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Tahereh Behrouzi-Lak,1 Vahideh Aghamohammadi,2 Niloofar Afshari,3 Saeed Kashefi4 1Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, Urmia University of Medical Science, Urmia, Iran; 2Department of Nutrition, Khalkhal University of Medical Sciences, Khalkhal, Iran; 3Department of Dermatology, Tabriz University of Medical Science, Tabriz, Iran; 4Department of General Surgery, Urmia University of Medical Science, Urmia, IranCorrespondence: Saeed KashefiDepartment of General Surgery, Urmia University of Medical Science, Resalat Blvd, Emergency Alley, Urmia, IranTel +98 4431988000Email s.kashefi.s1986@gmail.comBackground: Few cases with fistulous communication between the GI system and female adnexal structure have been reported in the literature, and bilateral contrast spillage has been reported only in one case, and this case is the second one all over the world.Case Presentation: The case was a 27-year-old woman with a diagnosis of primary infertility. She was booked with hysterosalpingogram (HSG) as part of the routine workup in the infertility clinic. There was a positive history of pelvic surgery for bilateral adnexal cysts for her in 2014. In this case, previous pelvic surgery without any medical problems was the strongest risk factor for tubo-intestinal fistula. Cystectomy performed for the left adnexal cyst and the right adnexal cyst was only drained. The pathologic report for the left ovarian cyst was endometriosis. HSG result showed evidence of bilateral fallopian tube opacification with contrast outlining from the fallopian tubes. Contrast leakage happened to the adjacent small intestine in the right side and peritoneal cavity on the left side.Conclusion: Fistulous connections between fallopian tube and intestine will remain an exceptional rarity. The reported case could be a good lesson illustrating that the adherence to general surgical principles (meticulous hemostasis, careful applying of diathermy, etc.) and a watchful postoperative care could protect the patient from both usual and unusual complications.Keywords: fallopian tubes, tubo-intestinal fistula, hysterosalpingogram, endometriosis, infertility

Zeolite beta nanoparticles were used as a new asphaltene adsorbent for reducing asphaltene deposition during fluid injection into a silica sand pack. At first, the asphaltene adsorption efficiency and capacity of zeolite beta nanoparticles were determined by UV-Vis spectrophotometer. It was found that the proper concentration of nanoparticles for asphaltene adsorption was 10 g/L and the maximum asphaltene adsorption onto zeolite beta was 1.98 mg/m2. Second, two dynamic experiments including co-injection of crude oil and n-heptane (as an asphaltene precipitant) with and without use of zeolite beta nanoparticles in the sand pack was carried out. The results showed that the use of zeolite beta nanoparticles increased the permeability ratio and outlet fluid's asphaltene content about 22% and 40% compared to without use of nanoparticles, respectively. Moreover, a model based on monolayer asphaltene adsorption onto nanoparticles and asphaltene deposition mechanisms including surface deposition, entrainment and pore throat plugging was developed to determine formation damage during co-injection of crude oil and n-heptane into the sand pack. The proposed model presented good prediction of permeability and porosity ratios with AAD% of 1.07 and 0.07, respectively.

Background: MicroRNAs have gained attention as key immunomodulators, with miR-155 specifically shown in various studies to drive macrophage polarization toward the classical phenotype. This polarization is crucial, as classical macrophages play a well-recognized role in differentiating type-1 immune responses and resisting Leishmania infection., Objective: The present study aims to evaluate the anti-leishmanial immunoadjuvant effects of the miR-155 chitosan polyplex (miR-155 CP)., Methods: The anti-leishmanial immunoadjuvant activity of miR-155 CP synthesized by the coacervation method was assessed against L. major (MRHO/IR/75/ER) by analyzing the infectivity rate on RAW 264.7 cells in vitro.MiR-155 CP as an adjuvant co-administrated with soluble Leishmania antigen (SLA) for immunization of BALB/c mice, then the challenge was performed by subcutaneous injection of 1 × 10 6 L. major promastigotes. Eight weeks following the challenge, lesion size, parasite load, cytokine assay, and nitric oxide production were evaluated., Results: The nanoparticles were produced with a size of 233.87 ± 8 nm and a zeta potential of + 22.6 ± 2 mV with good transfection efficiency. The mean infection index among pretreated cells with miR-155 CP (72±1.1) decreased significantly compared to the control group (420 ± 2.8). The parasite burden and the size of the lesions were significantly reduced in the immunized infected mice. Vaccination by miR-155 CP/SLA triggered the production of IFN-γ and NO and changed the cytokine profile of antigen-specific cells.Conclusion:The effectiveness of the SLA vaccine can be enhanced by including miR-155 CP as an adjuvant. SLA and miR-155 CP co-administration improve the type-1 immune response. This enhanced immune response helps prevent severe leishmaniasis.

