Circulating Levels of HOTAIR- lncRNA Are Associated with Disease Progression and Clinical Parameters in Type 2 Diabetes Patients.

Background: Recent studies have implicated dysregulated long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) levels in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes (T2D). This study aimed to assess the expression of circulating HOTAIR and uc.48+, examining their correlation with clinical and biochemical variables in T2D patients, pre-diabetic individuals, and healthy controls. Methods: Peripheral blood levels of lncRNAs were quantified using QRT-PCR in 65 T2D patients, 63 pre-diabetic individuals, and 63 healthy subjects. Pathway enrichment analysis was conducted to explore the functional enrichment of lncRNA-miRNA targets. Results: Analysis revealed a significantly elevated circulating level of HOTAIR in both T2D (P < 0.0001) and pre-diabetic patients (P = 0.04) compared to controls. ROC analysis demonstrated that, at a cutoff value of 9.1, with a sensitivity of 80% and specificity of 62%, HOTAIR could distinguish T2D patients from controls (AUC = 0.723, 95% CI 0.637-0.799, P < 0.0001). Spearman correlation analysis identified a significant positive correlation between HOTAIR expression, HbA1c, and insulin resistance (P < 0.005). MiRNA enrichment analysis indicated significant enrichment of diabetes-related pathways among HOTAIR's miRNA targets. Conversely, no significant difference in uc.48+ circulating levels between groups was observed, but a significant positive correlation emerged between uc.48+ and systolic blood pressure. Conclusions: This study provides evidence that elevated HOTAIR expression levels are associated with T2D progression, suggesting their potential as biomarkers for early diagnosis and prognosis.

Psychometric properties of the Persian versions of acceptance and action diabetes questionnaire (AADQ) and the diabetes acceptance and action scale (DAAS), in Iranian youth with type 1 diabetes.

BACKGROUND: Psychological flexibility has considerable effects on medical and psychosocial outcomes in youth with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). This study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Persian versions of the Acceptance and Action Diabetes Questionnaire (AADQ) and the Diabetes Acceptance and Action Scale for children and adolescents (DAAS), the measures of diabetes-specific psychological flexibility. METHODS: 196 youth with T1DM completed the DAAS, AADQ (youth-report), Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure (CAMM), Emotion Regulation Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents (ERQ-CA), and the Avoidance and Fusion Questionnaire for Youths (AFQ-Y8). Also, their parents completed AADQ (parent-report). Data analyzed by SPSS V.26 and LISREL 8.8. RESULTS: The mean and standard deviation of participants' age was 14.7 ± 2.08.The internal consistency due to Cronbach's alpha method was 0.87, 0.8, 0.84, and 0.83 for DAAS total scores, avoidance, values impairment, and fusion, respectively. The internal consistency of AADQ (both parent-report and youth report) was above 0.8. Test-retest reliability (from 45 participants) with a one-week interval was assessed by the interclass correlation coefficient (ICC). The DAAS, AADQ-parent report, and AADQ-youth report's reliability coefficients were 0.93, 0.82, and 0.92, respectively. The AADQ (both forms) and DAAS evidence good content validity based on correlations with other measures. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) showed DAAS has the three-factor model, which strongly a suitable model is fitting. EFA also verified the AADQ model fitting. CONCLUSIONS: In general, these results support the psychometric properties of the Persian versions of DAAS and AADQ among the Iranian youth patients with T1DM. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40200-021-00796-1.

