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Introduction: Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic autoimmune disease with numerous side effects. Since long ago, the impact of fish consumption on treating this disease has been of researchers’ interest. Hence, this study aims to examine the relationship between fish consumption and the risk of rheumatoid arthritis through a systematic review and a meta-analysis method. Materials and Methods: For this meta-analysis to reach the research related to the case study, the following databases: PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Cochrane, and the Google Scholar search engine were conducted. The data were analyzed using the STATA 14, and the significance level of the tests was P

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has been linked to an increased risk of osteoporosis as well as fractures. Patients diagnosed with RA had a 25% increased risk of osteoporotic fracture, according to a recent population-based cohort study that compared them to people without RA. Several studies have found a correlation between osteoporosis and the presence of pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-1, and 6. These cytokines play a crucial part in the process of bone resorption by boosting osteoclast activation and encouraging osteoclast differentiation. Based on the correlation between RA, osteoporosis, and inflammation, it is possible that systemic immunosuppression with disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) can help individuals with RA have a lower chance of developing osteoporosis and osteoporotic fractures. There is little information on how different DMARDs, biologic or non-biologic, affect RA patients' bone metabolism. In this study, we present an overview of the influence that targeted therapies, such as biologics, non-biologics, and small molecule inhibitors, have on bone homeostasis in RA patients.

Human linguatulosis is a rare but highly specialized pentastomid parasitic infection all around the world. The disease is caused by worm-like parasites which share some morphologic features of arthropods and annelids. The life cycle of Linguatula spp. is provided as an example of pentastomid biology. The adult forms of Linguatula spp. are found in the nasal passages and frontal sinuses of dogs and other canids, domestic animals, and humans. Infestation may occur in the viscera, where immature forms develop in the liver, spleen, lungs, eyes, and other organs, or in the nasopharyngeal area. This review includes previous studies on the genus Linguatula in Iran and other countries from 1940 to 2019. Considering a few reports of human infestation, a comprehensive search was performed on both English and Persian databases for publications reporting human cases all around the world. Finally, 30 papers of 62 human cases were included in this study. The mean age of the patients was 25.8 years (varied from 8 to 79 years). Altogether, 41 (66.1%) and 21 (33.9%) of the patients were female and male respectively. The maximum cases (n = 25) were from Sudan. Nasopharynx was the most frequently involved organ in human cases. Our findings offer that physicians should consider the Linguatula infection in patients with complaints like unexpected dysphagia, with coughing, sneezing, and vomiting, after consuming raw/undercooked contaminated ruminant's viscera.

Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a chronic inflammatory rheumatic disease characterized by immune system dysregulation and inflammation in the joints. Interleukin (IL)-17 inhibitors are new biological drugs used to treat AS. In this study, we aimed to assess the risk of immune system-related AEs due to targeting IL-17 or IL-17R.The CENTRAL, PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, Clinical Trials Registry, and ICTRP were searched for randomized clinical trials (RCTs) and non-RCTs until February 2021. The risk of irAEs in patients treated with IL-17 inhibitors compared to the placebo or a drug-free control was evaluated. In studies that reported AEs of the IL-17 inhibitors at several different time points, we compared the number of cases/100 patient-year in which irAEs were reported. Subgroup analyses were also performed based on the dose and type of drugs.Thirteen studies of 1848 AS patients treated by IL-17 inhibitors (secukinumab, ixekizumab, bimekizumab, and netakimab) and 764 participants who received a placebo were included. The risk of some AEs related to immune function in patients under IL-17 inhibitors treatment was significantly higher than that of the placebo group, including infection and infestation (risk difference RD = 0.09, P = 0.02), nasopharyngitis (RD = 0.04, P 0.001), opportunistic infections (RD = 0.01, P = 0.04), and neutropenia (RD = 0.04, P = 0.03). Besides, the results of the Cochran Q test showed that there were significant differences between the occurrence of some AEs over time, including infection and infestations (p 0.001, RCTs), upper respiratory tract infections (p 0.001, non-RCTs), urinary tract infections (p 0.001, non-RCTs), and diarrhea (p 0.01, RCTs).The most common immune system-related AEs in patients treated with IL-17 inhibitors are mucosal and opportunistic infections.

