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An overview of possible pathogenesis mechanisms of Alternaria alternata in chronic rhinosinusitis and nasal polyposis
No full textChronic Rhinosinusitis (CRS) is a multifactorial disease, and different etiologies like metabolism and immunity disorders, bacterial superantigens, biofilms, and fungal allergens are known to develop this disease, especially the CRS with nasal polyps. Alternaria alternata (Alternaria) is one of the most prevalent airborne fungal species in the nasal discharge, which might have vigorous immunologic activities in nasal epithelial cells and play an essential role in the pathogenesis of CRS. Moreover, the interaction between this fungus and the innate and adaptive immune systems leads to the development of chronic inflammation. This inflammation may consequently instigate the CRS and nasal polyposis. The attenuation of surfactant protein synthesis or intracellular reserves and mucus hypersecretion could prevent the clearance of Alternaria from sinuses and may be correlated with colonization and re-infection of airborne fungi. Furthermore, higher expression of cathelicidin, thymic stromal lymphopoietin, toll-like receptors, and T helper 2-dominant immune responses can result in an IgE-mediated pathway activation and eosinophils degranulation. Moreover, higher local Alternaria-specific IgE was shown to be correlated with eosinophilic cationic proteins and might relate to nasal polyps. However, the role of genetic and environmental factors affecting CRS and nasal polyposis is not well studied. Likewise, further animal and clinical studies are required to better understand the role of Alternaria in CRS disease. The current article reviews the recent findings around the Alternaria-induced CRS and nasal polyposis. © 2021 Elsevier Lt
Validity of continuous metabolic syndrome score for predicting metabolic syndrome; a systematic review and meta-analysis
No full textBackground: Nowadays, use of continuous metabolic syndrome (cMetS) score has been suggested to improve recognition of metabolic syndrome (MetS). The aim of this study was to evaluate the validity of cMetS scores for predicting MetS. Methods: We searched the electronic databases included MEDLINE/PubMed, Embase, ISI Web of Science, and Scopus from 1 January 1980 to 30 September 2020. Observational studies on participants with different cMetS scores were included in this meta-analysis. The sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio (LR+), negative likelihood ratio (LR) and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) with 95 CI were calculated. Results: Ten studies involving a total of 25,073 participants were included. All studies had cross-sectional design. The pooled sensitivity and specificity of cMetS scores for predicting MetS were 0.90 (95 CI: 0.83 to 0.95) and 0.86 (95 CI: 0.83 to 0.89), respectively. Moreover, cMetS scores had the pooled LR+ of 6.5 (95 CI: 5.0 to 8.6), and a pooled (LR-) of 0.11 (95 CI: 0.063 to 0.21). The pooled DOR of cMetS scores to predict MetS were 57 (95 CI: 26 to 127). Conclusions: The high sensitivity and specificity of cMetS scores indicates that it has a high accuracy to predict the risk of MetS. Furthermore, the cMetS scores has a good ability to rule out healthy people. Study registration: This study was registered as PROSPERO CRD42020157273. © 2021, Springer Nature Switzerland AG
Remote controlling of CAR-T cells and toxicity management: Molecular switches and next generation CARs
Get PDFCell-based immunotherapies have been selected for the front-line cancer treatment approaches. Among them, CAR-T cells have shown extraordinary effects in hematologic diseases including chemotherapy-resistant acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). In this approach, autologous T cells isolated from the patient's body genetically engineered to express a tumor specific synthetic receptor against a tumor antigen, then these cells expanded ex vivo and re-infusion back to the patient body. Recently, significant clinical response and high rates of complete remission of CAR T cell therapy in B-cell malignancies led to the approval of Kymriah and Yescarta (CD19-directed CAR-T cells) were by FDA for treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Despite promising therapeutic outcomes, CAR T cells also can elicit the immune-pathologic effects, such as Cytokine Release Syndrome (CRS), Tumor Lysis Syndrome (TLS), and on-target off-tumor toxicity, that hampered its application. Ineffective control of these highly potent synthetic cells causes discussed potentially life-threatening toxicities, so researchers have developed several mechanisms to remote control CAR T cells. In this paper, we briefly review the introduced toxicities of CAR-T cells, then describe currently existing control approaches and review their procedure, pros, and cons. © 2021 The Author
