Gene, Cell and Tissue
Volume:7 Issue: 3, Jul 2020

Gastric adenocarcinoma is the most common type of gastric cancer all around the world. The epithelial cells of stomach tissue are influenced by environmental factors and genetic disorders. P53 is the most remarkable gene that controls the growth of cells. Mutation in some nucleotides of the P53 gene increases the genetic instability and is assumed as an important prognostic factor in gastric cancer. More than 90% of mutations occur in the exons 5-8 of p53.

This study was conducted in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer Ahmad (K&B) province (Southwest Iran) to determine the rate of R282W P53 gene mutation of exon 8 in gastric cancer.

This case-control study was conducted on 90 subjects that were divided into two groups (each including 45 patients and 45 controls). The samples were randomly collected from the tissue bank of the pathology laboratory in Yasuj city and then were transferred to the Cellular and Molecular Research Center. DNA extraction was performed by the DNA extraction kit. Molecular analysis on exon 8 was performed by the PCR-RFLP method and using the MspI restricting enzyme. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics and bivariate correlation tests.

No difference was found between the two groups concerning age, gender, and education level. The prevalence of R282W P53 gene mutation on exon 8 in the cancer group was 17.8% (8/45), while no mutation was found in the control group.

According to the results, the R282W P53 gene mutation on exon 8 may play an important role in the development of gastric cancer in Yasuj district, Southwest Iran.

The applicability of non-invasive markers for predicting hepatic fibrosis in the pediatric population with chronic liver abnormalities is unclear.

We investigated the applicability of common non-invasive liver fibrosis parameters for detecting liver fibrosis in children with chronic hepatitis.

This was a double-center study in Amir-Almomenin Hospital of Zabol and Namazi Hospital of Shiraz (2015 - 2017). Liver fibrosis was confirmed by biopsy examination. AST to platelet ratio (APRI), AST to ALT ratio (AAR), and Fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) were evaluated.

Out of 47 patients, 23 (48.9%) were females, and 24 (51.1%) were males. The mean age was 9.8 ± 11.3 months. APRI and FIB-4 correlated with fibrosis stages (r = 0.1 and r = 0.2, respectively). APRI showed an AUC of 0.541 for detecting non-advanced fibrosis (stages 0, 1, and 2). AAR and FIB-4 represented AUCs of 0.622 and 0.592 for advanced fibrosis and cirrhosis, respectively. The highest sensitivity of APRI (70%) was obtained at the cut-off point of 0.81 for cirrhosis. The highest specificities for APRI were observed at 0.66 (68%) and 1.37 (68%) for fibrotic stages 0 and 2, respectively. At the thresholds of 0.71 and 0.59, AAR rendered 78% sensitivity and 90% specificity for advanced fibrosis (stages 3 and 4) and no fibrosis (stage = 0), respectively. FIB-4 showed the highest sensitivity and specificity (70% and 60%) at the cut-off point of 0.21 for detecting cirrhosis.

APRI, FIB-4, and AAR can be regarded as useful markers in predicting fibrotic transformation in children with various etiologies of chronic hepatitis.

Various mutations in factor VIII (F8) gene locus are led to an X-linked bleeding disorder in patients with hemophilia A. One of the leading causes of inefficient treatment available for hemophilia A is the lack of specific and sensitive diagnostic procedure for the disease. The discovery of a functional role of microRNAs (miRNAs) in the pathogenesis of a wide range of human diseases makes them the potential, non-invasive, biomarker candidates for hemophilia A. Therefore, advances in computational tools for miRNA discovery leads to numerous recent publications on miRNAs as putative biomarkers.

The current study aimed at scanning the F8 gene region to predict novel miRNAs as regulators of the F8 gene.

The potential of the FVIII locus to express new miRNAs was studied via reliable bioinformatics databases, such as SSCprofiler, RNAfold, miREval, miR-Find, FOMmiR, UCSC genome browser, and miRBase.

