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OBJECTIVES: Determination of stages of colon cancer is done by biopsy usually after surgery. Metabolomics is the study of all the metabolites using LC-MS and 1HNMR spectroscopy with chemometric techniques. The stages of colon cancer were detected from patients' sera using 1HNMR. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Five ml blood was collected from 16 confirmed patients referred for colonoscopy. One group of eight patients were diagnosed with stage 0 to I colon cancer and the second group of 8 patients with II-IV stage colon cancer. Sera were sent for 1HNMR. The differentiating metabolites were identified using HMDB and the metabolic cycles from Metaboanalyst. RESULTS: Six metabolites of which pyridoxine levels lowered, and glycine, cholesterol, taurocholic acid, cholesteryl ester and deoxyinosine increased. CONCLUSION: The different stages of cancer were identified by the main metabolic cycles such as primary bile acid biosynthesis, purine and vitamin B metabolic pathways and the glutathione cycle.
RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Thalassemia, which may be due to point mutations, translocations, and deletions involving the α or ßglobin gene, is the most prevalent single gene disorder in Iran.This study aims to calculate the α/ß ratio in normal cases, α- and ß-thalassemia carriers by RT-PCR, real-time PCR, and in vitro globin chain synthesis (GCS) in order to establish the most accurate technique to distinguish between α- and ß-thalassemia carriers in suspicious cases. METHODS: The α/ß ratios were calculated in all samples by RT-PCR, real-time RT-PCR, and in vitro GCS. RESULTS: Using RT-PCR, the ratios were 1.09 ± 0.07 in normal samples, 1.2 ± 0.17 in ß-thalassemia, 1.08 ± 0.19 in mild α-thalassemia, and 0.96 ± 0.19 in severe α-thalassemia carriers. In real-time RT-PCR, the ratios were 2.21 ± 1.36 in normal samples, 5.12 ± 1.83 in ß-thalassemia, 2.88 ± 0.81 in mild α-thalassemia, and 1.18 ± 0.52 in severe α-thalassemia carriers. With GCS, the ratios were 1.03 ± 0.1 in normal samples, 1.9 ± 0.37 in ß-thalassemia, 0.8 ± 0.13 in mild α-thalassemia, and 0.59 ± 0.12 in severe α-thalassemia carriers. CONCLUSION: To determine the most accurate technique, we statistically analyzed the α/ß ratios obtained from the three standard methods. The ratio obtained by GCS and real-time PCR were helpful in distinguishing between α and ß carriers in suspicious patients in whom the mutation detection was limited and the risk for offspring was not clear. The use of this technique is more obvious when time is restricted (i.e. during the pregnancy period).