miR-219 overexpressing oligodendrocyte progenitor cells for treating compression spinal cord injury
No full textOligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs) transplantation has been considered a promising treatment for spinal cord injury, according to previous studies. Recent research shed light on the importance of microRNA 219 (miR-219) in oligodendrocyte development, so here miR-219-overexpressing OPCs (miR-219 OPCs) were transplanted in animal models of spinal cord injury to evaluate the impact of miR-219 on oligodendrocyte differentiation and functional recovery in vivo. Our findings demonstrate that transplanted cells were distributed in the tissue sections and contributed to reducing the size of cavity in the injury site. Interestingly, miR-219 promoted OPC differentiation into mature oligodendrocyte expressing MBP in vivo whereas in absence of miR-219, less number of cells differentiated into mature oligodendrocytes. An eight week evaluation using the Basso Beattie Bresnahan (BBB) locomotor test confirmed improvement in functional recovery of hind limbs. Overall, this study demonstrated that miR-219 promoted differentiation and maturation of OPCs after transplantation and can be used in cell therapy of spinal cord injury. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC part of Springer Nature
Photoluminescent carbon quantum dot/poly-L-Lysine core-shell nanoparticles: A novel candidate for gene delivery
No full textCationic polymers such as poly-L-lysine (PLL) are able to interact electrostatically with DNA to produce polymeric systems with nanometric diameters due to the neutralization and accumulation of DNA. This study integrates the outstanding properties of carbon quantum dots (CQDs) with PLL to develop a novel gene delivery vehicle with a core-shell hybrid nanostructure. The CQD/PLL core-shell nanoparticles (NPs) were, therefore, synthesized in such a way that they had narrow size distribution and an average diameter under 10 nm, both of which were confirmed by dynamic light scattering (DLS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy exhibited that the PLL passivation agents were formed on the CQDs through releasing amine groups on their surface. The positive charge of the CQD/PLL core-shell NPs reduced from +15 to nearly zero mV after being loaded with DNA at the weight ratio of 2:1. These traceable, water-soluble, biocompatible, and tunable photoluminescent NPs demonstrated a quantum yield of around 12 and a cellular uptake of nearly 70. The NPs also showed no considerable toxicity to the human embryonic kidney (HEK)-293T cells. Hence, these novel CQD/PLL core-shell NPs hold great promise as a non-toxic and efficient gene delivery vector. © 2020 Elsevier B.V
Modeling effect of five big personality traits on noise sensitivity and annoyance
No full textBackground: The noise annoyance depends on two factors including noise source and psychological and internal processes of the receiver person. Due to the importance of noise annoyance and the potential impacts of personality traits on that, this study aimed to model the effect of big five personality traits on noise sensitivity and annoyance. Material and method: The present cross-sectional study was conducted on the 144 employees of an automotive company in 2020. The big five personality traits questionnaire: noise sensitivity questionnaire, and noise-induced annoyance scale were completed for the participants. The neural network and structural equation modeling were used to investigate the effect of personality on noise sensitivity and annoyance. Result: The results showed that extroversion and neuroticism had the most importance in noise sensitivity and noise annoyance while conscientiousness and openness to experience were found to have the least importance in these variables. The difference in the importance of these traits can be attributed to the moral and behavioral characteristics of individuals. The structural equation model also showed that personality can directly and indirectly (noise sensitivity) affect the noise annoyance. Conclusion: The existing evidence suggests that sociocultural differences significantly affect responses to noise. Since the effect of exposure to noise may vary from one person to another, these differences can apparently be attributed to the personality traits of individuals. © 2020 Elsevier Lt
Autophagy in Hematological Malignancies: Molecular Aspects in Leukemia and Lymphoma
