Identification and validation of miR-583 and mir-877-5p as biomarkers in patients with breast cancer: an integrated experimental and bioinformatics research.

OBJECTIVES: Breast cancer (BC) is one of the most common cancers with a high mortality rate in women worldwide. The advantages of early cancer diagnosis are apparent, and it is a critical factor in increasing the patient's life and survival. According to mounting evidence, microRNAs (miRNAs) may be crucial regulators of critical biological processes. miRNA dysregulation has been linked to the beginning and progression of various human malignancies, including BC, and can operate as tumor suppressors or oncomiRs. This study aimed to identify novel miRNA biomarkers in BC tissues and non-tumor adjacent tissues of patients with BC. Microarray datasets GSE15852 and GSE42568 for differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and GSE45666, GSE57897, and GSE40525 for differentially expressed miRNAs (DEMs) retrieved from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database were analyzed using "R" software. A protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was created to identify the hub genes. MirNet, miRTarBase, and MirPathDB databases were used to predict DEMs targeted genes. Functional enrichment analysis was used to demonstrate the topmost classifications of molecular pathways. The prognostic capability of selected DEMs was evaluated through a Kaplan-Meier plot. Moreover, the specificity and sensitivity of detected miRNAs to discriminate BC from adjacent controls were assessed by area under the curve (AUC) using the ROC curve analysis. In the last phase of this study, gene expression on 100 BC tissues and 100 healthy adjacent tissues were analyzed and calculated by using the Real-Time PCR method. RESULTS: This study declared that miR-583 and miR-877-5p were downregulated in tumor samples in comparison to adjacent non-tumor samples (|logFC|< 0 and P ≤ 0.05). Accordingly, ROC curve analysis demonstrated the biomarker potential of miR-877-5p (AUC = 0.63) and miR-583 (AUC = 0.69). Our results showed that has-miR-583 and has-miR-877-5p could be potential biomarkers in BC.

Frequency of anti-Chlamydia trachomatis antibodies in infertile women referred to Tabriz Al-Zahra hospital.

BACKGROUND: Infertility is one of the major issues in society and its incidence is estimated to be almost 10-15%. Chlamydia trachomatis (C. trachomatis) is an important cause of sexually transmitted diseases leading to infertility. OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to determine the frequency of anti-C. trachomatis antibodies in infertile women at Al-zahra hospital, Tabriz, Iran. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, the blood samples were collected randomly from 184 infertile women (case group) and 100 pregnant women (control group). The frequency of specific IgG and IgM anti-C. trachomatis antibodies were evaluated using ELISA method. RESULTS: The frequency of IgG anti-C. trachomatis antibody in the control and case groups was 18% and 35.88%, respectively. IgM anti-C. trachomatis antibody was found in 2% of controls and 5.44% of infertile women. Our results showed the significant differences between the case and control groups in anti-C. trachomatis antibodies (IgG, p=0.035 and IgM, p=0.004). Also, no significant relation was seen between the frequency of anti-C. trachomatis antibodies and age, location, and tubal factor infertility in our two study groups. CONCLUSION: According to high frequency of antibody anti-C. trachomatis among infertile women in competition to the control group, evaluation and treatment of Chlamydia infections is necessary in these patients.

Frequency of mycobacterial infections in retailed fish in Karaj: An Iranian perspective.

OBJECTIVE/BACKGROUND: Mycobacterium species comprise one of the most frequently-reported causative agents in granulomatous lesions of fish. Also, mycobacteria have been documented as fish-born zoonoses. Ornamental aquaria, commercial aquaculture, and wild fisheries therefore produce a potential risk of infection for humans through physical contact and consumption of fishes. A number of fish mycobacteriosis and fish-born zoonotic cases have been reported to date in Iran. METHODS: In order to examine the frequency of mycobacteria existence in fish supplied to the public in seafood retail outlets, whole fresh fish from cold water (n=50) and tropical (n=50) audible fish were obtained from five stores in Karaj, the central city of Alborz province. The head, tail, and offal of these fish were sampled during the necropsy and used for mycobacterial culture on Lowenstein-Jensen slopes. RESULTS: In total, 15 acid-fast isolates were collected including 10 from tropical fish. The 16S ribosomal RNA and hsp genes of all isolates were polymerase chain reaction amplified and sequenced. Mycobacterium fortuitum was the most frequent mycobacterium identified in the study panel according to the Basic Local Alignment Search Tool search results. Work is still ongoing to characterize the other cultured mycobacterial isolates. CONCLUSION: The detection of 15 culturable mycobacterial isolates from 100 audible fish is an indication of bacteria highly active in the colonization in fish populations. Assessing the potential zoonotic risk raised from exposure of human to fishes in Iran demands search for evidence of linkages between mycobacteria infecting human cases and fishes.