Tobacco consumption,opium use,alcohol drinking and the risk of esophageal cancer in North Khorasan,Iran

Background: There are some unique epidemiological characteristics of esophageal cancer in Iran. The objective of this study was finding the association between tobacco, substance and alcohol using with the risk of esophageal cancer in North Khorasan, Iran.

Methods: This Case-Control study was carried out on 96 patients with esophageal cancer and 187 controls. Controls were matched to cases by age and sex. Data were collected through structured interview. Data were analyzed by using chi-square test, T-test and logistic regression, in Stata software version 12.

Results: Our findings show Hookah smoking [OR = 6.1(CI_95%:1.2–13.1)] and opium consumption [OR = 2.1(CI_95%:1.2–3.5)] were associated with esophageal cancer. Cigarette and pipe smoking, age of onset of smoking, duration of smoking, number of smoking per day, leaving history of smoking, years of leaving smoking, drug withdrawal, number of times of drug withdrawal, a history of drug relapse, alcohol consumption and alcohol dose–response were not related to esophageal cancer.

Conclusion: According to our results, hookah smoking and opium consumption enhance the risk of esophageal cancer in North Khorasan of Iran. We suggest appropriate planning to prevent the esophageal cancer in this district.     

Regulation of cyclic AMP level by progesterone in ovariectomized rat neocortex

Exposure of neocortical slices to progesterone, without prior treatment with estrogen, augmented forskolin-induced cyclic AMP within 15 min. 30 nM progesterone produced approximately 1/2 the maximal effect but as little as 10 nM progesterone produced a detectable increase in cyclic AMP. When forskolin was replaced by dideoxyforskolin, an analog that does not directly stimulate adenylyl cyclase but shares many of its other actions, progesterone did not augment cyclic AMP. Progesterone also failed to affect increased cyclic AMP that followed exposure to norepinephrine or isoproterenol. The effect of progesterone upon cyclic AMP was also evident when tetrodotoxin was added to block voltage-dependent sodium channels, suggesting that intercellular communication that is dependent upon action potentials was not necessary. The effect of progesterone was at least partially blocked by antagonists of GABAA receptor action, suggesting the involvement of GABAA or GABAA-like receptors. The effect of progesterone was also not homogeneous over the neo cortex. While forskolin-stimulated cyclic AMP was augmented by progesterone in the parietal and occipital regions, it was suppressed in the frontal region. These results are envisioned as a progesterone action upon a small and perhaps compartmentalized component of the cellular cyclic AMP system, an effect that is made detectable in our whole-tissue assay by the well known ability of forskolin to potentiate many hormonal effects upon cyclic AMP.     

IMMUNOHISTOCHEMISTRY OF MEDULLOEPITHELIOMA AND NEURAL TUBE

Immunohistochemistry profiles of medulloepithelioma (from two 2 1-year-old girls who had 2 cerebral medulloepitheliomas and a 35-week postconceptional female infant with congenital posterior fossa tumor) and neural tube are compared. Microscopically, the tumors contained a medulloepitheliomatous component, manifested as tubular epithelial structures lined by pseudostratified columnar epithelium delineated by well-defined basement membranes. In all cases, glial and neuronal differentiation were noted to differing extents. The medulloepitheliomatous components did not exhibit glial fibrillary acidic protein, neuron-specific enolase, or S-100 protein reactivity. Neurofilament, cytokeratin, and epithelial membrane antigen were focally present in one case. Extensive nestin immunopositivity was confined to the basal cell layer of the epithelium, leaving the luminal surface unreactive or slightly reactive. These cells also displayed a reactivity to vimentin and to microtubuleassociated protein type 5 similar to that of cells of the primitive neural tube. The similarity between the immunohistochemical profile of medulloepithelioma and that of neural tube epithelium suggests a possible reexpression of that component of the genome responsible for neural tube growth and differentiation in medulloepithelioma.     

Associated coronary anomalies in 135 Iranian patients with tetralogy of Fallot

Coronary artery anomalies are common among patients with tetralogy of Fallot. One hundred and thirty-five patients (80 males and 55 females) with tetralogy of Fallot who underwent repair between 1995 and 2002 were studied to determine the incidence of coronary anomalies in Iranian patients. Eight (5.9%) patients (4 males and 4 females) had a surgically relevant coronary artery anomaly: single coronary ostium in 5, origin of the left anterior descending artery from the right coronary artery in 2, and origin of the right coronary artery from the left coronary artery in 1. The surgical technique in 3 of these patients was repair of the ventricular septal defect with a transverse incision on the right ventricle, without damage to the coronary arteries. In another patient, an allograft aortic valve cylinder was inserted. In the other 4 patients with a single coronary ostium, placement of a limited transannular patch was adequate. Consideration of these anomalies during primary repair could decrease the risk of operation in such patients. However, it seems that the presence of anomalous coronary arteries does not affect incremental risk after surgical repair.     

Efficacy and safety of rituximab therapy in patients with systemic sclerosis disease (SSc): systematic review and meta-analysis

Clinical Rheumatology - The clinical benefits of rituximab in systemic sclerosis (SSc) are still contentious. The present meta-analysis aimed to systematically assess rituximab’s safety and...     

In-vitro and in-vivo cytotoxicity and efficacy evaluation of novel glycyl-glycine and alanyl-alanine conjugates of chitosan and trimethyl chitosan nano-particles as carriers for oral insulin delivery

Purpose

The aim of this research work was to explore the possibility of providing multifunctional oral insulin delivery system by conjugating several types of dipeptides on chitosan and trimethyl chitosan to be used as drug carriers.

TMPRSS2-ERG Fusions Are Strongly Linked to Young Patient Age in Low-grade Prostate Cancer

Based on next-generation sequencing of early-onset prostate cancer (PCa), we earlier demonstrated that PCa in young patients is prone to rearrangements involving androgen-regulated genes—such as transmembrane protease, serine 2 (TMPRSS2)–v-ets avian erythroblastosis virus E26 oncogene homolog (ERG) fusion—and provided data suggesting that this situation might be caused by increased androgen signaling in younger men. In the same study, an accumulation of chromosomal deletions was found in cancers of elderly patients. To determine how age-dependent molecular features relate to cancer phenotype, an existing data set of 11 152 PCas was expanded by additional fluorescence in situ hybridization analyses of phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN), 6q15 and 5q21. The results demonstrate that the decrease in TMPRSS2–ERG fusions with increasing patient age is limited to low-grade cancers (Gleason ≤3 + 4) and that the significant increase in the deletion frequency with age was strictly limited to ERG-negative cancers for 6q15 and 5q21 but to ERG-positive cancers for PTEN. These data suggest that the accumulation of non–androgen-linked genomic alterations with advanced patient age may require an appropriate microenvironment, such as a positive or negative ERG status. The strong link of ERG activation to young patient age and low-grade cancers may help to explain a slight predominance of low-grade cancers in young patients.     

Synthesis of thioether derivatives of quinazoline-4-one-2-thione and evaluation of their antiplatelet aggregation activity

A series of 2-(arylmethylthio)-3-phenylquinazolin-4-one derivatives have been synthesized and their antiplatelet aggregation activities were assessed against ADP and arachidonic acid-induced platelet aggregation in human plasma. Among the tested thioethers, derivative 2, 3, 5 and 16 were the most potent compounds with satisfactory IC₅₀ for inhibition of platelet aggregation induced by ADP. Analysis of global physicochemical parameters shows some correlations between activities and molecular volume and also surface area of the studied derivatives.