Aptitude of Uropathogenic Escherichia coli in Renal Transplant Recipients: A Comprehensive Review on Characteristic Features, and Production of Extended Spectrum ß-Lactamase.

Urinary tract infection is the most common infection in almost half of the renal transplant patients. The development of UTI in these patients may progress to bacteremia, acute T cell-mediated rejection, impaired allograft function, or allograft loss, along with the increased risk of hospitalization and death. Among various pathogens implicated, Uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC), especially sequence type 131 (ST131), is the most virulent and multidrug-resistant pathogen. High antimicrobial resistance to most ß-lactam antibiotics, mediated by extended spectrum ß-lactamases (ESBLs) produced by UPEC, is a challenge in the clinical management of UTIs in kidney transplant recipients. Indeed, multidrug resistance to ß-lactam antibiotics is a direct consequence of ESBL production. Resistance to other antibiotics such as aminoglycosides, fluoroquinolones, and trimethoprim-sulphamethoxazole has also been reported in ESBLs-producing UPEC, which reduces the therapeutic options, rising healthcare-associated costs and subsequently leads to renal failure or even graft loss. In this review, we aimed to discuss the post-transplant risk factors of UTI, UPEC virulence factors (VF), and the related factors including quorum sensing, and stress resistance genes. Furthermore, we searched for the current treatment strategies and some of the alternate approaches proposed as therapeutic options that may affirm the treatment of ESBL-producing UPEC.

Bidirectional Relations Between Anxiety, Depression, and Cancer: A Review.

Epidemiological evidence continues to accumulate on the effect of stress and depression on cancer initiation and progression. Depression has been introduced as an independent predictor of increased cancer mortality. At the same time, early intervention for depression increases the survival rate. Even some evidence has given prognostic value for depression to predict cancer recurrence and mortality. This article presents current evidence on the correlations of molecular mechanisms of cancer and depression through; I. The evidence shows the role of pre-existing depression and anxiety in the development and progression of cancer. II. The Immune system performs a crucial role in stress, depression, and cancer. III. The role of stress and depression-induced inflammation. IV. The evidence has proposed that cancer may result in depression and the effect of depression on cancer outcomes. In conclusion, the importance of preventive interventions to monitor patients' mental health during cancer treatment is very significant and should not be underestimated. In other words, the initial interventions can improve depressive symptoms and increase cancer survival. On the other hand, by identifying key biomarkers of depression, physicians can identify cancer patients at risk for depression or those who may not respond to routine treatments. Revealing the molecular mechanism of the cancer microenvironment in the development of comorbidities promises innovative therapeutic options for cancer. Identifying these mechanisms opens a new avenue in identifying cancer patients at risk for depression and can also provide considerable potential in identifying depressive patients prone to cancer.

Pharmacological effects and therapeutic potential of natural compounds in neuropsychiatric disorders: An update.

Neuropsychiatric diseases are a group of disorders that cause significant morbidity and disability. The symptoms of psychiatric disorders include anxiety, depression, eating disorders, autism spectrum disorders (ASD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and conduct disorder. Various medicinal plants are frequently used as therapeutics in traditional medicine in different parts of the world. Nowadays, using medicinal plants as an alternative medication has been considered due to their biological safety. Despite the wide range of medications, many patients are unable to tolerate the side effects and eventually lose their response. By considering the therapeutic advantages of medicinal plants in the case of side effects, patients may prefer to use them instead of chemical drugs. Today, the use of medicinal plants in traditional medicine is diverse and increasing, and these plants are a precious heritage for humanity. Investigation about traditional medicine continues, and several studies have indicated the basic pharmacology and clinical efficacy of herbal medicine. In this article, we discuss five of the most important and common psychiatric illnesses investigated in various studies along with conventional therapies and their pharmacological therapies. For this comprehensive review, data were obtained from electronic databases such as MedLine/PubMed, Science Direct, Web of Science, EMBASE, DynaMed Plus, ScienceDirect, and TRIP database. Preclinical pharmacology studies have confirmed that some bioactive compounds may have beneficial therapeutic effects in some common psychiatric disorders. The mechanisms of action of the analyzed biocompounds are presented in detail. The bioactive compounds analyzed in this review are promising phytochemicals for adjuvant and complementary drug candidates in the pharmacotherapy of neuropsychiatric diseases. Although comparative studies have been carefully reviewed in the preclinical pharmacology field, no clinical studies have been found to confirm the efficacy of herbal medicines compared to FDA-approved medicines for the treatment of mental disorders. Therefore, future clinical studies are needed to accelerate the potential use of natural compounds in the management of these diseases.

