nahid nasiri

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common leukemia in children and is associated with a high relapse rate despite current treatments. Ganoderic acid A (GAA) is a bioactive compound found in Ganoderma lucidum that has shown potential antileukemic properties.

This study aimed to investigate the effect of a GAA extract on autophagy gene expression and apoptosis induction in the NALM-6 cell line.

A total of 20 × 103 NALM-6 cells were cultured in triplicate across various conditions: Culture condition supplemented with GAA, culture condition supplemented with L-asparaginase, culture condition supplemented with both GAA and L-asparaginase, and culture condition alone without L-asparaginase and GAA. The optimal concentration of GAA treatment was determined using an MTT assay. Flow cytometry was used to assess cell death induced by GAA treatment, using FITC-conjugated propidium iodide (PI) and annexin V staining. The expression levels of autophagy-related genes, including MAP1LC3B, BECN1, ATG5, ATG10, RB1CC1, and AMBRA1, were measured in the groups using real-time polymerase chain reaction.

The results of the MTT test indicated that the half maximum inhibitory concentration (IC50) of GAA against leukemic cells was 140 μg/mL after 48 hours of treatment. Moreover, flow cytometry analysis demonstrated a 40.5% increase in apoptosis and cell death at a concentration of 140 μg/mL of GAA after 48 hours. Furthermore, treatment with GAA resulted in upregulation of the expression of MAP1LC3B (P = 0.024), BECN1 (P = 0.035), ATG5 (P = 0.024), ATG10 (P = 0.024), RB1CC1 (P = 0.024), and AMBRA1 (P = 0.024) in NALM-6 cells compared to the control groups.

These findings suggest that GAA has potential as a therapeutic agent for ALL. The GAA might have potential therapeutic properties against ALL.

This research delves into exploring the nexus between lipid profiles and pro-inflammatory cytokines in both blood and follicular fluid (FF). It examines their impact on assisted reproductive technology (ART) outcomes and the propensity for ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) in non-obese polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) patients.

One hundred and thirty-one PCOS patients with intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) indication, participated in this cross-sectional study. Based on plasma fasting lipids, patients were divided into two groups, dyslipidemia group (n=79) was defined as patients with triglyceride (TG) ≥150 mg/dl or/and total cholesterol (TC) ≥200 mg/dl. Patients with lower levels of lipids were included in the normal lipid group (n=51). All patients underwent the antagonist protocol to stimulate ovulation for ICSI. Blood and FF samples collected on the ovum pick-up (OPU) day. The concentrations of lipids in serum and FF, including TC and TG using Colorometry method, and also, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) using turbidimetric method. The lowdensity lipoprotein (LDL) level was calculated by the formula: LDL= TC-TG/5- HDL. Serum tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin-18 (IL-18) were measured with ELISA kit. ART outcomes encompassed retrieved oocytes, metaphase II oocytes (MII), and rates of fertilization, cleavage, blastocyst development, and chemical and clinical pregnancy.

FF level of LDL-C in the dyslipidemia group was markedly higher than the normal lipid group (P=0.007). Serum TNFα levels (P<0.001) and FF levels of TNF-α and IL-18 were significantly elevated in the dyslipidemia group (P=0.005, P<0.001, respectively). A robust correlation between FF inflammatory cytokines and ART outcomes emerged in PCOS patients, independent of lipid status. Notably, the normal lipid group exhibited a significantly higher risk of OHSS than the dyslipidemia group (P=0.034). 

The present study underscored the association between lipid metabolic disorders in PCOS and heightened inflammatory cytokine levels, correlating with ART outcomes but not with OHSS risk. 

