertilization

Protective effect of Sildenafil on contralateral epididymal sperm concentration and motility following unilateral blunt testicular trauma in pre-pubertal male mice

Background and aims: Blunt testicular trauma adversely affects fertility in later periods. The purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of sildenafil on contralateral epididymal sperm count and motility following unilateral blunt testicular trauma in mice. Methods: In this randomized controlled experimental study, 24 pre-pubertal male mice were distributed into four groups of six mice each. In two groups of mice, the abdomen was opened and the right testis was placed on a sterile firm surface and 5 g sterile weight was dropped on to the testis from a height of 10 cm. One of these groups received sildenafil (0.1 mg/kg per day) intraperitoneally for 7 days starting from the day of induction of trauma. A control group and a sildenafil control group were also included. The left epididymal sperm characteristics of all animals were evaluated after 7 weeks. Results: Trauma caused a significant decrease in the sperm concentration and motility as compared to control mice (P<0.05). Sildenafil administration markedly ameliorated all changes in the above-mentioned parameters (P<0.05). Conclusion: Sildenafil administration could attenuate blunt testicular trauma-induced contralateral epididymal sperm impairment

Phylogenetic Groups of Escherichia coli Strains from Patients with Urinary Tract Infection in Iran Based on the New Clermont Phylotyping Method

Objectives.In2013,ClermontclassifiedE.colistrainsintoeightphylogeneticgroupsusinganewquadruplexPCRmethod.Theaims ofthisstudyweretoidentifythephylogeneticgroupsofE.colibasedonthismethodandtoassesstheirantibioticresistancepatterns inBushehr,Iran.Methods.Inthiscross-sectionalstudy,140E.coliisolatesweresubjectedtophylogenetictypingbyaquadruplex PCR method. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed by disk diffusion method. Results. Phylogenetic group B2 was mostpredominant(39.3%),followedbyunknown(27.1%),E(9.3%),CandcladeI(each6.4%),B1(5%),FandD(each2.9%),and A(0.7%).Themostcommonantibioticresistancewasrelatedtoamoxicillin(82.1%)andtheleasttomeropenem(0.7%).82.14%of isolatesweremultipledrugresistant(MDR).AntibioticresistancewasmainlydetectedingroupB2(50%).Conclusions.Ourfindings showedthehighprevalenceofMDRE.coliisolateswithdominanceofgroupB2.About25%ofE.coliisolatesbelongtothenewly describedphylogroupsC,E,F,andcladeI.Suchstudiesneedtobedonealsoinotherregionstoprovidegreaterunderstandingof theantibioticresistancepatternandtheprevalencesofdifferentphylogeneticgroups

Effect of gibberellic acid on the quality of sperm and in vitro fertilization outcome in adult male rats

Gibberellic acid (GA3) is a group of plant hormones identified in various plants. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of GA3 on sperm parameters and in vitro fertilization (IVF). Fifty six adult male rats were divided into seven groups as, control, treatment and sham. Following 15, 30 and 45 days of GA3 and methanol alcohol (MA) administration, rats were euthanized and epididymis tail was transferred to human tubular fluid (HTF) medium containing 4 mg mL-1 bovine serum albumin (BSA) .Total number of sperms, the percentage of live sperms, immature sperms and sperms with damaged chromatin and IVF were examined. The oocytes were obtained from immature rats after the injection of pregnant mare's serum (PMSG) and human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) hormones. Human tubular fluid was used as the fertilization medium and zygotes transferred to fresh 1-cell rat embryos culture medium (mR1ECM) to reach the blastocyst stage. This study showed that GA3 could decrease the number of total sperms on days 30 and 45 in treated group comparison with the control and sham groups. Additionally, GA3 increased the immature sperms and sperms with damaged chromatin. The percentage of fertilization, two-cell embryos and blastocyst resulting from the treatment group on days 30 and 45 also decreased and showed significant differences with the control and sham groups (p < 0.05). The results obtained from this study indicated that the oral use of GA3 could reduce the fertility in rats by influencing the sperm number and the quality of sperm’s chromatins

