Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third leading cause of cancer-related death and has an extremely poor prognosis. Dysregulation of microRNAs (miRNAs) has been shown to be involved in the pathogenesis and progression of many malignancies. Recent data suggest that microRNA-21 (miR-21) is significantly elevated in different types of cancer, especially colon adenocarcinoma. Against this background, locked nucleic acid (LNA)-modified oligonucleotides have recently been suggested as a novel approach for targeting miRNAs as antisense-based gene silencing. The aim of the current study was to explore the functional role of LNA-anti-miR-21 in a colon adenocarcinoma LS174T cell line. LS174T cells were transfected with LNA-anti-miR-21 for 24, 48 and 72 h. Quantitative real-time reverse transcriptase-PCR (qRT-PCR) was performed to assess miR-21 expression by LNA-anti-miR-21. The viability of the cells was evaluated by MTT (3-[4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2, 5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide) assay and Annexin V/propidium iodide staining assay was used to detect apoptosis. Moreover, invasive behavior of the cells was evaluated before and after therapy by transwell assay. LNA-anti-miR-21 was successfully transfected in human LS174T cells and suppressed the endogenous miR-21. LNA-anti-miR-21 inhibited the cells' growth followed by induction of apoptosis. LNA-anti-miR-21 (50 pmol/μl) reduced the invasive behaviors of LS174T cells after 24 h, compared with untreated cells and scrambled LNA-transfected cells. However, this effect was more pronounced after 72 h. Our findings suggest the therapeutic potential of LNA-anti-miR-21 in a colon adenocarcinoma for targeting miR-21 expression. Further studies are warranted to investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying this novel inhibitor in colorectal cancer to establish its potential value for treatment of CRC patients with high miR-21 expression.

The results demonstrated a significant increase in the number of some specific markers of Th17 cells in patients suffering from periodontal disease in comparison with normal control subjects.

Genetic polymorphisms in genes encoding glutathione S-transferases M1 (GSTM1; a member of class mu), T1 (GSTT1; a member of class theta) and O2 (GSTO2; a member of class omega) have been defined previously. Studies have revealed that there were significant differences between populations for allelic frequencies of GSTT1, GSTM1 and GSTO2 N412D polymorphisms. To get more insight into the genetic structure of Iranian populations the present study was done on Iranian Georgians living in Frydoonshahr (Isfahan province) and two Persian populations who living in Shiraz (Fars province) and Frydoonshahr. Study subjects consisted of 401 unrelated healthy individuals. From these 121 were Georgians. The remaining subjects were Persians from either Frydoonshahr (n = 34) or Shiraz (n = 246). The genetic polymorphism of GSTT1, GSTM1 and GSTO2 N412D was detected by PCR-based method. The frequency of GSTT1 null genotype in Georgian and Persians of Frydoonshahr and Shiraz was 15.7, 35.2 and 24.8%, respectively. There was significant difference between these populations for the distributions of the GSTT1 genotypes (chi(2) = 7.00, df = 2, P = 0.030). No significant difference was observed between these populations for polymorphisms of GSTM1 (chi(2) = 1.682, df = 2, P = 0.431) and GSTO N142D (chi(2) = 4.622, df = 4, P = 0.328). The prevalence of GSTT1 null genotype in Iranian Georgians showed significant difference with Persians and other Asian countries, but it seems to be similar with the frequency which was reported from European populations.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cause of cancer globally and the fourth attributable cause of mortality and morbidity due to cancer. An emerging factor contributing to CRC is the gut microbiota and the cellular changes associated with it. Further insights on this may help in the prevention, diagnosis and new therapeutic approaches to colorectal cancer. In most cases of CRC, genetic factors appear to contribute less to its aetiology than environmental and epigenetic factors; therefore, it may be important to investigate these environmental factors, their effects, and the mechanisms that may contribute to this cancer. The gut microbiota has recently been highlighted as a potential risk factor that may affect the structural components of the tumor microenvironment, as well as free radical and enzymatic metabolites directly, or indirectly. Many studies have reported changes in the gut microbiota of patients with colorectal cancer. What is controversial is whether the cancer is the cause or consequence of the change in the microbiota. There is strong evidence supporting both possibilities. The presence of Fusobacterium nucleatum in human colorectal specimens has been demonstrated by RNA-sequencing. F. nucleatum has been shown to express high levels of virulence factors such as FadA, Fap2 and MORN2 proteins. Our review of the published data suggest that F. nucleatum may be a prognostic biomarker of CRC risk, and hence raises the potential of antibiotic treatment of F. nucleatum for the prevention of CRC.

Background. Inflammation has a key role in migraine pathophysiology. Vitamin D is an effective anti-inflammatory agent. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between migraine and two vitamin D receptor (VDR) polymorphisms (TaqI and FokI) and also the relationship between VDR polymorphisms and headache severity. Methods. In this case-control study we assessed 103 patients with newly diagnosed migraine without aura and 100 healthy subjects. Patients filled headache impact test-6 (HIT-6) as a tool to assess headache severity. Results. Genotype frequencies of VDR were significantly different between control and migraine patients. Heterozygote genotypes (Ff and Tt) were statistically more frequent in the migraine patients than the control subjects both for TaqI gene (P = 0.018; OR = 1.81, 95% CI = 1.03–3.18) and FokI gene polymorphisms (P = 0.001; OR = 2.91, 95% CI = 1.47–5.77). Also f and t alleles were more frequent in the migraine patients. Total HIT-6 score was significantly different between FokI heterozygote and homozygote patients (60.32 ± 1.87 versus 49.87 ± 2.69, resp., P = 0.004). Conclusions. In conclusion our results showed that TaqI and FokI gene polymorphisms are associated with migraine without aura in Iranians patients. Also headache severity in FokI heterozygote patients was significantly greater than in the homozygote patients.