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To investigate the incidence of oesophageal cancer (EC) in the Golestan province of North-East Iran, we invited 1349 rural and urban inhabitants of Golestan province aged 35-80 to undergo extensive lifestyle interviews and to provide biological samples. The interview was repeated on a subset of 130 participants to assess reliability of questionnaire and medical information. Temperature at which tea was consumed was measured on two occasions by 110 subjects. Samples of rice, wheat and sorghum were tested for fumonisin contamination. An active follow-up was carried out after 6 and 12 months. A total of 1057 subjects (610 women and 447 men) participated in this feasibility study (78.4% participation rate). Cigarette smoking, opium and alcohol use were reported by 163 (13.8%), 93 (8.8%) and 39 (3.7%) subjects, respectively. Tobacco smoking was correlated with urinary cotinine (kappa = 0.74). Most questionnaire data had kappa > 0.7 in repeat measurements; tea temperature measurement was reliable (kappa = 0.71). No fumonisins were detected in the samples analysed. During the follow-up six subjects were lost (0.6%), two subjects developed EC (one dead, one alive); in all, 13 subjects died (with cause of death known for 11, 84.6%). Conducting a cohort study in Golestan is feasible with reliable information obtained for suspected risk factors; participants can be followed up for EC incidence and mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Previous reports show a high proportion of young CRC patients in Iran. In this study we aim to look for the clustering of colorectal cancer in families of a series of CRC patients from Iran. Methods The family history of cancer is traced in 449 CRC patients of which 112 were 45 yrs or younger and 337 were older than 45 yrs at time of diagnosis. The patients were admitted in two hospitals in Tehran, during a 4-year period. Results Clinical diagnosis of HNPCC was established in 21 (4.7%) probands. Family history of CRC was more frequently reported by early-onset than by late-onset patients (29.5% vs. 12.8%, p < 0.001). Distribution of tumor site differed significantly between those with and without family history of CRC. Right colon cancer was the most frequent site (23/45, 35.4%) observed in patients with positive family history of colorectal cancer. Conclusion The relatively high frequency of CRC clustering along with HNPCC in our patients should be further confirmed with larger sample size population-based and genetic studies to establish a cost effective molecular screening for the future.

Abstract Background It is believed that the development of gastric cancer (GC) before the age of 50 has a hereditary basis. Blood group A and history of gastric cancer in first-degree relatives have been shown to be risk factors for GC. Methods In this case-control study, we enrolled patients with GC who were diagnosed before the age of 50. Patients who were diagnosed as having GC were selected. A total of 534 cases were found; of these, 44 diagnosed before the age of 50 were included in the case group. For the control group, 22 males and 22 females were randomly selected from the remaining subjects, who had diagnoses of GC after the age of 50. All the surviving patients and family members of the dead patients were interviewed about the history of cancer in the family and the age at which other family members developed cancer. The blood group of each subject was also obtained. Results forty-four cases under 50 years old (mean age: 36.2 years) and forty-four controls (mean age: 67.1 years) were enrolled in the study. At the time of the study, 59.1% of the study group and 50% of the control group were alive (P value = NS). In the study group, 68.1%, 13.6%, 13.6% and 4.5% had blood groups O, A, B and AB, respectively. In the control group the corresponding figures were 27.7%, 63.6%, 6.8% and 4.5%. First or second-degree relatives with cancer, including gastric (the most frequent), breast, lung, gynecological and hematological malignancies, were noted in 54.5% of the cases and 11.4% of the controls (p < 0.01). Family histories of cancer were accepted as valid provided that they were based on valid medical documents. Conclusions It seems that the development of GC before the age of 50 is likely to be accompanied by familial susceptibility. Interestingly, our study showed a significant correlation between blood group O and the development of gastric cancer under the age of 50.

