Hepatitis B vaccination coverage among Iranian children aged 15-26 months in 2006

This study in 2006 estimated the hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccination coverage in the Islamic Republic of Iran at the national and district levels in urban, rural and remote populations of 41 university health service areas. Of 21 905 children recruited to the study, vaccination coverage based on vaccination card records was 100% in 14, 15 and 10 of the 41 university areas for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd doses of HBV respectively. National levels of HBV1, HBV2 and HBV3 coverage were 98.9%, 98.8% and 98.4% respectively. The lowest HBV vaccination coverage rate was 90.7% (in a remote district). HBV vaccination coverage was at an acceptable level in Iranian children

Metformin reduces cisplatin-mediated apoptosis in gastric adenocarcinoma cells

Background: Metformin, a drug widely used for type 2 diabetes, may also have anti-cancer properties. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of metformin on cisplatin cytotoxicity in the gastric adenocarcinoma cells line (MKN45).Materials and Methods: In this study, cells viability and apoptosis were measured using the (3-4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay and flow cytometry, respectively. Moreover, the expressions of mammalian target of rapamycin, survivin and AKT genes were evaluated by RT-PCR. All experiments were performed in triplicate.Results: The results showed that each of metformin and cisplatin separately reduced the viability of cancer cell, but in co-administration, metformin reduced the cytotoxicity of cisplatin. In co-administration, the survivin expression was increased followed by a reduction in cisplatin anti-cancer effect. Therefore, the antagonistic effect of drugs can be associated with survivin expression. The results also revealed that the anti-apoptotic effects of metformin co-administrated with cisplatin are associated with increased AKT expression. Conclusion: It seems that in gastric cancers, metformin is not an appropriate choice to make cells sensitive to cisplatin and the antagonistic effects of the two drugs should be considered when they prescribed in combination