Chronic wounds, a major clinical challenge, still need to develop new methods based on efficient technologies to improvetreatment results. Stem cells, particularly mesenchymal stem cells (MSC), as an advanced approach in skin regenerativemedicine, brought new hopes. The multifaceted effects of MSCs, including paracrine signaling, trophic factor secretion, andmodulation of the wound microenvironment, orchestrate a cascade of regenerative, plays a critical role in tissue repair. Preclinicalinvestigations have revealed the regenerative capacity of MSCs in accelerating wound closure, promoting angiogenesis, andfostering a pro-healing environment in chronic wound models. Clinical trials have also confirmed these findings and show theefficacy of MSC treatment in accelerating wound healing and improving the quality of healed tissue in patients with chronicwounds. Despite the therapeutic progress, key issues, such as optimal cell sourcing, cell dosage, delivery modalities, andlong-term safety profiles, there are a number of unresolved issues which need to be dealt with. This review aims to provide acomprehensive overview of current state of stem cell research in wound healing, and offers a new new hope for effective andinnovative treatments in regenerative medicine.

Platelet-leukocyte aggregates have been implicated in various infectious and inflammatory diseases. The Interferon-induced transmembrane protein 3 (IFITM3) protein plays a role in eliminating viral infections, but its role in the severity of COVID-19 is not well understood.

We aimed to investigate the correlation between IFITM3 mRNA expression and platelet-monocyte complex levels with the severity of COVID-19, as well as various inflammatory and coagulation markers.

We conducted a cross-sectional study on 54 COVID-19 patients, classified into severe and mild/moderate subgroups. Demographics and laboratory findings were extracted from patients' medical records. We measured IFITM3 mRNA expression in patients' buffy coats using q-RT-PCR and used flow cytometry with CD61 and CD14 markers to measure platelet-monocyte aggregates.

No significant difference was found in IFITM3 mRNA expression levels or platelet-monocyte complexes between severe and mild/moderate groups (P = 0.067 and P = 0.056). Lymphocyte counts were significantly higher in the mild/moderate subgroup (21.7 ± 8.9 vs 16.3 ± 10.9, P = 0.02), while neutrophil counts were significantly higher in severe patients (78.3 ± 12.2 vs 72.3 ± 9.9, P = 0.01). Additionally, levels of CRP and LDH were significantly higher in severe COVID-19 patients (P = 0.01 and P = 0.001, respectively). A strong positive correlation was observed between the hospitalization period and CRP, CRP with neutrophils and LDH, as well as between O2 saturation and lymphocytes (P < 0.001, P = 0.0003, P = 0.002, and P = 0.005, respectively).

Our findings suggest that IFITM3 gene expression and platelet-monocyte aggregate levels do not correlate with disease outcomes in COVID-19. However, further investigations with larger sample sizes are needed to better understand the mechanisms involved. Monitoring inflammatory and coagulation markers remains important for managing COVID-19 patients.

Liver and kidney are two endocrine systems for hematopoietic system. Liver secretes thrombopoietin and erythropoietin is secreted by kidney. Disorders of lipid metabolism in liver cause morphologic variation of RBC such as target cells, acantocyte and stomatocyte. Portal hypertension led to splenomegaly and trap platelets in spleen. The kidney is a target organ for many autoimmune disease, pregnancy complication and infection that put effect on hematopoietic system.

Hematological abnormalities in COVID-19 infection included quantitative and qualitative changes and should be further characterized. Evaluation for myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) is usually prompted by abnormal hematologic findings and the presence of dysplastic morphologies. Viral infections are considered to be the cause of dysplastic morphologies and should be considered by morphologists. There are few reports of dysplastic abnormal morphologies in patients with COVID-19 infection. However, such correlations still have to be clarified.

In the present study, we examined the granulocyte lineage morphological abnormalities in symptomatic RT-PCR-confirmed COVID patients. Peripheral blood samples were collected from 82 patients with symptomatic COVID-19. Blood smears were prepared according to the standard Wright-Giemsa staining procedure. The morphological examination was carried out by two laboratory experts.

Blood smear examination revealed common myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) type abnormalities including but not limited to pseudo-pelger nuclear lobulation (4.8%), hypogranulation (7.3%), Howell-Jolly-like bodies or detached nuclear segments (6.0%) and elongated and thin nuclear filaments (6.0%). One case of abnormal immature granulocyte and ring form nucleus is also evident.