MiRNA-340 (miR-340) has been found to have tumour-suppressing effects in breast cancer (BC). However, for clinical use, miRNAs need to be delivered safely and effectively to protect them from degradation. In our previous study, we used chitosan complexes as a safe carrier with anti-cancer properties to deliver miR-340 plasmid into 4T1 cells. This study explored further information concerning the anti-cancer impacts of both chitosan and miR-340 plasmid in a murine model of BC. Mice bearing 4T1 cells were intra-tumorally administered miR-340 plasmid-chitosan complexes (miR-340 CC). Afterwards, the potential of miR-340 CC in promoting anti-tumour immune responses was evaluated. MiR-340 CC significantly reduced tumour size, inhibited metastasis, and prolonged the survival of mice. MiR-340 CC up-regulates P-27 gene expression related to cancer cell apoptosis, and down-regulates gene expressions involved in angiogenesis and metastasis (breast regression protein-39 (BRP-39)) and CD163 as an anti-inflammatory macrophages (MQs) marker. Furthermore, CD47 expression as a MQs immune check-point was remarkably decreased after miR-340 CC treatment. The level of IL-12 in splenocytes of miR-340 CC treated mice increased, while the level of IL-10 decreased, indicating anti-cancer immune responses. Our findings display that miR-340 CC can be considered as a promising therapy in BC.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have a crucial role in the regulation of gene expression in tumor development, invasion, and metastasis. Herein, miRNA-340 (miR-340) has been shown to play tumor suppressor activity in breast cancer (BC). However, the clinical applications of miRNAs request the development of safe and effective delivery systems capable of protecting nucleic acids from degradation. In this study, biodegradable chitosan nanoparticles incorporating miR-340 plasmid DNA (pDNA) (miR-340 CNPs) were synthesized and characterized. Then, the anti-tumor effects of miR-340 CNPs were investigated using 4T1 BCE cells. The spherical nanoparticles (NPs) with an appropriate mean diameter of around 266 ± 9.3 nm and zeta potential of +17 ± 1.8 mV were successfully prepared. The NPs showed good stability, high entrapment efficiency and a reasonable release behavior, meanwhile their high resistance against enzymatic degradation was verified. Furthermore, NPs demonstrated appropriate transfection efficiency and could induce apoptosis, so had toxicity in 4T1 BCE cells. Also, CD47 expression on the surface of cancer cells was significantly reduced after treatment with miR-340 CNPs. The results showed that miR-340 CNPs augmented the expression of P-27 in BC cells. Furthermore, miR-340 CNPs caused down-regulation of BRP-39 (breast regression protein-39) increasingly suggested as a prognostic biomarker for neoplastic diseases like BC. In conclusion, our data show that miR-340 CNPs can be considered as a promising new platform for BC gene therapy., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest 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., (Copyright © 2023 American Pharmacists Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

In this work, novel proton-exchange membranes (PEMs) based on sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (SPEEK) and two-dimensional (2D) sulfonated niobium disulphide (S-NbS 2 ) nanoflakes are synthesized by a solution-casting method and used in vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs). The NbS 2 nanoflakes are produced by liquid-phase exfoliation of their bulk counterpart and chemically functionalized with terminal sulfonate groups to improve dimensional and chemical stabilities, proton conductivity ( σ ) and fuel barrier properties of the as-produced membranes. The addition of S-NbS 2 nanoflakes to SPEEK decreases the vanadium ion permeability from 5.42 × 10 -7 to 2.34 × 10 -7 cm 2 min -1 . Meanwhile, it increases the membrane σ and selectivity up to 94.35 mS cm -2 and 40.32 × 10 4 S min cm -3 , respectively. The cell assembled with the optimized membrane incorporating 2.5 wt% of S-NbS 2 nanoflakes (SPEEK:2.5% S-NbS 2 ) exhibits high efficiency metrics, i.e. , coulombic efficiency between 98.7 and 99.0%, voltage efficiency between 90.2 and 73.2% and energy efficiency between 89.3 and 72.8% within the current density range of 100-300 mA cm -2 , delivering a maximum power density of 0.83 W cm -2 at a current density of 870 mA cm -2 . The SPEEK:2.5% S-NbS 2 membrane-based VRFBs show a stable behavior over 200 cycles at 200 mA cm -2 . This study opens up an effective avenue for the production of advanced SPEEK-based membranes for VRFBs.

