The effect of aflibercept and arsenic trioxide on the proliferation, migration and apoptosis of oral squamous cell carcinoma in vitro.

Aflibercept and arsenic trioxide drugs apply a cytotoxic effect on some human cancer cell lines. However, no more study has followed the effects of both drugs, especially arsenic trioxide, on oral squamous cell carcinoma (OCC). We used three OCC lines as a model to show the effect of these drugs on the genetically complex disease and investigate its targeted therapy. In this study, three human OCC cell lines were used from different patients. We treated cell lines with both medications to detect the effect and relevant molecular basis. First, methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay was performed to detect the cytotoxicity effect and cell growth. Second, flow cytometry, gene and protein expression were performed to evaluate the anti-angiogenic effect on OCC lines. Next apoptosis was analyzed by flow cytometry. Finally, clonogenesis capacity and cell migration were assessed by colony formation assay and wound healing, respectively. Aflibercept had no cytotoxic effect on the three OCC cell lines but decreased cell growth rate. Arsenic trioxide had a significant cytotoxic effect on three cell lines. Our results demonstrated that both drugs significantly decreased endoglin, VEGFA, and VEGFB expression. In addition, Migration and colony formation assays confirmed that these drugs have significant anti-proliferative and anti-migration effect on oral carcinoma cells. These results revealed that both medications might be a potential drug for the management of oral cancer patients.

Establishment and Preservation of Lymphoblastoid Cell Lines from Fresh and Frozen Whole Blood and Mononuclear Cells.

Although blood cells are interesting sources for genome investigations, one of the main problems in obtaining genomic DNA from blood is the restricted amount of DNA. This obstacle can be avoided by generating Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-induced B cell lines. This study investigates the efficiency of four different methods to generate lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs). Blood samples (n = 120) were obtained from donors and categorized into four groups: fresh whole blood, frozen whole blood, fresh peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), and frozen PBMCs. The samples were followed by EBV transformation to generate LCLs. Quality control and authentication of the cells were performed using multiplex PCR and short tandem repeat (STR) analyses. Finally, we assessed the success rate and amount of time to establish the cell lines in each group. The results showed that the cells were not contaminated nor were they misidentified or cross-contaminated with other cells. The success rate of LCLs generated from the whole blood groups was lower than the PBMC groups. The freezing procedures did not have any considerable effect on the establishment of lymphoblastoid cells. These established cells have been preserved in the human and animal cell bank of the Iranian Biological Resource Center (IBRC) and are available for researchers. Due to the management and transformation of a substantial number of blood samples, we recommend that researchers freeze PBMCs for further use with high efficiency and time-saving. We suggest that whole fresh blood should be directly transformed when the volume of the blood sample is less than 0.5 ml.

Effects of consuming date fruits (Phoenix dactylifera Linn) on gestation, labor, and delivery: An updated systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical trials.

BACKGROUND: Recent studies have shown that consumption of date fruits during pregnancy and also postpartum period might affect some pregnancy outcomes. We performed an updated systematic review and meta-analysis about the effects of consuming date fruits on gestation, labor, and delivery. METHODS: Two researchers independently searched the online databases of PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Embase, Google Scholar, and EBSCO up to January 2019 for clinical trials examining the effects of date fruits consumption on any types of gestation, labor, and delivery outcomes. A fixed-effects model or random-effects models were applied to pool data, where appropriate. Quality assessment was done by Jadad scale. RESULTS: In total, 11 and 8 studies were included in the systematic review and meta-analysis. Meta-analysis revealed that date fruit consumption significantly reduced gestation duration (pooled effect size: -0.30, 95% CI: -0.45, -0.15; P < 0.001), increased cervical dilation on admission (pooled effect size: 0.94, 95% CI: 0.88, 1.00; P < 0.001), and shorten duration of first stage of labor (pooled effect size: -50.09, 95% CI: -72.25, -27.93; P < 0.001). Also, it was revealed that date fruit consumption significantly reduced duration of second stage of labor in fixed-effects model (pooled effect size: -9.85, 95% CI: -14.00, -5.70; P < 0.001); however, this effect was not significant in random-effects analysis (pooled effect size: -11.27, 95% CI: -28.23, -5.68; P = 0.193). CONCLUSIONS: Date fruits intake seems to reduce gestation duration and duration of the first stage of labor, and also increase cervical dilation on admission.