The survival rate of lung cancer is low due to the high frequency of drug resistance in patients with mutations in the driver genes. Overexpression of anti-apoptotic genes is one of the most prominent features of tumor drug resistance. EGFR signaling induces the expression of anti-apoptotic genes. Also, microRNAs (miRNAs) have a critical role in regulating biological functions such as apoptosis; a process mostly eluded in cancer progression. The mutation screening was performed on one thousand non-small cell lung carcinoma patients to enroll clinical samples in this study. Bioinformatics analysis predicted that miRNAs (miR-29a, miR-143) might regulate MCL-1 and cIAP-2 expression. We investigated the expression of MCL-1, cIAP-2, miR-29a, and miR-143 encoding genes in adenocarcinoma patients with or without EGFR mutations before treatment. The potential role of miR-29a and miR-143 on gene expression was evaluated by overexpression and luciferase assays in HEK-293T cells. EGFR mutations were found in 262 patients (26.2%) with a greater incidence in females (36.23% vs. 20.37%, P = 0.001). The expression levels of MCL-1 and cIAP-2 genes in patients with mutated EGFR were higher than those of wild-type EGFR. In contrast, compared to those of patients with wild-type EGFR, the expression levels of miR-29a and miR-143 were lower in the patients carrying EGFR mutations. In cell culture, overexpression of miR-29a and miR-143 significantly downregulated the expression of MCL-1 and cIAP-2. Dual-luciferase reporter experiments confirmed that miR-29a and miR-143 target MCL-1 and cIAP-2 mRNAs, respectively. Our results suggest that upregulation of EGFR signaling in lung cancer cells may increase anti-apoptotic MCL-1 and cIAP-2 gene expression, possibly through downregulation of miR-29a-3p and miR-143-3p., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Background/objective: Hydatid disease of the aorta is very rare. Hydatid disease can result in saccular aneurysm of the thoracic and abdominal aorta., Case Report: We report a rare case of saccular aneurysm of the distal descending thoracic aorta. The diameter of the aneurysm was 60 mm. It was managed by Thoracic Endovascular Aneurysm Repair. After 41 months, computed tomography angiography revealed a multi-loculated cystic lesion with 86 × 83×80 mm dimensions in the prevertebral area at the T10-T11 level with bony destruction and erosion of the anterior margin of the vertebral bodies. A computed tomography-guided fine-needle aspiration of the paravertebral cystic lesion was performed. Microscopic study of the fine-needle aspiration specimen demonstrated Echinococcosis granulosus diagnostic of hydatid disease., Conclusion: It is concluded that the case was a mycotic aneurysm of the thoracic aorta secondary to vertebral hydatid disease.

The cellulose acetate (CA)/poly ( ε -caprolactone diol)/poly (tetramethylene ether) glycol-polyurethane (PCL-Diol/PTMG-PU)/multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) composite nanofibers were prepared via two-nozzle electrospinning on both counter sides of the collector. The performance of synthesized composite nanofibers was investigated as an environmental application and anticancer delivery system for the adsorption/release of doxorubicin (DOX). The synergic effect of MWCNTs and DOX incorporated into the nanofibers was investigated against LNCaP prostate cancer cells. The status of MWCNTs and DOX in composite nanofibers was demonstrated by SEM, FTIR and UV-vis determinations. The adsorption tests using nanofibrous adsorbent toward DOX sorption was evaluated under various DOX initial concentrations (100-2000 mg l -1 ), adsorption times (5-120 min), and pH values (pH:2-9). Due to the fitting of isotherm and kinetic data with Redlich-Peterson and pseudo-second order models, both chemisorption and surface adsorption of DOX molecules mechanisms have been predicted. The drug release from both nanofibers and MWCNTs-loaded nanofibers was compared. The better drug sustained release profiles verified in the presence of composite nanofibers. LNCaP prostate cancer and L929 normal cells were treated to investigate the cytotoxicity and compatibility of synthesized composite nanofibers. The apoptosis/necrosis of hybrid nanofibers and MWCNTs loaded-nanofibers was investigated. The obtained results demonstrated the synergic effects of MWCNTs and DOX loaded-nanofibers on the LNCaP prostate cancer cells death., (© 2022 IOP Publishing Ltd.)

