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Introduction: Phytosterols are recognized for their cholesterol-reducing effects and are commonly used as dietary supplements or added to foods due to their potential cardiovascular benefits. However, evidence regarding the impact of phytosterol supplementation on inflammatory markers remains inconclusive., Aim: This systematic review and meta-analysis aim to evaluate the effect of phytosterols in reducing levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) and high-sensitivity CRP (hs-CRP)., Methods: A systematic literature search of the primary databases was conducted up to May 2024 to identify eligible studies. The measurement of effect sizes was determined using WMD (weighted mean difference) and 95% CI., Results: For the meta-analysis, 14 publications (19 study arms) for hs-CRP and 10 publications (16 study arms) for CRP were included. The pooled analysis showed that the administration of phytosterol did not significantly reduce CRP compared to control with WMD= -0.04 mg/l (95% CI: -0.28 to 0.20, P = 0.74). However, phytosterol supplementation significantly decreased the hs-CRP level compared to the control group with WMD of -0.25 mg/l (95% CI: -0.42 to -0.07, P = 0.006). The WMD for hs-CRP reduction was - 0.36 mg/l (95% CI: -0.53 to -0.18, P < 0.001) for supplementation with a phytosterol dose ≥ 2000 mg/day compared to the control group., Conclusions: Phytosterol supplementation may be effective in reducing hs-CRP levels., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Objective: Cancer cells having stem cell characteristics are linked to metastasis and relapse in breast cancer. Circ-Foxo3, as a circular RNA, has been linked to the breast cancer lethal traits. This study's objective was to assess circ-Foxo3 expression in breast cancer stem-like cells. After isolation from tumor mass, breast cancer cells were subjected to the reliable in vitro assay of spheroid formation to determine the presence cancer stem cells (CSCs). We used a quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction to examine circ-Foxo3 expression in spheroids., Results: Circ-Foxo3 expression was significantly downregulated in spheroid-forming tumor cells, according to our data. This study demonstrated that breast CSCs have downregulated circ-Foxo3 expression, which may allow these cells to evade apoptosis. A precise analysis of this circRNA's role could be exploited to develop focused therapeutic approaches to fight breast CSCs., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Summary: Background. Previously, lots of studies researched the association of Interleukin (IL) 13 gene polymorphisms and the risk of asthma, yielding incongruent outcomes. Objectives. To resolve the inconsistency among the different studies, we performed the most up-to-date meta-analysis of IL13 gene rs20541 and rs1800925 polymorphisms and susceptibility to asthma. Methods. After a systematic literature search up to September 2020, the pooled Odds Ratio (OR) and their corresponding 95% CI were extracted to determine the association level. Results. Overall, 45 (containing 10572 cases and 11575 healthy controls) and 31 (containing 10139 cases and 13304 healthy controls) case-control studies for rs20541 and rs1800925 polymorphisms, respectively, were retrieved. Pooled analysis indicated statistically significant association of rs20541 with asthma in the overall analysis. According to the subgroup analysis, significant association was detected between rs20541 polymorphism in European population across dominant model, allelic model, and GA vs. GG model. A strongly significant association between rs20541 polymorphism and asthma risk was identified in Asian population under all genetic models except heterozygote model. There was significant association between rs20541 polymorphism and asthma risk in dominant, allelic and heterozygote models for Caucasians. The rs1800925 SNP was associated with asthma risk in some genetic models for the overall, Asian, and European populations. Conclusions. Both rs20541 and rs1800925 polymorphisms of IL13 gene confers a risk factor for asthma in different populations.

The association between the risk of allograft rejection after organ transplantation and FAS gene polymorphism has been evaluated previously. However, inconsistent results have been reported. Hence, we conducted the most up-to-date meta-analysis to evaluate this association. All eligible studies reporting the association between FAS-670A＞G polymorphism and the risk of allograft rejection published up to December 2019 were extracted using a comprehensive systematic database search in the Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed. The pooled odds ratios (OR) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated to determine the association strength. This meta-analysis included six case-control studies with 277 patients who experienced allograft rejection and 1,001 patients who did not experience allograft rejection (controls) after organ transplantation. The overall results showed no significant association between FAS-670A＞G polymorphism and the risk of allograft rejection in five genetic models (dominant model: OR=0.81, 95% CI=0.58‒1.12; recessive model: OR=0.10, 95% CI=0.80‒1.53; allelic model: OR=0.96, 95% CI=0.79‒1.18; GG vs. AA: OR=0.92, 95% CI=0.62‒1.36; and AG vs. AA: OR=0.75, 95% CI=0.52‒1.08). Moreover, subgroup analysis according to ethnicity and age did not reveal statistically significant results. Our findings suggest that FAS-670A＞G polymorphism is not associated with the risk of allograft rejection after organ transplantation.

