<Emphasis Type="Italic">Teucrium polium</Emphasis> Complex with Molybdate Enhance Cultured Islets Secretory Function

Islet transplantation has become a promising treatment in the therapy of type 1 diabetes. Its function improvement, after isolation and before transplantation, is crucial because of their loss both in number and function of islets after isolation procedures. Trace elements sodium orthovanadate (SOV) and sodium molybdate (SM), as well as medicinal plant Teucrium polium L. (TP), showed and possessed high beneficial antioxidative potential and even hypoglycemic properties via their effect on islets. We evaluated the effect of these components in combination on cultured islet function in order to improve pancreatic islet transplantation. Rat pancreatic islets were cultured for 24 h then incubated with different concentrations of TP (0.01 and 0.1 mg/mL) alone and in combination with SOV (1 mM) or SM (1 mM). Insulin concentration in buffer media was measured as islet secretory function. Administration of TP (0.01 mg/mL), SM, and SOV alone or in combination with each other significantly increased insulin secretion at high glucose concentration (16.7 mM); insulin secretion was significantly greater in the group containing both TP and SM than other treated groups (p < 0.05). The combination of the mentioned trace elements especially molybdate with TP could improve islet cells function before transplantation.     

Study of quercetin and fisetin synergistic effect on breast cancer and potentially involved signaling pathways

Naturally-derived drugs have drawn much attention in recent decades. Efficiency, lower toxicity, and economic reasons are some of their advantages that justify this broad range of administration for different diseases, including cancer. If we can find a specific combination that boosts the effects of their single therapy, leading to synergism effect, increased efficiency, and decreased toxicity, they can act even better. Quercetin and fisetin, two well-known flavonoids, have been used to fight against various cancers. In this study, we investigated their possible synergism quercetin and fisetin on MCF7, MDA-MB-231, BT549, T47D, and 4T1 breast cancer cell lines. Then the optimum combined dose was used to study their impacts on wound healing abilities and clonogenic properties. The real-time qPCR was used to study the expression of their validated downstream effectors in predicted pathways. A significant synergism effect (p < .01, combination index: <1) was observed for all cell lines. Combination therapy was significantly more effective in colony formation (p < .0001) and wound healing assays (p < .001) compared to single therapies. The expression level of potential effectors was also showed a greater change. In vivo study confirmed the in vitro results and showed how significantly (p < .001) their synergism promotes their singular function in inhibiting cancer progression. The breast cancer mouse models receiving combined therapy lived longer with higher average body weight and smaller tumor sizes. These results exhibit that quercetin and fisetin inhibit cancer cell proliferation, migration and colony formation synergistically, and matrix metalloproteinase signaling and apoptotic pathways are relatively responsible for inhibitory activities.     

CardioFAN: open source platform for noninvasive assessment of pulse transit time and pulsatile flow in hyperelastic vascular networks

Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology - A profound analysis of pressure and flow wave propagation in cardiovascular systems is the key in noninvasive assessment of hemodynamic parameters....     

Research progress on gut health of farmers teleost fish: a viewpoint concerning the intestinal mucosal barrier and the impact of its damage

Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries - The intestinal mucosal barrier plays a critical role in the maintenance of host health. In farmed teleost fish, the intestinal epithelium is challenged by a...     

Human Papillomavirus Type 16 Integration Analysis by Real-time PCR Assay in Associated Cancers

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a common viral infection worldwide associated with a variety of cancers. The integration of the HPV genome in these patients causes chromosomal instability and triggers carcinogenesis. The aim of this study was to investigate the HPV-16 genome physical status in four major cancers related to HPV infection. Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded blocks from our previous projects on head and neck, colorectal, penile, and cervical cancers were collected, and HPV-16–positive specimens were used for further analysis. The DNA extraction copy number of E2 and E7 genes was calculated by qualitative real-time PCR method. Serially diluted standards that were cloned in PUC57 plasmid were used. Standard curve and melting curve analysis was used for quantification. Of the 672 specimens studied, 76 (11.3%) were HPV-16 positive. We found that 35.6% (16/45) were integrated. Statistical analysis showed that there were significant correlations between integration of HPV-16 and cervical cancer end-stage carcinogenesis (P < .0001), episomal form, and ASCUS lesions (P = .045). Significant correlation in penile cancer patients was seen between the episomal form and high-grade cancer stage (P = .037). Integration is a major factor in the carcinogenesis mechanism of HPV and has different prevalence in various cancers with a higher rate in progression except in penile cancer.     