Background: Long non-coding RNAs (LncRNAs) are eminent genes in the human genome that interfere with the regulation of many complexities of organisms and control many of the various biological processes. As a result, it is considered that they may play an important role in different cancers. With regard to the high prevalence of breast cancer and the role of lncRNA, the present study aimed at investigating the expression of various lncRNAs., Method: Fresh tissues were obtained from operating rooms of Shariati, Khatamolanbia, and Milad Hospitals (Tehran, Iran) by a surgeon. A total of 45 tumor samples and 45 non-tumor samples (from the margin of tumor) were obtained from the same patients. Relative expression evaluation method was used in Real time PCR. Estrogenn receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and HER2 expression were analyzed using IHC analyses of each cell block., Results: Participants included 44 female and 1 male with the mean age ± SD of 50 ± 12.0 years (range: 23-74). A majority of participants (41/45) were Ductal carcinoma type. Our results showed significant expressions for CBR3-AS1 (P-value=0.0139), RAB6C-AS1 (P-value=0.0023), and ZEB2-AS1 (P-value=0.0289) in comparison with the healthy cells. ROC curve analysis for CBR3-AS1 LncRNA revaled sensitivity more than 70%., Conclusion: Although CBR3-AS1, RAB6C-AS1, and ZEB2-AS1 lncRNAs were found to have high expressions in the breast cancer cells, only CBR3-AS1 lncRNA has a high chance to be a breast cancer biomarker., .

Sex-determining region Y-box 2 (SOX2) is a stem cell transcription factor and a major regulator of self-renewal and pluripotency of cancer stem cells (CSCs). In many types of cancer, SOX2 is dysregulated due to overexpression associated with tumor progression and low survival rate. Many HCC cases encounter recurrence and metastasis which might be due to CSCs and also apoptosis. Since little is known about the expression pattern of SOX2 and apoptotic genes in HCC, we aimed to determine the prognostic significance of SOX2, Bax, and Bcl-2 in clinicopathological features, tumor progression, and survival rate of the HCC patients. The expression of SOX2, Bax, and Bcl-2 were evaluated using qRT-PCR in 53 formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues (FFPE) of patients and 44 controls. Correlation of these genes was analyzed with clinicopathological features and tumor progression. The correlationship between SOX2 expression and ALBI grade as prognostic indicators were calculated. Survival rates were determined by Kaplan-Meier survival curves. SOX2 and Bcl-2 were remarkably overexpressed in HCC patients compared to controls ( p = 0.04 and p = 0.003, respectively). A significant association was found for both SOX2 and Bcl-2 overexpression with TNM staging ( p = 0.02, p = 0.04) and tumor grading ( p = 0.01, p = 0.003), respectively. A significant correlation was observed: patients with SOX2 overexpression had a lower 5-year overall survival rate ( p = 0.04); however, there was no significant association between Bcl-2 and survival ( p = 0.5). Collectively, overexpression of SOX2 and Bcl-2, alone or combined, may be a potential marker to evaluate prognosis and response to HCC treatment.

Hypophysitis is a rare pituitary inflammatory disorder classified in different ways. Immunoglobulin G4-related disease (IgG4-RD), also a rare disease is a systemic fibro-inflammatory condition characterized by infiltration of tissue with IgG4-positive plasma cells; however prevalence of both of them probably is underestimated. In this paper, we present an Iranian patient with biopsy-proven IgG4-related hypophysitis and then review the clinical characteristics, laboratory, imaging, pathologic findings and therapeutic management as well as prognosis of 115 published cases of hypophysitis secondary to IgG4-related disease.

Abstract: We present a rare case of malignant nerve sheath tumor of pleura referred for the evaluation of metastases and local invasion. FDG PET/CT demonstrated a hypermetabolic tumoral lesion extensively involving the right pleura with no involvement of mediastinal structures or pulmonary parenchyma and no clear evidence of distant metastasis. Malignant nerve sheath tumor of pleura is an extremely rare entity, and FDG PET/CT is valuable in demonstrating the extent of disease and can have potential role for postsurgical as well as postchemotherapy assessment of possible residual disease., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest and sources of funding: none declared., (Copyright © 2021 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Xanthomicrol, a trimethoxylated hydroxyflavone, is the main active component of Dracocephalum kotschyi Boiss leaf extract. Preliminary in vitro studies identified this compound as a potential antiangiogenic and anticancer agent. This study aimed to evaluate in vivo anticancer effect of xanthomicrol and investigate its molecular mechanism of action in a mouse melanoma (B16F10) model. Effect of xanthomicrol on B16F10 melanoma cell viability was determined using the MTT assay. For in vivo experiments, C57BL/6 mice were inoculated subcutaneously with B16F10 cells. After five days, once daily administration of xanthomicrol, thalidomide, or vehicle was commenced and continued for 21 consecutive days. On the 26th day, blood samples and tumor biopsies were taken for subsequent molecular analysis. Xanthomicrol showed inhibitory effect on viability of B16F10 melanoma cells (IC50 value: 3.433  μ g/ml). Initial tumor growth, tumor volume and weight, and angiogenesis were significantly decreased in xanthomicrol-treated animals compared with those in vehicle group. Protein expression of phosphorylated Akt, mRNA expressions of HIF-1 α and VEGF in tumor tissues, and serum VEGF were significantly decreased in xanthomicrol-treated animals compared with vehicle-treated animals. Thus, xanthomicrol inhibited cancer cell growth both in vitro and in vivo. This effect, at least in part, was exerted by interfering with PI3K/Akt signaling pathway and inhibiting VEGF secretion by tumor cells. Further studies are required to elucidate the exact molecular mechanisms of antitumor activity of xanthomicrol., Competing Interests: The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2020 Foad Ghazizadeh et al.)