Background: Toxoplasmosis is a zoonotic disease caused by the parasite Toxoplasma gondii, a cosmopolitan intracellular parasite. It can be a risk factor for autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This study was designed to investigate the possible association between serological history of T. gondii infection and defined clinical manifestation of RA in Northeast of Iran. Methods: Overall, serum samples were collected from 50 RA patients and 40 healthy controls, from Qaem Hospital in Mashhad City, northeastern Iran in 2018. Seroprevalence of T. gondii infection was determined by ELISA. Results: The prevalence of anti -T. gondii IgG in RA patients 48% (24.50) was significantly higher than the control group 10% (4.40) (P

gastric cancer is the fifth most prevalent cancer and the fourth cause of death because of cancer. In Iran, northern and northwestern regions are considered gastric cancer hot spots. Identifying serum biomarkers could be helpful in early diagnosis of patients with gastric adenocarcinoma (GAC). Increase in progastrin level has been reported in different cancers. Given the diagnostic value of this biomarker, this study aimed to determine the diagnostic role of progastrin serum biomarker in patients with gastric cancer.In this case-control study, forty patients with gastric cancer who were diagnosed by endoscopy and pathologic findings and visited Mazandaran Comprehensive Cancer Center. The participants had received no treatment yet and entered this study. The participants in case group were compared with the control group including forty-two individuals with no history of gastrointestinal cancer in their first-degree relatives and visiting the lab for routine tests. Progastrin serum level was assessed using ELISA kit. The Kruskal-Wallis test and Mann Whitney test, both non-parametric) were used for statistical analysis and the relation between the variables was examined using Pearson's correlation coefficient at 95% confidence level in SPSS 16.In this study, progastrin serum level was significantly higher in patients with gastric cancer compared with normal participants (P = 0.035). Progastrin serum level had no significant relation with tumor clinicopathologic parameters (p-value0.05).Increase in progastrin may be utilized as a predictive factor for gastric cancer.

This study aimed to determine Toxoplasma gondii infection in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients in Mazandaran Province, north of Iran. During April 2019 to February 2020, 305 patients with RA (N=272) and SLE (N=33) diseases are included in this cross-sectional study. The baseline data of patients were collected into a questionnaire. Also, blood sample was taken from each patient in tubes containing k2-EDTA as anticoagulant for serological and molecular analyses. The presence of specific IgG antibody against T. gondii in plasma was explored using ELISA method. DNA was extracted and conventional-PCR method was done using RE primers on buffy coat samples. Anti-Toxoplasma IgG were detected among 105/272 RA (38.6%) and 11/33 (33%) SLE patients (P=0.55). IgG seropositivity was more common in females (95.70%) than in males (4.30%) and in 51-60 years old patients (37.10%) in rural populations (62.07%). Also, seropositivity was higher in patients who kept cats (93.95%). Keeping cats and patient's age were two studied risk factors which had significant relations with T. gondii seropositivity in patients (P0.05). Overall, T. gondii DNA was found in 60 of 305 (19.7%) of enrolled patients, whether serology positive or negative (P0.0001). Given the RA and SLE patients can be considered as a risk group for toxoplasmosis, in addition to the serological test, PCR based techniques is recommended for early and accurate detection of recent T. gondii infection.

Background Benzodiazepine (BZD) poisoning is a common medical condition often accompanied by respiratory arrest, aspiration pneumonitis, and may rarely result in death. Although it is not studied well, hypoglycemia is a real and life-threatening condition that may occur in BZD poisoning. Thus, the present study was shown to determine the prevalence of hypoglycemia among patients with BZD poisoning compared to toxicity with other drugs. Patients and methods In this study, patients with drug-induced poisoning referred to Vasei hospital, Sabzevar, eastern Iran, were registered and their blood glucose levels at presentation were collected during 2019. Results Overall, 300 poisoned patients were evaluated (17% with BZD poisoning). The prevalence of hypoglycemia was significantly higher in patients with BZD poisoning (11.8% vs. 2.8%, p = 0.004), especially in males (P = 0.016), aged >30 years old (p = 0.006). However, the prevalence of hypoglycemia was higher in patients with GCS, Highlights • The Occurrence of hypoglycemia in patients with Benzodiazepines poisoning. • Benzodiazepine (BZD) poisoning is a common medical condition often accompanied by respiratory arrest, aspiration pneumonitis, and may rarely result in death. • The hypoglycemia is a frequent complication of BZD poisoning and should be considered in the initial evaluation of patients referred to the emergency department.

