Therapeutic Updates on Lichen planopilaris and Frontal Fibrosing Alopecia: A Systematic Review

Introduction: Lichen planopilaris (LPP) and frontal fibrosing alopecia (FFA) are skin diseases that affect the quality of life. Although a systematic review on LPP and FFA treatment was published in 2013, further updates are needed. The aim of this study is to review systematically the studies published after the last systematic review.Methods: We searched Scopus, PubMed, Embase, and ISI Web of Science. All the studies published during March 2012-June 2017 were included in this review. Two reviewers separately selected the studies and extracted the data. The results of studies were categorized as unimproved, stabilized, and improved based on the articles reports.Result: Among the 38 studies, 20, 17, and one studies assessed LPP, FFA, and both treatments, respectively. The papers were case reports, case series, cohorts, and randomized controlled trials. Antimalarial agents and pioglitazone resulted in enhancement in 73 and 71% of the LPP patients, respectively. Improvement and stabilization were observed in almost one third of the topical steroid users and 6/12 of Tacrolimus/Pimecrolimus users in LPP. Improvement and stabilization in FFA was found in 68% of the individuals using antimalarial agents, 83% of intralesional steroid users, all cases of finasteride users, and 95% of the people utilizing dutasteride.Conclusion: Contrary to the previous systematic review, we found antimalarial agents more effective than steroids in LPP. Finasteride/dutasteride may have favorable impacts on FFA. Intralesional steroids showed to be more effective than antimalarial agents in FFA. Still further studies are needed in order to define a treatment protocol. Low quality and heterogeneity of the articles were among the limitations for making a conclusion

Association between diabetes mellitus and rs2868371; a polymorphism of HSPB1

Introduction: Diabetes (DM) is a type of metabolic disorder that its types are generated by collectingof genetic and environmental risk agents. Here, the association between HSPB1 polymorphism as a genetic risk factor and DM was investigated. Methods: Total 690 participants from MASHAD cohort study population were recruited into the study.Anti-HSP27-level was assessed followed by genotyping using Taqman®-probes-based assay. Anthropometric, demographic and hematological/biochemical characteristics were evaluated. Kaplan-Meier curves were utilized, while logistic regression models were used to assess the association of the genetic variant with clinical characteristics of population. Results: Finds was shown there are meaningful differences among groups of age, height, waist circumference, systolic blood pressure, FBG,TG, HDL-C, and hs-CRP, and was no big -significant difference between theexists in different HSP27 SNP in the two studied groups (with and without DM), also was no remarkable relation between genetic forms of HSPB1and T2DM. This investigation was the first research that analyzed the relationship between the genetic type of the HSPB1 gene (rs2868371) and Type 2 diabetes (DM2). In our population, the CC genotype (68.1%) had a higher prevalence versus GC (26.6%) and GG (5.3%) genotypes and the data shown that no genetic difference of HSPB1 gene polymorphism (rs2868371) was related with DM2. Conclusion: HSPB1 polymorphism, rs2868371, was not associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Reference intervals for routine biochemical markers and body mass index: a study based on healthcare center database in northeastern Iran

Age‐ and sex‐specific reference intervals (RIs) for some biochemical tests may be useful for their interpretation, due to the variations in lifestyle and genetic, or ethnic factors. The aim of this study was to obtain RIs for some routine biochemical markers including a serum lipid profile, fasting blood glucose (FBG), aspartate and alanine aminotransferase (AST and ALT), uric acid, and body mass index (BMI) in subjects who attended primary healthcare centers. The large database of primary healthcare centers uses RIs to report results for children, adolescents, and young and old adults. RIs were obtained by using the indirect method, recommended by the CLSI Ep28‐A3 guidelines. RIs for FBG, BMI, and serum lipid profile, including triglyceride, total cholesterol, high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol, and low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol in people aged 18 to 120 years, were obtained without age/sex segmentation. RIs for serum AST, ALT, and uric acid were obtained without age segmentation, though these RIs were higher in males than females. The RIs for AST, ALT, and uric acid were higher in men, while the RIs for the other variables were similar in both sexes. This is the first study reporting the use of indirect RIs for BMI

Phytochemical, Antibacterial, Antifungal and Antioxidant Properties of Agastache foeniculum Essential Oil

Phytochemicals are good sources of natural antioxidants and have beneficial effects on human health. Many of phenolic phytochemicals have shown antimicrobial and antifungal activity. Anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum [Pursh] Kuntze) is a perennial aromatic plant of the Lamiaceae family with antimicrobial and antifungal properties and useful for gastrointestinal problems. In this investigation, the antioxidant activity of extracts, their antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, Bacillus cereus, B. subtilis, Salmonella thyphimurium, S. enteritidis, Escherichia coli strains and their antifungal activity against Aspergillus niger and A. flavus was evaluated. Seven components were identified, representing 95.4% of the oils including methyl chavicol (83.1%), limonene (3.4%), spathulenol (3.1%) and caryophyllene oxide (3.1%). Agar disk diffusion and broth micro-well dilution assays showed that B. subtilis was the most resistant strain against both of the EOs and E. coli was the most sensitive bacteria. Results of both disc diffusion and MIC showed that the EO was more effective against A. flavus than A. niger. Antioxidant activity of A. foeniculum by DPPH and ABTS assays revealed remarkable antioxidant activities of this EO comparing with BHT. Results of current study indicated that A. foeniculum EOs can be used as a food preservative in having antibacterial, antifungal and antioxidant activity for the control of food deterioration