Background: Salmonella is considered as a main cause of community-acquired diarrhea in humans, however, sources of the multi-drug resistant (MDR) strains and their link with the disease are not well known., Aims: This study aimed to investigate the frequency, serogroup diversity, and antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of Salmonella strains in poultry meat and stool samples of patients with community acquired diarrhea in Tehran., Methods: We compared the frequency of non-typhoidal Salmonella serogroups, the similarities of their resistance patterns to 10 antimicrobial compounds, the prevalence of extended spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) and ampicillinase C (AmpC) genetic determinants, and class 1 and 2 integrons in 100 chicken meat and 400 stool samples of symptomatic patients in Tehran during June 2018 to March 2019., Results: Salmonella was isolated from 75% and 5.5% of the chicken meats and human stool samples, respectively. The chicken meat isolates mainly belonged to serogroup C (88%, 66/75), while the human stool isolates were mainly related to serogroup D (59.1%, 13/22). The MDR phenotype and the most common rates of resistance to antibiotics, including tetracycline, trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (TS) and azithromycin, were detected in 4.5% and 45.3%, 59% and 13.6%, 43% and 9.1%, 42% and 9.1% of the human stool and chicken meat samples, respectively. Carriage of bla CTX , bla SHV , and bla PER genes in the meat isolate with ESBL resistance phenotype and bla ACC , bla FOX , and bla CMY-2 among the 7 meat strains with AmpC resistance phenotype was not confirmed using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). High prevalence of class 1 and 2 integrons was characterized and showed a correlation with resistance to TS and chloramphenicol., Conclusion: These findings showed a lack of association between chicken meats and human isolates due to discrepancy between the characterized serogroups and resistance phenotypes.

The human papilloma virus (HPV) as a major causative agent of different cancers is under investigation globally. In this study, we aim to investigate HPV infection in different cytological and pathological stages by different molecular methods, and then the viral genome integration of HPV-16 and -18 is determined by a specific real-time PCR method. The study included women who underwent liquid-based cytology. HPV PCR was conducted by MY09/11 universal primers, HPV genotyping was performed by INNO-LiPA HPV genotyping assay, and the viral genome status was defined by two real-time PCR assays. The statistics were calculated by SPSS v.22 software. In 1668 women included in the study with mean age±std. deviation of 35.6±0.7, HPV was detected in 632 (38%) participants. Following genotyping analyses, 16 HPV types and 713 strains were detected. HPV-16 and HPV-18 from high-risk types and HPV-6 and HPV-11 from low-risk types were the dominant types. We found HPV-16 strains in mixed form (58.8%), and of the HPV-18 strains, the episomal form was prevalent (92.9%). The statistics revealed significant presence of HPV-6 and within normal limits cases; HPV-16 and atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance; HPV-33 as well as HPV-39 and low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion; HPV-6 and atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance; and HPV-35 as well as HPV-56 and squamous cell carcinoma. Our study showed high prevalence of HPV in low-grade cervical lesions, although it is associated with higher grades. The HPV molecular testing extra to cytology is recommended. HPV-16 and HPV-18 have different programs in genome integration in infected cells.