The anti-angiogenic effects of harmaline, an alkaloid with emerging anti-tumor properties, are under investigation. In the present study, the effects of different doses of harmaline, either alone or in combination with doxorubicin (DOX), were assessed in mice models of breast tumor. Breast tumors were created by the subcutaneous injection of 4T1 cells into Balb/c mice. The mice received either normal saline, harmaline alone (10, 20, or 30 mg/kg), or harmaline (20 mg/kg) + DOX (10 mg/kg). Immunohistochemistry, ELISA, and real-time PCR were conducted to measure target parameters. Harmaline significantly increased tumor cells' sensitivity to DOX as confirmed by a significantly reduced tumor volume in the harmaline + DOX group after 24 days (P 0.05). Also, the levels of Ki-67 (P 0.001), MMP-2 (P 0.001), and VEGF (P 0.001) significantly decreased while the level of E-cadherin increased (P 0.001) in the tumor tissues of the mice treated with 20 or 30 mg/kg harmaline or harmaline (20 mg/kg) + DOX (10 mg/kg) compared to the control group. There was a significant reduction in the serum level of IL-4 in tumor-bearing mice treated with harmaline (P 0.05), and IFN-γ serum level was significantly augmented in all experimental groups compared to the control group (P 0.05). The genes encoding VEGF, VEGF receptor 2, CD105, and COX2 were significantly down-regulated (P 0.05 for all) in harmaline-treated (either alone or in combination with DOX) mice. In conclusion, harmaline seems to have the potential to be used as an anticancer agent for treating breast cancer.

Background The clinical symptoms, blood laboratory data, O2 saturation and high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) findings are critical factors in diagnosis of COVID-19 infection. Methods In this study, 105 hospitalized patients suspected of having COVID-19 were evaluated. Finally, the laboratory and HRCT and related factors data of 83 confirmed cases by HRCT and RT-PCR were analyzed. To compare the median of quantitative variables in the two groups, the Mann-Whitney U test was used. Also, to determine the factors associated with the positiveness of the HRCT result, a univariate logistic model was fitted. Moreover, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were constructed to test the ability of the final model to predict the positiveness of HRCT result. Results 61.40% of the patients had a comorbidity disease. 89.20% had fever, 92.00% cough, 91.40% dyspnea. Abnormal CRP was seen in 77.80% of the patients, followed by 66.70% lymphopenia, and 60.30% neutrophilia. Also, ALP (abnormal vs. normal) and score of HRCT assessment variables had a significant effect on the positiveness of HRCT findings. 87.95% had abnormal HRCT with 41% bilateral multi lobar patchy ground glass opacity (GGO). Moreover, there was a statistically significant association between the level of O2 saturation and HRCT results. Conclusion Our findings showed that male patients with middle age and comorbidity disease were more susceptible to the COVID-19 infection. Additionally, clinical features, blood laboratory findings, O2 saturation and HRCT findings are critical factors in the prognosis of COVID-19 infection.

Ovarian Cancer (OC), as the seventh most common cancer throughout the world, is one of the most lethal gynecologic malignancies in women. In addition to well-studied risk and prognostic factors of OC, such as age, obesity, stage, histology, etc., ABO blood groups associations with OC has been attracted the investigators’ focus in the recent decade. The objective of this study is to find any relationships between ABO blood groups and OC through a meta-analysis. The databases of PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science were systematically searched by available MeSh terms for “Ovarian Cancer”, and “ABO blood group” up to August 1, 2020. Hazard ratio (HR) or odds ratio (OR) were extracted and used from studies for outcome estimation whenever appropriate with 95% confident interval (CI). Data were analyzed using CMA v. 2.2.064. Fourteen papers, including 58,193 participants, entered in the systematic review. The meta-analysis indicated a substantially higher risk of developing OC in individuals with blood group A (OR 1.17, 95% CI 1.01–1.36) and AB (OR 1.27, 95% CI 1.02–1.59), but the subject was not significant in individuals with blood group B (OR 1.11, 95% CI 0.81–1.51). No associations were found between OC overall survival and blood group A (HR 1.14, 95% CI 0.79–1.64), AB (HR 1.00, 95% CI 0.69–1.45), and B (HR 0.88, 95% CI 0.58–1.33). Recurrence rates of OC for blood groups A, AB, B, and O were 30.8%, 34.3%, 33.6%, and 32.0%, respectively. Rates of mortality in different blood groups are as follows: A (31.8%), AB (31.1%), B (26.2%), and O (33.8%). This systematic review and meta-analysis revealed a considerably increased risk of developing OC among individuals with blood group A and AB. However, no substantial impacts were found for ABO blood groups on the overall survival of the OC patients.

