Mediastinal malignant rhabdoid tumor in an infant: A rare case report.

Mediastinal malignant rhabdoid tumor (MRT) is an exceedingly rare and aggressive neoplasm, particularly uncommon in infants. We present the case of a previously healthy 7-month-old male infant with mediastinal MRT. The patient initially presented with left eyelid ptosis and was otherwise asymptomatic. Initial investigations, including brain MRI, yielded unremarkable results, and the infant was discharged with vitamin B supplements. However, he was readmitted a week later with prolonged fever, poor feeding, diarrhea, and respiratory distress. Despite an initial diagnosis of bronchiolitis/viral respiratory tract infection, the patient's condition rapidly deteriorated. Subsequent evaluation revealed mediastinal MRT as the underlying cause. This case underscores the diagnostic challenges associated with mediastinal MRT in infants and highlights the importance of considering rare neoplastic etiologies in atypical clinical presentations.

Natural STAT3 inhibitors for cancer treatment: A Comprehensive Literature Review.

Cancer is one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity worldwide, affecting millions of people physically and financially every year. Over time, many anticancer treatments have been proposed and studied, including synthetic compound consumption, surgical procedures, or grueling chemotherapy. Although these treatments have improved the daily life quality of patients and increased their survival rate and life expectancy, they have also shown significant drawbacks, including staggering costs, multiple side effects, and difficulty in compliance and adherence to treatment. Therefore, natural compounds have been considered a possible key to overcoming these problems in recent years, and thorough research has been done to assess their effectiveness. In these studies, scientists have discovered a meaningful interaction between several natural materials and signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 molecules. STAT3 is a transcriptional protein that is vital for cell growth and survival. Mechanistic studies have established that activated STAT3 can increase cancer cell proliferation and invasion while reducing anticancer immunity. Thus, inhibiting STAT3 signaling by natural compounds has become one of the favorite research topics and an attractive target for developing novel cancer treatments. In the present article, we intend to comprehensively review the latest knowledge about the effects of various organic compounds on inhibiting the STAT3 signaling pathway to cure different cancer diseases.

The effect of cranberry supplementation on Helicobacter pylori eradication in H. pylori positive subjects: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.

Helicobacter pylori infection is one of the most common chronic bacterial infections. Cranberry has been suggested for H. pylori eradication. We aimed to conduct the first meta-analysis to summarise current evidence on effects of cranberry supplementation on H. pylori eradication in H. pylori positive subjects. We searched the online databases up to December 2020. Four randomised clinical trials (RCT) were included with human subjects, investigating the effect of cranberry on H. pylori eradication. The pooled results were expressed as the OR with 95 % CI. Based on five effect sizes with a total sample size of 1935 individuals, we found that according to the OR, there was a positive effect of cranberry supplementation on H. pylori eradication, increasing the chance of H. pylori eradication by 1·27 times, but this relationship was not statistically significant (overall OR: 1·27; 95 % CI 0·63, 2·58). The results also indicated the moderate between-study heterogeneity (I2 = 63·40 %; P = 0·03) of the studies. However, there were no significant differences in some subgroup analyses in the duration of treatment, the duration of follow-up and the Jadad score. Our findings revealed that although cranberry had a positive effect on H. pylori eradication in adults, this effect was not statistically significant. Due to the small number of included studies and moderate heterogeneities, the potential of cranberry supplementation on H. pylori eradication should be validated in large, multicentre and well-designed RCT in the future.

Evaluation of serum 25-Hydroxy vitamin D levels in children with autism Spectrum disorder.

BACKGROUND: Vitamin D plays an important role in etiology of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs). We aimed to evaluate the serum 25 - hydroxyl vitamin D level among children with ASDs in Ahvaz city, Iran. METHODS: It was a cross-sectional study which had conducted on 62 subjects in two groups: a case group (n = 31) consisted of ASD children who study in especial schools; and a control group (n = 31) of healthy children who were selected by simple random sampling from regular schools in Ahvaz city, Iran during 2016. Maching between two groups has done regarding Socioeconomic status, type and amount of food intake, place of living and age. The levels of serum 25 - hydroxyl vitamin D were assessed in early morning means fasted state and also measured using ELISA method. Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20. The significant level was considered < 0.05. RESULTS: In ASD children, the average serum 25-hydroxyvitamine D level was 9.03 ± 4.14 ng/mg. In ASD group, 96.8% (30 subjects) had vitamin D deficiency. In healthy children group, average serum 25-hydroxyvitamine D level was 15.25 ± 7.89 ng/mg. Average serum 25-hydroxyvitamine D level in intervention group was significantly lower than the control group (P > 0.001). Although the parents of patients in control group reported longer exposure to sun (27.42 m per day against 33.06 m per day), no significant difference was observed between these groups in terms of exposure to sun (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: A significant difference was observed between serum 25-hydroxyvitamine D levels between the healthy and ASD children. It is recommended to use vitamin D supplement in children with ASDs under medical care.