A New Approach for Designing a Potentially Vaccine Candidate against Urinary Tract Infection by Using Protein Display on Lactobacillus

Background: The prevalence of Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) is really high in the world. Escherichia coli is a major agent of UTI. One of the strategies for decreasing UTI infections is vaccine development. As the attachment is a really important stage in colonization and infection, at- tachment inhibition has an applied strategy.  FimH protein is a major factor during bacterial colonization in urinary tract and could be used as a vaccine. Thus, it was considered in this research as a candidate anti- gen. Methods: The sequences of fimH and acmA genes were used for de- signing a synthetic gene. It was cloned to pET23a expression vector and transformed  to E. coli (DE3) Origami.  To confirm the expression  of recombinant  protein,  SDS-PAGE  and western  blotting  methods  were used.  Subsequently,  recombinant  protein  was  purified.  On  the  other hand, Lactobacillus reuteri was cultured and mixed with FimH / AcmA recombinant  protein. The rate of protein localization  on lactobacillus surface was assessed using ELISA method. Results: It was showed that the recombinant protein was expressed in E. coli (DE3) Origami and purified by affinity chromatography. More- over, this protein could be localized on lactobacillus surface by 5 days. Conclusion:  In current study,  a fusion recombinant  protein was pre- pared and displayed on L. reuteri surface. This strain could be used for animal  experiment  as  a  competitor  against  Uropathogenic   E.  coli (UPEC). Using manipulated probiotics strains instead of antibiotic ther- apy could decrease the antibiotic consumption  and reduce multi-drug resistant strains

The study of upper gastrointestinal endoscopy in patients with inflammatory bowel disease and ulcerative colitis

زمینه و هدف: در بررسی های تشخیصی بیماری های التهابی روده، یکی از موارد تشخیصی انجام آندوسکوپی فوقانی است که علاوه بر تأیید تشخیص، در افتراق کولیت های نامشخص نیز کمک کننده است. هدف از این مطالعه بررسی لزوم انجام آندوسکوپی فوقانی در بیماران مبتلا به التهاب روده بوده است. روش بررسی: در این مطالعه توصیفی- تحلیلی تعداد 30 کودک در بیمارستان مرکز طبی به صورت سرشماری از مهر 1388 تا اسفند 1389 که به عنوان بیماری کرون و کولیت اولسراتیو به تشخیص قطعی رسیدند؛ تحت انجام آندوسکوپی فوقانی قرار گرفتند و داده ها با استفاده از نرم افزارSPSS و آزمون آماری t-test تجزیه و تحلیل شدند. یافته ها: از30 کودک با تشخیص بیماری التهابی روده، تعداد 15 بیمار دچار کرون و مابقی کولیت اولسراتیو داشتند. نتایج مطالعه حاضر حاکی از درگیری ماکروسکوپی مری در 93 بیماران، درگیری معده در 87 و درگیری دئودنوم در 26 بیماران با تشخیص کرون بود. در بیماران کولیت اولسراتیو درگیری مری 80، معده 66 و دئودنوم 20 بود. از نظر میکروسکوپی در بیماران کرون درگیری مری 94، درگیری معده 80 و در نهایت درگیری دئودنوم 47 مشاهده شد. در بیماران کولیت اولسراتیو از نظر میکروسکوپی 94 درگیری مری، 87 درگیری معده و 67 درگیری دئودنوم داشتند. نتیجه گیری: با توجه به درصد قابل توجه درگیری دستگاه گوارش فوقانی در بیماران با بیماری التهابی روده، انجام آندوسکوپی در تمام بیماران جدا از نوع و محل درگیری و بررسی هیستوپاتولوژیک کاری منطقی و لازم بنظر می رسد

A Case Based-Shared Teaching Approach in Undergraduate Medical Curriculum: A Way for Integration in Basic and Clinical Sciences