Our results accounted for the possibility of active COVID-19 infection in all subjects with granulocyte dysplasia. These results are of practical importance for patients suspected of having myelodysplastic syndromes or disease processes associated with myeloid malignancies.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrinological disorder associated with abdominalobesity (AO) and some reproductive complications including low pregnancy rate. Embryo-endometrium cross-talkhas a key role in successful embryo implantation and subsequent normal pregnancy rate. The primary objective ofthis study is to evaluate the decidualization potential of endometrial stromal cells (ESCs) using the embryo conditionmedia (ECM) collected from PCOS patients with AO, compared to ECM of those patients without AO. In this experimental study, we measured the capacity of ECM collected from PCOS patientswith or without AO for decidualization induction in healthy ESCs after coculture. A total number of 53 embryos from40 couples belonging to PCOS with AO, PCOS without AO, nonPCOS with AO, and nonPCOS without AO patients,were included in our study. The embryosof four groups were single-cultured up to the blastocyst stage. Their ECM(45λ/well) were pooled and added to healthy ESCs monolayer culture media to investigate their effects on decidualizationpotential via gene (PRL, IGFBP1, IL1-β, HOXA10, IL-6 and TNF-α) and protein (PRL, IGFBP1, IL1-β)expression analysis and ESCs migration assay. The morphological analysis, migration assay (P≤0.0321), protein (P≤0.0139) and gene expression analysisshowed PCOS with AO accounted for the highest gene (PRL, IGFBP1, IL1-β, HOXA10, IL-6, TNF-α) and proteinmarkers (PRL, IGFBP1, IL1-β) (P≤0.05). NonPCOS individuals without AO had the lowest level of both gene andprotein decidualization markers (P≤0.05). Considering decidualization as an inflammatory process, a higher level of decidualization markers wasassociated with a higher inflammatory status created by AO and PCOS, separately. Inflammation may disrupt the processof inflammatory to anti-inflammatory phase required for prevention of pregnancy loss, this could explain the highrate of abortion in these cases.

Thalassemia is an autosomal recessive hereditary disease that occurs due to a decrease in the synthesis of Please recheck. In beta thalassemia, defects in β-globin synthesis lead to an imbalance of β- and α-globin chains and the accumulation of α4 chains in the erythroid precursor which leads to ineffective erythropoiesis, shortened red blood cell survival, and finally clinical symptoms such as delayed sexual and physical maturation, endocrine dysfunction, cardiomyopathy, liver disease, bone deformities and hepatosplenomegaly. Current treatments such as transfusion, iron chelating agents and allogeneic stem cell hematopoietic transplantation have limitations in their use, including iron overload, lack of a human leukocyte antigen (HLA) matched compatible donor, and graft versus host disease (GVHD). Gene therapy is a new therapeutic option for beta thalassemia patients that induces the continuous expression of beta globin chains in the patient’s hematopoietic stem cells. The idea of gene therapy was first proposed in the early 1970s, and the ultimate goal of this treatment method is to express the defective gene in the target cell in a way that can reduce the symptoms of the disease or eliminate them (symptoms) altogether. There are two general methods for gene therapy: the integrating vector, in which the desired gene is inserted into the genome of the target cell and its lifelong expression follows, is the non-integrating method, in which the vector doesn’t integrate into the genome of the target cell and the cytoplasmic form enables gene expression. The first beta thalassemia gene therapy was performed in France in 2006, and in this clinical trial, the first patient with the E/β0 thalassemia was treated at the age of 18. Gene therapy for beta-thalassemia has been approved by the food and drug administration in 2022 for patients aged 12 years and older who have a non β0/β0 phenotype. It seems that this therapeutic option is the definitive treatment method for blood transfusion-dependent beta-thalassemia patients.  However, this treatment method still has limitations: high cost, sensitivity of lentiviral vector production, and the possibility of integration of the vector near the proto-oncogene and its activation are some of them.