Background: Evidence from various studies suggest that vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene polymorphisms are associated with type 2 diabetes (T2D); However, these results have been disputable. Here we conducted a meta-analysis to comprehensively evaluate the effect of VDR gene polymorphisms and susceptibility to T2D., Methods: All relevant studies reporting the association between VDR gene polymorphisms and susceptibility to T2D published up to August 2020 were identified by comprehensive systematic database search in web of science, Scopus, and Medline. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated to measure strength of association. The methodological quality of each study was assessed according to the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Subgroup and meta-regression analysis were also performed., Results: A total of 47 case-control studies were included in this meta-analysis. The overall population results revealed a significant association between FokI, and BsmI (heterozygote model) polymorphisms and T2D in the overall analysis. However, no association was found with the TaqI and ApaI polymorphisms. Moreover, the pooled results of subgroup analysis by ethnicity suggested significant association between FokI, TaqI , and BsmI polymorphisms and T2D in some subgroups. Meta-regression analyses indicated that none of the publication year, ethnicity, and genotyping method were the source of heterogenicity in all four polymorphisms., Conclusions: This meta-analysis suggested a significant association between VDR gene FokI , and BsmI (heterozygote model) polymorphisms and T2D susceptibility in overall population and ethnic-specific analysis., Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40200-020-00704-z., Competing Interests: Competing interestsThe authors declare that they have no competing interests., (© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021.)

Background: Previous studies evaluated the association of IL-4 C33T polymorphism and risk of bronchial asthma but failed to establish a consistent conclusive association. In the present meta-analysis, we intend to define a more reliable estimate of the association in the presence of filling published literature., Methods: An exhaustive search in Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed databases was performed to identify all relevant publications before September 2020, and 24 publications (28 studies) with 6587 cases and 8408 controls were included in final analysis. The association between polymorphism and risk of asthma were measured by Odd ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Moreover, Cochran's Q and the I 2 statistics were used to evaluate the degree of heterogeneity between studies., Results: In the overall study populations, a significant positive association was detected under all genotype models and announced the IL-4 C33T polymorphism as a potential risk factor in the pathogenesis of asthma. In the subgroup analysis by age, a significant association between IL-4 C33T polymorphism and risk of asthma in different age groups was identified in allelic model, which highlighted the predisposing role of the T allele for the asthma risk in all three age groups. Furthermore, the results of subgroup analysis by continent were heterogenous. Accordingly, IL-4 C33T polymorphism was a risk factor in Europeans (all models except heterozygote comparison), Americans (all models except recessive and homozygote comparison) and Asians (just recessive and allelic model). Finally, the ethnicity-specific analysis disclosed a significant association between IL-4 C33T polymorphism and asthma risk in Caucasians (all genotype models except heterozygote comparison), while this association was not significant in African-Americans., Conclusions: This study suggests that IL-4 C33T polymorphism potentially acts as a risk factor for asthma in different ethnicities and age groups.

Background: Although numerous replication case-control studies have attempted to determine the association between Factor V Leiden (FVL) 1691G > A mutation and susceptibility to Recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL), there have been confliction among the results of various ethnic groups. To address this limitation, here we implemented first meta-analysis to provide with consistent conclusion of the association between FVL 1691G > A mutation and RPL risk., Methods: After a systematic literature search, pooled odds ratio (OR) and their corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) were used to evaluate the strength of the association. Additionally, meta-regression analyses were performed to find potential source of heterogeneity., Results: In this meta-analysis, 62 studies, containing 10,410 cases and 9406 controls, were included in quantitative analysis. Overall population analysis revealed a significant positive association in the dominant (OR = 2.15, 95% CI = 1.84-2.50, P  < 0.001), over-dominant (OR = 1.88, 95% CI = 1.61-2.19, P  < 0.001), allelic (OR = 2.05, 95% CI = 1.79-2.35, P  < 0.001), and heterozygote (OR = 1.97, 95% CI = 1.68-2.30, P  < 0.001) models. Moreover, a significant association of dominant (OR = 3.04, 95% CI = 2.04-4.54, P  < 0.001), over-dominant (OR = 2.65, 95% CI = 1.74-4.05, P  < 0.001), and heterozygote (OR = 2.67, 95% CI = 1.81-4.22, P  < 0.001) models was found in the Iranian population. The subgroup analysis indicated strong significant association in Asian, European, Africa population, and case-control studies but not in South Americans and cohort studies., Conclusion: The FVL 1691G > A mutation and the risk of RPL confers a genetic contributing factor in increasing the risk of RPL, particularly in Iranians, except for South Americans., Competing Interests: Competing interestsThe authors declare that they have no competing interests., (© The Author(s) 2020.)