Objective: Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 ( HER-2 ), as a crucial factor involved in about 20% of breast cancer cases, is one of the most reliable tumor markers to determine prognosis and therapeutic trend of this disease. This marker is generally assessed by immunohistochemistry (IHC) technique. In the cases that result of IHC test cast doubt (+2), the test should be repeated or validated by applying in situ hybridization techniques, like chromogenic in situ hybridization (CISH). In this regard, the goal of current study was to figure out the link between different clinicopathological characteristics of patients suffering from invasive breast cancer, using tumor markers, hormone receptor (HR) and HER-2. Comparing IHC and CISH techniques for evaluating diagnostic value and usefulness of HER-2 were also the other objective of this study., Materials and Methods: Based on this retrospective study, histological markers of 113 individuals suffering from invasive breast cancer -such as estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor, HER-2 receptor, E-cadherin, CK5/6, vimentin and Ki67 were examined by IHC technique. HER-2 amplification of all patients was also evaluated by CISH. Clinicopathological information of the patients was also extracted from medical documents and their associations with tumor markers were statistically evaluated., Results: There is a significant relationship between tumor size, CK5/6 and tumor grade with HR status. Similar relationship was observed between HER-2 status and HR status, as well as vascular invasion (P<0.05). The comparison of HER-2 amplification showed no complete concordance of the result obtained from these two techniques, with score +3., Conclusion: Since the status of HER-2 is very important in decision making of the treatment process, CISH technique is recommended in the malignant conditions as the primary test, instead of IHC. In this study, we also determined that HER-2 expression is greatly correlated with ER- and PR- status. This might propose a better prognosis for HER-2 + patients., Competing Interests: There is no conflict of interest in this study., (Copyright© by Royan Institute. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: To evaluate the role of toluidine blue (TB) staining patterns in diagnosis of ocular surface squamous neoplasia (OSSN) in comparison to that of impression cytology., Methods: TB 1% dye was applied to different ocular surface lesions, followed by impression cytology (IC). Dye distribution, intensity, and pattern of uptake by the lesion were scored and total score ≥5 was considered "positive TB staining". The TB results were then compared with those using IC to determine the presence of cellular atypia., Results: The study enrolled 88 eyes of 82 patients. IC demonstrated cellular atypia in 50 (56.8%) cases. Forty-three of 45 "TB-positive" eyes (95.51%) had cellular atypia on IC (p < 0.001). Sensitivity and specificity of TB in identifying OSSN were 86% and 94.74%, respectively, with positive and negative predictive values of 95.56% and 83.72%. TB staining intensity of dark blue and/or mixed types and stippled pattern of TB staining were strongly correlated with dysplastic changes in IC (P ˂ 0.001). TB staining distribution whether in form of diffuse, patchy or scattered eyes with atypia did not significantly differ from those without atypia in IC (P = 0.172)., Conclusion: The sensitivity and specificity of TB vital dye in diagnosing OSSN can be increased by focusing on color intensity and a stippled pattern., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Deregulation of key signaling pathways is one of the primary phenomena in carcinogenesis. DAB2IP and SPRY2 are regulatory elements, which act as feedback inhibitors of receptor tyrosine kinases signaling in mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway. These elements have also been implicated in the pathophysiology of cancer. Therefore, this study is aimed to investigate the expression of all known splice variants of DAB2IP and SPRY2 in prostate tissue. Fresh Prostate tissue samples (50 prostate cancer/ matched normal tissue and 30 BPH) were collected and total RNA was extracted followed by cDNA synthesis. The expression of DAB2IP and SPRY2 transcript variants were evaluated using RT-PCR and quantitative Real-time PCR. The results indicated significant down-regulation of DAB2IP transcript variant 1 in cancerous tissues compared to paired normal tissues (P = 0.001) as well as SPRY2 transcript variant 2 in cancerous tissues in comparison with the normal counterparts and BPH (P = 0.008 and P = 0.025, respectively). In addition, there was a significant negative correlation between DAB2IP.1 and SPRY2.2 expression with PSA levels in prostate cancer (P = 0.039 ρ =-0.24 and P = 0.045 ρ =-0.3, respectively). Interestingly, the down-regulation of DAB2IP.1 mRNA and SPRY2.2 mRNA was positively correlated in tumor samples (P = 0.002 ρ = 0.434). For the first time, this experiment highlights the deregulation of DAB2IP and SPRY2 transcript variants in human prostate cancer. The present study confirms and extends the previous reports through indicating transcript-specific down-regulation and significant association of DAB2IP and SPRY2 in prostate tumorigenesis., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Lung cancer is the fifth leading tumor in Iran, and while its incidence remains relatively low, it has been increasing steadily. Targeted therapies have brought new hope to patients with non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene is the prototype member of the type I receptor tyrosine kinase (TK) family and plays a pivotal role in cell proliferation and differentiation. Studies from Asian countries have revealed a higher frequency of EGFR mutations than in the West. The aim of this study was to measure the frequency and type of EGFR mutations in a group of Iranian patients with lung adenocarcinomas. Methods: Formalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) lung adenocarcinoma tissues from 103 Iranian patients were sequentially tested for EGFR mutations by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) followed by direct nucleotide sequencing of exons 18, 19, 20, and 21. Patient’s demographics and other clinical details were obtained from the medical records of hospitals affiliated to Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Statistical analyses were performed with SPSS v.20. Results: EGFR mutations were detected in 25/103 (24.3%) patients. The most frequent was an exon 21 point mutation (L858R) (15 patients; 60%), followed by one in exon 19 (10 patients; 40%). The frequency of EGFR mutations in never-smoker patients was significantly higher than in smokers (68% versus 32%; p < 0. 01). Conclusion: EGFR mutation frequency is higher than in the West but lower than in East Asian and almost equal to reported rates for Indian and North African populations. Smoking is negatively associated with EGFR mutations in Iranian lung adenocarcinomas., (Creative Commons Attribution License)

