Trends in gastrointestinal cancer incidence in Iran, 2001-2010: a joinpoint analysis

OBJECTIVES: The main purpose of this study was to evaluate changes in the time trends of stomach, colorectal, and esophageal cancer during the past decade in Iran. METHODS: Cancer incidence data for the years 2001 to 2010 were obtained from the cancer registration of the Ministry of Health. All incidence rates were directly age-standardized to the world standard population. In order to identified significant changes in time trends, we performed a joinpoint analysis. The annual percent change (APC) for each segment of the trends was then calculated. RESULTS: The incidence of stomach cancer increased from 4.18 and 2.41 per 100,000 population in men and women, respectively, in 2001 to 17.06 (APC, 16.7) and 8.85 (APC, 16.2) per 100,000 population in 2010 for men and women, respectively. The corresponding values for colorectal cancer were 2.12 and 2.00 per 100,000 population for men and women, respectively, in 2001 and 11.28 (APC, 20.0) and 10.33 (APC, 20.0) per 100,000 in 2010. For esophageal cancer, the corresponding increase was from 3.25 and 2.10 per 100,000 population in 2001 to 5.57 (APC, 12.0) and 5.62 (APC, 11.2) per 100,000 population among men and women, respectively. The incidence increased most rapidly for stomach cancer in men and women aged 80 years and older (APC, 23.7 for men; APC, 18.6 for women), for colorectal cancer in men aged 60 to 69 years (APC, 24.2) and in women aged 50 to 59 years (APC, 25.1), and for esophageal cancer in men and women aged 80 years and older (APC, 17.5 for men; APC,15.3 for women) over the period of the study. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of gastrointestinal cancer significantly increased during the past decade. Therefore, monitoring the trends of cancer incidence can assist efforts for cancer prevention and control

Expression Analysis of CYFIP1 and CAMKK2 Genes in the Blood of Epileptic and Schizophrenic Patients

Schizophrenia and epilepsy are two prevalent neurological disorders with high global burden to the society. Genome-wide studies have identified potential underlying causes for these neurological diseases. In the present case-control study, we have assessed expression of CYFIP1 and CAMKK2 genes in the blood samples of epileptic and schizophrenic patients compared with healthy subjects. A total of 180 subjects including 40 epileptic patients, 50 schizophrenic patients, and 90 healthy individuals participated in the study. Expression of the mentioned genes was measured using TaqMan real-time PCR. The results demonstrated a significant upregulation of CYFIP1 gene expression in epileptic patients (P = 0.029). CAMKK2 was downregulated in female schizophrenic patients compared with female healthy individuals (P = 0.048). These results may provide new insight into the pathogenesis of epilepsy and schizophrenia and suggest these genes as potential therapeutic targets for these neurological disorders. Future studies should evaluate these results in larger cohorts of patients. © 2018, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature

An Epidemiological Study of Accidents in a Construction Industry: A Case-Control Study

Background and Objectives: Despite science and technology development and their application in various industries, accidents continue to occur in many workplaces. This study was designed and carried out with the aim of epidemiological survey of accident among workers of a tunneling industry.Methods: This study was conducted on 144 out of a total of 440 employees of a tunneling project who were at risk of occupational accidents. 48 workers with a history of occupational accident over the past two years were selected as case group and 96 workers of the same project were selected as control group. The data were collected through a designed checklist and analyzed using logistic regression, chi-square and independent t tests.Results: A significant association was observed between accident rate and different age groups (p<0.05). There was a significant relationship (p=0.016) in the case of sport activities between case and control groups, and significant relationships were observed between two groups regarding education (p=0.057) and smoking (p=0.06), but there was no significant relationships between accident occurrence with marital status, residence in workplace, job related education, job experience, chronic diseases and obesity.Conclusion: The results of this study clarify the necessity of the use of epidemiological data in preventive and control measures in workplaces. Therefore, Developing programs for determination of physical and mental capacity of workers are essential to employ them in jobs commensurate with their abilities, especially in older workers

