Vascular endothelial growth factor expression correlates with serum CA125 and represents a useful tool in prediction of refractoriness to platinum-based chemotherapy and ascites formation in epithelial ovarian cancer

There is an increasing need for the identification of novel biological markers and potential therapeutic targets in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). Given the critical role of growth factors in the biology of EOC, we aimed in the present study to evaluate the intratumoral expressions of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and fibroblast growth factor (FGF) proteins and their clinical relevance in a cohort of 100 patients with EOC. All patients received platinum-based chemotherapy after surgery. A comparative immunohistochemical study of normal ovarian and EOC tissues showed that both growth factors were expressed at higher levels in tumor samples. In our statistical analysis, while no association existed between the FGF expression status and the clinicopathological characteristics of patients, intratumoral VEGF was identified as a potential biomarker for the prediction of ascites formation. In addition, the expression status of VEGF appeared to independently predict overall survival and response to chemotherapy. Furthermore, a direct association was demonstrated between the pre-treatment VEGF expression and serum CA125 after three cycles of chemotherapy. In sum, we report for the first time to our knowledge the correlation between intratumoral VEGF and serum CA125 in EOC. Our data also shows the prognostic value of VEGF expression in EOC. These results suggest the potential value of intratumoral VEGF in patient stratification. Dual inhibition of VEGF and CA125 might bring about a better outcome for patients with EOC.     

Modeling the growth of Salmonella typhimurium under the effect of Zataria multiflora essential oil, pH, and temperature by artificial neural networks

Salmonella is the most important cause of bacterial food-borne disease outbreaks in the world. In this study, we have trained and validated artificial neural networks (ANNs) to predict the combined effect of Zataria multiflora essential oil (EO), pH, and temperature on the probability percentage of growth initiation (log P%) of Salmonella. Z. multiflora was collected in the Fars province of Iran. Lyophilized cultures of Salmonella typhimurium ATCC 25923 was used in this study. This design included four levels of EO (0.0, 0.015, 0.03, and 0.06%), three levels of pH (5.5,6, and 7.3), three storage temperatures (35, 25, and 15°C), and repeated observations (18 times) for growth in brain heart infusion broth for up to 43 days. We have designed a standard and the so-called feed-forward ANN, including four input neurons, eight neuron in hidden layer, and one output neuron to predict the combined effect of Z. multiflora EO, pH, and temperature on the probability percentage of growth initiation (log P%) of S.typhimurium. The mean and standard deviation of ANN and real outputs were −2.9771 ± 2.43 and −2.9722 ± 2.39, respectively. The mean differences (and 95% CIs) between the ANN and real outputs were 0.0049 (0.0009–0.0089). Result showed better prediction compare to the previous study(R = 0.998).     

HPLC analysis of some allowable-antibiotic multiresidues in farmed rainbow trout in Iran

This study aimed to investigate the occurrence of antibiotic residues in rainbow trout muscle samples (n?=?74) obtained from Iranian trout farms. The levels of the antibiotics were determined by in-house validated HPLC methods. Oxytetracycline, tetracycline, enrofloxacin, ciprofloxacin, and florfenicol residues were detected in 6.76%, 37.8%, 31.1%, 10.8%, and 14.9% of the samples, respectively; while chlortetracycline was not detected. The detected range of concentrations for positive samples was 8.94–81.2 μg/kg for oxytetracycline, 7.99–98.4 μg/kg for tetracycline, 6.75–87.4 μg/kg for enrofloxacin, 5.83–11.5 μg/kg for ciprofloxacin, and 49.9–313.6 μg/kg for florfenicol. None of the samples exceeded the maximum residue levels (MRLs) established by the Institute of Standards and Industrial Research of Iran. The co-occurrence of antibiotics was detected in 40.5% of the analyzed samples. The frequency of co-occurrence of enrofloxacin-tetracycline was the highest (16.2%). Despite the fact that concentrations of the analyzed antibiotics in trout samples did not exceed the MRLs, their co-occurrence in such a level could be a serious public health problem.     

Primary Antibiotic Resistance to Helicobacter pylori Strains Isolated From Children in Northern Iran: A Single Center Study

Background:

Initial resistance to antibiotics is the main reason for the failure of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) eradication in children.

Objectives:

As we commonly face high antibiotic resistance rates in children, we aimed to determine the susceptibility of H. pylori to common antibiotics.

Patients and Methods:

In this cross-sectional in vitro study, 169 children younger than 14 years with clinical diagnosis of peptic ulcer underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. Biopsy specimens from stomach and duodenum were cultured. In isolated colonies, tests of catalase, urease, and oxidase as well as gram staining were performed. After confirming the colonies as H. pylori, the antibiogram was obtained using disk diffusion method.

Results:

Culture for H. pylori was positive in 12.3% of the specimens, urease test in 21.3%, serological test in 18.9% and stool antigen test was positive in 21.9%. We could show high specificity but moderate sensitivity of both histological and H. pylori stool antigen tests to detect H. pylori. The overall susceptibility to metronidazole was 42.9%, amoxicillin 95.2%, clarithromycin 85.7%, furazolidone 61.9%, azithromycin 81.0%, and tetracycline 76.2% with the highest resistance to metronidazole and the lowest to clarithromycin.

Conclusions:

In our region, there is high resistance of H. pylori to some antibiotics including metronidazole and furazolidone among affected children. To reduce the prevalence of this antibiotic resistance, more controlled use of antibiotics should be considered in children.     

Efficacy of tight control strategy in the treatment of adult-onset Still disease

Clinical Rheumatology - Adult-onset Still’s disease (AOSD) characterized by a high spiking fever, skin rash, arthritis, and leukocytosis. The aim of the present study was considering the...