Porphyromonas gingivalis HmuY‐Induced Production of Interleukin‐6 and IL‐6 Polymorphism in Chronic Periodontitis

Background: In chronic periodontitis (CP), the gene polymorphism of interleukin‐6 (IL‐6) to 174C/G has been associated with the altered production of this cytokine. The aim of this pilot study is to compare the allelic and genotypic frequencies in patients with CP with control individuals without periodontitis (NP) and to measure the production of IL‐6 by whole blood cells stimulated with Porphyromonas gingivalis HmuY protein. Methods: DNA was isolated from peripheral blood cells of 49 patients with CP and 60 control individuals classified as NP, and genotyping was performed by polymerase chain reaction using sequence‐specific primers. Whole blood cells from 29 patients with CP and 30 control individuals were stimulated for 48 hours with HmuY, and IL‐6 levels were measured using enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay. Results: The proportion of individuals carrying the G allele at position –174 of the IL‐6 gene was higher in the group with CP (85.7%) than in the normal control group (73.3%; P <0.03). P. gingivalis HmuY‐induced production of IL‐6 was higher in the group with CP (P <0.05). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that P. gingivalis HmuY may be associated with increased IL‐6 production during CP. Furthermore, patients with periodontitis and individuals with higher HmuY‐induced production of IL‐6 show a high frequency of the G allele at position –174.     

Morpholino Oligo Antisense efficiently suppresses BCR/ABL and cell proliferation in CML: specific inhibition of BCR-ABL gene expression by Morpholino Oligo Antisense in BCR-ABL(+) cells

Chronic myeloid leukemia is a disorder that develops when a hematopoietic stem cell acquires the Philadelphia chromosome carrying the chimeric BCR/ABL oncogene leading to a deregulated cell proliferation and a decreased apoptosis in response to mutagenic stimuli. Therefore, it has been considered that BCR/ABL oncogene is a potential attractive target for anticancer agents. Antisense strategies aiming to suppress the expression of BCR/ABL in chronic myeloid leukemia cells have been studied by several research groups over the last decade. In the present study, the effect of Morpholino Oligo Antisense in BCR/ABL oncogene silencing was evaluated. To examine the hypothesis, K562 was used as a BCR/ABL fusion gene positive cell line using a Jurkat cell line as a control. The capacity of Morpholino Oligo Antisense in inhibiting the translation of p210(bcr-abl) protein by a western blotting technique, inhibition of cell proliferation, and stimulation of apoptosis by flow cytometric analysis after 24 and 48 hours was studied. Prolonged exposure of K562 cell line to Morpholino Oligo Antisense targeted against BCR-ABL showed proliferation inhibition as the main feature. Following western blotting, we found that complete silencing of BCR-ABL had been achieved but flow cytometric analysis showed no significant apoptosis. The results indicate that Morpholino Oligo Antisense was able to inhibit p210(bcr-abl), but did not induce apoptosis due to co-silencing of BCR.     

Reliability of the Lay Adherence Counsellor Administered Substance Abuse and Mental Illness Symptoms Screener (SAMISS) and the International HIV Dementia Scale (IHDS) in a Primary care HIV Clinic in Cape Town, South Africa

HIV infection is associated with an increased prevalence of common mental disorders and with the development of HIV associated neurological disorders (HAND). The aim of this research was to determine the reliability of lay adherence counsellors in the administration of the substance abuse and mental illness symptom screener (SAMISS) for common mental disorders and International HIV Dementia Scale (IHDS) for HAND in a South African sample of 269 people living with HIV/AIDS and on HAART in a primary healthcare setting. We used a cross-sectional design with each patient assessed by a mental health nurse and counsellor, 1 week apart. Reliability was fair for the SAMISS overall (κ = 0.39, CI(95) 0.29-0.49, P < 0.01), but was higher for the substance abuse component compared to the mental illness component. Reliability for the IHDS between counsellors and nurses was slight (κ = 0.11, CI(95) 0.00-0.27, P < 0.02). Counsellors tended not to miss symptoms, and detected symptoms more often than nurses for the both the SAMISS and IHDS. Strategies to improve the ability of primary healthcare providers to screen for neurocognitive disorders as well as avoiding over-detection of mental illness and substance abuse symptoms need to be developed and implemented for the primary healthcare setting.     

Effects of unhealthy alcohol use on brain morphometry and neurocognitive function among people with HIV

Journal of NeuroVirology - Individual impacts of alcohol misuse and HIV on brain structure and function have been well demonstrated; however, the potential compounded effect of these conditions is...     

Hazardous or harmful alcohol use and reward processing in people with HIV

Journal of NeuroVirology - The intersecting epidemics of HIV and hazardous or harmful alcohol use (HAU) can have significant detrimental consequences. Both HIV and HAU have independent negative...     

Used protocols for isolation and propagation of ovarian stem cells,different cells with different traits

Although existence of ovarian stem cells (OSCs) in mammalian postnatal ovary is still under controversy, however, it has been almost accepted that OSCs are contributing actively to folliculogenesis and neo-oogenesis. Recently, various methods with different efficacies have been employed for OSCs isolation from ovarian tissue, which these methods could be chosen depends on aim of isolation and accessible equipments and materials in lab. Although isolated OSCs from different methods have various traits and characterizations, which might become from their different nature and origin, however these stem cells are promising source for woman infertility treatment or source of energy for women with a history of repeat IVF failure in near future. This review has brought together and summarized currently used protocols for isolation and propagation of OSCs in vitro.     

Gene arrays for diagnosis,prognosis and treatment of breast cancer metastasis

The advent of microarray tools has generated a massive amount of gene expression data. These data have greatly enhanced our understanding of the biology of breast cancer metastasis and provide a way to improve the prediction of the metastatic potential of breast tumours. Gene-expression profiling has highlighted the molecular heterogeneity of mammary tumours and contributed to the identification of a new molecular classification of breast cancers. In addition, several molecular signatures predicting the likelihood of distant metastases for breast cancer patients have been characterized. Further reports have described gene expression profiles associated with specific metastatic phenotypes, including the organ preference of breast cancer metastasis. Here we review the major studies that had important impacts on the understanding of breast cancer metastasis. We also discuss the future challenges in this research field and the special issues that still need to be examined.