Expression Analysis of VDR-Related LncRNAs in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Vitamin D receptor (VDR) signaling has been reported to affect neurodevelopment, thus participating in the risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We have measured expression amounts of VDR, CYP27B1, and two related long non-coding RNAs, namely SNHG6 and LINC00511, in the circulation of ASD patients compared with normal controls. Expression of CYP27B1 was remarkably higher in ASD cases compared with controls (posterior beta = 2.38, SE = 0.46, adjusted P value < 0.0001, 95 credible interval (CrI) for beta = 1.49, 3.27). Level of SNHG6 was lower in ASD cases compared with controls (posterior beta = � 0.791, SE = 0.24, adjusted P value = 0.029, 95% CrI for beta = � 1.27, � 0.33). Expression levels of VDR and LINC00511 were similar between ASD cases and controls (P values = 0.97 and 0.46, respectively). Expressions of VDR, CYP27B1, SNHG6, and LINC00511 were not correlated with age of children. However, significant correlations were perceived between expressions of CYP27B1 and LINC00511 (r = 0.47, P < 0.0001), VDR and CYP27B1 (r = 0.42, P < 0.0001), and VDR and SNHG6 (r = 0.32, P < 0.0001). Therefore, these results imply dysregulation of a number of VDR-related genes in ASD patients. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature

Expression analysis of protein inhibitor of activated STAT (PIAS) genes in IFN&beta;-treated multiple sclerosis patients [Corrigendum]

Taheri M, Azimi G, Sayad A, et al. J Inflamm Res. 2018;11:457&ndash;463.On page 457, Author list and Correspondence, the last author&rsquo;s name was misspelt. The correct name is Soudeh Ghafouri-Fard.Read the original articl

Expression analysis of protein inhibitor of activated STAT (PIAS) genes in IFN&beta;-treated multiple sclerosis patients

Mohammad Taheri,1,* Ghazaleh Azimi,2,* Arezou Sayad,2 Mehrdokht Mazdeh,3 Shahram Arsang-Jang,4,5 Mir Davood Omrani,5 Soudeh Ghafori-Fard2 1Student Research Committee, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; 2Department of Medical Genetics, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; 3Neurophysiology Research Center, Hamadan University Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran; 4Clinical Research Development Center (CRDU), Qom University of Medical Sciences, Qom, Iran; 5Urogenital Stem Cell Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran *These authors contributed equally to this work Objectives: Protein inhibitors of activated STAT (PIAS) are transcription co-regulator of the Janus kinase/signal transducer and activator of transcription signaling pathway as well as nuclear factor-&kappa;B family of transcription factors. Both of them are involved in cytokine release during inflammatory response. Patients and methods: Considering the role of cytokine imbalance in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS), we compared blood expressions of PIAS1-4 genes in 48 interferon &beta; (IFN&beta;)-treated MS patients with those of healthy subjects by means of real time PCR. Results: Although the expression levels of these genes were not significantly different between MS patients and healthy subjects, significant inverse correlations have been found between PIAS1 expression and age at disease onset. PIAS2 and PIAS3 expressions were inversely correlated with Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) in patients. Moreover, PIAS3 expression was correlated with disease duration in patients and with age in controls. In addition, PIAS4 expression was inversely correlated with EDSS and age at disease onset while it was positively correlated with disease duration. Conclusion: The present study provides evidences for altered expression of PIAS genes in IFN&beta;-treated MS patients compared with healthy subjects. However, future studies are needed for elaboration of their exact function in this disorder. Keywords: multiple sclerosis, JAK/STAT pathway, protein inhibitors of activated STAT, PIA

Expression Analysis of lncRNAs in Refractory and Non-Refractory Epileptic Patients

