Association Analysis of Methylenetetrahydrofolate Reductase Common Gene Polymorphisms with Breast Cancer Risk in an Iranian Population: A Case-Control Study and a Stratified Analysis.

Genetic polymorphisms in the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene may alter the risk of breast cancer. This study aimed to investigate the association of MTHFR C677T and A1298C genetic polymorphisms with breast cancer risk in case-control studies which was followed by stratified analysis. In the case-control study, 300 subjects including 150 women with breast cancer and 150 healthy women were enrolled. After blood sample collection, the C677T and A1298C polymorphisms genotyping were done by the PCR-RFLP method. Our data revealed a significant association between MTHFR C677T and A1298C polymorphisms and breast cancer risk. But, as a preliminary study, stratified analysis revealed no significant association between C677T and A1298C polymorphisms and tumor size and also lymph node metastasis in breast cancer. According to the mentioned findings, the C677T and A1298C polymorphisms in the MTHFR gene could be molecular risk factors for breast cancer in our studied population. However, further studies with larger sample sizes are required to obtain a more accurate conclusion in stratified analysis.
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CDX2 Protein Expression in Colorectal Cancer and ItsCorrelation with Clinical and Pathological Characteristics, Prognosis, and Survival Rate of Patients.

PURPOSE: Caudal-type homeobox transcription factor 2 (CDX2) is expressed in the nucleus of the intestinal epithelial cells and is essential for embryonic formation and differentiation of the intestine, whose reduced expression can result in metastatic tumors. This study was to investigate the association of CDX2 expression level in colorectal cancer (CRC) with age, gender, microscopic histopathology, tumor staging, tumor grading, 3-year survival rate, and prognosis. METHODS: After preparing paraffin tissue blocks, CDX2 protein expression was assayed by immunohistochemistry in 82 CRC patients. Hematoxylin and eosin staining was used to detect tumor histology, tumor grading, tumor staging, and blood-lymphatic, and neural invasion. The collected data includes age, gender, tumor site, and 3-year survival rate of patients after diagnosis. RESULTS: The CDX2 expression was significantly higher in men than in women, and it was significantly lower in right-sided tumors as in transverse colon and left-sided tumors. Also, the CDX2 expression was significantly higher in adenocarcinoma than in mucinous. In addition, a significant correlation was found between downregulated CDX2 and lymph node involvement. In tumor grading, there was a significant correlation between CDX2 downregulation and high-grade tumor. Moreover, there was a significant correlation between downregulated CDX2 expression and overall pathological staging. CONCLUSION: The downregulated CDX2 expression is associated with female gender, right-sided tumors, mucinous tumors, lymph node involvement, high-grade tumor, and advanced overall pathological staging and can be considered as a possible prognostic factor for patients follow-up. However, our study is a preliminary study and further studies with larger sample sizes in different ethnic groups are required.

Association of Some High-Risk Mucosal Types of Human Papillomavirus with Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma in an Iranian Population.

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is the second most common non-melanoma skin cancer that may be caused by Human papillomavirus (HPV), especially in immunosuppressed patients. However, the role of the mucosal types of HPV in SCC patients with normal immunity has not been extensively confirmed. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of some high-risk mucosal types of HPV with cutaneous SCC in an Iranian population. METHODS: Sixty-five formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue specimens with a diagnosis of cutaneous SCC as the case group and sixty-five healthy skin specimens as the control group were included in our case-control study. Genomic DNA was extracted from tissue samples and then PCR was used for the detection of HPV genotypes by a commercial kit. RESULTS: Our data revealed that 6 out of 65 SCC samples (9.2%) were infected by high-risk mucosal types of HPV whereas none of the 65 control samples were infected by the mentioned HPVs. Statistical analysis showed a significant association between these types of HPV infection and SCC risk in our studied population (P=0.028). CONCLUSION: These findings suggested that some high-risk mucosal types of HPV are significant risk factors for cutaneous SCC.

Comparison of the diagnostic value of the visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) and Pap smear in cervical cancer screening.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to compare the diagnostic value of VIA with Pap smear in screening for cervical cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 440 women who had eligibility criteria, in Kashan city were assessed. All women underwent Pap smear test and then a visual inspection with acetic acid and colposcopy-biopsy (Gold Standard). Then, the diagnostic value indices including the specificity, sensitivity, positive and negative predictive values for the results of VIA and Pap smear were analyzed by SPSS V16 software. RESULTS: Finding showed that 29.9% of women had abnormal Pap smear. The false positive rate of Pap smear was 40.2%, and its false negative rate was 37.4%. For VIA, the false positive and false negative rates were 21.2% and 4.6%. The sensitivity, specificity, NPV and PPV of Pap smear was 29.7%, 85.5%, 59.8%, 62.6%, and these values for VIA was 94.6%, 81.6%, 78.8%, 95.4% respectively. Combination of Pap smear and VIA showed the sensitivity of 97.3% and 100% in low grade and high grade cervical lesions. CONCLUSION: VIA has a higher sensitivity than Pap smear in detection of low and high grade cervical lesions, however, its specificity is less than Pap smears. Therefore it is recommended to use of VIA along with Pap smear to reach a higher sensitivity.

Frequency of Circulatory Regulatory Immune Cells in Iranian Patients with Type 1 Diabetes.

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is the result of the autoimmune destruction of insulin-producing beta cells. Regulatory T cells (Tregs) and plasmacytoid dendritic cells (PDCs) act as mediators of peripheral tolerance. We investigated the possible alterations of such cells in peripheral blood of patients with T1D compared to normal individuals. This comparison may lead to a better understanding of the immunopathogenesis processes involved in T1D. 92 participants, including 49 patients with T1D and 43 healthy controls were studied. 3 mL of blood was taken from all participants. After isolating peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), PDCs as well as 2 subtypes of Tregs, CD4+CD25+FoxP3+ and CD8+CD28- cells were counted by 3-colorflow cytometry. The association between such enumeration and T1D was studied by multivariate regression and discriminate function models. The frequency of CD4+CD25+FoxP3+Tregs (p=0.038) and PDCs (p=0.039) in the peripheral blood of diabetic patients was less than that in healthy subjects. Having compared some models consisting different cells as well as their combinations, we did not find any profound explanation of each subset or their combinations to identify T1D. The decrease of CD4+CD25+FoxP3+cells and PDCs in diabetic patients may suggest their role in the onset or development of the disease. Therefore, it is likely that their pharmacologic stimulation may direct immune responses towards tolerance and prevent the development or even the onset of diabetes in susceptible individuals.

Surveying on the biologic behaviors of Hemiscorpius lepturus Peters 1861, scorpion in laboratory (Khuzestan, Iran) (Scorpions: Hemiscorpiidae).

This descriptive research was conducted so as to find and distinguish the sex of H. lepturus based on 107 dead specimens in the 70% ethyl alcohol and exact decision on their species using a criterion considering all morphological parameters and by the use of stereo microscope. Their biologic behaviors, 50 H. lepturus specimens which were fed and kept alive in capped bottles were studies while their way of shedding and number of newly-born young were also investigated under laboratory conditions in the process. The research revealed that in 107 H. lepturus specimens, 27 specimens (23%) were male and 80 ones (77%) were female. The results gained from 50 scorpions kept in the laboratory showed that only 10 cases (20%) had shed. Duration of emergence varies in each young from 10-20 min and delivery lasts approximately for 4-6 h. The average number of the young born was 24.3 in each delivery. It was concluded that the time of delivery and shedding in H lepturus is definitely fixed during the year and the number ofpectine denticles and length of the tail can be used to differentiate male and female H. lepturus.