Breaking Lander-Waterman’s Coverage Bound

Lander-Waterman’s coverage bound establishes the total number of reads required to cover the whole genome of size G bases. In fact, their bound is a direct consequence of the well-known solution to the coupon collector’s problem which proves that for such genome, the total number of bases to be sequenced should be O(G ln G). Although the result leads to a tight bound, it is based on a tacit assumption that the set of reads are first collected through a sequencing process and then are processed through a computation process, i.e., there are two different machines: one for sequencing and one for processing. In this paper, we present a significant improvement compared to Lander-Waterman’s result and prove that by combining the sequencing and computing processes, one can re-sequence the whole genome with as low as O(G) sequenced bases in total. Our approach also dramatically reduces the required computational power for the combined process. Simulation results are performed on real genomes with different sequencing error rates. The results support our theory predicting the log G improvement on coverage bound and corresponding reduction in the total number of bases required to be sequenced.     

Efficacy of intra-lesional injections of meglumine antimoniate once a week vs. twice a week in the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by L. tropica in Iran: A randomized controlled clinical trial

Treatment of Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is based on using antimoniate derivatives; patients’ compliance for systemic injections is low due to the pain and systemic complications. In this randomized open trial, the efficacy of intra-lesional (IL) injections of meglumine antimoniate (MA) once a week vs. twice a week in the treatment of Anthrpoponothic CL caused by L. tropica was studied. Eligible volunteer patients were selected according to inclusion/exclusion criteria. The included patients were randomly allocated to receive IL-MA injections once a week or twice a week. The primary outcome was set as complete healing of the lesion(s), and defined as complete re-epithelialization and absence of induration in the lesions. A total of 180 parasitologicaly proven CL patients caused by L. tropica were recruited, 90 patients were treated with weekly IL-MA and 90 patients received IL-MA twice a week. The complete cure was 87.9% vs. 89.2% in the group received weekly and twice a week IL-MA injections, respectively (P = 0.808). Patients’ compliance was acceptable and side effects were limited to a few local allergic reactions to MA. Median time to healing was significantly shorter in patients who received IL-MA twice a week (median ± SE) 37±3.8, (CI: 29.6–44.4) days compared to whom received IL-MA once a week 60±2.3, (CI: 55.6–64.5) days (P< 0.001), however the number of injections was higher in group who received IL-MA twice a week (12 vs. 9 injections). In conclusion, the rate of cure in the group of CL patients with IL-MA twice a week was not significantly different from the group who received IL-MA once a week shorten, but the duration of healing was shorter in the group who received IL-MA twice a week while the group received more injections so is recommended to use IL-MA once a week due to the fact the compliance is acceptable with limited side effects.Clinical Trial Registration: IRCT20081130001475N13; https://en.irct.ir/.     

Targeted therapies in pancreatic cancer: Promises and failures

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is an incidence rate nearly equal to its mortality rate. The poor prognosis of the disease can be explained by the absence of effective biomarkers for screening and early detection, together with the aggressive behavior and resistance to the currently available chemotherapy. The therapeutic failure can also be attributed to the inter-/intratumor genetic heterogeneity and the abundance of tumor stroma that occupies the majority of the tumor mass. Gemcitabine is used in the treatment of PDAC; however, the response rate is less than 12%. A recent phase III trial revealed that the combination of oxaliplatin, irinotecan, fluorouracil, and leucovorin could be an option for the treatment of metastatic PDAC patients with good performance status, although these approaches can result in high toxicity level. Further investigations are required to develop innovative anticancer agents that either improve gemcitabine activity, within novel combinatorial approaches or acts with a better efficacy than gemcitabine. The aim of the current review is to give an overview of preclinical and clinical studies targeting key dysregulated signaling pathways in PDAC.