Predicting the quality of life based on pain dimensions and psychiatric symptoms in patients with Painful diabetic neuropathy: a cross-sectional prevalence study in Iranian patients.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to predict the quality of life (QOL) in patients with Painful Diabetic Neuropathy (PDN) based on pain severity, pain catastrophizing, pain acceptance, depression, anxiety, and sleep disturbance. Also, this study was aimed to assess the prevalence of psychiatric symptoms in Iranian patients with PDN. METHOD: 1120 patients (mean age, 53.6 ± 12.6 years) participated in the research. Data were collected by the Quality of life questionnaire (NeuroQoL); Beck Depression Inventory, Beck Anxiety Inventory, the visual analog scale for pain severity, Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS), Chronic Pain Acceptance Questionnaire (CPAQ) and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Finally, the data were analyzed using SPSS-26 by multiple regression analysis. RESULTS: The results showed the regression models' significance, and the dependent variables predicted 42% of total changes in the QOL. The most significant predicting factors were depression, pain catastrophizing, pain acceptance, pain severity, sleep disturbance, and anxiety in order. In patients with PDN, the prevalence of sleep disturbances, depression, and anxiety were 85.5%, 68.2%, and 62.1%, respectively. Also, comorbid depression and anxiety were found in 47% of patients. CONCLUSION: Results demonstrated a significant relationship between pain-related and psychiatric dimensions with QOL. Thus, it is suggested to design more specific psychological-based rehabilitation interventions in which these variables are considered. They should focus on more significant variables (such as depression and pain catastrophizing) to reach better treatment outcomes. Furthermore, this research shows a high level of anxiety, depression, and sleep disturbance in Iranian patients with PDN. Thus, experts and clinicians are suggested to focus on reducing these psychiatric symptoms.

Relationship between the Expression of the Thymidylate Synthase and the Prognosis of Gastric Cancer Patients Treated with Combinational Chemotherapy Regimen Including Fluorouracil, Docetaxel and Cisplatin.

Background: Thymidylate synthase is one of the target enzymes of 5-fluorouracil. However, the clinical and prognostic significance of TS expression in gastric cancer has remained controversial. In this study, the expression of thymidylate synthase was evaluated in gastric cancer patients treated with combinational chemotherapy; moreover, the association between TS expression and clinicopathologic characteristics and overall survival of the patients were also assessed. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive study, 89 pathological samples were gathered from patients at Kermanshah hospitals during 2008-2017. The survival status of patients was recorded and their overall survival was evaluated individually. Results: The average survival period for low and high thymidylate synthase groups was 54 and 50 months, respectively, meaning higher survival time in the lower thymidylate group. But this difference was not statistically significant (log Rank=0.88). In addition, sex, stage, recurrence, and survival had no significant difference between the low and high expression of thymidylate synthase groups (p=0.89). Conclusion: The results clearly indicated that the level of thymidylate synthase is not a significant modulator of 5- fluorouracil in gastric cancer patients. Nevertheless, evaluation of the level of the enzymes and markers as well as their effects are highly recommended for accurate selection of chemotherapeutical strategies.

A Comparative Study of the Efficacy of Cognitive Group Therapy and Aerobic Exercise in the Treatment of Depression among the Students.

BACKGROUND: Depression is one of the most common mental disorders. Finding effective treatments for such a disorder with higher efficiency lower side effects and affordability is an active area of research in psychiatry. This study aimed to comparatively analyze the effects of the cognitive group therapy and aerobic exercises on depression, automatic negative thoughts and dysfunctional attitudes of students at Kermanshah University of Medical Science. METHODS: In this clinical trial, 46 associate and undergraduate students at Kermanshah University of Medical Science were randomly divided into three groups: cognitive therapy, aerobic exercise, and control. The data was gathered both before and 8 weeks after the intervention. Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II), automatic negative thoughts (ATQ), and the Dysfunctional Attitude Scale (DAS) were used as the data collection instruments. The data were analyzed with SPSS version 15 using paired samples T-test, chi-square test, Kruskal-Wallis test, and analysis of variance (ANOVA). RESULTS: Cognitive therapy caused a significant decrease in depression, belief in automatic negative thoughts, and dysfunctional attitudes in comparison to the control group (p<0.05). Although aerobics compared to the control group causes more reductions in the variables, however, It was only meaningful for the depression variable (p=0.049). Cognitive therapy also reduced the variables more than the aerobic exercise, but the decrease was not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: Cognitive group therapy and aerobic exercise are effective in treating depression. For treating depression, aerobic exercise can be used as a therapy itself or along with cognitive-behavioral therapy and pharmacotherapy.