Journal of Trends in Medical Sciences
Volume:1 Issue: 4, Autumn 2021

Targeted cancer therapy is developing rapidly according to the fact that it has been demonstrated that this type of therapy can reduce various side effects and adverse events of the commonly available cancer treatment approaches such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy. This selective type of cancer therapy can mediate encouraging outcomes where the frontline cancer treatment methods have failed to do so. Aptamer-assisted delivery of various types of cargoes or the utilization of aptamer for the redirection of delivery vehicles is among various fields of targeted cancer therapy that have gained significant attention lately. Aptamers are single-stranded oligonucleotides or peptide molecules that harbor significant levels of specificity and affinity toward various types of targets such as cell surface antigens, ions, toxins, chemicals, etc. They have shown encouraging results in several types of targeted cancer therapy for the redirection of a variety of cargoes. In this review, we shed the light on the application of aptamers for the delivery of nucleotides such as MicroRNAs (miRNAs), short or small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), and short hairpin RNA or small hairpin RNAs (shRNAs) that harbor tumor suppression properties in various kinds of malignancies.

In recent years, Acinetobacter baumannii has attracted the research community’s attention since they are turned into the leading cause of both community- and hospital-acquired infections. The emergence of MDR-A. baumannii strains threatens hospitalized patients since antibiotics fail to withdraw the bacterial infectious agents. Despite its worldwide distribution, health settings fail to combat limitations in therapeutic regions against A. baumannii. The capability of biofilm formation in A. baumannii strengthens their virulence and also survival. Understanding the fundamental virulence mechanisms beyond the microbial aggregations leads to exploring alternative drug targets such as signaling molecules and Quorum sensing systems to block bacterial communication and antimicrobial resistance. The significance of examining the biofilm’s structural details and the relationship between Quorum sensing networks and related signaling molecules has been explicitly highlighted. Accordingly, this review study aimed to explain the general biofilm structure, the mechanisms beyond biofilm formation, quorum sensing system, and the generation of signaling molecules in A. baumannii.

Appendectomy is one of the mostcommonlyperformed surgical procedures of the abdominal area. Oneof the recent innovations is single-port laparoscopic surgery (SPLS), which can insert multiple ports through a proprietary device with multiple channels. An incision is sited in the umbilicus to result in no visible scar.

The study aimed to evaluate the results of the treatment of acute appendicitis by applying single-port laparoscopic surgery.

A clinical single-port laparoscopic appendectomy intervention of 122 patients, with the absence of a control group, was carried out by a sole surgeon at the Hue University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital, Hue, Vietnam, from August 2013 to December 2017. Research parameters included clinical history, physical examination, laboratory test, ultrasound imaging, intraoperative characteristics, and surgical outcomes.

We included 122 patients (64 males and 58 females) who met the inclusion criteria. The mean age was 31.28  13.51 years (range, 16 - 73 years). The average BMI was 20.41.39 kg/m2. All patients had abdominal pain, and the average duration of symptoms was 17.395.41 hours (range, 6 - 31 hours). Five patients had a history of abdominal surgery. The mean diameter of appendicitis in ultrasound was 8.8 mm (range, 6 - 15 mm). Moreover, 89.3% of patients had an increase in white blood cells. The difficult location of appendicitis was 1.6% under the liver and 20.5% in the retrocecal region. In addition, 18.0% of retroperitoneal appendicitis and 6.6% of appendicitis were under cecalserosa. The mean operative time was 40.1914.67 mins (range, 23 - 150 min). Two cases (1.6%) required additional trocar insertion. Three cases (2.5%) had wound infection and no other complications. The median hospital stay was 3.641.72 days (range, 2 - 13 days).

Single-port laparoscopic surgery is the safe and effective treatment of acute appendicitis. This technique may be feasible for acute appendicitis with a difficult location.

Spinal anesthesia is the mostcommonanesthesia technique used for cesarean section. Postdural puncture headache (PDPH) is one of the consequences following spinal anesthesia.

The primary aim of this study was to compare the incidence of PDPH with 25-gauge Quincke and Whitacre’s spinal needles. Secondary outcomes were mean severity of PDPH, need for analgesic, movement limitation, and associated symptoms and signs followed up for 1 week after surgery.

In this randomized trial study, 130 women were randomly divided into 2 equal groups based on the excel file and random between function. They received spinal anesthesia with either Quincke or Whitacre spinal needles. The incidence of PDPH was followed up 1 week later. Among PDPH women, secondary outcomes and symptoms/signs (such as nausea, vomiting, neck pain, and shoulder pain) were evaluated for 1 week after surgery.

All 130 women completed the study. PDPH was observed in 16 women (12.3%), including 6 (9.2%) in the Whitacre group and 10 (15.4%) in the Quincke group, which was not statically significant (P = 0.424). However, secondary outcomes and associated signs and symptoms were more common in the Whitacre group than in the Quincke group, followed up for 1 week in this trial. It can be related to more primary headache history in the Whitacre group than in the Quincke group.

Overall, the Whitacre spinal needle is better than Quincke in reducing the incidence of PDPH, but primary headache history in young women causes higher mean severity of PDPH in them. Also, primary headache history causes more associated symptoms and signs in women with PDPH.

In Iran, the presence of the patient’s family is forbidden at coronary care units (CCUs), and the patient will be hospitalized without the presence of the family at these units. The issue of being away from family is one of the main causes of tenseness in patients of CCUs and has some side effects, such as isolation and seclusion, after discharge.

The present study aimed to investigate the effect of face-to-face visiting and behind-the-glass visiting on patients’ anxiety at CCUs.

This quasi-experimental study was performed on 80 random patients at the CCU of Dr. Ganjavian hospital, Dezful, Iran, by considering inclusion and exclusion criteria. The visiting time in both groups was 20 minutes, and the questionnaires were collected by the researchers from patients 10 minutes before and after visiting.

The average obvious and hidden anxiety in patients significantly reduced after the visit. Anxiety in the group of face-to-face visiting was more reduced than in the other group [face-to-face (P = 0.0008) and behind-the-glass (P = 0.02)].

Face-to-face visiting is an appropriate method to reduce anxiety in the patients of CCUs. It is suggested to adopt this method to improve the visits in this unit.

 Previous studies have shown the altered levels of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFAs) in pathological hypoxic conditions. Elevated soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 (sFlt-1) expression in hypoxia plays an important role in the pathogenesis of placental as preeclampsia.

 The eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA; 20:5, n-3) as LCPUFAs (omega-3) might attenuate sFlt-1 and hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) expressions and secretions.

 JEG-3 cells were incubated with dimethyloxalylglycine (DMOG) and EPA. The SFlt-1 gene expression was determined using a real-time polymerase chain reaction. The protein secretion of sFlt-1 and HIF-1α were analyzed using Western blot.

 The incubation of JEG-3 cells with DMOG significantly elevated messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) expression and protein secretion of sFlt-1 (P < 0.05); nevertheless, EPA decreased mRNA expression and protein secretion of sFlt-1 (P < 0.05). Moreover, EPA inhibited the effect of DMOG on sFlt-1 (P = 0.0361) gene expression and protein secretion and HIF-1α (P = 0.0241) protein secretion.

 The sFlt-1 expression decreased by n-3 fatty acids in trophoblast tumor cell line under induced hypoxia conditions. It seems that changes in sFlt-1 expression are mediated by the transcription factor HIF-1α.