The correlation between telomerase activity and BaX/BcL-2 ratio in valproic acid-treated MCF-7 breast cancer cell line

Objective(s): Valproic acid (VPA), a drug used in the treatment of neurological disorders, has been shown to have cytotoxic effects on cancer cells through different mechanisms. Telomerase, a ribonucleoprotein reverse transcriptase, is responsible for elongation of the telomere and is activated in cancers. A relation between telomerase activity and resistance to apoptosis has been established. This study focused on probable effects of VPA on MCF-7 cancer cells. In particular, we investigated VPA effects on viability, apoptosis and telomerase activity. Materials and Methods: Cytotoxicity effects of VPA on MCF-7 cells were determined by neutral red uptake assay. Cells were treated with different concentrations of VPA (0-32 mM) and telomerase activity and Bax and Bcl-2 protein levels were determined using TRAP assay (PCR-ELISA) method and ELISA method, respectively. Results: The cytotoxic effects of different concentration of VPA on MCF-7 cells were observed as a reduction in cell viability and telomerase activity and altered expression of Bcl-2 family protein levels. The results also showed that there is a significant correlation between reduction of telomerase activity and increase in Bax/Bcl-2 ratio (P=0.001). Conclusion: Our study demonstrated that cell viability of MCF-7 cells was decreased after treatment with VPA, probably through a reduction of telomerase activity and an increase in Bax/bcl-2 ratio. Therefore, it could be concluded that VPA is a potent anti-cancer agent for breast cancer cells through inhibition of telomerase activity and induction of apoptosis. © 2015, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved

A note on the effect of calcium alginate coating on quality of refrigerated strawberries.

peer-reviewedAn alginate-based edible coating was investigated for the preservation of the quality of strawberries during cold storage (5 °C). Strawberries were immersed, successively, in sodium alginate and calcium chloride solutions to generate a surface coating of calcium alginate. The quality of coated and non-coated strawberries was evaluated by weight loss, visible decay, titratable acidity, total soluble solids and reducing sugar concentration over a 14-day storage period. Results showed that coating with calcium alginate had no significant effects on weight loss or physicochemical parameters when compared to control fruit, but it did result in the postponement of visible decay during refrigerated storage

Relationship between intelligence quotient and musical ability in children with cochlear implantation

Introduction: Children with cochlear implants (CIs) may experience few opportunities for positive musical experiences, and musical perception is therefore often not sufficiently developed. This paper investigates and discusses the relationship between intelligence quotient (IQ) and musical ability in children with CIs compared with children with normal hearing. Materials and Methods: This was a comparative analytical study conducted in 48 children with unilateral CI and 48 normalhearing children, 6-8 years of age, with 'normal' IQ and no formal music training. The average IQ score in the experimental and control groups were 105.41 and 106.31, respectively. No statistically significant differences were detected between Raven's IQ scores in both groups. Data were collected by administering Raven's Colored Progressive Matrices IQ Tests and the Montreal Battery of Evaluation of Musical Abilities (MBEMA) Test, consisting of scale, contour, interval, rhythm, and memory sections. Results: Mean total MBEMA score in the experimental and control groups was 58.93 and 72.16 (out of 100), respectively. Significant differences were evident between scores of children with CIs in comparison with their normal-hearing peers (P�0.001). A remarkable direct correlation between IQ and musical scores in both the control (r�0.38) and experimental (r�0.37) groups was observed. Conclusion: IQ has a noticeable effect on music processing and facilitates the perception of various musical elements. With regard to the mutual relationship between IQ and musical skills, this study illustrates the advantage of determining music perception scores and highlights the importance of appropriate musical intervention in order to enhance auditory neural plasticity, especially in children with cochlear implantation

Association of lipid accumulation product with cardio-metabolic risk factors in postmenopausal women

The lipid accumulation product is a novel, safe and inexpensive index of central lipid over accumulation based on waist circumference and fasting concentration of circulating triglycerides. This study was designed to investigate the ability of lipid accumulation product to predict Cardio-metabolic risk factors in postmenopausal women. In this Cross-sectional study, 264 postmenopausal women by using convenience sampling method were selected from menopause clinic in Tehran. Cardio-metabolic risk factors were measured, and lipid accumulation product (waist-58�triglycerides nmol/L) was calculated. Optimal cut-off point of lipid accumulation product for predicting metabolic syndrome was estimated by ROC (Receiveroperating characteristic) curve analysis. Metabolic syndrome was diagnosed in 41.2% of subjects. Optimal cut-off point of lipid accumulation product for predicting metabolic syndrome was 47.63 (sensitivity:75%; specificity:77.9%). High lipid accumulation product increases risk of all Cardio-metabolic risk factors except overweight, high Total Cholesterol, high Low Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol and high Fasting Blood Sugar in postmenopausal women. Our findings show that lipid accumulation product is associated with metabolic syndrome and some Cardio-metabolic risk factors Also lipid accumulation product may have been a useful tool for predicting cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome risk in postmenopausal women. © 2016 Tehran University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved

A study on factors that drive variation in the levels of social capital among people living with HIV/AIDS in Iran

