Cancer stem cells: Recent trends in cancer therapy.

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are a subset of tumor cells that were first identified in blood cancers (leukemia) and are considered promising therapeutic targets in cancer treatment. These cells are the cause of many malignancies including metastasis, heterogeneity, drug resistance, and tumor recurrence. They carry out these activities through multiple transcriptional programs and signaling pathways. This review summarizes the characteristics of cancer stem cells, explains their key signaling pathways and factors, and discusses targeted therapies for cancer stem cells. Investigating these mechanisms and signaling pathways responsible for treatment failure may help identify new therapeutic pathways in cancer.

Exosomes as modulators of embryo implantation.

Exosomes, known as extracellular vehicles (EVs), are found in biological fluids. They have the capability to carry and transfer signaling molecules, such as nucleic acids and proteins, facilitating intercellular communication and regulating the gene expression profile in target cells. EVs have the potential to be used as biomarkers in diagnosis, prognosis and also as feasible therapeutic targets. The available evidence suggests that exosomes play critical roles in the reproductive system, particularly during implantation, which is widely recognized as a crucial step in early pregnancy. A proper molecular dialogue between a high-quality embryo and a receptive endometrium is essential for the establishment of a normal pregnancy. This review focuses on the key role of exosomes originated from various sources, including the embryo, seminal fluid, and uterus fluid, based on the available evidence. It explores their potential applications as a novel approach in assisted reproductive technologies (ART).

Investigating the association of acute kidney injury (AKI) with COVID-19 mortality using data-mining scheme.

COVID-19 has caused significant challenges in kidney research and disease management. Data mining techniques such as logistic regression (LR) and decision tree (DT) were used to model data. All analyses were performed using SPSS 25 and Python 3. The incidence of acute kidney injury (AKI) was 14.1% and the overall mortality risk was 13% among COVID-19 patients. The mortality was associated with, AKI, age, marital status, smoking status, heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, malignancy, and SPO2 level using LR. The accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and area under the curve of the DT (and LR) classifier were 70% (85%), 73% (75%), 78% (79%), and 77% (81%), respectively. Based on the DT model, the variable most significantly associated with COVID-19 mortality was AKI followed by age, high WBC count, BMI, and lymphocyte count. It was concluded that the incidence of AKI was high, and AKI was identified as one of the important factors that played an effective role in mortality due to COVID-19.

The effect of minimally invasive suturectomy with postoperative cranial remolding orthotic treatment for an infant with bilateral coronal craniosynostosis.

Minimally invasive suturectomy has been reported to significantly decrease the economic cost of treating infants with craniosynostosis. Nonetheless, treatment should be accompanied by a cranial remolding orthosis to maintain the constant correction and reshaping of the skull throughout the infant's development.

FunQG: Molecular Representation Learning via Quotient Graphs.

To accurately predict molecular properties, it is important to learn expressive molecular representations. Graph neural networks (GNNs) have made significant advances in this area, but they often face limitations like neighbors-explosion, under-reaching, oversmoothing, and oversquashing. Additionally, GNNs tend to have high computational costs due to their large number of parameters. These limitations emerge or increase when dealing with larger graphs or deeper GNN models. One potential solution is to simplify the molecular graph into a smaller, richer, and more informative one that is easier to train GNNs. Our proposed molecular graph coarsening framework called FunQG, uses Functional groups as building blocks to determine a molecule's properties, based on a graph-theoretic concept called Quotient Graph. We show through experiments that the resulting informative graphs are much smaller than the original molecular graphs and are thus more suitable for training GNNs. We apply FunQG to popular molecular property prediction benchmarks and compare the performance of popular baseline GNNs on the resulting data sets to that of state-of-the-art baselines on the original data sets. Our experiments demonstrate that FunQG yields notable results on various data sets while dramatically reducing the number of parameters and computational costs. By utilizing functional groups, we can achieve an interpretable framework that indicates their significant role in determining the properties of molecular quotient graphs. Consequently, FunQG is a straightforward, computationally efficient, and generalizable solution for addressing the molecular representation learning problem.

Identification of Critical Molecular Factors and Side Effects Underlying the Response to Thalicthuberine in Prostate Cancer: A Systems Biology Approach.

