Determination of Interleukin-6 and Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha concentrations in Iranian-Khorasanian patients with preeclampsia

BACKGROUND: Our objective was to determine the role of Interleukin-6 (IL-6) and Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), markers of immune activation and endothelial dysfunction, in patients with preeclampsia. METHODS: Twenty four women with preeclampsia and eighteen antepartum normotensive pregnant women were recruited as controls. Serum levels of IL-6 and TNF-alpha were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. We used independent-samples t test to assess the differences in the concentration of cytokines in preeclamptic patients and control subjects. RESULTS: IL-6 levels [mean (S.D.)] were significantly higher in preeclamptic women [5.8 (4.85) pg/ml] compared to normal pregnant women [3.01 (2.45) pg/ml] (p = 0.02). There was no significant change in concentration of TNF-alpha in preeclamptic women [53.8 (30.0) pg/ml] compared to normal pregnant women [51.9 (33.8) pg/ml] (p > 0.1). CONCLUSION: The results of this study show that IL-6 as a pro-inflammatory cytokine is present in higher concentration in women with preeclampsia. The study was undertaken in women with established preeclampsia and it is not possible to determine whether the increased concentration of IL-6 is a cause or consequence of the disease. Furthermore, these findings suggest that serum TNF-alpha level is not associated with preeclampsia

Soluble Fas might serve as a diagnostic tool for gastric adenocarcinoma

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Fas (Apo-1/CD95) and its specific ligand (FasL) are key elements in apoptosis. They have been studied in different malignancies but there are few published studies about the soluble forms of these markers (i.e. sFas/sFasL) in gastric cancer. We have compared the serum levels of sFas/sFasL in gastric adenocarcinoma patients and cases with pre-neoplastic lesions as potential markers for early diagnosis, and investigated their relation with clinicopathological characteristics.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Fifty-nine newly-diagnosed cases of gastric adenocarcinoma who had undergone gastrectomy, along with 62 endoscopically- and histologically-confirmed non-cancer individuals were enrolled in this study. sFas/sFasL serum levels were detected by Enzyme Linked Immunosurbent Assay.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Mean serum sFas level was significantly higher in gastric cancer patients than in control group (305.97 ± 63.71 (pg/ml) vs. 92.98 ± 4.95 (pg/ml), P < 0.001); while the mean serum level of sFasL was lower in patients with gastric adenocarcinoma (0.138 ± 0.04 (pg/ml) vs. 0.150 ± 0.02 (pg/ml), P < 0.001). Mean serum levels of sFas/sFasL were significantly different in both intestinal/diffuse and cardiac/non-cardiac subtypes when compared to the control group (P < 0.001). There was an increase in the serum level of sFas from the first steps of pre-neoplastic lesions to gastric adenocarcinoma (P < 0.001). Patients who had no lymph node involvement (<it>N₀</it>) showed significantly higher serum levels of sFas compared to others (P = 0.044).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Production of sFas may play a critical role in the carcinogenesis of intestinal-type gastric cancer. sFas serum level may serve as a non-invasive tool for early diagnosis of gastric cancer.</p

Ethanolic Extract Cytotoxic Effect of Zingiber Afficinale in Breast Cancer (MCF7) Cell Line

Introduction & Objective: Biological activities of Zingiber afficieale plants have been reported as possessing anticancer, antibacterial, anti ulcer, antifungal, and insecticidal properties. However, its antitumor effects haven't been studied in cancer cell lines. The aim of this study was to investigate the antitumor effect of zingiber afficieale on breast cancer cell lines. Materials & Methods: This experimental study was conducted in 2010 at Mashhad University of medical Sciences. Breast cancer cell line (MCF7) and normal connective tissue cell line (L929) were cultured in DMEM medium. Ethanolic extract of Zingiber afficinale was prepared and cell lines were treated with different concentration of extract (5000 to 78 µg). Cell viability was measured by MTT assay after 24, 48, and 72 hours. The collected data were statistically analyzed by SPSS software. Results: The effects of Zingiber afficinale on cell viability were observed after 48 hours on cell lines. Ginger doses in 2500 µg concentration inhibited 50% of cell growth (IC50) in cell lines after 48 hours. Conclusion: Our study revealed that fresh ginger extract has cytotoxic effects on tumor cells, but it doesn’t have any cytotoxic effect on normal cells. It seems that ginger could be considered as a promising chemotherapeutic agent in cancer treatment

1.Mousavi SM, Montazeri A, Mohagheghi MA, Jarrahi AM, Harirchi I, Najafi M, et al. Breast cancer in Iran: an epidemiological review. Breast J 2007 13(4):383-91.