To present a multiple-instructor, active-learning strategy in the undergraduate medical curriculum. This educational research is a descriptive one. Shared teaching sessions, were designed for undergraduate medical students in six organ-system based courses. Sessions that involved in-class discussions of integrated clinical cases were designed implemented and moderated by at least 3 faculties (clinicians and basic scientists). The participants in this study include the basic sciences medical students of The Tehran University of Medical Sciences. Students’ reactions were assessed using an immediate post-session evaluation form on a 5-point Likert scale. Six two-hour sessions for 2 cohorts of students, 2013 and 2014 medical students during their two first years of study were implemented from April 2014 to March 2015. 17 faculty members participated in the program, 21 cases were designed, and participation average was 60 % at 6 sessions. Students were highly appreciative of this strategy. The majority of students in each course strongly agreed that this learning practice positively contributed to their learning (78%) and provided better understanding and application of the material learned in an integrated classroom course (74%). They believed that the sessions affected their view about medicine (73%), and should be continued in future courses (80%). The percentage demonstrates the average of all courses. The program helped the students learn how to apply basic sciences concepts to clinical medicine. Evaluation of the program indicated that students found the sessions beneficial to their learning

Bi-allelic ACBD6 variants lead to a neurodevelopmental syndrome with progressive and complex movement disorders

The acyl-CoA-binding domain-containing protein 6 (ACBD6) is ubiquitously expressed, plays a role in the acylation of lipids and proteins, and regulates the N-myristoylation of proteins via N-myristoyltransferase enzymes (NMTs). However, its precise function in cells is still unclear, as is the consequence of ACBD6 defects on human pathophysiology. Utilizing exome sequencing and extensive international data sharing efforts, we identified 45 affected individuals from 28 unrelated families (consanguinity 93%) with bi-allelic pathogenic, predominantly loss-of-function (18/20) variants in ACBD6. We generated zebrafish and Xenopus tropicalis acbd6 knockouts by CRISPR/Cas9 and characterized the role of ACBD6 on protein N-myristoylation with YnMyr chemical proteomics in the model organisms and human cells, with the latter also being subjected further to ACBD6 peroxisomal localization studies. The affected individuals (23 males and 22 females), with ages ranging from 1 to 50 years old, typically present with a complex and progressive disease involving moderate-to-severe global developmental delay/intellectual disability (100%) with significant expressive language impairment (98%), movement disorders (97%), facial dysmorphism (95%), and mild cerebellar ataxia (85%) associated with gait impairment (94%), limb spasticity/hypertonia (76%), oculomotor (71%) and behavioural abnormalities (65%), overweight (59%), microcephaly (39%) and epilepsy (33%). The most conspicuous and common movement disorder was dystonia (94%), frequently leading to early-onset progressive postural deformities (97%), limb dystonia (55%), and cervical dystonia (31%). A jerky tremor in the upper limbs (63%), a mild head tremor (59%), parkinsonism/hypokinesia developing with advancing age (32%), and simple motor and vocal tics were among other frequent movement disorders. Midline brain malformations including corpus callosum abnormalities (70%), hypoplasia/agenesis of the anterior commissure (66%), short midbrain and small inferior cerebellar vermis (38% each), as well as hypertrophy of the clava (24%) were common neuroimaging findings. acbd6-deficient zebrafish and Xenopus models effectively recapitulated many clinical phenotypes reported in patients including movement disorders, progressive neuromotor impairment, seizures, microcephaly, craniofacial dysmorphism, and midbrain defects accompanied by developmental delay with increased mortality over time. Unlike ACBD5, ACBD6 did not show a peroxisomal localisation and ACBD6-deficiency was not associated with altered peroxisomal parameters in patient fibroblasts. Significant differences in YnMyr-labelling were observed for 68 co- and 18 post-translationally N-myristoylated proteins in patient-derived fibroblasts. N-Myristoylation was similarly affected in acbd6-deficient zebrafish and Xenopus tropicalis models, including Fus, Marcks, and Chchd-related proteins implicated in neurological diseases. The present study provides evidence that bi-allelic pathogenic variants in ACBD6 lead to a distinct neurodevelopmental syndrome accompanied by complex and progressive cognitive and movement disorders