Background: Uncontrolled mitosis of cancer cells and resistance cells to chemotherapy drugs are the challenges of prostate cancer. Thalicthuberine causes a mitotic arrest and a reduction of the effects of drug resistance, resulting in cell death. In this study, we applied bioinformatics and computational biology methods to identify functional pathways and side effects in response to Thalicthuberine in prostate cancer patients. Methods: Microarray data were retrieved from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO), and protein-protein interactions and gene regulatory networks were constructed, using the Cytoscape software. The critical genes and molecular mechanisms in response to Thalicthuberine and its side effects were identified, using the Cytoscape software and WebGestalt server, respectively. Finally, GEPIA2 was used to predict the relationship between critical genes and prostate cancer. Results: The POLQ, EGR1, CDKN1A, FOS, MDM2, CDC20, CCNB1, and CCNB2 were identified as critical genes in response to this drug. The functional mechanisms of Thalicthuberine include a response to oxygen levels, toxic substances and immobilization stress, cell cycle regulation, regeneration, the p53 signaling pathway, the action of the parathyroid hormone, and the FoxO signaling pathway. Besides, the drug has side effects including muscle cramping, abdominal pains, paresthesia, and metabolic diseases. Conclusion: Our model suggested newly predicted crucial genes, molecular mechanisms, and possible side effects of this drug. However, further studies are required.

Antiviral Potential of Melissa officinalis L.: A Literature Review.

The use of synthetic drugs has increased in recent years; however, herbal medicine is yet more trusted among a huge population worldwide; This could be due to minimal side effects, affordable prices, and traditional beliefs. Lemongrass (Melissa officinalis) has been widely used for reducing stress and anxiety, increasing appetite and sleep, reducing pain, healing wounds, and treating poisonous insect bites and bee stings for a long time. Today, research has shown that this plant can also fight viruses including Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV), and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) through various mechanisms such as inhibiting HSV-1 from binding to host cell, inhibiting HSV-1 replication during the post-adsorption or inhibiting main protease and spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, furthermore, be effective in treating related diseases. This Review investigated the antiviral properties of Melissa officinalis and its effect on viral diseases. More in vitro and in vivo studies are needed to determine Melissa officinaliss underlying mechanism, and more randomized controlled trials should be done to identify its effect in humans. Also, due to the usefulness and lack of side effects, it can be used more as a complementary medicine.

Interleukin-12 Plasmid DNA Delivery by N-[(2-Hydroxy-3-trimethylammonium)propyl]chitosan-Based Nanoparticles.

Cationic polysaccharides are capable of forming polyplexes with nucleic acids and are considered promising polymeric gene carriers. The objective of this study was to evaluate the transfection efficiency and cytotoxicity of N-[(2-hydroxy-3-trimethylammonium)propyl] chitosan salt (HTCS), a quaternary ammonium derivative of chitosan (CS), which benefits from non-ionizable positive charges. In this work, HTCS with a full quaternization of amino groups and a molar mass of 130,000 g·mol-1 was synthesized to use for delivery of a plasmid encoding the interleukin-12 (IL-12) gene. Thus, a polyplex based on HTCS and the IL-12 plasmid was prepared and then was characterized in terms of particle size, zeta potential, plasmid condensation ability, and protection of the plasmid against enzymatic degradation. We showed that HTCS was able to condense the IL-12 plasmid by the formation of polyplexes in the range of 74.5 ± 0.75 nm. The level of hIL-12 production following the transfection of the cells with HTCS polyplexes at a C/P ratio of 8:1 was around 4.8- and 2.2-fold higher than with CS and polyethylenimine polyplexes, respectively. These findings highlight the role of HTCS in the formation of polyplexes for the efficient delivery of plasmid DNA.

First report of root-lesion nematode, Pratylenchus oleae from pistachio in Iran.

Pistachio, Pistacia vera is one of the most important cash crops in Iran that is scattered in arid and semi-arid regions. During a survey of plant-parasitic nematodes of pistachio in Ardakan city in Yazd Province, a species of root-lesion nematode was isolated and identified by morphological, morphometrical, and molecular methods as Pratylenchus oleae Palomares-Rius et al., 2014. This species was isolated from several pistachio trees rhizosphere regarding to molecular analysis, D2-D3 expansion segments of 28S rRNA was amplified by PCR and sequenced. The sequence was deposited in GenBank (Accession No. MW338666). Along with the related phylogenetic analysis, placed this species in a monophyletic clade with other Pratylenchus oleae isolates, based on Bayesian inference (BI) phylogeny. A PCR reaction with the P. oleae specific primer set produced a 547 bp fragment. This is the first report of P. oleae infecting Pistachio tree in the world.