Eosinophilia in the absence of allergies, asthma, drug reactions, parasitic infections and connective tissue diseases can be eosinophilic clonal disorders, lymphoma or myeloproliferative disorders.
Hypereosinophilia with the persistence of eosinophils ≥1500 /mm³ in blood or more than 20% of eosinophils in the bone marrow may be observed in many reactive or clonal disorders, the result of which is invasion of organs and the secretion of granules and multi-organ failure. For a patient with hypereosinophilia, reactive causes such as allergies, asthma, medications, infections, autoimmune disorders, or solid tissue tumors should be investigated. If reactive causes are not found, primary eosinophilia should be considered.
According to the WHO revision 2016, FISH or RT-PCR for FIPIL1-PDGFRA fusion and cytogenetic and FISH for gene rearrangements on chromosomes 4q12 (PDGFRA), 5q31-33 (PDGFRB), 8p11-12 (FGFR1) and 9P24 (Jak2) are essential.
Chronic eosinophilic leukemia is considered in the presence of ≥1.5 × 109/L absolute eosinophil count. These patients should lack myeloproliferative family genetic markers (such as t (9;22) and Jak2, CARL and CMPL mutations) and also lack myeloid/lymphoid genetic rearrangements associated with eosinophilia (including PDGFRA, PDGFRB and FGFR1).

In recent years, the role of inflammation and oxidative stress in the etiology of polycystic ovary syndrome has received more attention. Evaluation of the existing studies regarding the effects of inflammatory mediators and oxidative stress on ovarian function in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) indicates the key role of these factors in the progress and development of disease complications. The current review study was conducted with aim to summarize the presence and role of the aforementioned inflammatory mediators as well as the effect of recent treatment approaches including the use of antioxidant supplements and anti-inflammatory agents in improving the results of infertility treatment cycles in these patients.

In the present review article, to find the related articles, databases of PubMed, Science Direct, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases were searched with the keywords of polycystic ovary syndrome, inflammation, oxidative stress, oxygen-free radicals, antioxidant supplementation, infertility treatment, androgens, cytokines, and insulin resistance using the "AND" and "OR" operators from January 1991 to December 2020.

After reviewing all the articles in this field, it was found that PCOS, as a genetic and autoimmune disease, is associated with low degrees of inflammation, which plays an important role in the etiology, progression and occurrence of the disease. Moreover, ovulatory dysfunction, increased concentrations of oxygen free radicals in granulosa cells, as well as the follicular fluid of infertile PCOS patients under ART treatment, have been reported.

It seems that the coordination between three main factors, namely high dietary carbohydrate intake, insulin resistance, and hyperandrogenism, can be considered as the initiator for inflammation induction and oxidative stress in PCOS patients. The antioxidant supplements and anti-inflammatory agents can be useful to improve the results of infertility treatment cycles in these patients; however, concluding the results still requires further studies.

Inflammation and its master regulator, Nuclear Factor-kB (NF-kB), have been implicated in the development of endometriosis. Inhibition of NF-kB pathway using small molecules ameliorated disease progression and reduced the lesion size; nevertheless, the underlying mechanism is not fully understood. Therefore, this study, is an attempt to assess whether inhibiting NF-kB signaling by aloe-emodin (AE) or aspirin (Asp), as anti-inflammatory compounds, can suppresses the invasive activity of human endometrial stromal cells at stage IV endometriosis.

The eutopic and healthy endometrial biopsies from a total of 8 infertile women with confirmed endometriosis and 8 women without endometriosis were digested and the single cells were cultured. Gene and protein markers of proliferation, migration, adhesion, and invasion of eutopic endometrial stromal cells (EuESCs) with and without treatment with AE or Asp, as well as control endometrial stromal cells (CESCs) was analyzed using q-PCR and immunofluorescence staining, respectively. Comparison between groups was performed using one-way ANOVA and the Bonferroni post hoc and p≤0.5 was considered statistically significant.