Effect of statins on abdominal aortic aneurysm

Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a prevalent condition which causes progressive growth and rupture of aortic wall with a high death rate. Several studies have found that treatment with statins may decrease the progress of AAA and the risk of rupture by suppressing the inflammatory mediators, decreasing oxidative stress, and inhibiting mechanisms involved in extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation. Moreover, some studies have reported that prehospital therapy with statins can decrease mortality after surgery. The novelty of this paper is that different studies including those performed in humans and animals were reviewed and the potential mechanisms by which statins can have an effect on AAA were summarized. Overall, the evidence suggested an association between treatment with statins and improvement of AAA

Prediction of type 2 diabetes mellitus using hematological factors based on machine learning approaches: a cohort study analysis

Abstract Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) is a significant public health problem globally. The diagnosis and management of diabetes are critical to reduce the diabetes complications including cardiovascular disease and cancer. This study was designed to assess the potential association between T2DM and routinely measured hematological parameters. This study was a subsample of 9000 adults aged 35–65 years recruited as part of Mashhad stroke and heart atherosclerotic disorder (MASHAD) cohort study. Machine learning techniques including logistic regression (LR), decision tree (DT) and bootstrap forest (BF) algorithms were applied to analyze data. All data analyses were performed using SPSS version 22 and SAS JMP Pro version 13 at a significant level of 0.05. Based on the performance indices, the BF model gave high accuracy, precision, specificity, and AUC. Previous studies suggested the positive relationship of triglyceride-glucose (TyG) index with T2DM, so we considered the association of TyG index with hematological factors. We found this association was aligned with their results regarding T2DM, except MCHC. The most effective factors in the BF model were age and WBC (white blood cell). The BF model represented a better performance to predict T2DM. Our model provides valuable information to predict T2DM like age and WBC

Association between biochemical and hematologic factors with COVID-19 using data mining methods

Abstract Background and aim Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease that can spread very rapidly with important public health impacts. The prediction of the important factors related to the patient's infectious diseases is helpful to health care workers. The aim of this research was to select the critical feature of the relationship between demographic, biochemical, and hematological characteristics, in patients with and without COVID-19 infection. Method A total of 13,170 participants in the age range of 35–65 years were recruited. Decision Tree (DT), Logistic Regression (LR), and Bootstrap Forest (BF) techniques were fitted into data. Three models were considered in this study, in model I, the biochemical features, in model II, the hematological features, and in model II, both biochemical and homological features were studied. Results In Model I, the BF, DT, and LR algorithms identified creatine phosphokinase (CPK), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), fasting blood glucose (FBG), total bilirubin, body mass index (BMI), sex, and age, as important predictors for COVID-19. In Model II, our BF, DT, and LR algorithms identified BMI, sex, mean platelet volume (MPV), and age as important predictors. In Model III, our BF, DT, and LR algorithms identified CPK, BMI, MPV, BUN, FBG, sex, creatinine (Cr), age, and total bilirubin as important predictors. Conclusion The proposed BF, DT, and LR models appear to be able to predict and classify infected and non-infected people based on CPK, BUN, BMI, MPV, FBG, Sex, Cr, and Age which had a high association with COVID-19

The potential therapeutic applications of CRISPR/Cas9 in colorectal cancer

The application of the CRISPR-associated nuclease 9 (Cas9) system in tumor studies has led to the discovery of several new treatment strategies for colorectal cancer (CRC), including the recognition of novel target genes, the construction of animal mass models, and the identification of genes related to chemotherapy resistance. CRISPR/Cas9 can be applied to genome therapy for CRC, particularly regarding molecular-targeted medicines and suppressors. This review summarizes some aspects of using CRISPR/Cas9 in treating CRC. Further in-depth and systematic research is required to fully realize the potential of CRISPR/Cas9 in CRC treatment and integrate it into clinical practice

The potential therapeutic applications of CRISPR/Cas9 in colorectal cancer

The application of the CRISPR-associated nuclease 9 (Cas9) system in tumor studies has led to the discovery of several new treatment strategies for colorectal cancer (CRC), including the recognition of novel target genes, the construction of animal mass models, and the identification of genes related to chemotherapy resistance. CRISPR/Cas9 can be applied to genome therapy for CRC, particularly regarding molecular-targeted medicines and suppressors. This review summarizes some aspects of using CRISPR/Cas9 in treating CRC. Further in-depth and systematic research is required to fully realize the potential of CRISPR/Cas9 in CRC treatment and integrate it into clinical practice