INTRODUCTION: Social capital is increasingly used in relation to health issues, particularly in sexually transmitted diseases/infections and health behaviors. Experiences indicated that social capital can contribute in changing HIV related risk behaviors and a decline of HIV infection through social groups and networking and make more effective use of HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and treatment services. We aimed to assess social capital in these persons through a quantitative study. METHOD: This cross-sectional study was performed with a convenience sample of 300 people living HIV/AIDS referred to a counseling center of behavioral diseases, in Imam Khomeini Hospital, in Tehran, the capital of Iran, during September 2011 to May 2012. Data collection tools were a demographic questionnaire and World Bank Social Capital Questionnaire (SC-IQ). The analysis of data was performed by the SPSS statistic software version 18. To identify factors influencing social capital in participations, Pearson correlation coefficient, ANOVA, t-test, and a multiple regression were applied. The significant level was considered 0.05 in this study. RESULTS: 165 (55) were male and the rest female. The mean age of participants was 34.3 ± 7.5. The mean score of total social capital was 2.34 ± 0.5 in all participants. The domain of individual trust had the highest mean score (2.53 ± 0.66). The lowest mean score was related to the domain of social trust and associative relations (2.23 ± 0.62). Variables such as ethnicity, age, and middle economic status had a significant impact on the domain of individual trust so that the mean score of this component of social capital was lower among women (0.396) than men. Factors affecting total social capital were ethnicity and middle economic status. CONCLUSION: Finding emphasized on the role of economic status, ethnicity and gender in persons living with HIV/AIDS. Thus recommended that policy makers and program managers consider social groups and networks, especially in women in the design and delivery of intervention strategies to reduce HIV transmission

Community-based physical activity interventions among women: A systematic review

Objective: Review and assess the effectiveness of community-based physical activity interventions among women aged 18-65 years. Design: Systematic review Methods: To find relevant articles, the researcher selected reports published in English between 1 January 2000 and 31 March 2013. Systematic search was to find controlled-trial studies that were conducted to uncover the effect of community-based interventions to promote physical activity among women 18-65 years of age, in which physical activity was reported as one of the measured outcomes. The methodological quality assessment was performed using a critical appraisal sheet. Also, the levels of evidence were assessed for the types of interventions. Results: The literature search identified nine articles. Four of the studies were randomised and the others studies had high methodological quality. There was no evidence, on the basis of effectiveness, for social cognitive theory-based interventions and inconclusive evidence of effectiveness for the rest of interventions. Conclusions: There is insufficient evidence to assess the effectiveness of community-based interventions for enhancing physical activity among women. There is a need for high-quality randomised clinical trials with adequate statistical power to determine whether multicomponent and community-based intervention programmes increase physical activity among women, as well as to determine what type of interventions have a more effective and sustainable impact on women's physical activity. © 2015, BMJ. All rights reserved

Prediction of the treatment response in ovarian cancer: a ctDNA approach.

Ovarian cancer is the eighth most commonly occurring cancer in women. Clinically, the limitation of conventional screening and monitoring approaches inhibits high throughput analysis of the tumor molecular markers toward prediction of treatment response. Recently, analysis of liquid biopsies including circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) open new way toward cancer diagnosis and treatment in a personalized manner in various types of solid tumors. In the case of ovarian carcinoma, growing pre-clinical and clinical studies underscored promising application of ctDNA in diagnosis, prognosis, and prediction of treatment response. In this review, we accumulate and highlight recent molecular findings of ctDNA analysis and its associations with treatment response and patient outcome. Additionally, we discussed the potential application of ctDNA in the personalized treatment of ovarian carcinoma. ctDNA-monitoring usage during the ovarian cancer treatments procedures

Synthesis of new nano Schiff base complexes: X-ray crystallography, thermal, electrochemical and anticancer studies of nano uranyl Schiff base complexes

This study presents synthesis and characterization of new nano uranyl Schiff base complexes. Electrochemistry of these complexes showed a quasireversible redox reaction without any successive reactions. Furthermore, X-ray crystallography exhibited that beside the coordination of tetradentate Schiff base, one solvent molecule (dimethylformamide) was also coordinated. According to Coats-Redfern plots the kinetics of thermal decomposition of the studied complexes was first-order in all stages. Anticancer activities of the uranyl Schiff base complexes against cancer cell lines (Jurkat) was studied and determined by MTT (3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazoliumbromide) assay. The results demonstrated that the complexes with aliphatic bridging units showed less anticancer activities than those having the aromatic units

Application of stem cells in targeted therapy of breast cancer: A systematic review

Background: The aim of this systematic review was to investigate whether stem cells could be effectively applied in targeted therapy of breast cancer. Material and Method: A systematic literature search was performed for original articles published from January 2007 until May 2012. Results: Nine studies met the inclusion criteria for phase I or II clinical trials, of which three used stem cells as vehicles, two trials used autologous hematopoetic stem cells and in four trials cancer stem cells were targeted. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) were applied as cellular vehicles to transfer therapeutic agents. Cell therapy with MSC can successfully target resistant cancers. Cancer stem cells were selectively targeted via a proteasome-dependent suicide gene leading to tumor regression. Wnt/�-catenin signaling pathway has been also evidenced to be an attractive CSC-target. Conclusions: This systematic review focused on two different concepts of stem cells and breast cancer marking a turning point in the trials that applied stem cells as cellular vehicles for targeted delivery therapy as well as CSC-targeted therapies. Applying stem cells as targeted therapy could be an effective therapeutic approach for treatment of breast cancer in the clinic and in therapeutic marketing; however this needs to be confirmed with further clinical investigations