There was an association between NF-kB overexpression and higher proliferation/adhesion capacity in EuESCs. EuESCs (at stage IV endometriosis) displayed no invasive and migratory behaviors. Pre-treatment of EuESCs with AE or Asp significantly attenuated NF-kB expression and reduced proliferative, adhesive, invasive, and migratory activity of endometrial cells (p≤0.5).

Eutopic endometrial stromal cells seem to have a semi-invasive activity which is largely suppressed by AE or Asp. It can be suggested that both Asp and AE (as potent NF-kB inhibitors) can be used as a supplement in conventional endometriosis treatments.

Burns are one the most common skin damages which require medical intervention to be fully-recovered. In this light, tissue engineering field presents a vide verity of strategies including both scaffold-based and cell-based approaches to recover the damaged site.

In this study, the effects of granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) administration on mobilization of the bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) into defect area and treatment of the skin burn wound was examined in vivo. The G-CSF was injected intravenously into rats subjected to third degree burn wound. At days 3, 5, 7, 15 and 30 post-injections, the defect site was removed and investigated by H&E and Malory’s trichrome staining. The number of MSCs in blood samples was also determined by flow cytometry assay.

According to the results, intravenously administration of G-CSF significantly increased collagenesis and number of fibroblast cells infiltrated into the burned site, while decreased the severity of acute inflammatory response and amount of inflammatory cells comparing to control. The number of MSCs in bloodstream, representing the rate of MSCs migration, showed a 4-fold increase in the experimental group compared to control.

The current study suggests the potential of intravenously administration of G-CSF as an effective strategy for treatment of severe burn injuries.

The presence of a sex related metabolic difference in glucose utilization and, on the other hand, different developmental kinetic rates in human preimplantation embryos, has been previously observed, hawever, the correlation between these two events is unknown. Oxidative stress (OS) induced by higher glucose consumption appears to be a possible cause for the delayed development rate in female embryos. We examined the correlation between glucose consumption and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) concentration in individual embryo culture media for both male and female embryos. In this cross-sectional study, we evaluated high quality embryos from 51 patients that underwent intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) and preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) at the Royan Institute between December 2014 and September 2017. The embryos were individually cultured in G-2TMmedium droplets at days 3-5 or 48 hours post PGD. We analysed the spent culture media following embryo transfer for total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and any remaining glucose concentrations through fluorometric measurement by chemiluminecence system which indirectly was used for measurement of glucose consumed by embryos. The results showed that female embryos consumed more glucose which was associated with decreased TAC concentration in their culture medium compared to male embryos. The mean of glucose concentration consumed by the female embryos (30.7 ± 4.7 pmol/embryo/hour) was significantly higher than that of the male embryos (25.3 ± 3.3 pmol/embryo/hour) (P<0.001). There were significantly lower levels of TAC in the surrounding culture medium of female embryos (22.60 ± 0.19 nmol/µl) compared with male embryos (24.74 ± 0.27 nmol/µl, P<0.01). This finding highlighted the utilization of sex dependent metabolic diversity between preimplantation embryos for non-invasive sex diagnosis and suggests the TAC concentration as a potential noninvasive biomarker for prediction of sex.

Myeloid cell leukemia-1 (Mcl-1) plays a pivotal role in the survival of hematologic and solid tumors, and is known as a substantial oncogene. Studies have demonstrated the altered expression of Mcl-1
has been linked to malignancy development and poor prognosis. In this research, we have studied the expression of Mcl-1 mRNA in myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) patients and determined association with clinico-pathological factors, MDS subgroups as well as international prognostic scoring system. The relative level of Mcl-1 was determined by real time quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and gene expression normalized to Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase. Results indicated amplification of mRNA encoding Mcl-1 in 100% of the cases. The higher level of Mcl-1 existed in MDS patients compared with the healthy controls but there was no statistically difference of Mcl-1 expression between these groups. Fold change in gene expression was higher in advanced stage MDS, high risk MDS, cases with >5% blast and LDH >400 to their corresponding groups. In addition, the correlation between gene expression and cytogenetic prognostic subgroups was statistically significant (p=0.043). In the present study, we showed that Mcl-1 is expressed in MDS independent of the World Health Organization subgroup and international prognostic scoring system. Therefore, Mcl-1 may be up-regulated already in early stages of leukemogenesis.