Potential mechanisms of quercetin in cancer prevention: focus on cellular and molecular targets.

Over the past few years, the cancer-related disease has had a high mortality rate and incidence worldwide, despite clinical advances in cancer treatment. The drugs used for cancer therapy, have high side effects in addition to the high cost. Subsequently, to reduce these side effects, many studies have suggested the use of natural bioactive compounds. Among these, which have recently attracted the attention of many researchers, quercetin has such properties. Quercetin, a plant flavonoid found in fresh fruits, vegetables and citrus fruits, has anti-cancer properties by inhibiting tumor proliferation, invasion, and tumor metastasis. Several studies have demonstrated the anti-cancer mechanism of quercetin, and these mechanisms are controlled through several signalling pathways within the cancer cell. Pathways involved in this process include apoptotic, p53, NF-κB, MAPK, JAK/STAT, PI3K/AKT, and Wnt/ß-catenin pathways. In addition to regulating these pathways, quercetin controls the activity of oncogenic and tumor suppressor ncRNAs. Therefore, in this comprehensive review, we summarized the regulation of these signalling pathways by quercetin. The modulatory role of quercetin in the expression of various miRNAs has also been discussed. Understanding the basic anti-cancer mechanisms of these herbal compounds can help prevent and manage many types of cancer.

Prognostic Value and Biological Role of miR-126 in Breast Cancer.

In eukaryotic organisms such as humans, some noncoding single-stranded RNAs (ncRNAs) contribute to regulating the expression of some genes before and after the transcription process, which in turn controls a number of vital physiological processes, including cell proliferation, differentiation, invasion, angiogenesis, and embryonic development. miR-126 is one of these miRNAs expressed exclusively in endothelial cells such as capillaries and vessels involved in controlling angiogenesis. In recent years, the link between miRs such as miR-126 and the pathology of breast cancer has attracted the attention of many researchers. Numerous studies have shown that miR-126 may be able to suppress tumor tissue metastasis or to increase tumor metastasis through complex molecular mechanisms. There is ample clinical evidence that miR-126 can be used as a biomarker to predict and diagnose breast cancer due to the increased or decreased expression of certain genes in breast cancer tissue. In this review, we discuss the association between the growth and metastasis (tumorigenesis) of breast cancer and miR-126, as well as the relationship between current research advances in the prognosis, diagnosis, and treatment of breast cancer and miR-126.

A novel method for the development of plasmid DNA-loaded nanoliposomes for cancer gene therapy.

We aimed to develop a simple yet novel method to prepare plasmid DNA-loaded nanoliposomes for cancer gene therapy. Murine interleukin-12 (mIL-12) pDNA-loaded nanoliposomes were prepared via novel freeze-drying of a monophase solution method. The physicochemical characteristics, cytotoxicity, and transfection efficiency of the prepared nanoliposomes in murine CT-26 colon carcinoma cells were evaluated. Furthermore, tumor progression and survival rate in CT-26 colon carcinoma-bearing BALB/c mice subsequent to direct intratumoral injections were investigated over a period of 40 days. Using this preparation method, nanoliposomes with particle size of around 300 nm and zeta potential of 96.5 mV were obtained. The transmission electron microscope results showed that the liposomes were nano-sized and almost spherical. The agarose gel retardation assay revealed the pDNA encapsulation in the nanoliposomes. The nanoliposomes with 72.4% encapsulation efficiency and low cell toxicity could significantly improve mIL-12 expression by approximately 25-fold relative to the naked mIL-12 pDNA. There was a significant tumor growth inhibition after repeated injections of mIL-12 pDNA-loaded nanoliposomes. This is the first study on the freeze-drying of a monophase solution method as a simple yet novel technique for the preparation of pDNA-loaded nanoliposomes. Given the ease of preparation method and promising in vitro and in vivo characteristics, this investigation demonstrates advances in pDNA lipid formulation for cancer gene therapy.