Cranial remolding orthosis for postoperative management of bilateral lambdoid and sagittal synostosis: A case report.

CASE DESCRIPTION: This is a report of a 2.5-month-old infant with bilateral lambdoid and sagittal synostosis who underwent minimally invasive suturectomy followed by cranial remolding orthosis (CRO). OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the result of minimally invasive suturectomy followed by CRO treatment in an infant with bilateral lambdoid and sagittal synostosis. STUDY DESIGN: This is a case report. TREATMENT: We fabricated the orthosis based on a computer-aided design and with computer-aided manufacturing technology. Cranial remolding orthosis compliance was measured subjectively. The child's parents were asked to complete a survey using visual analog scales to assess their satisfaction of their child's head appearance, problems with donning/doffing the orthosis, and feedback received from other people. OUTCOMES: At the time of fitting, the posterior skull hemisphere volume was 389.4 cm3. The values of cephalic index and cranial vault asymmetry index (CVAI) were 81% and 5%, respectively. After 6 months of CRO treatment, the cephalic index and CVAI were 83% and 1.5%, respectively. Moreover, the posterior skull hemisphere volume was 589.2 cm3. Average compliance with CRO wear was 88%. According to the parental questionnaire results, pressure sores occurred 0% of the time, displacement occurred 15% of the time, contact dermatitis occurred 10% of the time, problems with donning/doffing of the orthosis occurred 27% of the time, difficulties in breastfeeding occurred 30% of the time, negative feedback from other people upset them 55% of the time, and they were 100% satisfied with treatment. CONCLUSIONS: After 6 months of using CRO, the CVAI and skull volume improved and reached their normal proportions. Our results may help ongoing research and clinical care regarding the role of postoperative CRO treatment in patients with complex synostosis.

Application of magnetic ion imprinted polymers for simultaneous quantification of Al3+ and Be2+ ions using the mean centering of ratio spectra method.

Magnetic solid-phase extraction (MSPE) coupled with the spectrophotometric method for the simultaneous quantification of aluminum and beryllium ions based on mean centering of ratio (MCR) method is reported in the current work, for the first time. Two new magnetic ion-imprinted polymers (MIIPs) were synthesized using Chrome Azurol S as the ligand, (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (APTES) as the functional monomer, tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) as the cross-linker, and aluminum and beryllium ions as the templates, and used as magnetic sorbents. The characteristic properties of MIIPs were investigated using FT-IR spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), low angle X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), and energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS). Through this study, factors influencing the MSPE were studied and optimized. The proposed method exhibited good performance, with the linearity of 5.0-50.0 ng mL-1 for aluminum ion and 2.0-40.0 ng mL-1 for beryllium ion as well as the detection limits (DLs) of 3.2 and 0.9 ng mL-1 for aluminum and beryllium ions, respectively. At the end of the study, the capability of the developed method for determination of target analytes was evaluated by its application in the tap and river water samples.

Studying of the adsorption and diffusion behaviors of methane on graphene oxide by molecular dynamics simulation.

In this work, the sorption and diffusion behaviors of the methane on graphene oxide (GO) were investigated by molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. The sorption isotherms at different temperatures were calculated using the Grand Canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) method and using the Langmuir adsorption model to fit those isotherms. To investigate the effect of the number of graphene oxide layers on the adsorption process, methane adsorption isotherms were calculated for graphene oxide with 1, 2, and 3 layers. The adsorption parameters including Langmuir adsorption constant, the entropy and the enthalpy of adsorption, collision flux, the rate of adsorption, and the rate of desorption were investigated in this work. The highest amount of adsorption calculated is related to graphene oxide three layers. The methane diffusion coefficients and diffusion activation energies were estimated at different temperatures by MD simulation coupled with Einstein relationship. The maximum diffusion coefficient calculated of methane at 348 K was 49 × 10-10 m2/s.

