Iranian Red Crescent Medical Journal
Volume:15 Issue: 1, Jan 2013

The association between HER2 Ile655Val single nucleotide polymorphism and cancer is controversial.. The aim of our study was to investigate this polymorphism in patients with ovarian cancer..Patients and Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood leukocytes of 107 patients and 130 healthy women. HER2 gene polymorphism was assessed by PCR-RFLP.. No significant difference was observed in genotype and allele frequency between patient and control groups according to HER2 Ile655Val polymorphism. The disease stage, age, and histological type were also not associated with the polymorphism.. our data showed that HER2 Ile655Val single nucleotide polymorphism was not significantly associated with onset, histological type, age, and stage of ovarian cancer in Iranian patients..

The household transmission of hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a major health problem. The prevalence rate of this infection is reported about 11% to 57% among family members of HBsAg carriers.. This study was conducted to evaluate serological determinants of chronic hepatitis B infection, especially HBsAg positivity, among family members of asymptomatic HBsAg positive carriers in Zahedan (Southeast of Iran)..Patients and In a cross-sectional study, data were collected from the total number of 454 HBsAg positive cases and 1817 members of their family by trained interviewers and a validated questionnaire. In addition, blood samples were obtained and titrated to detect serologic markers of hepatitis B. All subjects were recruited following informed consent to the study.. In total, 454 chronic HBsAg carriers (66% male) with mean age of 36 ± 10 years and 1817 of their family members were included in the study. The prevalence rate of HBsAg and HBcAb positivity among household members were 19.3% (n = 351) and 51% (n = 573), respectively. The frequency of HBV markers was different by age groups. The highest prevalence rate of HBsAg (34.9%) and HBcAb (31.9%) positivity were found in the age group of 21-30 years old. Importantly, the mothers of index cases had the highest prevalence of HBsAg positivity compared to their spouses who had the lowest proportion (53.2% vs. 8.4%, P < 0.001).. In family members, HBsAg positivity was four times greater than the general indigenous population. Considering the importance of close contacts for transmission, it was more prevalent in mothers of index cases compared to their spouses, suggesting more efficient mother-to-child than sexually transmission of HBV. It was also more prevalent in those having a history of hepatitis B in their maternal family compared to those with paternal one, probably due to more efficient transmission from infected mothers to children. The lower prevalence of HBsAg positivity in lower age groups could be attributed to vaccination of Iranian infants since 1993 and the screening of HBsAg positive mothers during the last two decades..

The development of inhibitors against administered clotting factors may render replacement therapy ineffective for some hemophilia patients. Such patients are therefore at the highest risk of developing arthropathy. Elective orthopedic surgery (EOS) in hemophilic patients having such inhibitors remains a rare, expensive, and difficult surgery, whose management represents a significant challenge. We report the case of a 35-year-old man with a severe form of hemophilia A (factor VIII < 1%), who was suffering from repetitive spontaneous hemarthrosis, especially in his knee joints that had consequently become more susceptible to bleeding. The patient had a history of high levels of factor VIII inhibitor (> 5.0 Bethesda Unit [BU]/ml) as shown by the factor VIII inhibitor assay; therefore, we began treatment with factor VIIa for his mild-to-moderate bleeding (90 µg/kg intravenous bolus injections). The interval between injections varied with the severity of the hemorrhage in each bleeding episode. The inhibitor level reduced to 3.1 BU/ml after three months, to 1.6 BU/ml after six months, and disappeared completely after one year of treatment. We administered factor VIII at a dose of 50 IU/kg every eight hours during the first three post-operative days, then continued administration with a dose of 40 IU/kg every 12 hours for another four days, and observed a very good response to treatment with no bleeding. Recombinant activated factor VII (rFVIIa) is not an inhibitor-removal strategy, but an inhibitor-bypassing product. However, in our patient, the treatment of mild-to-moderate bleeding with short-term use of rFVIIa and no exposure to factor VIII caused a gradual reduction in the inhibitor level over a period of 1 year..

