Journal of Research in Medical Sciences
Volume:26 Issue: 6, Jul 2021

Some studies have been reported the rates of co‑infection between severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) and influenza virus in the different regions. In this study, we report the co‑infection rates between SARS‑CoV‑2 and influenza type B in Isfahan, Iran.

All patients with a definite diagnosis of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‑19) from Isfahan COVID‑19 registry (I‑core) study were enrolled from February 2020.

Of the 1639 laboratory COVID‑19 confirmed in Isfahan province, only two persons were positive for Influenza B from Isfahan COVID‑19 registry (I‑core). Both patients were symptom‑free after 3 months’ follow‑up.

During influenza season, differentiating other causes of respiratory illness from COVID‑19 is difficult, because common clinical manifestations of COVID‑19 mimic those of influenza. It seems that evaluating for co‑infection with different types of influenza viruses in patients with specific settings should be considered.

Morbidity and mortality rates are increased due to obesity after organ transplantation; in this regards, bariatric surgery (BS) is believed to be an effective treatment for posttransplant obese patients. Nevertheless, some studies are doubtful in terms of the effectiveness of BS, the most suitable bariatric procedure, and management of immunosuppressant drugs in some kinds of organ transplants. We evaluated nonsurgical therapies, weight reduction, adjustment of immunosuppressants, comorbidities, and the recommended surgical procedures for posttransplant BS for different types of organ transplantations.

Recent studies suggest that hydrocortisone, Vitamin C, and thiamine alone or in combination may improve the clinical outcomes of patients with septic shock. The aim of this study is the effects of this combination therapy on clinical outcome and sepsis biomarkers in patients with septic shock.

Fifty‑eight consecutive patients suffering septic shock were randomly assigned into two groups receiving the combination therapy of hydrocortisone (50 mg/6 h, intravenously), Vitamin C (1.5 g/6 h in 100 ml normal saline or DW5%, intravenously), and thiamine (200 mg/12 h in 50 ml normal saline or DW5%, intravenously) or placebo for up to 4 days.

The decline in procalcitonin, lactate, and leukocyte count 72 h after the initiation of treatment was significantly greater in the intervention as compared to the control group. The intervention group has a significantly lower sequential organ failure assessment score 72 h after treatment (P < 0.001). The mean duration of vasopressor dependency was shorter in the intervention group (P = 0.039). In‑hospital death occurred in 10.3% of the patients who received combination therapy and 37.9% in the control group (P = 0.014).

The administration of the triple combination of hydrocortisone, thiamine, and Vitamin C appeared to be effective in improving the clinical outcomes of patients with septic shock and of reducing vasopressor requirements with a significant increase in the rate of improvement of sepsis biomarkers.

The gene interaction network is a set of genes interconnected by functional interactions among the genes. The gene interaction networks are studied to determine pathways and regulatory mechanisms in model organisms. In this research, the enrichment study of bone cancer‑causing genes is undertaken to identify several hub genes associated to the development of bone cancer.

Data on bone cancer is obtained from mutated gene samples; highly mutated genes are selected for the enrichment analysis. Due to certain interactions with each other the interaction network model for the hub genes is developed and simulations are produced to determine the levels of expression . For the array analyses, a total of 100 tumor specimens are collected. Cell cultures are prepared, RNA is extracted, cDNA arrays probes are generated, and the expressions analysis of Hub genes is determined.

Out of cDNA array findings, only 7 genes: CDKN2A, AKT1, NRAS, PIK3CA, RB1, BRAF, and TP53 are differentially expressed and shown as significant in the development of bone tumors, approximately 15 pathways have been identified, including pathways for non‑small cell lung cancer, prostate cancer, pancreatic cancer, chronic myeloid leukemia, and glioma, consisting of all the identified 7 genes. After clinical validations of tumor samples, the IDH1 and TP53 gene revealed significant number of mutations similar to other genes. Specimens analysis showed that RB1, P53, and NRAS are amplified in brain tumor, while BRAF, CDKN2A, and AKT1 are amplified in sarcoma. Maximum deletion mutations of the PIK3CA gene are observed in leukemia. CDKN2A gene amplifications have been observed in virtually all tumor specimens.

This study points to a recognizable evidence of novel superimposed pathways mechanisms strongly linked to cancer.

The aim of this study was to evaluate efficacy of various fertility‑preservative treatments with progestin and analyze prognostic factors in Stage 1A of endometrial cancer.

This retrospective study involved four Korean university hospitals. Data were collected from 43 women who were under the age of 40 with presumed stage IA endometrial cancer determined by magnetic resonance imaging and treated from January 2014 to December 2017. All of the patients were administered hormonal therapy for fertility preservation. Twenty‑five patients received oral progestin with a levonorgestrel‑releasing intrauterine system (LNG‑IUS) for 6–24 months, and 18 patients received high‑dose oral progestin for the same period of time. Oncologic outcomes were evaluated. Prognostic factors for pathologic response to progestin were identified by logistic regression analysis.