Evaluation of the Epigenetic Demethylation of NRF2, a Master Transcription Factor for Antioxidant Enzymes, in Colorectal Cancer.

BACKGROUND: Epigenetic changes in CpG islands of the promoter regions of homeostasis-related genes, including nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (NRF2), have been shown to hold a significant role in the development of colorectal cancer. Therefore, we aimed to examine the DNA demethylation pattern of the NRF2 promoter region in cancerous lesions from patients with colorectal cancer and the association of methylation status with clinicopathological features in the Iranian population. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 114 colorectal tissue samples were collected. These samples included: 34 tumour tissue samples, 60 precancerous polyps, and 20 normal tissue samples. The promoter methylation status of the NRF2 gene was examined using methylation-specific PCR. Additionally, the relationship between the methylation status and the clinicopathological features was investigated. RESULTS: The frequency of NRF2 demethylation in the tumour samples was significantly higher compared to the polyp tissues (p= 0.003) and normal tissue (p= 0.009), indicating that cancerous colorectal tissues exhibit increased demethylation of the NRF2 promoter. After examining the demethylation status of tissue samples, the clinicopathological features were compared to the demethylation results. No significant association was found between NRF2 promoter demethylation and the clinicopathological features of patient samples. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that the epigenetic modifications leading to NRF2 demethylation found in colorectal tumour samples may contribute to cancer progression from precancerous polyps to cancerous lesions.

The relationship between the duration of menstrual bleeding and obesity-related anthropometric indices in students.

BACKGROUND: Many women of childbearing age suffer from problems such as dysmenorrhea and irregular menstruation. OBJECTIVES: The objective of the study is to determine the relationship between the duration of menstrual bleeding and obesity-related anthropometric indices in students. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was carried out on 250 students in 2016. Data were collected by a questionnaire composed of: 1) demographic information, 2) information concerning menstrual cycle and 3) obesity-related anthropometric parameters. Anthropometric parameters include height, weight, waist circumference, hip circumference, and arm circumference. Independent t-test, Pearson correlation coefficient, and multiple linear regressions with backward strategy were used. RESULTS: The average age of students was 21/295 (±1/585) years. For most participants, the duration of menstrual bleeding was 3-7 days (87/2%, 218 people). None of the participants had menstrual bleeding <3 days, and the duration of bleeding was >7 days for 32 participants (12/800%). A significant relationship was observed between the intervals of menstruation and the waist-to-hip ratio (r = 0/136, P < 0/041). Based on multiple linear regression, hip circumference and waist-to-weight, hip-to-waist, arm-to-weight, hip-to-thigh, and arm-to-height ratios are predictors for menstrual duration. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, a significant association was found between the anthropometric indices and menstrual characteristics. These findings suggest the need for modifying anthropometric indicators to control menstrual cycle problems.

Clinical Correlation of miR-200c/141 Cluster DNA Methylation and miR-141 Expression with the Clinicopathological Features of Colorectal Primary Lesions/Tumors.

BACKGROUND: Abnormal DNA methylation leading to altered transcription of certain genes occurs frequently in colorectal cancer (CRC). As with protein-coding genes, microRNAs (miRNAs) may be targeted for methylation in CRC; however, the methylation state of miRNA genes in CRC, especially in primary lesions, has not yet been completely elucidated. To understand the impact of DNA methylation on the miR-200c/141 cluster promoter, we investigated the methylation and expression of miR-141 in precancerous lesions and colorectal cancer. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 208 colorectal tissue samples, including 34 tumor tissue samples, 60 precancerous lesions with matched normal adjacent tissues, and 20 normal tissue samples, were collected. Promoter methylation of the miR-200c/141 cluster was studied using methylation-specific PCR. MiR-141 expression was examined using quantitative real-time PCR. RESULTS: Our findings showed that the miR-200c/141 cluster promoter region was most frequently hypermethylated in colorectal tumors and adenomatous polyps, but unmethylated in hyperplastic polyp tissues (P < 0.001). DNA methylation of the miR-200c/141 cluster and the tumor stage were significantly correlated (P = 0.002); however, miR-141 expression difference between the tumor and polyp samples was not significant (p = 0.6). CONCLUSION: The DNA methylation status of the miR-200c/141 cluster could serve as a progression marker from benign polyps to colorectal cancer.