Recent studies underline the involvement of microRNAs in cancer development through induction of immune suppression milieu and evolution of drug resistance. The goal of this study was to evaluate the effects of miR-146a on regulatory T cells' frequencies, T-lymphocyte proliferation, and cytokine expression as well as drug resistance in cancer cells. We found that miR-146a was overexpressed in colon cancer HT-29 cells. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were obtained from healthy donors and were co-cultured with transfected HT-29 cells. Afterward, peripheral blood mononuclear cell proliferation, expression of anti-inflammatory cytokines, and regulatory T cells' frequencies were assayed. Also, drug resistance in transfected HT-29 cells was analyzed following treatment with 5-fluorouracil and irinotecan. Overexpression of miR-146a increased transforming growth factor-β and interleukin-10 expressions and enhanced regulatory T cells' frequencies in peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Also, the number of cells undergoing cell cycle arrest and apoptosis significantly decreased in transfected HT-29 cancer cells. In conclusion, upregulation of miR-146a plays an important role in enhancing immune suppression through increasing the regulatory T cells' population. Also, our data indicated that colon cancer drug resistance is possibly associated with miR-146a overexpression.

Introduction: Mini-gastric bypass (MGB) is a popular bariatric procedure. Its effect on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), however, has not yet been comprehensively studied., Presentation of Case: A 57 year-old non-alcoholic female with a body mass index of 42.8kg/m 2 underwent MGB without any incident. A concurrent liver biopsy showed an NAFLD activity score (NAS) of 2/8 without fibrosis. She presented at postoperative month eight with edema, vague abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting and was hospitalized. Her BMI had dropped to 25.7kg/m 2 . Her blood workup revealed mild anemia, mildly elevated liver enzymes, and hypoalbuminemia (2.5g/dL). Liver ultrasound revealed grade-2 fatty liver. She received parenteral nutrition and intensive nutrient supplementation. Nevertheless, with regard to unsuccessful supportive measures and rising liver enzymes, revisional surgery -gastrogastrostomy- was performed. Her liver biopsy demonstrated a NAS of 7/8 at the time of revisional surgery. Her postoperative course was uneventful and she was discharged after one week., Discussion: Bariatric surgery has shown favorable results regarding improvement of NAFLD in morbid obesity. This beneficial effect has been linked to the amount of weight loss. However, case reports have shown deteriorating liver function and NAFLD even after significant weight loss. They all have in common significant weight loss in a relatively short period of time. There may also be a connection between specific bariatric surgery procedures and this phenomenon., Conclusion: Future studies comparing the effect of various bariatric procedures, including MGB, are necessary to help clinicians decide the optimal procedure for patients with this liver condition., (Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Background: Investigations of methods for detection of mutations have uncovered major weaknesses of direct sequencing and pyrosequencing, with their high costs and low sensitivity in screening for both known and unknown mutations. High resolution melting (HRM) analysis is an alternative tool for the rapid detection of mutations. Here we describe the accuracy of HRM in screening for KRAS and BRAF mutations in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRCs) samples. Materials and Methods: A total of 1000 mCRC patients in Mehr Hospital, Tehran, Iran, from Feb 2008 to May 2012 were examined for KRAS mutations and 242 of them were selected for further assessment of BRAF mutations by HRM analysis. In order to calculate the sensitivity and specificity, HRM results were checked by pyrosequencing as the golden standard and Dxs Therascreen as a further method. Results: In the total of 1,000 participants, there were 664 (66.4%) with wild type and 336 (33.6%) with mutant codons 12 and/or 13 of the KRAS gene. Among 242 samples randomly checked for the BRAF gene, all were wild type by HRM. Pyrosequencing and Dxs Therascreen results were in line with those of the HRM. In this regard, the sensitivity and specificity of HRM were evaluated as 100%. Conclusion: The findings suggest that the HRM, in comparison with DNA sequencing, is a more appropriate method for precise scanning of KRAS and BRAF mutations. It is also possible to state that HRM may be an attractive technique for the detection of known or unknown somatic mutations in other genes., (Creative Commons Attribution License)