The extracellular matrix (ECM) of the cumulus oocyte complex (COC) is composed of several molecules that have different roles during follicle development. This study aims to explore gene expression profiles for ECM and cell adhesion molecules in the cumulus cells of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) patients based on their insulin sensitivity following controlled ovarian stimulation (COS). In this prospective case-control study enrolled 23 women less than 36 years of age who participated in an intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) program. Patients were subdivided into 3 groups: control (n=8, fertile women with male infertility history), insulin resistant (IR) PCOS (n=7), and insulin sensitive (IS) PCOS (n=8). We compared 84 ECM component and adhesion molecule gene expressions by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction array (qPCR-array) among the groups. We noted that 21 of the 84 studied genes differentially expressed among the groups, from which 18 of these genes downregulated. Overall, comparison of PCOS cases with controls showed downregulation of extracellular matrix protein 1 (ECM1); catenin (cadherin-associated protein), alpha 1 (CTNNA1); integrin, alpha 5 (ITGA5); laminin, alpha 3 (LAMA3); laminin, beta 1 (LAMB1); fibronectin 1 (FN1); and integrin, alpha 7 (ITGA7). In the IS group, there was upregulation of ADAM metallopeptidase with thrombospondin type 1 motif, 8 (ADAMTS8) and neural cell adhesion molecule 1 (NCAM1) compared with the controls (P<0.05). Downregulation of ECM and cell adhesion molecules seem to be related to PCOS. Gene expression profile alterations in cumulus cells from both the IS and IR groups of PCOS patients seems to be involved in the composition and regulation of ECM during the ovulation process. This study highlights the association of ECM gene alteration as a viewpoint for additional understanding of the etiology of PCOS.

Background: The objective of this study was to describe the association between luteinizing hormone (LH)/ follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) ratio and demographic variables and maturation stage of oocytes in insulin- resistant and insulin-sensitive patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) in comparison with control group. Materials and Methods: In this case-control study, 60 patients with in vitro fertilization (IVF)/intracytoplas- mic sperm injection (ICSI) indication were subdivided into 3 groups as follow: 20 subjects were assigned to control (fertile women with male infertility history) group, 20 subjects with PCOS were insulin resistant (IR) and 20 subjects with PCOS were insulin sensitive (IS). After puncture, retrieved oocytes were classified into metaphase II (MII) as mature and in metaphase I (MI) or germinal vesicle stage (GV) as immature. Regres- sion analyses were used to explore the association between MII oocyte number and demographic and clinical variables. Results: LH/FSH ratio was significantly higher in PCOS-IR women compared to controls but not significantly dif- ferent from that of PCOS-IS group. PCOS-IR women had lower MII oocyte number compared with that of controls. According to multiple regression analysis, the number of previous assisted reproductive technology (ART) cycles was negatively associated with the number of MII oocytes. Conclusion: Insulin resistance can be associated with reductions in MII oocyte number in patients with PCOS.

Hemoglobinopathies and thalassemia syndromes are among the most common inherited mono genic disorders worldwide. Screening for carrier status is recommended for adult of reproductive age. In order to anticipate the out come in offsprings a colored table with Red (serious risk); Purple (less serious risk); Yellow (hidden risk) and White (no risk) color; shows the risk of severity of anemia in children in various conditions of inheritage with detail explanation.

