International Journal of Medical Laboratory
Volume:3 Issue: 4, Nov 2016

Backgrounds and Aims: One member of the cytochrome P450 family, CYP1A1, is one of the genes involved in the metabolism of carcinogens and estrogen, which has been identified to be associated with breast cancer, as well. Considering the known effect of estrogen in different signaling pathways, disorders in these pathways will affect the risk of breast cancer. In this study, we evaluated the relationship between rs1048943 polymorphism of CYP1A1 gene and the risk of breast cancer in a population of Iranian women.
This case-control study was conducted on 79 patients with breast cancer and 79 healthy women at shohad-e-tajrish hospital. After genomic DNA extraction from peripheral blood cells using the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method, the genotype of the participants was identified. Then, the relationship between A/G polymorphism and the disease risk was analyzed using SPSS version 23.
The mean age of the patients and controls was 48±8 and 43±6 years, respectively. the results showed that the frequency of the G allele had a significant difference between cases and controls. Accordingly, the presence of the G allele, as a risk allele, increased the chance of breast cancer in the carriers of this allele by at least a factor of 2.33 in comparison with people without this allele (OR=2. 33, %95 CI:1.21-4.37, p=0. 006).
Our findings showed a significant correlation between the CYP1A1 gene polymorphism and increased risk of breast cancer in a population of Iranian women.

Since the epidemiological, clinical and experimental characteristics of meningitis are different for various locations, this study was conducted to investigate the characteristics of meningitis patients admitted to hospitals of Yazd in the 2009 to 2013.
In this cross-sectional and descriptive study, all 261 patients with meningitis were considered in Yazd hospitals in the years 2009 to 2013. The type of sampling method was census. The data were collected from patients’ files using special forms that were designed for this purpose.
In this study, 158 men (60.5%) and 103 women (39.5%) were considered. Among the patients, 53 people (20.30%) were under one-year-old, 63 people (24.14%) were between one to seven-year-old, and 85 people (32.57%) were adult. Among 261 patients, 126 ones (48.28%) and 135 ones (51.72%) were hospitalized with a diagnosis of non-bacterial meningitis and bacterial meningitis respectively. Generally, the cultivations of just 4 people (1.5%) were positive. The percentage of neutrophils and lymphocytes, the amount of glucose and the protein of cerebrospinal fluid in bacterial and aseptic meningitis was significantly different (p Since there is no significant difference between epidemiological characteristics and clinical symptoms in bacterial and no-bacterial meningitis, it seems that doing laboratory tests, despite aggressive, is the best practice for differentiating between types of meningitis and the fast performance of it could somewhat prevent the improper antibiotic therapy.

Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in men worldwide in men. Matrix metalloproteinase 2 (MMP2) has a role in the invasion and destruction of the basement membrane and the extra-cellular matrix and facilitating the process of tumor cell invasion. The present study was conducted to compare the expression of MMP2 gene in prostate cancer (PCa) and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).
48 samples of PCa and 48 samples of BPH (as controls) were examined. RNA was extracted from paraffin tissue blocks and then used for cDNA synthesize. The real time polymerase chain reaction method was used to quantify the expression of MMP2 gene. The level of gene expression was assessed using participants’ clinicopathological characteristics.
The expression of MMP2 gene increased in the PCa samples compared with the BPH samples (p=0.003). MMP2 gene increased in all the grades of this group compared with the controls. The highest expression, however, was observed in the moderately differentiated grade. No significant correlations or relationships were observed in the PCa samples between prostate specific antigen and the other study variables such as age, MMP2 expression, disease grade and the Gleason score; however a positive correlation was observed between prostate specific antigen and the sample's pathological stage.
The expression of MMP2 increased in the PCa samples compared with the BPH samples, with the highest expression occurring in the samples with a Gleason score of 6. Further tests and studies conducted with larger sample sizes may help to use this marker in differentiating malignant from benign samples.

Flavonoids as polyphenolic naturally occurring compounds have antioxidant activity. There is increasing evidence suggests that flavonoids may affect the activity of enzymes. Paraoxonase 1 is calcium - dependent enzyme that is present in high density lipoproteins. This enzyme has an important role in the prevention of low density lipoprotein oxidation. We investigated the effects of kaempferol, galangin and apigenin from two different chemical subclasses of flavonoids on serum paraoxonase 1 activity and stress oxidative parameters in male rats.
40 rats (weighting 250±20 g) were randomly divided into four groups. Each group subdivided into two equal subgroups. Subgroups received a dose of 10 mg/kg or 20 mg/kg of flavonoid. Flavonoids were dissolved in ethanol 10%, and given by oral gavage once a day for two months. After that, paraoxonase activity was measured by spectrophotometric method regarding the amount of para Nitro phenol production at a wavelength of 412 nm. The malondialdehyde and total antioxidant capacities were measured respectively by the thiobarbituric acid and the 1,1-Diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl reduction method.
The results obtained from the direct effect of selected flavonoids on augmentation serum paraoxonase activity and prevention of malondialdehyde production in comparison with the control group was as follows: kaempferol> Galangin > apigenin.
Results confirm that structural differences in C3-OH and number of hydroxyl groups could have been an important role in increasing serum paraoxonase 1 activity and reduction of oxidative stress parameters

