Low vitamin D level increases women's breast cancer risks, Sulaimaniyah, Iraq: A case-control study.

Vitamin D (Vit D) is essential in maintaining calcium homeostasis and other body processes. It has been widely studied how Vit D affects cell cycle pathways and how it affects the development and prevention of breast cancer (BC). This study aimed to determine Vit D insufficiency linkage to the development of BC. In this case-control study, 130 women (65 BC patients and 65 healthy controls) aged 20-60 years who visited Shar Hospital Breast Center in Sulaimaniyah, Iraq, from December 2021 to May 2022 were included. Patients were selected after their diagnosis had been verified by breast ultrasound, mammography, and core biopsy. The ELISA test was used to measure the concentrations of serum Vit D and expressed in ng/ml. The results showed that the BC patients had considerably lower serum Vit D levels that were <20 ng/L in 66.1% (n=43) and 43.1% (n=28) in healthy controls. Compared to the control group (20.2±8.7), the mean Vit D level in BC patients was lower (17.8±8.6). A logistic regression test revealed a substantial increase in the risk of BC for low-level Vit D concentrations below 20 ng/L (OR 2.59, 95% CI 1.24-5.38; P=0.009). Vit D is still a significant risk factor for boosting the likelihood of developing BC after age and body mass index (BMI) adjustments (AOR 2.30, 95% CI 1.1-4.86; p=0.03 and AOR 3.67, 95% CI 1.55-8.7; p=0.002 for BC patients and controls, respectively). According to the outcomes of our investigations, we concluded that Vit D insufficiency raises the risk of BC among women in Sulaimaniyah, Iraq.

Genetic characterization of hepatitis B virus genotypes among patients with chronic infection in Sulaimaniyah city, Iraq.

Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotypes are distributed unevenly throughout the world's regions. The researchers' goal in this study was to find out which HBV genotypes are now prevalent in the blood of chronic HBV patients in Iraq's Kurdistan Region's Sulaimaniyah governorate. Methods: Genotyping was carried out utilizing Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) type-specified primers. Thirty-three chronic HBV patients were included in the HBV genotyping assay. Phylogenic trees of Pre-S1/Pre S2/S genes' nucleotide sequences were constructed using 36 HBV isolates. Results: All the patients had HBV genotype D. Additionally, two samples were further analyzed by sequencing and deposited in GenBank as HBV/Sul-1/2021 accession numbers MZ077051 and HBV/Sul-2/2021 accession numbers MZ077052. Phylogenic analysis indicated that the HBV isolates belong to sub-genotype D1/serotype ayw2. The HBV/Sul-2/2021 had two sequence deletion mutations from G61del-T87del, which accounted for 27 amino acid deletions, and ten other mutations were identified in the carboxylic terminus of the pre-S1 from Q104del-R113del. Accordingly, 37 amino acids were deleted in the S promoter region. Several other substitution mutations were recorded in both HBV isolates. Conclusion: Patients with chronic HBV were found to have the HBV sub-genotype D1/subtype ayw2 with no mixed genotypes. HBV/Sul-1/2022, a new strain with a 37-amino acid mutation, was found to be distinct from any previously known HBV isolates.

Immunohistochemical evaluation of salivary gland tumors differentiation and proliferation by using calponin and telomerase.

BACKGROUND: Salivary gland tumors are a heterogeneous group of lesions with diverse histological features. Hence they are considered as a diagnostic challenge for the pathologist. Myoepithelial cells are considered as a key in the morphogenetic process, with diverse differentiation in various salivary gland tumors. Calponin is an actin filament- associated protein that represents a sensitive marker of myoepithelial cells. Telomerase is a ribonucleoprotein that adds telomere repeats at the end of chromosomes in order to prevent replicative senescence. It has a key role in cellular immortality and tumorgenesis of various tumors. This study evaluates the immunohistochemical expression of calponin and telomerase in various salivary gland tumors. METHODS: This retrospective study involved 30 formalin fixed paraffin embedded blocks of salivary gland tumors. The immunohistochemical staining and evaluation of subcellular localization, pattern, intensity, and distribution for calponin and immune scoring for telomerase were done. The statistical analyses of data were conducted by Chi-square and ANOVA-test, a P-value of <0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: Calponin showed expression at the periphery of acini and intercalated ducts in the normal salivary gland. It revealed cytoplasmic expression in 83.3% of benign tumors. The pleomorphic adenoma showed a diffuse pattern of staining (85.7%), strong intensity (64.3%), and mixed distributions (57.1%). The diffuse pattern of calponin was seen in all cases of mucoepidermoid, polymorphous low-grade adenocarcinoma and epithelial-myoepithelial carcinoma (100%). Telomerase revealed negative expression in the normal salivary gland. Pleomorphic adenoma illustrated high telomerase expression in score 2 and score 3 (93.3%). Telomerase immune scoring is significantly related to the benign tumors as P value was 0.03. Both polymorphous low grade and epithelial-myoepithelial carcinoma were detected only in score 3. Finally, the mean level of telomerase activity was slightly higher in malignant tumors than benign ones with non-significant relation as P value was 0.6. CONCLUSIONS: Calponin showed high diffuse staining with altered distribution in salivary gland tumors, which might give an additional role for this marker in the identification of luminal immuno-modified neoplastic cells. Telomerase is considered as a useful marker in identifying proliferation capacity of salivary gland tumors and is remarkably more detected in malignant salivary gland tumors.