Background: Hirschsprung disease is a complex genetic disorder of the enteric nervous system (ENS), often called congenital aganglionic megacolon and characterized by the absence of enteric neurons along a variable length of the intestine. The definitive diagnosis of Hirschsprung disease relies on histologic and/or histochemical staining of sections from suction rectal biopsies. Calretinin immunohistochemistry (IHC) may be a useful in its diagnosis. This study aimed to proof the usefulness of immunohistochemical staining for calretinin in rule out of Hirschsprung disease., Methods: Paraffin blocks and slides were retrieved from the pathology archives of Ali Asghar Hospital, Tehran, Iran from 2007 to 2011 with pathology report based on the presence (14 patients) or absence (70 patients) of ganglion cells and transitional zone anatomical region (10 patients). Slides were stained with hematoxylin and eosin method to confirm the initial diagnosis was verification again. After preparing the slides, they were stained by IHC for calretinin. Then, the results were analyzed using SPSS software., Results: In most patients, IHC for calretinin provided highly compatible results with hematoxylin-eosin findings in diagnosis of Hirschsprung disease. The values of specificity and accuracy between calretinin and standard histology (H&E) compared by the Fisher exact test declared calretinin presented significantly higher specificity and accuracy values than H&E staining ( P <0.0001)., Conclusion: Calretinin IHC overcomes most of the difficulties encountered using the histology hematoxylin-eosin. Then, IHC for calretinin is a good ancillary method used by pathologists in diagnosis of Hirschsprung disease., Competing Interests: The authors declare that there is no Conflict of Interests.