Quercetin Impact in Pancreatic Cancer: An Overview on Its Therapeutic Effects.

Pancreatic cancer (PC) is a lethal malignancy cancer, and its mortality rates have been increasing worldwide. Diagnosis of this cancer is complicated, as it does not often present symptoms, and most patients present an irremediable tumor having a 5-year survival rate after diagnosis. Regarding treatment, many concerns have also been raised, as most tumors are found at advanced stages. At present, anticancer compounds-rich foods have been utilized to control PC. Among such bioactive molecules, flavonoid compounds have shown excellent anticancer abilities, such as quercetin, which has been used as an adjunctive or alternative drug to PC treatment by inhibitory or stimulatory biological mechanisms including autophagy, apoptosis, cell growth reduction or inhibition, EMT, oxidative stress, and enhancing sensitivity to chemotherapy agents. The recognition that this natural product has beneficial effects on cancer treatment has boosted the researchers' interest towards more extensive studies to use herbal medicine for anticancer purposes. In addition, due to the expensive cost and high rate of side effects of anticancer drugs, attempts have been made to use quercetin but also other flavonoids for preventing and treating PC. Based on related studies, it has been found that the quercetin compound has significant effect on cancerous cell lines as well as animal models. Therefore, it can be used as a supplementary drug to treat a variety of cancers, particularly pancreatic cancer. This review is aimed at discussing the therapeutic effects of quercetin by targeting the molecular signaling pathway and identifying antigrowth, cell proliferation, antioxidative stress, EMT, induction of apoptotic, and autophagic features.

An Overview on the Role of miR-451 in Lung Cancer: Diagnosis, Therapy, and Prognosis.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are highly conserved non-coding RNAs involved in many physiological processes such as cell proliferation, inhibition, development of apoptosis, differentiation, suppression of tumorigenicity, and regulation of cell growth. The description of the alterations of miRNA expression patterns in cancers will be helpful in recognizing biomarkers for early detection and possible therapeutic intervention in the treatment of cancers. Recent studies have shown that miR-451 is broadly dysregulated in lung cancer and is a crucial agent in lung tumor progression. This review summarizes recent advances in the potential role of miR-451 in lung cancer diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment and provides an insight into the potential use of miR-451 for the development of advanced therapeutic methods in lung cancer.

Quercetin as a Novel Therapeutic Approach for Lymphoma.

Lymphoma is a name for malignant diseases of the lymphatic system including Hodgkin's lymphoma and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Although several approaches are used for the treatment of these diseases, some of them are not successful and have serious adverse effects. Therefore, other effective treatment methods might be interesting. Studies have indicated that plant ingredients play a key role in treating several diseases. Some plants have already shown a potential therapeutic effect on many malignant diseases. Quercetin is a flavonoid found in different plants and could be useful in the treatment of different malignant diseases. Quercetin has its antimalignant effects through targeting main survival pathways activated in tumor cells. In vitro/in vivo experimental studies have demonstrated that quercetin possesses a cytotoxic effect on lymphoid cancer cells. Regardless of the optimum results that have been obtained from both in vitro/in vivo studies, few clinical studies have analyzed the antitumor effects of quercetin in lymphoid cancers. Thus, it seems that more clinical studies should introduce quercetin as a therapeutic, alone or in combination with other chemotherapy agents. Here, in this study, we reviewed the anticancer effects of quercetin and highlighted the potential therapeutic effects of quercetin in various types of lymphoma.