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a heterogeneous clonal disorder characterized by immature myeloid cell proliferation and bone marrow failure. Various genetic and epigenetic factors have been found to be influential in such patients.
Methylation silencing of APAF-1, a putative tumor suppressor gene (TSG), has been found in several human malignancies. In this study, we explored the association of APAF-1 methylation status with AML patients.
Subjects and We studied the methylation status of APAF-1 gene in 101 AML patients and 50 healthy subjects as controls. Genomic DNA was extracted from leukocytes in peripheral blood or bone marrow and the methylation status of APAF-1 gene promoter was detectedusing methylation-specific PCR (MSP) method with specific methylated and unmethylated primers. Gene expression was analyzed using real time RT-PCR.
The prevalence of methylated (MM) and hemi-methylated (MU) CpG dinucleotides within the APAF-1 gene promoter of AML patients was 12 (11.9%) and 45 (44.6%), respectively, while no methylation was detected in the control samples (p The present study indicated the increased frequency of hypermethylation of APAF-1 gene promoter in AML patients. APAF-1 aberrant CpG island methylation was associated with transcriptional downregulation in AML patients. Therefore, promoter methylation of APAF-1 gene could be considered as an epigenetic factor that contributes to the development of AML.

Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDSs) include a diverse group of clonal bone marrow disorders characterized by ineffective hematopoiesis and pancytopenia.It was found that down regulation of APAF1, a putative tumor suppressor gene (TSG),leads to resistance to chemotherapy and disease development in some cancers. In this study, we investigated the relation of APAF1 methylation status with its expression and clinicopathological factors in myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) patients.
Methylation Sensitive-High Resolution Melting Curve Analysis (MS-HRM) was employed in studying the methylation of CpG islands in the APAF1promoter region in MDS. Gene expression was analyzed by using real time RT-PCR.
42.6% of patient samples were methylated in promoter region of APAF1 analyzed, while methylation of the genewas not seen in controls (P Our study indicated that APAF1hypermethylation in MDS was associated to high-risk disease classified according to the IPSS, WHO and cytogenetic risk.

This study aimed to evaluate the levels of two oxidative stress (OS) markers including lipid peroxide (LPO) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) in both serum and follicular fluid (FF) of women with endometriosis after puncture.
In this cross-sectional study, a total number of sixty-three women younger than 40 years old with laparoscopy (gold standard for endometriosis diagnosis) indication underwent in vitro fertilization (IVF) program in the Royan Institute, Tehran, Iran from September 2013 to October 2014. About forty-three patients were diagnosed with endometriosis after laparoscopy. Blood and FF from the leading follicle in each stimulated ovary were obtained at the time of egg retrieval; samples were centrifuged and frozen until assessment. At the time of sample assessment, serum and FF samples were evaluated for the levels of LPO and TAC on spectrophotometery.
We observed that women with endometriosis had significantly higher LPO and lower TAC levels in the serum and FF as compared with the control group (P It has observed that FF of women with endometriosis, regardless of disease stage, increases the proliferation power of endometrial cells in vitro, we presume that inflammatory reactions-induced OS in ovary may be responsible for proliferation induction ability in FF obtained from women with endometriosis.

Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDSs) are a clonal bone marrow (BM) disease characterized by ineffective hematopoiesis, dysplastic maturation and progression to acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Methylation silencing of HRK has been found in several human malignancies. In this study, we explored the association of HRK methylation status with its expression, clinical parameters and MDS subtypes in MDS patients. To study the methylation status of HRK gene, we applied Methylation Sensitive-High Resolution Melting Curve Analysis (MS-HRM) in MDS patients, as well as healthy controls and EpiTect®PCR Control DNA. Real time RT-PCR was used for gene expression analysis. Methylation frequency in promoter region of HRK in patient samples was 20.37%. Methylation of HRK was significantly related to transcriptional downregulation (P=0.023). The difference in frequency of hypermethylated HRK gene was significant between good (10%) and poor (71.42%) cytogenetic risk groups (P= 0.001), advanced stage MDS patients (66.66%) in comparison with early stage MDS patients (2.56%) (P= 0.00), higher- risk MDS group (61.53%) and lower- risk MDS group (7.31%) (P= 0.00). HRK hypermethylation was associated with advanced- stage MDS and downregulation of HRK gene may play a role in the progression of MDS.

