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Circular RNAs (circRNAs) has recently been considered a class of endogenous RNAs that form a continuous closed loop with an ability to cancer development. Due to its properties, circRNAs has promising potential to be considered as non-invasive cancer biomarkers. The present review comprehensively and systematically assessed the role of circRNAs as diagnostic markers in blood or tissue samples of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. Articles published until September 2022 were searched across Scopus, Web of Science (WoS), and PubMed databases to screen and find suitable circRNAs as diagnostic markers in CRC, Based on inclusion and exclusion criteria, 55 articles were selected as the final included articles. The sample size of the patients group ranged from 12 to 212. Among the circRNAs investigated in this study, 47 circRNAs were increased in patients and probably act as oncogenes and activate the downstream pathways in the initiation and exacerbation of cancer; 28 circRNAs were decreased, which probably acted as tumor suppressors and their decrease played a role in the progression of CRC, indicating that the aberrant expression of circRNAs are involved in the promotion of CRC and may associated with its clinicopathological features. Many pathological processes of cancer are regulated by the altered expression of circRNAs through the regulation of different signaling pathways. According to the results of this study, while circRNAs demonstrates promise as a biomarker for CRC diagnosis, it is necessary to conduct evaluative studies on a larger scale in future., Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: Not applicable. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors of this article declare no competing interests that might influence the results and/or discussion reported in this article., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

As a heterogeneous disease, breast cancer (BC) has been characterized by the uncontrolled proliferation of mammary epithelial cells. The tumor microenvironment (TME) also contains inflammatory cells, fibroblasts, the extracellular matrix (ECM), and soluble factors that all promote BC progression. In this sense, the macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF), a pleiotropic pro-inflammatory cytokine and an upstream regulator of the immune response, enhances breast tumorigenesis through escalating cancer cell proliferation, survival, angiogenesis, invasion, metastasis, and stemness, which then brings tumorigenic effects by activating key oncogenic signaling pathways and inducing immunosuppression. Against this background, this review was to summarize the current understanding of the MIF pathogenic mechanisms in cancer, particularly BC, and address the central role of this immunoregulatory cytokine in signaling pathways and breast tumorigenesis. Furthermore, different inhibitors, such as small molecules as well as antibodies (Abs) or small interfering RNA (siRNA) and their anti-tumor effects in BC studies were examined. Small molecules and other therapy target MIF. Considering MIF as a promising therapeutic target, further clinical evaluation of MIF-targeted agents in patients with BC was warranted., (© The Author(s) 2024.)

Given that oxidative stress (OS) occurs as one of the complications of general anesthesia and surgical procedures, practicing the best and safest anesthesia regimen can have a significant share in various surgeries. So, this study compared the effects of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ketoprofen (KTP) and meloxicam (MLX) on OS through the glutathione pathway after the ketamine-xylazine (K-X) anesthesia and ulcer induction in rats to suggest post-operative regimens with promising analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects. 80 healthy adult male Wistar rats, were examined in this study. To obtain the baseline value cardiac blood collected of five rats, and the remaining 75 animals were randomized into three groups of 25, including (i) the control group receiving physiological serum, (ii) the experimental group 1 taking KTP, (iii) the experimental group 2, administered by MLX and all three groups received K-X combination IP after 30 min. Then, a full-thickness ulcer was induced under standard conditions, and the blood samples were collected from groups at T0, T30m, T60m, T24h, and T48h. The serum levels of the desired markers were measured. The study results revealed that the administration of K-X as an anesthetic agent made some changes in the markers of the OS-related glutathione (GSH) pathway. Moreover, KTP and MLX, significantly ( p < 0.05) augmented the reduced GSH (rGSH), lowered the GSSG, increased the total values of the glutathione disulfide (GSSG) and the rGSH, reduced the rGSH/GSSG ratio, and accelerated the glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity, but they had high inhibitory effects on the glutathione reductase (GR). Accordingly, both drugs could maintain the balance between the OS markers, caused by general anesthesia. In general, KTP can be a suitable regimen in surgeries wherein analgesia is of importance for less than 24 h, but MLX can be a preferable option if longer analgesia is needed for more than 24 h., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2024 The Author(s).)

Exosomes are small extracellular vesicles (30-150 nm) that are formed by endocytosis containing complex RNA as well as protein structures and are vital in intercellular communication and can be used in gene therapy and drug delivery. According to the cell sources of origin and the environmental conditions they are exposed to, these nanovesicles are very heterogeneous and dynamic in terms of content (cargo), size and membrane composition. Exosomes are released under physiological and pathological conditions and influence the pathogenesis of cancers through various mechanisms, including angiogenesis, metastasis, immune dysregulation, drug resistance, and tumor growth/development. Gastrointestinal cancer is one of the deadliest types of cancer in humans and can involve organs e.g., the esophagus and stomach, or others such as the liver, pancreas, small intestine, and colon. Early diagnosis is very important in this field because the overall survival of patients is low due to diagnosis in late stages and recurrence. Also, various therapeutic strategies have failed and there is an unmet need for the new therapeutic agents. Exosomes can become promising candidates in gastrointestinal cancers as biomarkers and therapeutic agents due to their lower immunity and passing the main physiological barriers. In this work, we provide a general overview of exosomes, their biogenesis and biological functions. In addition, we discuss the potential of exosomes to serve as biomarkers, agents in cancer treatment, drug delivery systems, and effective vaccines in immunotherapy, with an emphasis on gastrointestinal cancers., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

In the present study, novel films based on nanomontmorillonite-chitosan (MMT-Ch) and nanomontmorillonite-carboxymethyl cellulose (MMT-CMC) incorporated with different concentrations of Ziziphora clinopodioides essential oil (ZEO; 0.5, 1 and 2%) alone and in combination with Ficus carica extract (FCH; 1%) were investigated as active packaging materials for minced camel's meat to increase the shelf life (microbial, chemical and sensory properties) and inhibit the growth of Listeria monocytogenes and Escherichia coli O157:H7 during storage at refrigerated condition. Final microbial populations of meat samples packed in CMC-MMT+ZEO 2%+FCH 1% and Ch-MMT+ZEO 2%+FCH 1% were decreased approximately 1-4 log CFU/g compared to control (P<0.05). Packed meats with nanocomposite films tended to retard the increases in total volatile base nitrogen (TVB-N), pH, peroxide value (PV), protein carbonyl content and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS). Sensory attributes (odor, color and overall acceptability) were significantly enhanced in treated meat samples (P<0.05). The results indicated that CMC-MMT+ZEO 2%+FCH 1% and Ch-MMT+ZEO 2%+FCH 1% films could be considered as promising packaging materials for minced camel's meat., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)