Domestic violence is one of the major health problems among women. Promoting preventive behaviors of domestic violence among women and girls can play crucial role in reducing this health problem.. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of an intervention based on PRECEDE-PROCEED Model on preventive behaviors of domestic violence among Iranian high school girls..Patients and An interventional study was completed during 2010-2011 in 10 high schools in the district 17 of Tehran municipality with 510 female students. We used the components of the PRECEDE-PROCEED Model for planning, implementation and evaluation of the program. Based on the results of need assessment, an appropriate environmental and educational intervention was implemented in the intervention group. Changes in predisposing, reinforcing, enabling factors and especially preventive behaviors immediately and two months after the intervention activities were assessed by questionnaires based on PRECEDE-PROCEED Model.. The intervention had significantly positive effect on predisposing, enabling and reinforcing factors immediately and two months after the intervention (P < 0.05). Repeated measures Analysis of variance showed a significant positive increase in preventive behaviors score in the intervention group from baseline to two months.. The PRECEDE-PROCEED Model can be applied as a conceptual framework for identifying the relevant behavioral and environmental risk factors associated with domestic violence. Development and implementation the skills-based education using this model can lead to the promotion of preventive behaviors of domestic violence and reduction in domestic violence cases..

Systemic Sclerosis (SSc) is a systemic connective tissue disease. In this study, we compared the serum Homocystein (Hcy) level between patients with SSc and normal control group.. The current study was conducted to determine whether serum Hcy levels are elevated in SSc patients and whether there is any correlation between Hcy levels and RP, Gastro intestinal and lung involvement..Patients and Forty one patients who fulfilled the diagnostic criteria for SSc (39 females and 5 males) and Forty four community-based healthy individuals (sex and age matched) were enrolled in to the study. Serum Hcy, vitamin B12, and folate levels were determined.. Thirty three patients (70.45%) had GI involvement, twenty two patients (50%) had lung involvement and twenty seven patients (61.36%) had Raynaud’s phenomena. Mean serum Hcy level in control group was 22.78 ± 6.018 μmol/L and in case group was 19.43 ± 7.205 μmol/L, shows that the serum Hcy level in control group was significantly higher than patients (P = 0.020).. Serum Hcy level is significantly lower in SSc patients than in control group. There is no statistically significant correlation between serum Hcy level and organ involvements..

The tendency towards sphincter preserving for low rectal cancers with low anterior resection, has led to the technique of straight coloanal anastomosis (SCAA) or colonic J-pouch anal anastomosis (CPAA).. The aim of our study was to compare functional outcomes, complication rates and quality of life (QoL) after LAR with either a straight or colonic J pouch anastomosis..Patients and In 88 patients with rectal tumors located in lower third, who were candidate for LAR with coloanal anastomosis. They were divided for reconstruction using either SCAA (n= 47) or CPAA (n= 41) from January 2007 to May 2009. Functional results were assessed after closure of temporary loop ileostomy, 6 months postoperatively. Quality of life (QoL) was measured using European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) QLQ-C30.. The two groups were matched for gender, age, and preoperative chemotherapy and radiotherapy. There were no significant differences between the SCAA and CPAA groups relative to anastomotic leakage. Among patients with CPAA, the mean of 24 hours bowel movements, daytime bowel movements, incontinence scores, and incidence of urgency were significantly lower than those in the SCAA group. Also, patients with a CPAA had a significantly better quality of life.. CPAA provided not only better functional results than SCAA, but also improved quality of life, thus may be the better choice..

Scorpion venom glands produce some antimicrobial peptides (AMP) that can rapidly kill a broad range of microbes and have additional activities that impact on the quality and effectiveness of innate responses and inflammation.. In this study, we reported the identification of a cDNA sequence encoding cysteine-free antimicrobial peptides isolated from venomous glands of this species.. Total RNA was extracted from the Iranian mesobuthus eupeus venom glands, and cDNA was synthesized by using the modified oligo (dT). The cDNA was used as the template for applying Semi-nested RT- PCR technique. PCR Products were used for direct nucleotide sequencing and the results were compared with Gen Bank database.. A 213 BP cDNA fragment encoding the entire coding region of an antimicrobial toxin from the Iranian scorpion M. Eupeus venom glands were isolated. The full-length sequence of the coding region was 210 BP contained an open reading frame of 70 amino with a predicted molecular mass of 7970.48 Da and theoretical Pi of 9.10. The open reading frame consists of 210 BP encoding a precursor of 70 amino acid residues, including a signal peptide of 23 residues a propertied of 7 residues, and a mature peptide of 34 residues with no disulfide bridge. The peptide has detectable sequence identity to the Lesser Asian mesobuthus eupeus MeVAMP-2 (98%), MeVAMP-9 (60%) and several previously described AMPs from other scorpion venoms including mesobuthus martensii (94%) and buthus occitanus Israelis (82%).. The secondary structure of the peptide mainly consisted of α-helical structure which was generally conserved by previously reported scorpion counterparts. The phylogenetic analysis showed that the Iranian MeAMP-like toxin was similar but not identical with that of venom antimicrobial peptides from lesser Asian scorpion mesobuthus eupeus..

