Abstract Background: Molecular knowledge regarding the primary esophageal achalasia is essential for early diagnosis and treatment of this neurodegenerative motility disorder. So, there is a need to find the main microRNAs (miRNAs) contributing to the mechanisms of achalasia. Methods : This study was conducted to determine some patterns of deregulated miRNAs in the achalasia. This case-control study was performed on 52 patients with achalasia and 50 non-achalasia controls. The miRNA expression profiling was conducted on the esophageal tissue samples obtained from the patients with achalasia and non-achalasia patients controls using the Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS). Differential expression of miRNAs was analyzed by the edgeR software. The selected dysregulated miRNAs were additionally confirmed using the quantitative Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR). Potential target genes of the downregulated and upregulated miRNAs were also predicted to understand the putative role of the miRNAs in the development of the achalasia. Results: Totally, 15 miRNAs were identified that were significantly altered in the tissues of the patients with achalasia compared to the controls. Among them, three miRNAs including miR-133a-5p, miR-143-3p, and miR-6507-5p were upregulated. Also, six miRNAs including miR-215-5p, miR-216a-5p, miR-216b-5p, miR-217, miR-7641, and miR-194-5p were downregulated significantly. The predicted targets for the dysregulated miRNAs showed significant disease-associated pathways like neuronal cell apoptosis, neuromuscular balance, nerve growth factor signaling, and immune response regulation. Gene expression analysis confirmed significant downregulation of the hsa-miR-217 (p-value = 0.004) in the Lower Esophageal Sphincter (LES) of the patients with achalasia with significant enrichment in the myelination process ontology. The results of this study provide the first integrated miRNA expression profile in the achalasia using the NGS. Our findings introduced 15 candidate miRNAs as achalasia-associated non-coding RNAs and also confirmed the downregulation of the hsa-miR-217 in the achalasia disease. Conclusions: Our results may serve as a basis for more future functional studies to investigate the role of candidate miRNAs in the etiology of achalasia and their application in diagnosis and probably treatment of the disease.
The objective of this study was to evaluate the urinary iodine concentration in Gorgan located in northern Iran, which is a cosmopolitan society and on the basis of such determination the endemic goiter in the region could be estimated. The sample population were a total of 287 people (23.3% male, 76.7% female) referred to Danesh Medical Diagnostic Laboratory for the urinary iodine measurement, during 2004-05. Urinary iodine level was determined using acid digestion method. The results from this study indicated that 2.1, 3.8 and 9.8% of sample population had urinary iodine level of <2, 2-4.9 and 5-9.9 microg dL(-1), respectively which are defined as sever, moderate and mild iodine deficiency. Therefore 45 (15.7%) of the sample population in this study could be assessed for goiter prevalence, the mean differences of iodine concentration in male and female subjects were not significant. In conclusion, low urinary iodine of <10 microg dL(-1) concentration may help to give a direction for a further examination in the thyroid gland abnormalities.
Background and Aims: The aim of this study was to evaluate infants' immune response to the hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccination. Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study carried out on 215 infants 7-12 months of age in the Golestan province in northeastern Iran in 2006. These children had already received the complete three-dose vaccination against hepatitis B. The serumal levels of hepatitis B surface antigen antibody (anti-HBs), hepatitis B core antibody (anti-HBc), and hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) were determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results: Of all 215 participants, 55.3% were males. All of them were 7-12 months old. Eighty-six percent of the studied cases responded positively to the vaccination. The response rate for males was lower than the rate for females (P = 0.34). Conclusions: We found that non-response to HBV vaccination is an important issue in our area. Further studies are needed to assess the influence of major factors such as the vaccination procedure, the type and site of inoculation, and vaccine preservation and transportation.
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