Maryam Jari; Javad Sadeghi allah abadi; Davood Fathi; Marzieh Attar; Zahra Maleki; Majid Shahbazi
Abstract
Background: Various factors contribute to the pathogenesis of Multiple Sclerosis (MS), one of which is Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 (FGF2). The function of FGF2 is pleiotropic. The investigation of the role of this factor in the myelination has produced conflicting results. Objective: To investigate the ...
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Background: Various factors contribute to the pathogenesis of Multiple Sclerosis (MS), one of which is Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 (FGF2). The function of FGF2 is pleiotropic. The investigation of the role of this factor in the myelination has produced conflicting results. Objective: To investigate the serum levels of FGF2 in patients with MS. Material and methods: Eighty patients with MS and eighty healthy volunteers with no history of inflammation or demyelinating disorders were included, and serum samples were collected to evaluate serum levels of FGF2 using the ELISA technique. Both groups had the same age and gender distribution. For analysis, the Mann-Whitney U test was used. Results: Patients with MS had considerably greater serum FGF2 levels than the control group (p = 0.005). There was no difference between the FGF2 level in men and women. Conclusion: Our data indicate that FGF2 levels may be related to the susceptibility of Iranian patients with MS. Further studies are required to analyze the involvement of FGF2 in enhancing the inflammatory process in MS.
Mohammad Reza Haghshenas; Seyed Reza Hosseini; Mohammad Javad Fattahi; Mahyar Malekzadeh; Ali Ariafar; Abbas Ghaderi
Abstract
Background: Interleukin-37 (IL-37) is a recently described cytokine that emerges as a natural inhibitor of inflammatory and immune responses. However, IL-37 has not yet been investigated in bladder cancer, and its biological role is unknown. Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate IL-37 ...
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Background: Interleukin-37 (IL-37) is a recently described cytokine that emerges as a natural inhibitor of inflammatory and immune responses. However, IL-37 has not yet been investigated in bladder cancer, and its biological role is unknown. Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate IL-37 serum levels in patients with bladder cancer and determine whether they were linked to the patients' pathological characteristics. Methods: IL-37 serum levels were measured using a commercial ELISA kit in 60 patients with transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) of the bladder (mean age: 64.55±12.93) and 50 healthy controls (mean age: 62.94±12.69). Non-parametric tests were used for statistical comparisons, and the Cohen's d effect size was calculated to evaluate the practical and clinical significance of the results. Results: Our findings indicated an increasing trend in IL-37 serum levels in patients with TCC (42.77±3.36 pg/ml) in comparison with controls (40.51±7.32 pg/ml, p=0.09). However, IL-37 serum levels were found to be significantly higher in male patients (44.72±3.81 pg/ml) and patients aged ≥70 (46.92±6.77 pg/ml) in comparison with male controls (29.96±3.30 pg/ml, p=0.026) and controls aged ≥70 (23.62±4.43 pg/ml, p=0.009). In comparison to similar controls, Cohen's d effect size for patients aged ≥70 years was found to be 0.90. Conclusion: The findings reveal a higher serum level of IL-37 in patients with TCC, which might be clinically associated with immunosuppression and tumor growth. However, this is a preliminary study, and more research on the biological role of IL-37 and its potential therapeutic effects in bladder cancer is required.
Abdolkarim Rahmanian; Navideh Mohebali; Ali Haghnegahdar; Eskandar Kamali Sarvestani; Ali Razmkon; Juri Kivelev; Fahim Baghban
Volume 12, Issue 4 , December 2015, , Pages 302-310
Abstract
Background : Ruptured cerebral aneurysms (ICAs) are the most common non-traumatic cause of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) that is associated with life threatening complications such as Vasospasm, Infarction, and Hydrocephalus (HCP). The active participation of macrophage/monocyte-mediated inflammatory ...
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Background : Ruptured cerebral aneurysms (ICAs) are the most common non-traumatic cause of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) that is associated with life threatening complications such as Vasospasm, Infarction, and Hydrocephalus (HCP). The active participation of macrophage/monocyte-mediated inflammatory response in the pathogenesis of cerebral aneurysm as labeled with Monocyte ChemoattractantProtein-1 (MCP-1) is suggested. Objective: To measure the serum level of MCP-1 in ruptured CAs in different time intervals . Methods: We measured the serum levels of MCP-1 in SAH patients who had CAs and compared it with that of MCP-1 in two control groups: including patients with SAH without CAs, and the normal population of blood donors. We also measured the MCP-1 levels in patients with CAs one week afterward to evaluate the effect of treatment. Serum level of MCP-1 was measured by a commercial ELISA assay. Results: Mean serum MCP-1 level in patients with SAH and CAs was 188.2168 Pg/ml and 331.3982 Pg/ml in the normal population. There was no statistically significant difference between serum levels of MCP-1 on the first (mean=188.2168 Pg/ml) and 7 th days after SAH onset (mean=171.8450 Pg/ml) (p=0.739). Serum level of MCP-1 increased significantly as Glasgow Coma Scale decreased (p=0.078) and Hunt and Hess score increased (p=0.089). Conclusion: Our results did not show an increasing MCP-1 serum level in patients with aneurysmal SAH. There was a relationship between poor clinical grade and MCP-1 levels in patients with CAs. MCP-1 may be a local inflammatory marker for cerebral aneurysms without systemic manifestation.
