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Objective@#This research investigated the effects of human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG)-producing peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) on the implantation rate and embryo attachment in mice. @*Methods@#In this experimental study, a DNA fragment of the HCG gene was cloned into an expression vector, which was transfected into PBMCs. The concentration of the produced HCG was measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Embryo attachment was investigated on the co-cultured endometrial cells and PBMCs in vitro. As an in vivo experiment, intrauterine administration of PBMCs was done in plaque-positive female mice. Studied mice were distributed into five groups: control, embryo implantation dysfunction (EID), EID with produced HCG, EID with PBMCs, and EID with HCG-producing PBMCs. Uterine horns were excised to characterize the number of implantation sites and pregnancy rate on day 7.5 post-coitum. During an implantation window, the mRNA expression of genes was evaluated using real-time polymerase chain reaction. @*Results@#DNA fragments were cloned between the BamHI and EcoRI sites in the vector. About 465 pg/mL of HCG was produced in the transfected PBMCs. The attachment rate, pregnancy rate, and the number of implantation sites were substantially higher in the HCG-producing PBMCs group than in the other groups. Significantly elevated expression of the target genes was observed in the EID with HCG-producing PBMCs group. @*Conclusion@#Alterations in gene expression following the intrauterine injection of HCG-producing PBMCs, could be considered a possible cause of increased embryo attachment rate, pregnancy rate, and the number of implantation sites.
RESUMO
Background: Most cancer studies focus on exploring non-invasive biomarkers for cancer detection. In the present study, we sought to investigate the expression level of microRNA-21 [miR-21], as a potential diagnostic marker, in serum and stool samples from 40 patients with colorectal cancer [CRC] and 40 healthy controls
Methods: Quantitative real-time RT-PCR was applied to determine the relative expression level of miR-21 in serum and stool. At the same time, the sensitivity and specificity of this marker was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic [ROC] curve analysis
Results: miR-21 expression levels of serum and stool were up-regulated 12.1 [P<0.05, 95% CI: 5.774-34.045] and 10.0 [P<0.05, 95% CI: 0.351-16.260] times in CRC patients, respectively, when compared to the control group. The sensitivity and specificity of miR-21 was found to be 86.05% and 72.97%, respectively [an area under the ROC curve [AUC] of 0.783]. The stool miR-21 level in CRC patients was much higher than that in the healthy controls, showing a sensitivity of 86.05% and a specificity of 81.08% [AUC: 0.829]. The expression level of miR-21 in stool was able to significantly distinguish CRC tumor, node, metastasis stages III-IV from stages I-II, with a sensitivity and specificity of 88.1% and 81.6%, respectively [AUC: 0.872]
Conclusion: The results of this study indicated that miR-21 expression levels in serum and stool can be considered as a potential diagnostic biomarker for the diagnosis of CRC patients. However, more studies are required to confirm the validity of miR-21 as a valuable non-invasive diagnostic tool for CRC