There are numerous unanswered questions in the application of artificial neural network models for analysis of survival data. In most studies, independent variables have been studied as qualitative dichotomous variables, and results of using discrete and continuous quantitative, ordinal, or multinomial categorical predictive variables in these models are not well understood in comparison to conventional models.. This study was designed and conducted to examine the application of these models in order to determine the survival of gastric cancer patients, in comparison to the Cox proportional hazards model..Patients and We studied the postoperative survival of 330 gastric cancer patients who suffered surgery at a surgical unit of the Iran Cancer Institute over a five-year period. Covariates of age, gender, history of substance abuse, cancer site, type of pathology, presence of metastasis, stage, and number of complementary treatments were entered in the models, and survival probabilities were calculated at 6, 12, 18, 24, 36, 48, and 60 months using the Cox proportional hazards and neural network models. We estimated coefficients of the Cox model and the weights in the neural network (with 3, 5, and 7 nodes in the hidden layer) in the training group, and used them to derive predictions in the study group. Predictions with these two methods were compared with those of the Kaplan-Meier product limit estimator as the gold standard. Comparisons were performed with the Friedman and Kruskal-Wallis tests.. Survival probabilities at different times were determined using the Cox proportional hazards and a neural network with three nodes in the hidden layer; the ratios of standard errors with these two methods to the Kaplan-Meier method were 1.1593 and 1.0071, respectively, revealed a significant difference between Cox and Kaplan-Meier (P < 0.05) and no significant difference between Cox and the neural network, and the neural network and the standard (Kaplan-Meier), as well as better accuracy for the neural network (with 3 nodes in the hidden layer). Probabilities of survival were calculated using three neural network models with 3, 5, and 7 nodes in the hidden layer, and it has been observed that none of the predictions was significantly different from results with the Kaplan-Meier method and they appeared more comparable towards the last months (fifth year). However, we observed better accuracy using the neural network with 5 nodes in the hidden layer. Using the Cox proportional hazards and a neural network with 3 nodes in the hidden layer, we found enhanced accuracy with the neural network model.. Neural networks can provide more accurate predictions for survival probabilities compared to the Cox proportional hazards mode, especially now that advances in computer sciences have eliminated limitations associated with complex computations. It is not recommended in order to adding too many hidden layer nodes because sample size related effects can reduce the accuracy. We recommend increasing the number of nodes to a point that increased accuracy continues (decrease in mean standard error), however increasing nodes should cease when a change in this trend is observed..

Treatment of low-grade astrocytoma (WHO grade II) (LGA II) remains a challenge. There is limited information regarding the long-term effects of stereotactic brachytherapy (SBT) (temporary 125Iodine seeds) on patients with LGA II.. The purpose of this study was to evaluate disease control and survival after stereotactic brachytherapy in patients with circumscribed and relatively small size tumors.. A retrospective review of 29 patients, treated between 1991 and 2011, was conducted to evaluate survival, complications, and local disease control after stereotactic brachytherapy. They belonged to a larger group of 48 cases with low-grade gliomas, treated with stereotactic brachytherapy. The demographic and clinical characteristics in patients including age, sex, and survival time were extracted from records.. Thirteen patients were male and 16 were female, with the median age of 29 years (range, 2.5 – 64 years). The median follow-up was 95 (range, 6 – 240) months. Based on Pignatti classification, 10 patients were at low- and 19 patients at high-risk. The median overall as well as progression-free survivals for patients were 135 months (95% confidence interval: 76 – 194) and 96 months (95% confidence interval: 1 – 199), respectively. Five- and 10-year progression-free survivals were 41.4 % and 34.5 %, respectively, and the 5- and 10-year overall survivals were 65.5 % and 44.8%, respectively. Progression-free survival was not significantly higher in smaller size tumors (P = 0.224), nor for spherical versus non-spherical tumors (P = 0.307). There was no treatment-related morbidity after stereotactic brachytherapy, and no radiogenic complications occurred during the follow-up period. Mortality due to tumor progression occurred in 4 patients (14%), and 11 patients were alive at the last follow-up.. The stereotactic brachytherapy for patients with circumscribed and relatively small size tumors appears to be a safe, feasible, and minimally-invasive treatment..