Human linguatulosis is a considerable medical problem in endemic regions. The infection is caused by a cosmopolitanfood-borne zoonoticparasiteLinguatula serrata (L. serrata) belonging to class pentastomida.Adult parasitesreside in upper respiratory system, nasal airways and sinuses of carnivorous animals as their final hosts.Herbivorous and other ruminants as intermediate hosts reserve immatureform of parasite in mesenteric lymph nodes, liver, lungs and spleen. Human get infection with both adult and nymph stages of parasite.Halzoun syndrome(Marrara syndrome) is the most common form of human nasopharyngeal linguatulosis which is transmitted through ingestion of L. serrata nymphs (adult stage) found in intermediate host’s organs and resulting in nasopharyngeal linguatulosis with signs of pharyngitis, salivation, dysphagia, and cough.r. This review includes previous studies on L. serrata conducted in Iran and other countries from 1940 to 2019. A systematic search is undertaken on five English and five Persian databases for English or Persian publications describing human linguatulosiscases in the world .Totally, 30 papers reporting 62human linguatulosiscases from various regions of the world are included in this review.All included papers were from the English databases. The age of patients ranged from 8 to 79 years, and the mean age was 25.8 years. Of all the patients, 41(66.1%) were female and 21(33.9%)were male. The highest number of cases (n = 25) was reported from Sudan.The nasopharynxwas the most commonly reported anatomical location of human linguatulosis cases.As a result, we think that physicians should consider L. serratainfestation in patients attending to the health foundations with complaintssuch as pharyngitis, accompanied by pharyngeal pain,coughing, sneezing and vomiting.

Objective To investigate the level of people's infection to cecarial dermatitis in Mazandaran Province (north of Iran), where is susceptible to this disease due to Mazandaran's climate. Methods The present descriptive study is a cross sectional one and was done during 2010–2011. The sample and population were 2310 people, randomly chosen in 77 clusters from 4 towns, 30 people in each cluster on average. The survey form was given to people house-by-house and the clinical observation of the positive cases were recorded. The related medicine (calamin ointment) prevention methods were prescribed by the doctors of the research team and freely given to the infected patients. SPSS was applied to analyze the groups of age, sex, job and the part of the body infected. Results Among the 2310 population studied, 139 of them (6.1%) were infected to cecarial dermatitis. Among the 139 people who had cecarial dermatitis, there was a significant difference in the amounts related to the groups of job, age and the part of body infected. Farmers were infected to this disease more than other vocations 74 (53.2%); people between 40–49 years were infected to cecarial dermatitis more than other age groups 38 (27.3%); leg was the most vulnerable bodypart 112 (80.6%). Conclusions It can be concluded that since this farmers and 40–49 years group are more exposed to mud and dirty water, these people are more infected to cecarial dermatitis. Close cooperation among health and environment authorities should be carried out 40–49 years, to control this disease 40–49 years.