Alcohol abuse is an important concern of many societies. Hippocampal neurogenesis regulates abusing drugs in a positive manner. The aim of this study was to identify factors that regulate neurogenesis in isolation period that increase preference for alcohol and salt.
In this study sixteen rats were randomly divided into two groups: Pair (social) and isolation. Rats in the isolation group were isolated for 14 days plus one week for acclimatization. Rats in pair group also were kept in the same condition for 14 days. In this period BrdU (50 mg/kg/day/i.p.) was injected. At the end of the experiment, rats examined for copper, zinc, malondialdehyde (MDA), neurogenesis, salt consumption and alcohol preference.
Zinc in serum reduced in isolated rats, but copper in serum paradoxically increased in isolated rats. Neurogenesis reduced in isolated rats. Also, MDA in serum, salt consumption, and alcohol consumption increased in the isolated group.
Social isolation with reduction of neurogenesis predisposes rats to consume more alcohol and also salt. The reduction in neurogenesis is associated with paradoxical balance of zinc and copper and increase in MDA in serum. So, regulation of copper and zinc may have beneficial effects on neurogenesis, sensitization and alcohol preference.

Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) is a polyphenolic compound from green tea, which its anticancer effects on many types of cancers have been confirmed, but the molecular mechanism by which EGCG induces apoptosis remains unknown. The aim of the present study was to investigate anti-proliferative properties and apoptotic signaling pathway of EGCG on PC3 human prostate cancer cells.
Cytotoxic effect of EGCG on prostate cancer cell line (PC3) was evaluated by MTT assay. DAPI staining was carried out to determine the morphological appearance of cells. Finally, the expression of Bax and Bcl-2 (apoptosis-regulating genes) were evaluated by quantitative Real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR).
Cytotoxicity evaluations demonstrated that EGCG prevented prostate cancer cells growth in a time and dose depended manner, but the effect of treatment duration is more significant than effect of concentration. Cell growth inhibition was found to be accompanied by nucleus condensation or chromatin fragmentations which are signs of apoptosis, as assessed by DAPI staining. Quantitative Real-time PCR results demonstrated that EGCG causes up-regulation of Bax as a pro-apoptotic protein, and down-regulation of Bcl-2 as an anti-apoptotic protein, thus shifting the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio in favor of apoptosis.
It is tempting to suggest that consumption of EGCG could be an effective strategy to inhibit prostate cancer. Our results demonstrated that increase in the ratio of Bax/Bcl-2, is the probable molecular mechanisms through which EGCG induces apoptosis in PC3 cells.

This study examined sub-chronic effects of Methamphetamine (METH) on the stereological parameters in the Cornu Ammonis (CA) of the hippocampus in adult mice.
Fifteen adult male mice, eight weeks old, were randomly divided into three groups: receive saline (controls), or low-dose (LD) 2.5 mg/kg METH, or high-dose (HD) 25 mg/kg METH, via daily intraperitoneal administrations for one month. The Cavalieri principle was used to estimate the volume of CA hippocampal field. The physical disector was used to determine the numerical density of CA1 and CA3 pyramidal cells. The qualitative Golgi staining was also done for analyzing the dendritic morphology of CA1 and CA3 pyramidal cells.
Our results showed that in METH-treated mice, the volumes of the Oreins, Pyramidal and Radiatum-Lacunosum-Moleculare layers in the CA1 and CA3, the entire volumes of the CA1 and CA3 subfields and the entire hippocampal volume were significantly increased compared to the control animals (p˂0.001). The estimated total number and numerical density of pyramidal cells in the CA1 and CA3 in both treated groups showed a significant decrease in comparison with the controls (p˂0.001). The pyramidal neurons of CA1 and CA3 in treated mice had more dendritic arborization and greater dendritic length than control mice.
Our findings indicate that sub-chronic METH injection induces stereological changes in the structure of the hippocampus in adult mice. A neuroanatomical basis may be related to the primarily reported impairment of learning and memory abilities in the METH user.

Portulaca oleracea (purslane) herb has renewed an interest in medicinal plants because its aerial parts usage generally does not elicit any side effects. In the present study, we aimed to evaluate the anti-diabetic effect of hydro-ethanolic extract of P. oleracea seeds in alloxan- induced diabetic rats.
In the test group, diabetic rats received hydroethanolic extract at doses of 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg, intraperitoneally for 14 days while in the control group, they received just saline vehicle. Then, biochemical analysis was performed to evaluate serum profiles in diabetic treated rats. After that, liver sections were prepared for histopathological analysis.
In comparison compare to the control group, the serum profiles of the test group exhibited significant changes. In the control diabetic group, the serum levels of glucose, cholesterol, triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein, urea and uric acid were 494, 122, 220, 163, 492 and 94 mg/dL and aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase and alkaline phosphatase were 3215, 3394 and 1527 UI/l reduced respectively to 165, 18, 120, 63, 36 and 52 mg/dL and 1219, 1229 and 1717 UI/l in the test groups. Also, the administration of the purslane extract significantly increased high-density lipoproteins and total protein levels and attenuated hispathological damage in liver tissue in alloxan- induced diabetic rats.
The present data indicated that hydro-ethanolic extract of P. oleracea seeds has anti-diabetic effect in diabetic animals. So, this plant should be considered in future therapeutic researches.