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Objective Signaling pathways such as extracellular regulated kinase/mitogen activated protein kinase (ERK/MAPK) have increased activity in leukemia. Ribosomal 6 kinase (RSK4) is a factor downstream of the MAPK/ERK pathway and an important tumor suppressor which inhibits ERK trafficking. Decrease in RSK4 expression has been reported in some malignancies, which leads to an increase in growth and proliferation and eventually poor prognosis. In this study we measured RSK4 expression rate in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Materials and Methods This cross-sectional study was undertaken in 2013-2014 at Ghaem Hospital in Mashhad, Iran, on 40 AML patients and 10 non-AML patients as the control group. The expression rate was measured by real-time polymerase change reaction (PCR) and employing the ΔΔCT method. Data were analyzed using Mann-Whitney and Spearman tests using SPSS (version 11.5). Results Expression rate of RSK4 was significantly decreased in the AML group in comparison with the non-AML group (P

Gaillardin (GLN) is a sesquiterpene lactone isolated from the chloroform extract of Inula oculus-christi L. This natural compound has shown cytotoxicity in various cancerous cell line. However, its effect on leukemic cells is ambiguous. Due to the neurotoxicity of vincristine (VCR) in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), we aimed to examine the cytotoxic effects of GLN alone and in combination with vincristine on induction of apoptosis, and cell cycle progression in ALL cell lines (NALM-6 and MOLT-4). Our results displayed that GLN could induce cytotoxic effects in MOLT-4 and NALM-6 with IC50 values of 7.3 and 6.1 μM, respectively. In this study, we demonstrated that GLN induces cytotoxicity through G0/G1 phase arrest followed by apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner. Fortunately, this natural compound did not show significant cytotoxic effects on normal cells. This study demonstrated that GLN was capable to extend chemotherapeutic sensitivity in ALL cells by reducing VCR concentration without constraining its effectiveness. Therefore, it might act as a promising anticancer agent for the treatment of leukemia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Androgenic alopecia (AGA), as the most common cause of hair loss, is a chronic process that affects 80% of men and 50% of women throughout life. Existing and approved treatments for this condition are limited, and unfortunately, the length of treatment is long, while its efficacy is not much suitable. Plasma rich in growth factors (PRGF) autologous therapy is based on the delivery of a pool of bioactive molecules impressive for the treatment of AGA. Thirteen patients were included in this study. Our patients were evaluated in two groups: the first group was injected once and the second group was injected thrice, then evaluated for the number and diameter of the hair. Both groups of patients showed hopeful results so that in the first group hairs number and thickness increased by 9–54% and 11–76% respectively (p <.01). For patients who underwent PRGF injection thrice, the increases in hairs number and thickness were remarkably higher with an average of 211 and 221 respectively (p <.001). No adverse effect was reported in any patient. Our results revealed that PRGF platelet concentration using a higher volume of blood compared to previous protocols has higher effectiveness in treating AGA. However, more randomized clinical studies with longer follow up courses as well as larger sample sizes are needed to standardize an optimum protocol for PRGF based treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]