Circulating miR-21 and miR-155 as potential noninvasive biomarkers in Iranian Azeri patients with breast carcinoma

Background: Breast cancer (BC) is the most common cause of cancer-related mortality among women. Despite recent advances in diagnosis and prognosis of breast carcinomas, noninvasive biomarkers have been poorly identified. We evaluated the biomarker potential of miR-21 and miR-155 in tissue and plasma specimens of Iranian Azeri patients. Materials and Methods: Tumor specimens, paired nontumoral adjacent tissues, and matched plasma samples were collected from a number of thirty Iranian Azeri women with breast carcinoma. Plasma of healthy women was used as the control. The relative expression of miR-21 and miR-155 was measured by real-time polymerase chain reaction. Results: Our data revealed that the expression levels of miR-21 and miR-155 in tumor tissues are significantly higher than paired nontumoral adjacent specimens (P < 0.05). Furthermore, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis of samples showed the area under the ROC curve of 0.81 for miR-21 and area of 0.83 for miR-155. In addition, statistical analysis showed that miR-21 and miR-155 RNAs are significantly detected in the plasma of BC patients compared to healthy specimens (P < 0.05). Circulating miRNAs yielded area under the ROC curve of 0.99 for miR-21 and 0.92 for miR-155. Conclusion: Our data showed that miR-21 and miR-155 oncomiRs can be considered as noninvasive biomarkers for monitoring breast carcinomas. However, further investigations are needed to confirm the use of these noncoding RNAs in pathology

Progressive Susac syndrome with bilateral visual loss and disability.

Susac syndrome (SS) is a rare retinal‑cochlear‑cerebral disease with an unclear etiology. A 35‑year‑old man presented with sudden painless vision loss in the right eye and 2 months later in the left eye with hemiparesis, behavioral changes, and hearing loss. Ophthalmic examinations revealed multiple branch retinal artery occlusions (BRAOs) in both eyes. Brain magnetic resonance imaging showed inflammatory changes with multiple “punched‑out” lesions in the corpus callosum which confirmed the diagnosis of SS. Despite intravenous and oral corticosteroid therapy, the disease progressed with the development of new BRAOs, low vision in both eyes, and disability. Prompt diagnosis and early treatment may save the vision and even patient’s life.