No full textThe organization of the hematopoietic system is dependent on hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) that are capable of self-renewal and multilineage differentiation to produce different blood cell lines. Autophagy has a central role in energy production and metabolism of the cells during starvation, cellular stress adaption, and removing mechanisms for aged or damaged organelles. The role and importance of autophagy pathways are becoming increasingly recognized in the literature because these pathways can be useful in organizing intracellular circulation, molecular complexes, and organelles to meet the needs of various hematopoietic cells. There is supporting evidence in the literature that autophagy plays an emerging role in the regulation of normal cells and that it also has important features in malignant hematopoiesis. Understanding the molecular details of the autophagy pathway can provide novel methods for more effective treatment of patients with leukemia. Overall, our review will emphasize the role of autophagy and its different aspects in hematological malignant neoplasms. © American Society for Clinical Pathology 2020. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: [email protected]
Ocular biometric changes after Ahmed glaucoma valve implantation
No full textPurpose: To investigate the ocular biometric changes after uneventful Ahmed glaucoma valve implantation. Methods: Patients with refractory glaucoma who were candidate for Ahmed valve surgery were prospectively included in this study. Patients with a history of any kinds of corneal surgery were excluded. Refractive status, intraocular pressure, axial length, anterior chamber parameters including anterior and posterior mean keratometry, central corneal thicknesses, and anterior chamber depth, anterior chamber volume, and anterior chamber angle were evaluated at baseline and 1 and 3 months after surgery. Results: A total of 20 eyes from 20 patients were included. Mean intraocular pressure at baseline was 33.4 ± 12.3 mm Hg that significantly decreased to 14.6 ± 6.2 mm Hg at 1 month and 13.5 ± 4.3 mm Hg at 3 months after Ahmed glaucoma valve implantation (p 0.05 in all). Conclusion: Ahmed glaucoma valve implantation had a significant effect on axial length at 3 months after surgery but its effect on keratometry and other anterior chamber parameters was not significant. © The Author(s) 2019
Increasing trend of serum antimullerian hormone level after long term follow up of endometrioma resection
No full textBackground: Endometriosis is a chronic disease mostly affecting women at reproductive age. Some evidence suggests that surgery of ovarian endometrioma may have a detrimental effect on ovarian reserve. The aim of this study was to evaluate the changes of serum antimullerian hormone (AMH) levels in patients with endometrioma after cystectomy. Methods: A prospective study was performed at Nikan hospital on 58 patients with endometrioma who underwent laparoscopic cystectomy. Of them, 30 had unilateral endometrioma and 28 had bilateral endometrioma. Complete excision was done, pelvic endometriosis implants as well as deep infiltrative endometriosis was resected. Sutures were made for the closure of ovarian parenchyma and bleeding control. We did not use any hot energy devices such as cautery on ovaries for ablation, coagulation or resection of endometrioma. Serum AMH levels were measured preoperatively, 3, 9, and 15 months postoperatively. Results: Serum AMH levels decreased significantly from the preoperative sample (2.98 ± 2.47 ng/ml) to 3 months after laparoscopy (1.07 ± 1.06 ng/ml), then gradually increased 9 months (1.47 ± 1.16 ng/ml) and 15 months (1.95 ± 1.85 ng/ml) after surgery, without returning to the preoperative levels during the follow-up time of study. Conclusion: There is a fluctuation pattern in AMH levels from preoperative to 15-month follow-up after endometrioma surgery using only suture for ovarian hemostasis. Firstly, there is decline in AMH level 3 months after surgery, then an increasing trend was observed gradually up to 15 months after surgery. Controlled studies are needed to compare the effects of various cystectomy methods on the ovarian reserve after endometrioma surgery © The Author(s) 2021
Unstable os odontoideum contributing to cervical myelopathy and obstructive sleep apnea
Get PDFBackground: Sleep apnea is characterized by repetitive cessation of breathing during sleep. It may be attributed to obstructive, central, or mixed pathologies close to the upper airway resulting in a decreased diameter of the oropharyngeal tract. Case Description: A 36-year-old male with progressive cervicomedullary myelopathy/quadriparesis exhibited obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) attributed to an anteriorly displaced os odontoideum (OO). Atlantoaxial screw-rod stabilization resulted in improvement of both neurological function and OSA. Conclusion: A symptomatic unstable OO may contribute to suboccipital pain, progressive quadriparesis, vertebrobasilar insufficiency, and OSA. Appropriate operative intervention utilizing atlantoaxial screw-rod stabilization may help to resolve these deficits. © 2019 Published by Scientific Scholar on behalf of Surgical Neurology Internationa