Maryam Robati; Ardeshir Ranjbari; Mehri Ghafourian Boroujerdnia; Zahra Chinipardaz
Volume 8, Issue 3 , September 2011, , Pages 170-175
Abstract
Background: Periodontitis is a multifactorial chronic inflammatory disease characterized by destruction of tooth-supporting tissues. Environmental and genetic factors as well as the immune system participate in this process. Recent studies have attempted to elucidate the role of cytokine networks involved ...
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Background: Periodontitis is a multifactorial chronic inflammatory disease characterized by destruction of tooth-supporting tissues. Environmental and genetic factors as well as the immune system participate in this process. Recent studies have attempted to elucidate the role of cytokine networks involved in periodontal diseases. Objective: To assess and compare the levels of IL-4, IL-6 and IL-12 in serum samples of patients with generalized aggressive periodontitis (GAgP) and control individuals. Methods: A total of 50 subjects were included in the study of which 25 patients had generalized aggressive periodontitis and 25 were healthy unrelated age and gender matched patients undergoing extraction and surgical crown lengthening (control group). Local blood samples of patients were collected from surgical sites of pocket reduction and from healthy individuals before tooth extraction or crown lengthening from non inflamed sites. The levels of IL-4, IL-6 and IL-12 were determined by an ELISA assay using serum samples separated from the whole blood of both groups. Results: The level of IL-4 increased significantly in control group in comparison with the test group (p=0.002). The amount of IL-6 in GAgP patients increased strongly compared with control group (p<0.0001). There was no significant difference between the two groups concerning the level of IL-12. Conclusion: There is an association between generalized aggressive periodontitis and low level of IL-4 as an anti-inflammatory cytokine, and high level of IL-6 as a proinflammatory cytokine. No correlation between IL-12 and generalized aggressive peridontitis was found.
Mehrnoosh Doroudchi; Abdolrasoul Talei; Helmout Modjtahedi; Alamtaj Samsami Dehaghani; Abdol Mohammad Pezeshki; Hilary Thomas; Abbas Ghaderi
Volume 2, Issue 4 , December 2005, , Pages 191-200
Abstract
Background: A soluble form of HER-2/neu extracellular domain (sHER-2) is reported to be released in the sera of metastatic breast cancer patients. Objective: To measure the level of sHER-2 in sera of 115 breast cancer patients. Methods: Serial samples of 27 patients with metastasis, 18 non-metastatic ...
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Background: A soluble form of HER-2/neu extracellular domain (sHER-2) is reported to be released in the sera of metastatic breast cancer patients. Objective: To measure the level of sHER-2 in sera of 115 breast cancer patients. Methods: Serial samples of 27 patients with metastasis, 18 non-metastatic patients, 15 patients in stage 0/I and 14 patients with accompanying benign breast disease were also included in this study. Results: No significant difference was observed between sHER- 2 level in the pre-operative sera of breast cancer patients and that of healthy individuals. Only 8 out of 27 patients whom later developed metastasis showed elevated levels of sHER-2 in their first serum sample. However, a trend of increase in the level of sHER-2 was observed in 14 (51.8%) of 27 metastatic sera before clinical diagnosis of the metastasis. A significant association between sHER-2 positive status and vascular invasion of the tumor was observed (P = 0.02). In addition, significant correlation of sHER-2 level with CEA (highest r = 0.74) and CA 15.3 (highest r = 0.74) tumor marker levels in the serial sera were observed. The mean time from sHER-2 positivity to tumor metastasis was calculated to be 98 days (range = 29-174). Conclusion: Our results indicate that a relatively high percentage of Iranian patients with breast cancer show an elevated level of sHER-2 in their sera before clinical diagnosis of the tumor metastasis. Therefore, measuring the level of this oncoprotein, not only helps physicians in monitoring the patients during HERCEPTINTM therapy, but also can be helpful in choosing more aggressive treatments at the early satges of tumor metastasis.