Following the potent efficacy of β-D-Mannuronic acid in a breast cancer murine model, we evaluated the efficacy of this novel non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug in breast cancer patients in the present clinical trial. The study was an 8-week randomized, controlled, phase II clinical trial (IRCT: 2017012213739N7 (in 48 pre-surgical breast cancer patients. Patients who had breast cancer at early stage, with invasive ductal carcinoma, were placed on a waiting-list for surgery and were allocated to the study. β-D-Mannuronic was administrated at a dose of two capsules (1000 mg/d) orally during a period of 8 weeks. The end point of this study was when the patients were admitted for surgery. Moreover, the patients' well-being status was followed up on for safety. There were no statistically significant differences between treatment and non-treatment groups at baseline. β-D-Mannuronic acid therapy, from 20 patients, showed that in one patient (5%) tumour size was decreased; in five patients (25%) tumour growth was stopped; and in 14 patients (70%) the growth rate in the treatment group did not show significant change, compared to the non-treatment group. Evaluation of two tumour markers (carcinoembryonic antigen and cancer antigen 15-3) showed that there was no significant difference between before and after treatment. Although the use of some non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in a long time period has shown a prophylactic effect in breast cancer, their therapeutic efficacy in a short time period is unknown, whereas treatment with β-D-Mannuronic acid during 8 weeks could show 30% therapeutic effects in pre-surgical breast cancer patients., (© 2019 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.)

With respect to the role of chronic inflammation in the induction and progression of breast cancer (BC). The relationship between tumor and tumor microenvironment may be a hopeful strategy for BC therapy. According to the effect of β-D-Mannuronic acid (M2000) as a novel non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) on BC murine model and 4T1 cell line, we started to study that was a phase II, randomized, controlled clinical trial. 24 women with BC were included in this study and were followed by fixed oral doses of M2000, 500 mg two times a day (6-8 weeks). Blood samples were collected at baseline and weeks 6-8. To compare the patterns of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2), matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), C-C motif chemokine ligand 22 (CCL22) and The transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGFβ1) gene expression and T regulatory cells (Tregs) frequency of healthy women normal controls with BC patients, a set of 10 blood samples of  women healthy volunteers was collected. The gene expression was evaluated by quantitative Real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) and the frequency of Tregs was assessed by flow cytometry. Our results showed, reduction in MMP-2 (p=0.08), MMP-9 (p=0.03), CCL22 (p=0.003) and TGFβ1 (p=0.1) gene expression and Tregs frequency (p=0.01) which play a main role in the development of chronic inflammation, angiogenesis, tumorigenesis and metastasis. Our findings demonstrated that M2000 therapy as a novel designed NSAID had valuable therapeutic effects on BC. No adverse effects were observed following the use of M2000 after 6-8 weeks.

Study Design: Blinded randomized controlled trial., Introduction: Patients with Parkinson disease (PD) have sensory problems, but there is still no accurate understanding of the effects of sensory-motor interventions on PD., Purpose of the Study: To investigate the effects of sensory-motor training (SMT) on hand and upper extremity sensory and motor function in patients with PD., Methods: Forty patients with PD were allocated to the SMT group or the control group (CG) (mean ages ± standard deviation: SMT, 61.05 ± 13.9 years; CG, 59.15 ± 11.26 years). The CG received the common rehabilitation therapies, whereas the SMT group received SMT. The SMT included discrimination of temperatures, weights, textures, shapes, and objects and was performed 5 times each week for 2 weeks., Results: Significantly reducing the error rates in the haptic object recognition test (dominant hand [DH]: F = 15.36, P = .001, and effect size [ES] = 0.29; nondominant hand [NDH]: F = 9.33, P = .004, and ES = 0.21) and the error means in the wrist proprioception sensation test (DH: F = 9.11, P = .005, and ES = 0.19; NDH: F = 13.04, P = .001, and ES = 0.26) and increasing matched objects in the hand active sensation test (DH: F = 12.15, P = .001, and ES = 0.24; NDH: F = 5.03, P = .03, and ES = 0.12) founded in the SMT. Also, the DH (F = 6.65, P = .01, and ES = 0.15), both hands (F = 7.61, P = .009, and ES = 0.17), and assembly (F = 7.02, P = .01, and ES = 0.15) subtests of fine motor performance, as well as DH (F = 10.1, P = .003, and ES = 0.21) and NDH (F = 8.37, P = .006, and ES = 0.18) in upper extremity functional performance, were improved in the SMT., Discussion: SMT improved hand and upper extremity sensory-motor function in patients with PD., Conclusion: The SMT group showed improved sensory and motor function. But these results were limited to levels 1 to 3 of the Hoehn and Yahr Scale., (Copyright © 2017 Hanley & Belfus. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)