Data analysis from previously mentioned databases offered two stem-loop structures predicted to express novel miRNAs.

The presented stem-loop structures can be used as powerful non-invasive biomarkers in early diagnosis of the disease and regulation of the factor VIII gene after subsequent experimental verification.

Thyroid hormones have many effects on the physiological functions of cells, including growth, differentiation, and metabolism.

Recently, studies have shown that the adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells conditioned medium (ADMSCs-CM) has many osteogenic factors, such as IGF-1, IL-6, and FGFs.

In the current study, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) were isolated from two sources; the adipose tissue of the testicular fat pad and the bone marrow of rat, and then characterized by flow cytometry. ADMSCs-CM was collected from the ADMSC in the healthy adult male rats. Hypothyroidism was induced by the administration of the Methimazole during 60 days and confirmed by the analysis of the serum level of T4 and TSH hormones. Cell proliferation and osteogenic differentiation potential of bone marrow stem cells (BMSCs) derived from hypothyroid rats were investigated in the presence and absence of the CM by MTT assay, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, calcium content assay, and bone-related gene expression. Healthy BMSCs were assigned to the control group.

Although Cell proliferation was decreased in the hypothyroid BMSCs, there was no significant difference between the control and the hypothyroid-CM groups. Similarly, osteogenic potential was significantly reduced in the hypothyroid group compared to the control and hypothyroid-CM groups according to the ALP, calcium content assays, and gene expression results. There was no significant difference between the hypothyroid-CM group and control.

Our results indicated that hypothyroidism can decrease cell proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs. Although ADMSCs-CM improved these parameters, it may be a promising candidate for the bone regeneration of the hypothyroidism cases.

Ovariectomy is a standardized experimental model of menopause in rodents to study the effects of menopause in women.

The present study aimed to explore the effect of aerobic training (AT) with crocin (Cr) intake on Bax gene expression in the hippocampal tissue and weight of ovariectomized rats.

In the current experimental study, 45 ovariectomized rats were randomly selected and divided into five groups of nine subjects, including (1) control (C); (2) Sham (Sh); (3) aerobic training (AT); (4) crocin intake (Cr); and (5) aerobic training + crocin intake (AT + Cr). Rats in groups 3 and 5 performed training for eight weeks, and three sessions, and groups 4 and 5 received 25 mg/kg crocin per day peritoneally for eight weeks. Data were analyzed using a one-way analysis of variance and Tukey’s post hoc test at a level of P ≤ 0.05.

Bax gene expression was significantly lower in the AT (P = 0.001), Cr (P = 0.01), and AT + Cr (P = 0.001) groups than in the control group. Also, weights were significantly lower in the Cr (P = 0.001), AT (P = 0.001), and AT + Cr (P = 0.001) groups than in the control group. In addition, the weights were significantly lower in the AT (P = 0.001) and AT + Cr (P = 0.001) groups than in the Cr group.

Aerobic training combined with crocin intake can reduce the weight of ovariectomized rats. Also, aerobic training and the concurrent consumption of crocin and aerobic training can reduce Bax gene expression in the brain hippocampal tissue of ovariectomized rats.

In December 2019, a cluster of pneumonia cases, caused by a newly identified coronavirus, occurred in Wuhan, China, named COVID-19 by the World Health Organization (WHO). We present a 60-year-old woman with a four-day history of headache, myalgia, and weakness. She reported no shortness of breath or chest pain. Her blood pressure was 15/6 mmHg, and she had a history of hypertension. The laboratory tests showed only thrombocytopenia with a platelet count of 30 × 109 /L, and chest CT showed bilateral ground-glass opacities, so she received treatment with three drugs. One day after recovery and discharge from the hospital, she suffered cardiopulmonary arrest at home. Patients with cardiovascular disease are at a higher risk of COVID-19 infection. Therefore, it is necessary to pay particular attention to cardiac injuries caused by viral infections both during and after the treatment of these patients.