Complete response (CR) was achieved by 72.1% of patients (31/43), and the average time to CR was 4.2 (Stable disease [SD] 3.4) months (range, 3–9 months). Partial response was achieved by 7.0% of patients (3/43), SD by 9.3% (4/43), and progressive disease by 11.6% (5/43). Of the CR patients, 41.9% (13/31) achieved pregnancy with the median follow‑up period of 12.5 (SD 7.6) months (range: 3–50 months). No irreversible toxicity or therapy‑associated death occurred. Multivariate analysis showed that high endometrial thickness ratio of pre‑ and posttreatment measured at 2 months from the treatment initiation (≥0.55, Odds ratio [OR]: 19.018; 95% confidence intervals (CI): 1.854–195.078; P = 0.013) and oral progestin without LNG‑IUS (OR: 13.483; 95% CI: 1.356–134.069; P = 0.026) might be related with unfavorable prognostic factors for CR.

This study shows that progestin‑based fertility‑preservative treatment might be a feasible option for stage 1A endometrial cancer. It also identifies that low endometrial thickness ratio and oral progestin with LNG‑IUS combination therapy might be related with favorable response to hormonal treatment.

Migraine patients often have painful trigger points, especially in the area of head and neck. Thus, we aimed to investigate the effect of myofascial release and stretching techniques in the management of migraine headache.

This was a randomized controlled trial study on 40 migraine patients. The subjects in the experimental group received three sessions with a duration of 20 min per session techniques. Databases were analyzed using 2 × 3 repeated‑measures analyses of variance (P < 0.05).

Experimental group showed a significant reduction in pain intensity (P < 0.001) and the neck disability index score (P < 0.001) and an increase in cervical range of motion (P < 0.001) in all time points after the intervention as compared with baseline and control group (P < 0.001).

Myofascial release and stretching techniques were effective in improving symptoms in patients with migraine headache.

Considering the great variations in the reported prevalence of prostate cancer across the world possibly due to different genetic and environmental backgrounds, we aimed to determine the expression pattern and the diagnostic utility of α‑methylacyl coenzyme A racemase (AMACR) among Iranian patients with prostate adenocarcinoma.

In this cross‑sectional study, formalin‑fixed paraffin‑embedded tissues of 58 patients with a definitive pathologic diagnosis of prostatic adenocarcinoma were evaluated. The expression of AMACR, intensity, and extensity of its staining was determined in selected samples by immunohistochemical technique.

AMACR expression was significantly higher in neoplastic compared to normal tissue (P < 0.05). The expression of AMACR was significantly associated with the age of the patients (P = 0.04). The intensity of the staining was associated with the grade of the prostate adenocarcinoma (P = 0.04). There was no significant relationship between AMACR expression and perineural invasion. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of AMACR were 90%, 96%, 96%, and 90%, respectively.

Findings from our study indicate that AMACR could be used as a diagnostic tool for the diagnosis of prostate adenocarcinoma. However, due to false‑positive staining in the mimicker of prostatic adenocarcinoma, it is recommended to use it in combination with basal cell markers.

Leukocyte telomere length (LTL) has been revealed to be associated with aging‑related diseases such as metabolic syndrome (MetS) and Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). We aimed to investigate the correlation of LTL with MetS and its components in T2DM patients in this cross‑sectional study.

A total of 344 T2DM patients were enrolled into this study. LTL was measured by Southern blot‑based terminal restriction fragment length analysis. MetS was clinically defined by 2007 Chinese Guidelines on Prevention and Treatment of Dyslipidemia in Adults.

Of 344 T2DM patients, 53% had MetS. T2DM patients with MetS had significantly longer LTL than those without MetS (6451.95 ± 51.10 base pairs vs. 6076.13 ± 55.13 base pairs, P < 0.001), especially when T2DM patients had poor glycemic control (hemoglobin A1c ≥7%). Meanwhile, the trend of longer LTL was associated with the increased components of MetS in T2DM patient. Finally, LTL had a significant association with MetS (odds ratio [OR]: 2.096, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.337–3.285, P = 0.001), low levels of high‑density lipoprotein‑cholesterol (HDL‑C) (OR: 2.412, 95% CI 1.350–4.308, P = 0.003) in T2DM patients.

T2DM patients with MetS had a significantly longer LTL than those without MetS. The longer LTL was especially evident in T2DM patients with poor glycemic control. Longer LTL was positively associated with MetS, particularly low levels of HDL‑C in T2DM patients.