Assessment of embryo quality in order to choose the embryos that most likely result in pregnancy is the critical goal in assisted reproductive technologies (ART). The current trend in human in vitro fertilization/embryo transfer (IVF/ET) protocols is to decrease the rate of multiple pregnancies after multiple embryo transfer with maintaining the pregnancy rate at admissible levels (according to laboratory standards). Assessment of morphological feathers as a reliable non-invasive method that provides valuable information in prediction of IVF/intra cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) outcome has been frequently proposed in recent years. This article describes the current status of morphological embryo evaluation at different pre-implantation stages.

FLT3 ITD and D835 mutations occur in high frequency in AML and to a lower rate in ALL patients with poor prognosis. ITD and D835 mutations were studied in 100 diagnosed acute leukemia patients including 27 AML and 73 ALL with various FAB classifications by PCR and PCR-RFLP, respectively. Subsequently, PCR products of positive samples were confirmed by sequencing analyses. ITD mutations occurred in 10% of all pediatric acute leukemia, including AML and ALL. 25.9% of AML patients harbor a mutation in the ITD in various subtypes. The frequency of ITD mutations was 4% in ALL. Various insertions of nucleotides in ITD were observed, similar to those described in the literature previously. These preliminary data suggest that flt3-ITD mutations may play an important role in leukemogenesis in a proportion of children, particularly in the case of AML.

There is a lack of studies regarding the effects of ultrasound (US) and replication of its exposure on pre-implantation events in mammals. Thus, this study assesses the reproductive performance of mouse oocytes that have been obtained from ovaries irradiated with US waves versus non-irradiated ovaries. Also comparision of their parthenogenesis, ovulation, fertilization, and pre-implantation development rates. In this experimental study, we divided extracted ovaries into three experimental groups that received the same dosage, but different replicates of radiation for each group. Results were compared with the control and sham groups. Continuous wave (CW) US, at a spatial average intensity of 355 mW/cm2 and a frequency of 3.28 MHz, was administered for 5 minutes to the ovaries at an interval between pregnant mare serum gonadotropin (PMSG) and human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) injections. Statistical analysis was performed using the ANOVA test and the level of significance was determined to be 0.05. Data collection was based on microscopic visualization. According to the obtained results, metaphase II (MII) oocyte numbers and the percentage of blastocysts significantly reduced in the USexposed groups versus the unexposed groups. Fertilization rate was comparable between groups while parthenogenesis was significantly higher in the US-exposed groups compared to the unexposed groups. Structural damage to cells, intracellular organelles and proteins, as well as changes in signaling pathways induced by US may be reasons for some of the observed adverse effects in groups that have received more US exposure.

Artificial stimulation of mouse oocyte, in the absence of sperm contribution, can induce its parthenogenic activation of oocyte. Ultrasound is one of the newest methods for artificial activation of mammal oocytes, and its successful utilization in pig oocyte activation has been recently reported. Our objective was to assess the effect of ultrasound on mouse oocyte activation. Our groups included1 control group, 3 experimental groups consisting of 1, 2 and 3 repetitions of ultrasound exposure, and 3 sham groups handled similar to experimental groups but ultrasound system was off during treatments.In experimental groups, adult female NMRI mice at the interval between pregnant mare serum gonadotropin (PMSG) and human corionic gonadotropin (hCG) injections, were exposed to continuous ultrasound with 3.28 MHz frequency and peak intensity (Ipk) = 355 mW/cm2.Sixteen hours after injection of hCG, the mice were euthanized and their oocytes were collected; thereafter, parthenogenic oocytes were counted. Data analysis using the ANOVA test shows a significant increase in the number of parthenogenic oocytes in mice with 3 overall exposures to ovarian ultrasound (p<0.05). A significant decrease in the number of metaphase II (MII) oocytes numbers was also seen in mice treated with ultrasound (p<0.05). Ultrasound is thought to induce pores generation in oocyte membranes and provides an easier inward transport of Ca++ into oocytes. This phenomenon can induce meiosis resumption in immature oocytes. With increased exposure repetitions from 1 to 3 times and greater Ca++ arrival, oocytes can be parthenogenetically activated.