BACKGROUND Reflux disease is a common gastrointestinal problem. The association between reflux disease and gastritis pattern is controversial., Aim: To determine the association between reflux disease and gastritis pattern in patients with Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection. METHODS 470 patients with dyspepsia and reflux disease were enrolled in this study. The inclusion criteria were willing to participate in the study, age over 40 years, and having the criteria of ROME III for at least 3 months. Patients with history of H. pylori eradication therapy during the 3 months before the study, a history of gastric surgery, and gastric cancer were excluded. All of the participants underwent upper endoscopy and two biopsy samples were taken from antrum, body, and fundal areas. RESULTS H. pylori infection rate was 367 (78.1%) with mean age of 59.8 ± 11.4 years. Of them 131 patients (35.7%) were male. Reflux disease was detected in 273 (74.4%) patients. 216 (58.9%) and 102 (27.8%) patients had non-erosive reflux disease (NERD) and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), respectively. Corpus predominant and antral predominant gastritis were seen in 72 (19.6%) and 129 (35.2%) patients, respectively. Antral gastritis was significantly associated with GERD ( p <0.01). In regression analysis, antral predominant gastritis had a significant association with GERD (OR=1.92; 95%CI: 1.22- 3.12). The same result was observed in mild to moderate antral and greater curvature gastritis (OR= 1.26; 95%CI: 0.25-6.40 and OR= 3.0; 95%CI: 0.63-14.17, respectively). CONCLUSION According to these finding ,we could suggest that the pattern of gastritis could be associated with reflux disease and GERD.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a multistep process based on the accumulation of somatic mutations in genes such as APC and KRAS. Data on the presence of mutations in KRAS gene in CRC and its relationship with clinicopathological parameters and expression of genes involved in tumor progression are scarce. We unbiasedly examined the KRAS status in samples from 99 patients and its correlation with clinicopathological parameters such as age, sex, tumor location, lymph node metastasis, tumor stage, tumor grade, and vascular invasion. Consistent with reports of other researchers, 38.4 % of our samples harbored KRAS mutation in their genomes with preferential mutation in codon 12 (89.4 %). Nevertheless, unlike previous reports, we were not able to correlate KRAS status with clinicopathological parameters (P > 0.05) except for vascular invasion. Patients with KRAS mutation have more vascular invasion compared with patient having wild-type KRAS. Next, we investigated the expression of two tumor suppressor genes, factor-inhibiting hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (FIH-1) and suppressor of cytokine signaling (SOCS3), in both KRAS mutant and wild-type groups and looked for any correlation between their expression and clinicopathological parameters. Although the expression of both genes was not regular, none of the clinicopathological parameters were associated with the expressions of FIH-1 and SOCS3 at mRNA level (P > 0.05). However, decline in FIH-1 expression at protein level in KRAS mutant group was correlated with stage IV and grade 2 of tumor (P ≤ 0.05). Our results demonstrated that there is no or low correlation between KRAS status, FIH-1, and SOCS3 expression with epidemiologic and clinicpathological characteristics in CRC.

Background: Nowadays, the immune response to hepatitis C (HCV) treatment has become a crucial issue mostly due to the interleukin 28B (IL-28B) polymorphism effects in chronic HCV patients. The aim of this study was to detect the polymorphism of IL-28B gene (rs12979860) in HCV genotype 1 patients treated with pegylated Interferon and Ribavirin., Methods: From the 2010 to 2012, a total of 115 peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of HCV patients who presented to Gastrointestinal & Liver Disease Research Center (GILDRC), Firoozgar Hospital, Tehran, Iran were enrolled in this retrospective cross sectional study. Samples were then categorized based on the presence of sustained virologic response (SVR and no-SVR). Variables including age, gender, serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels of the two groups were investigated based on different IL-28B genotypes., Results: Analysis by the variables of age and gender showed a mean age ± SD of 42.1±14.0 and gender variability of 44 females (38.2%) and 71 males (61.8%). Adding up these results, the analysis of ALT levels revealed that there was between 293 and 14 mg/ml; AST levels ranged between 217 and 17 mg/ml; the viral load (HCV RNA) ranged between 7,822,000 and 50 IU/ml; the prevalence of CC, CT and TT genotypes were 90.9%, 54% and 25.0%., Conclusion: IL-28B polymorphism has an effective impact on the therapeutic response to ribavirin and peginterferon combination therapy in chronic HCV patients infected by different genotypes. This polymorphism is crucial in natural clearance.

Background: The investigation of mutation patterns in oncogenes potentially can make available a reliable mechanism for management and treatment decisions for patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). This study concerns the rate of KRAS and BRAF genes mutations in Iranian metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients, as well as associations of genotypes with clinicopathological features., Materials and Methods: A total of 1,000 mCRC specimens collected from 2008 to 2012 that referred to the Mehr Hospital and Partolab center, Tehran, Iran enrolled in this cross sectional study. Using HRM, Dxs Therascreen and Pyrosequencing methods, we analyzed the mutational status of KRAS and BRAF genes in these., Results: KRAS mutations were present in 33.6% cases (n=336). Of KRAS mutation positive cases, 85.1% were in codon 12 and 14.9% were in codon 13. The most frequent mutation at KRAS codon 12 was Gly12Asp; BRAF mutations were not found in any mCRC patients (n=242). In addition, we observed a strong correlation of KRAS mutations with some clinicopathological characteristics., Conclusions: KRAS mutations are frequent in mCRCs while presence of BRAF mutations in these patients is rare. Moreover, associations of KRAS genotypes with non-mucinous adenocarcinoma and depth of invasion (pT3) were remarkable.