Introduction & Objective: Breast cancer is the most frequent malignancy among women worldwide. Polymorphisms in Xenobiotic Metabolizing Enzymes (XEMs) and drugs such as P450 (CYP2D6) may increase susceptibility to breast cancer. Little is known about the association of CYP2D6*4 (1894 G to A) polymorphism and susceptibility to breast cancer. This study aimed to investigate the possible relationship of the CYP2D6 *4 gene polymorphism and breast cancer. Materials & Methods: One hundred women with confirmed breast cancer and 100 healthy women were the subject of this study. Subjects were assessed for the gene polymorphism of CYP2D6 *4 by a PCR-RFLP assay at Mashad University of Medical Sciences in 2009. The collected data were analyzed by the SPSS using chi-square test and Fisher exact test. Results: No correlation was found between CYP2D6*4 gene polymorphism and breast cancer (P=0.299). Conclusion: Our results demonstrated that CYP2D6 *4 mutant displays a non-significant increased risk for breast cancer

Serum Levels of Soluble Fas and Fas Ligand in Iranian Women with Pre-eclampsia

Background:The precise responsible mechanism of pre-eclampsia remains controversial however, recent data suggest a main role of the abnormal activation of the adaptive immune system and Apoptosis. In this study, we have measured serum levels of Fas/Fasl as two important members of extrinsic apoptotic pathway in patient with pre-eclampsia. Methods: 207 participants including 99 pre-eclampsia patients and 108 age and sex-matched normal pregnant women were involved in the case-control study. Plasma sample from each participant was collected and stored at –20 ̊C until batch processing. Serum levels of Fas and Fas ligand were measured by ELISA for each participant including 99 pre-eclampsia patients and 108 normal pregnant women. Following a test of statistical normality, nonparametric data were analyzed by Mann-Whitney. Results:sFas levels in case group was significantly higher than controls; 584 (397-892) pg/ml in cases opposed to 341 (213-602) pg/ml in controls (p value< 0.01). sFasL in pre-eclampsia women was a little lower than controls; 255 (173-318) pg/ml and in case group compared to 265.5 (184-381.5) pg/ml in controls. Conclusions: We have found the increased levels of sFas in patients with pre-eclampsia in compare with the healthy pregnant women. It seems that abnormality in sFAS is related with pre-eclampsia. © 202

Determination of Interleukin-6 and Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha concentrations in Iranian-Khorasanian patients with preeclampsia

Abstract Background Our objective was to determine the role of Interleukin-6 (IL-6) and Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), markers of immune activation and endothelial dysfunction, in patients with preeclampsia. Methods Twenty four women with preeclampsia and eighteen antepartum normotensive pregnant women were recruited as controls. Serum levels of IL-6 and TNF-alpha were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. We used independent-samples t test to assess the differences in the concentration of cytokines in preeclamptic patients and control subjects. Results IL-6 levels [mean (S.D.)] were significantly higher in preeclamptic women [5.8 (4.85) pg/ml] compared to normal pregnant women [3.01 (2.45) pg/ml] (p = 0.02). There was no significant change in concentration of TNF-alpha in preeclamptic women [53.8 (30.0) pg/ml] compared to normal pregnant women [51.9 (33.8) pg/ml] (p > 0.1). Conclusion The results of this study show that IL-6 as a pro-inflammatory cytokine is present in higher concentration in women with preeclampsia. The study was undertaken in women with established preeclampsia and it is not possible to determine whether the increased concentration of IL-6 is a cause or consequence of the disease. Furthermore, these findings suggest that serum TNF-alpha level is not associated with preeclampsia.</p

A significant association between CXCL10 -1447 A > G and IL18 -607 C > A gene polymorphism with human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1 associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM-TSP), a case-control report from city of Mashhad, Iran

Human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) is the first isolated retrovirus from humans, and 2�3 of infected individuals suffer from HTLV-1 associated myelopathy tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM-TSP). Previous studies indicated that the risk of HAM-TSP could be correlated with the individuals� genetic alterations. Mashhad is one of the areas infected with HTLV-1 in Iran. This study designed to examine the association between several important gene polymorphisms and HAM-TSP. Genotypes of 232 samples from controls, HTLV-1 carriers, and HAM-TSP patients were examined for FAS-670 (A > G), CXCL10-1447 (A > G), Foxp3-3279 (C > A), IL-18 -137 (C > G), and IL-18 -607 (C > A) gene polymorphisms by different polymerase chain reaction (PCR) techniques. A non-significant association was observed between FAS-670 A > G, Foxp3-3279 C > A, and IL-18 -137 C > G gene polymorphisms and HAM-TSP. Nevertheless, a significant (P G and IL-18 -607 C > A gene polymorphisms with HAM-TSP was observed in our study population. As previous studies revealed that the CXCL10 level in the cerebrospinal fluid of HAM-TSP patients was associated with the disease progression, and as we noticed, a direct association was observed between CXCL10-1447 A > G polymorphism and HAM-TSP. These polymorphisms might be recommended as a valuable prediction criterion for the severity of the disease. The contradiction between our findings and other studies regarding IL-18 -607 C > A gene polymorphism might be associated with various factors such as genotypes frequency in diverse races and population heterogeneity in the city of Mashhad. © 2021, Journal of NeuroVirology, Inc