Colorectal cancer treatment using bacteria: focus on molecular mechanisms.

BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer which is related to genetic and environmental risk factors, is among the most prevalent life-threatening cancers. Although several pathogenic bacteria are associated with colorectal cancer etiology, some others are considered as highly selective therapeutic agents in colorectal cancer. Nowadays, researchers are concentrating on bacteriotherapy as a novel effective therapeutic method with fewer or no side effects to pay the way of cancer therapy. The introduction of advanced and successful strategies in bacterial colorectal cancer therapy could be useful to identify new promising treatment strategies for colorectal cancer patients. MAIN TEXT: In this article, we scrutinized the beneficial effects of bacterial therapy in colorectal cancer amelioration focusing on different strategies to use a complete bacterial cell or bacterial-related biotherapeutics including toxins, bacteriocins, and other bacterial peptides and proteins. In addition, the utilization of bacteria as carriers for gene delivery or other known active ingredients in colorectal cancer therapy are reviewed and ultimately, the molecular mechanisms targeted by the bacterial treatment in the colorectal cancer tumors are detailed. CONCLUSIONS: Application of the bacterial instrument in cancer treatment is on its way through becoming a promising method of colorectal cancer targeted therapy with numerous successful studies and may someday be a practical strategy for cancer treatment, particularly colorectal cancer.

The role of CIP2A in cancer: A review and update.

Cancerous inhibitor of protein phosphatase 2A (CIP2A) is a characterized human oncoprotein that is able to promote cancer cells proliferation, anchorage-independent cell growth and resistance to apoptosis. CIP2A inactivates protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) which down-regulates Akt (Protein Kinase B) phosphorylation and stabilizes c-Myc (c-Myc oncogene product) in cancer cells. CIP2A has been studied in the most of human malignancies. Here we discuss the role of CIP2A in cancer and give a summary of CIP2A expression in malignancies. Also, where available we indicated the association of CIP2A with the stage of cancers and patients prognosis, explain its localization and the possibility of targeting CIP2A in different cancers.

Gene therapy based on interleukin-12 loaded chitosan nanoparticles in a mouse model of fibrosarcoma.

OBJECTIVES: Interleukin-12 (IL-12) as a cytokine has been proved to have a critical role in stimulating the immune system and has been used as immunotherapeutic agents in cancer gene therapy. Chitosan as a polymer, with high ability of binding to nucleic acids is a good candidate for gene delivery since it is biodegradable, biocompatible and non-allergenic polysaccharide. The objective of the present study was to investigate the effects of cells transfected with IL-12 loaded chitosan nanoparticles on the regression of fibrosarcoma tumor cells (WEHI-164) in vivo. MATERIALS AND METHODS: WEHI-164 tumor cells were transfected with IL-12 loaded chitosan nanoparticles and then were injected subcutaneously to inoculate tumor in BALB/c mice. Tumor volumes were determined and subsequently extracted after mice sacrifice. The immunohistochemistry staining was performed for analysis of Ki-67 expression (a tumor proliferation marker) in tumor masses. The expression of IL-12 and IFN-γ were studied using real-time polymerase chain reaction and immunoblotting. RESULTS: The group treated with IL-12 loaded chitosan nanoparticles indicated decreasing of tumor mass[r1] volume (P<0.001). The results of western blotting and real-time PCR showed that the IL-12 expression was increased in the group. Immunohistochemistry staining indicated that the Ki-67expression was reduced in the group treated with IL-12 loaded chitosan nanoparticles. CONCLUSION: IL-12 gene therapy using chitosan nanoparticles has therapeutic effects on the regression of tumor masses in fibrosarcoma mouse model.