We aimed to assess the relationship between major dietary patterns and risk of diabetes type 2 among Iranian adults.In this population-based case-control study in Mazandaran province, we enrolled 332 subjects (110 newly diagnosed cases and 222 controls) aged 43 - 77 years. Dietary intakes were collected using a validated semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Data on demographic, anthropometric, socioeconomic characteristics and other covariates were collected using structured lifestyle questionnaires. Factor analysis was used to identify major dietary patterns. Odds ratios (OR) were calculated for risk of type 2 diabetes across quartiles of dietary pattern scores.Three major dietary patterns were identified, including: "healthy", "transitional" and "traditional". A significant direct association was found between the transitional dietary pattern and risk of diabetes type 2 after adjustment of potential confounders (OR = 2.17; 95% CI: 1.0, 4.50; Ptrend = 0.02). The traditional dietary pattern was significantly associated with the increased risk of diabetes type 2 after controlling for confounders (OR = 2.13; 95% CI: 1.03, 4.41; Ptrend = 0.01). There was no significant relationship between healthy dietary pattern and risk of diabetes type 2.In conclusion, transitional dietary pattern characterized by high consumption of salt, organ meats, dried fruits, poultry, tea, low- fat dairy and other vegetables. Traditional dietary pattern characterized by high intakes of garlic, dough, high- fat dairy, dried fruits, red meats, grains, as well as animal and hydrogenated fats were associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. No significant associations were found between the healthy dietary pattern and risk of diabetes type 2.

Background PTEN is a tumor suppressor gene which is involved in cellular proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. Loss or down-regulation of PTEN plays an important role in human cancers development. In this study, we investigated the effect of miR-21 and promoter methylation on the PTEN expression status in CRC tissues and analyzed association of the PTEN expression status with clinicopathological features in patients with CRC. Results The PTEN expression was positively detected in 67.2 % CRC tissues and all adjacent non-cancerous samples. PTEN mRNA level was negatively correlated with miR-21 level (r = −0.595, P

Eight genotypes of HBV (A-H) are recognized. A simple, rapid, and more specific genotyping system for HBV involving PCR using type-specific primers is described. The complete genomes of 234 human HBV strains for all the genotypes submitted to GenBank were aligned. The type-specific primers were designed based on the differences in the sizes of bands for eight genotypes in two sets. This genotyping system was tested with 24 positive HBV DNA controls. PCR was performed using two sets of type-specific primers for each sample in two tube. All 24 samples were PCR positive and possessed type-specific bands. PCR mix containing set 1 primers revealed specific bands of genotypes B, C, F and G, whereas PCR mix containing set 2 primers revealed specific bands of genotypes A, D, E and H. Type-specific PCR products were identified accurately by their sizes in agarose gels. The simplicity and rapidity of this PCR assay may reduce the cost and complexity of recognizing these genotypes. This method may be useful for HBV genotyping in large-scale clinical and epidemiologic studies.

Dendritic cells (DCs) are professional antigen presenting cells that have an important role in the initiation of immune response. The use of maturation factors in dendritic cell differentiation provides a promising approach in immunotherapy.In this study, we compared tumor necrosis factor-α, polyribocytidylic acid, lipopolysacharide and CpG oligonucleotides in inducing dendritic cell maturation.We generated immature dendritic cells with GM-CSF in combination with IL-4 from peripheral blood mononuclear adherent cells and used tumor necrosis factor-α, polyribocytidylic acid, lipopolysacharide and CpG for the induction of dendritic cell maturation. CD83 maturation marker on the dendritic cells was analyzed by flowcytometry after 7 days. In addition, mixed leukocyte reaction between dendritic cells and T cells was performed by MTT proliferation assay.Flow cytometry results demonstrated a comparable high level of CD83 expression on the mature dendritic cells generated by TNF-α, CpG, Poly I:C, and LPS treatment of the immature dendritic cells. However, a significantly poorer proliferation of lymphocytes cocultured with the Poly I:C-treated DCs was observed compared to the CpG-treated DCs in mixed leukocyte reaction (p=0.026). Conversely, a significantly stronger proliferation of lymphocytes was observed when cocultured with TNF-α-treated DCs compared to the LPS-treated DCs (p=0.025).Our results indicated that all of studied maturation inducing factors can be used in DC maturation but TNF-α and CpG were the preferred in vitro maturation factors. It is concluded that maturation of dendritic cells by CpG motif and TNF-α can be used to regulate immune responses.

Background Aberrant DNA methylation as the most important reason making epigenetic silencing of genes is a main mechanism of gene inactivation in patients with colorectal cancer. In this study, we decided to identify promoter methylation status of ten genes encoding WNT negative regulators, and measure the expression of DNMT1 enzyme in colorectal cancer samples. Results Aberrant methylation of APC gene was statistically significant associated with age over 50 (p = 0.017), DDK3 with male (p