Description of Cryptaphelenchus iranicus n. sp. (Nematoda: Ektaphelenchinae) recovered from bark samples of Pinus nigra from Iran.

Cryptaphelenchus iranicus n. sp., recovered from bark and wood samples of a weakened Pinus nigra in Kermanshah Province, western Iran, is described. The new species has females with body length of 250-330 µm and males 230-275 µm long, lip region set-off from body contour, 7-8 µm long stylet with small basal swellings, excretory pore located at 1.5-2.0 body diam. posterior to median bulb, post-vulval uterine sac short, 7-10 µm long and conical female posterior body end (tail) ending to a pointed tip. Males of the new species have seven (1+2+2+2) caudal papillae and a short mucro at tail tip. Based on morphological characters, the new species is close to C. cirrus, C. latus and C. leptocaudus. Phylogenetic analyses using the D2/D3 fragment of 28S rDNA show the new species forming a clade with other Cryptaphelenchus species with maximal (1.00) Bayesian posterior probability (BPP) in Bayesian inference and 100% bootstrap value (BS) in the maximum likelihood method. The Cryptaphelenchus clade forms a monophyletic group with members of subfamily Ektaphelenchinae.

First Report of Korean Cyst Nematode, Heterodera koreana, Parasitic on Bamboo, Phyllostachys nigra, from Iran.

Bamboo is grown sporadically in the north of Iran and is confined to very limited areas. The history of growing bamboo was to some extent simultaneous with the entrance, commencement, and growth of the tea industry in the north about a century ago. The bamboo was used for making baskets to transfer the harvested tea foliage from farm to the factory and other linked functions. A main area allocated for bamboo growing is located in Lahidjan Agricultural Research Station (LARS) in the north of Iran, where several species of bamboo were cultivated in an area of 5 ha. The species include five species of Phyllostachys (viz., P. aurea, P. bambusoides, P. decora, P. nigra, P. vivax) and one species of Arundinaria gigantean, Pleioblastus fortune, and Semiarundinaria fastuosa; however, only P. aurea and P. nigra have been precisely identified. A survey on plant parasitic nematodes associated with bamboo mainly on P. nigra in LARS revealed second-stage juveniles of cyst forming nematode in soil samples. Further analysis of root and soil samples led to recovery of a cyst nematode belonging to the genus Heterodera and the Afenestrata group. Cysts, vulval cone, and second-stage juveniles were studied for morphological and morphometric features. The classical identification was followed by amplification of the ribosomal RNA-ITS region and the D2-D3 expansion segments of 28S large-subunit rRNA gene; the amplified fragments were sequenced, edited, and compared with those of the corresponding published gene sequences. New D2-D3 and rRNA-ITS gene sequences were deposited in the GenBank database under the accession numbers KR818910 and KR818911, respectively. Based on the morphological and molecular data, the species of the cyst-forming nematode was identified as H. koreana (Vovlas et al., 1992; Mundo-Ocampo et al., 2008). The body contour of cysts was mainly subspherical, vey often with irregular shape (Fig. 1A), yellowish to light brown, thin cuticle with fine zigzag pattern, without fenestration, lacking bulla, and underbridge. Vulval lips protruded, cuticular pattern of vulval cone with a tuberculate area (Fig. 2B), and vagina embedded into vulval lips. The second-stage juveniles cylindrical and slender, hemispherical cephalic framework, with three lines in lateral field, well-developed rounded stylet knobs, tail conoid tapring to fine rounded terminus, phasmids posterior to anus. The cyst measurements were (n = 21) length 502 ± 70 (420 to 640) µm; width = 408 ± 60 (320 to 520) µm; length/width = 1.23 ± 0.09 (1.07 to 1.5) µm. The morphometric characters of vulval cone were measured (n = 7): fenestral length = 62.4 ± 6.5 (51 to 71) µm; fenestral width = 50.7 ± 3.2 (45 to 54) µm; vulval slit = 51.9 ± 4.3 (46 to 59) µm; distance from vulva to anus = 51.3 ± 4.4 (43 to 56) µm. Second-stage juveniles showed the following morphometric characters (n = 14): L = 455 ± 11.3 (437 to 472) µm; a = 29.9 ± 0.9 (28.3 to 31.5); b΄ = 2.7 ± 0.4 (2.2 to 3.5); c = 7.4 ± 0.9 (6 to 8.9); c = 6.1 ± 0.4 (5.1 to 6.7); lip region height = 3 µm; lip region width = 7.5 ± 0.5 (7 to 8) µm; stylet length = 18.1 ± 0.5 (17 to 19) µm; anterior end to median bulb = 72.2 ± 1.7 (70 to 75) µm; anterior end to secretory-excretory pore = 99.7 ± 2.5 (96 to 103) µm; maximum body width = 15.2 ± 0.4 (15 to 16) µm; body width at anus = 10.1 ± 1 (8 to 11) µm; tail length = 62.0 ± 6.9 (51 to 74) µm; hyaline part of tail = 44.0 ± 1.8 (40 to 47) µm. The egg measurements for 11 individuals were length = 102.5 ± 7.9 (93 to 119) µm; width = 39.3 ± 4.2 (33 to 46) µm; length/width = 2.6 ± 0.3 (2.0 to 3.1). The morphology, morphometric characters and molecular data of the population of H. koreana isolated from bamboo in Iran are in agreement with those previously reported for this species (Vovlas et al., 1992; Mundo-Ocampo et al., 2008). At present, five species of Heterodera belonging to the Cyperi and Afenestrata groups were reported from bamboo, H. bamboosi (Kaushal and Swarup, 1988; Wouts and Baldwin, 1998) on Bambusa sp. from India; H. koreana on P. pubescence, P. aurea, and P. nigra from South Korea and the United States; and H. hainanensis (Zhuo et al., 2013), H. fengi (Wang et al., 2013), and H. guangdongensis (Zhuo et al., 2014) on P. pubescence from China; thus showing host suitability of bamboo for at least five species of cyst-forming nematodes. A greenhouse test performed by planting rice seed cv. Hashemi in soil containing H. koreana showed successful multiplication of Korean cyst nematode on rice seedlings after 2 mon. The exact date of the establishment of bamboo plantation in LARS is not precisely clear, but it indicates that the Korean cyst nematode was most likely brought with the imported bamboo seedlings from unknown origin several decades ago. According to our best knowledge, this is the first report of occurrence of H. koreana from Iran. So far the Korean cyst nematode was reported from South Korea, Thailand, and the United States, Florida (from nurseries); this study includes the distribution of this cyst-forming nematode in Iran and expands the information of the occurrence of H. koreana for the world.