HIV infection significantly increases the risk of tuberculosis and this disease is one of the most common opportunistic infections in HIV Patients.. The aim of this study was to determine of the prevalence of tuberculosis and risk factor among HIV patients.. In this cross-sectional study, from September 2009 to September 2010, 71 HIV patients who referred to teaching hospital in Tehran, Capital Iran were enrolled. Records of patients that admitted to hospital at least once a year and have positive test for HIV with ELISA and Western Blot were assessed. TB diagnosis testes included clinical finding, chest X-Ray and culture positive sputum.. 74.6 % and 38 % of them had prison history and history of addiction respectively, 28.2% of subjects co- infected with HIV / TB and 40% of patients were under treatment with anti-retroviral drugs. There was relationship Between TB and CD4 counts below 200 cells per micro-liters (P = 0.003), age (P = 0.000), anti-retroviral drugs (P = 0.001), discharge status (P = 0.004), prison history (P = 0.002) and alcohol and smoking (P = 0.01).. The prevalence rate of TB / HIV among intravenous drug abusers and prisoners was high also the prevalence of tuberculosis among HIV patients..

Oncolytic viruses have become of noticeable interest as a novel biological approach for selectively infecting cancer cells and triggering apoptosis in a number of malignant cells. Many researches are devoted to characterize more viruses with oncolytic properties.. Evidences on the oncolytic feature of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are conflicting; therefore, this study was designed to elucidate the possible role of RSV on the modulation of cell growth and apoptosis in the skin cancer cells.. Plaque assay was used to determine RSV titers. The cytotoxic effect of RSV in A431 (skin carcinoma cell line) was determined using MTT assay. The detection of apoptosis was performed via Annexin-V-FITC staining method and analyzed with flow cytometry.. The results indicated that A431 cell growth was inhibited following infection by RSV in a dose- and time-dependent manner. The most growth inhibitory effect of RSV was occurred at the MOI of 3, and 48 hour after infection. The inhibitory effect of RSV on the cell growth was accompanied by the induction of apoptosis in the skin cancer cells. The percentages of early and late apoptotic cells were increased following exposure to RSV in a concentration- and time-dependent manner.. This study delineated the beneficial role of RSV for growth regulation of skin cancer cells and highlighted the involvement of RSV in the induction of apoptosis in A431 cells. These findings might conduct evidence into the oncolytic properties of RSV in the skin cancer. Further studies are required to indicate intracellular targets for RSV-induced apoptosis in skin cancer cells..

Many members of the genus Satureja have aromatic and medicinal characteristics. Objectives. The purpose of the present work was to determine cytotoxic activity of the essential oil of S. intermedia CA Mey (Lamiaceae) on two human cancerous cell lines and its in vitro inhibitory effects against 11 pathogenic bacteria and fungi as well.. The essential oil was isolated by hydrodistillation and analyzed by combination of capillary GC-FID and GC-MS. The in vitro toxicological study was based on the MTT cytotoxicity assay and antimicrobial activity of the essential oil was studied according to the disc diffusion method and MIC value.. Thymol (34.5%), γ-terpinene (18.2%) and ρ-cymene (10.5%) were the main components of the essential oil. The toxicological study on 5637 and KYSE cell lines showed IC50 values of 156 μg/ml. The essential oil exhibited considerable antimicrobial activity on tested bacteria and fungi.. From the results of the present study, it may be concluded that the essential oil of S. intermedia and its major constitutes are interesting in antibacterial and anticancer applications..

Preventing the seasonal or pandemic outbreak of influenza can be powerful and cost-effective.. In this study, we constructed a novel virus-like particle (VLP) platform that contains two hemagglutinin (HA) subtypes and evaluated immunogenicity of constructed VLP in mice.. This recombinant candidate vaccine model resulted in the expression of two HAs of H1N1 and H3N2 subtypes co-localized within a VLP. Following infection of insect cells with recombinant baculovirus co-expressing H1, H3 and M1 proteins, VLPs with size of 80–120 nm were self-assembled, budding, and released into the insect culture medium. The resulting VLPs which contained two different subtypes of hemagglutinin were purified by ultracentrifugation. The immunogenicity of VLPs was evaluated in mice following immunization.. Our data showed that vaccination using VLPs elicited robust levels of serum IgG, and viral neutralizing antibodies against A/PR8 (H1N1) and A/HK (H3N2) viruses. Following challenge with lethal dose of A/PR8 (H1N1) and A/HK (H3N2), vaccinated mice were protected, displaying no sign of weight loss and mortality compared to non-vaccinated control mice.. VLPs can serve as a promising vaccination strategy to control influenza virus..