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been demonstrated to be involved in the pathogenesis of neuropsychiatric disorders such as epilepsy. In the current study, we evaluated expression of eight lncRNAs in 80 epileptic patients (40 refractory and 40 non-refractory ones) and 40 normal individual using quantitative real-time PCR. Bayesian regression model showed significant higher expression of UCA1 in both refractory and non-refractory groups compared with controls (posterior beta of relative expression (RE) = 2.03, P value = 0.003, and posterior beta of RE = 4.05, P value < 0.0001, respectively). Besides, expression of UCA1 was higher in non-refractory patients compared with refractory ones (posterior beta of RE = 2.008, P value = 0.019). When repeating statistical analyses in a gender-based manner, differences in expression of UCA1 were significant in all subgroup analyses except for male non-refractory vs. refractory subgroups analysis. Expression levels of NKILA and ANRIL were higher in both refractory and non-refractory groups compared with controls (posterior beta of RE = 1.565, P value = 0.018, and posterior beta of RE = 1.902, P value = 0.006 for NKILA; posterior beta of RE = 1.304, P value < 0.0001, and posterior beta of RE = 1.603, P value = 0.019 for ANRIL, respectively). However, expression levels of these two lncRNAs were not different between refractory and non-refractory groups. Gender-based analysis for these two lncRNAs revealed similar results except for lack of difference in ANRIL expression between male refractory group and controls. Expression of THRIL was significantly lower in both refractory and non-refractory groups compared with controls (posterior beta of RE = � 0.842, P value = 0.044 and posterior beta of RE = � 1.969, P value < 0.0001, respectively). Furthermore, expression of this lncRNA was lower in non-refractory patients compared with refractory ones (posterior beta of RE = � 1.129, P value = 0.002). However, no significant difference was detected between non-refractory and refractory patients either in males or females. The interactions between gender and relative expressions of PACER, DILC, and MALAT1 were significant, so the results were assessed in gender-based manner. In females, expression of DILC was higher in non-refractory patients compared with refractory ones (posterior beta of RE = 0.959, P value = 0.044). Expression of MALAT1 was lower in female non-refractory patients compared with controls and in female non-refractory patients compared with refractory ones (posterior beta of RE = � 1.35, P value = 0.002, and posterior beta of RE = � 0.942, P value = 0.045, respectively). Finally, expression of PACER was higher in refractory patients vs. controls and non-refractory patients vs. controls in both male and female subgroups. However, comparison between non-refractory and refractory patients revealed significant results only among females. Expression of none of the assessed lncRNAs was correlated with age of study participants. There were robust correlations between expression levels of lncRNAs. The most robust correlations were detected between UCA1 and PACER (r = 0.84, P < 0.0001) and between UCA1 and ANRIL (r = 0.75, P < 0.0001). Taken together, our study demonstrated dysregulation of lncRNAs in peripheral blood of epileptic patients and potentiated them as biomarkers for this neurologic condition. © 2020, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature

Upregulation of VEGF-A and correlation between VEGF-A and FLT-1 expressions in Iranian multiple sclerosis patients

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is among the most common diseases affecting brain and spinal cord. MS progression is characterized by breakdown of blood brain barrier which leads to increased vascular permeability and angiogenesis. Consequently, vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF) and its receptors are considered to be important components of MS progression. VEGFA and fms-related tyrosine kinase 1 (FLT1) play important roles in various aspects of MS. In this study, we investigated the relationship between these genes and MS. For this purpose, the expression levels of VEGFA and FLT1 were measured in the blood of 50 relapsing-remitting MS (RR-MS) patients and 50 healthy individuals using TaqMan quantitative real-time PCR. A significant upregulation of VEGFA expression was observed among MS patients compared with controls (p = 0.04). However, the difference in FLT1 gene expression between study groups was insignificant (p = 0.947). In addition, there was a significant positive correlation between VEGFA and FLT1 genes expressions (r = 0.769, p < 0.0001). In spite of the highly complex molecular mechanisms behind this, the findings imply participation of VEGFA in the pathogenesis of MS. © 2020, Fondazione Società Italiana di Neurologia