Isolation of different species of Candida in patients with vulvovaginal candidiasis from sari, iran.

BACKGROUND: Vulvovaginal Candidiasis (VVC) is a frequent, complex and cumbersome condition that can cause physical and psychological distress for the involved individual. Candida albicans was reported as the most common agent of VVC yet it seems that we are recently encountering changes in the pattern of Candida species in VVC. OBJECTIVES: In this study we assessed different species of Candida isolated from patients with VVC, residing in Sari, Iran. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Two hundred and thirty-four patients with vulvovaginitis were enrolled in this study. Samples were collected by a wet swab. Each vaginal swab was examined microscopically and processed for fungal culture. The identification of Candida species was done by morphological and physiological methods such as culture on CHROMagar Candida media and sugar assimilation test with the HiCandida identification kit (HiMedia, Mumbai, India). RESULTS: Out of 234 patients with vulvovaginitis, 66 (28.2%) patients showed VVC. Of these patients, 16 (24.2%) had recurrent VVC (RVVC). The age group of 20 - 29 year-olds had the highest frequency of VVC (48.5%). Erythema concomitant with itching (40.9%) was the most prevalent sign in VVC patients. Fifty-seven (86.4%) of the collected samples had positive results from both microscopic examination and culture. In total, 73 colonies of Candida spp. were isolated from 66 patients with VVC. The most common identified species of Candida were C. albicans (42.5%), C. glabrata (21.9%) and C. dubliniensis (16.4%). In patients with RVVC and patients without recurrence, C. albicans and non-albicans species of Candida were frequent species, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The results of our study showed that non-albicans species of Candida are more frequent than C. albicans in patients with VVC. This result is in line with some recent studies indicating that non-albicans species of Candida must be considered in gynecology clinics due to the reported azole resistance in these species.