Parents' Perceptions of the Oral Health-related Quality of Life of their Autistic Children in Iran.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate parents' perception of the oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) of autistic children in Iran, and to determine the quality of life of their families in relation to child' oral health status. STUDY DESIGN: 70 families with at least one child with autism, and 70 families with normal children were enrolled. Parents' perceptions of the OHRQoL of children were assessed using pre-validated PedsQL oral health scale questionnaire. PedsQL Family Impact Module questionnaire was also used to evaluate the impact of having an autistic child on the quality of life of their families. Both of the questionnaires were filled by parents. Parents of children with autism spectrum filled a separate questionnaire for the sibling of the autistic child. In the control families, child-reported PedsQL oral health scale questionnaire was also filled by the child himself/herself. Mann-Whitney U-test, and chi-square were used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: There was a significant difference in the mean total score of PedsQL oral health scale questionnaire between autistics and controls. Parents of normal children reported more oral problems (p<0.001). There was not a significant difference in the mean total score of PedsQL Family Impact Module questionnaire between the families of autistics and controls in the last 7 and 30 days. CONCLUSION: According to parents' point of view, oral health-related quality of life of autistic children was better than normal children. However, parents of autistic children had more problems in the social and communication issues.

The association between obesity and migraine in a population of Iranian adults: a case-control study.

AIM: To assess the association between obesity and risk of migraine with aura and features of migraine attacks among a population of Iranian adults. METHODS: In this case-control study, 102 confirmed cases of migraine with aura were matched based on age and gender with 102 healthy subjects. Data on demographic characteristics and anthropometric measurements were collected from all cases and controls by the same methods. Overweight and obesity were considered as body mass index ≥25-30 kg/m2 and ≥ 30 kg/m2, respectively. Features of migraine attacks including frequency, duration and headache daily result were determined for patients based on international headache society criteria. RESULTS: Mean age of subjects was 34.5 ±â€¯7.4 years and 77.9% of them were female. Compared with subjects with normal body mass index, those with obesity had greater odds for having migraine with aura (OR: 3.06, 95% CI: 1.11-8.43). Such finding was also seen even after adjusting for confounding variables; in a way that subjects with obesity were 2.92 times more likely for having migraine with aura compared with those with normal weight (OR: 2.92, 95% CI: 1.03-8.33). Among migraine with aura patients, we found that those with obesity had higher headache daily result compared with subjects with normal weight. However, obesity was not associated with frequency and duration of migraine attacks. CONCLUSIONS: We found that obesity was positively associated with risk of migraine with aura. In addition, subjects with obesity had higher headache daily result compared with those with normal weight.

Establishment and Characterization of Primary Cultures from Iranian Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Patients by Enzymatic Method and Explant Culture.

OBJECTIVES: Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OSCC) is the most frequent oral cancer worldwide. It is known as the eighth most common cancer in men and as the fifth most common cancer in women. Cytogenetic and biochemical studies in recent decades have emphasized the necessity of providing an appropriate tool for such researches. Cancer cell culture is a useful tool for investigations on biochemical, genetic, molecular and immunological characteristics of different cancers, including oral cancer. Here, we explain the establishment process of five primary oral cancer cells derived from an Iranian population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The specimens were obtained from five oral cancer patients. Enzymatic, explant culture and magnetic-activated cell sorting (MACS) methods were used for cell isolation. After quality control tests, characterization and authentication of primary oral cancer cells were performed by short tandem repeats (STR) profiling, chromosome analysis, species identification, and monitoring the growth, morphology and the expression of CD326 and CD133 markers. RESULTS: Five primary oral cancer cells were established from an Iranian population. The flow cytometry results showed that the isolated cells were positive for CD326 and CD133 markers. Furthermore, the cells were free from mycoplasma, bacterial and fungal contamination. No misidentified or cross-contaminated cells were detected by STR analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Human primary oral cancer cells provide an extremely useful platform for studying carcinogenesis pathways of oral cancer in Iranian population. They may be helpful in explaining the ethnic differences in cancer biology and the individuality in anticancer drug response in future studies.

The design of naproxen solid lipid nanoparticles to target skin layers.

The aim of the current investigation was to produce naproxen solid lipid nanoparticles (Nap-SLNs) by the ultrasonication method to improve its skin permeation and also to investigate the influence of Hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB) changes on nanoparticles properties. The properties of obtained SLNs loaded with naproxen were characterized by photon correlation spectroscopy (PCS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). FT-IR was also used to investigate any interaction between naproxen and the excipients used at the molecular level during the preparation of the SLNs. The performance of the formulations was investigated in terms of skin permeation and also the retention of the drug by the skin. It was found that generally, with increasing the lipid concentration, the average particle size and polydispersity index (PDI) of SLNs increased from 94.257±4.852nm to 143.90±2.685nm and from 0.293±0.037 to 0.525±0.038 respectively. The results also showed that a reduction in the HLB resulted in an increase in the PDI, particle size, zeta potential and entrapment efficiency (EE%). DSC showed that the naproxen encapsulated in the SLNs was in its amorphous form. The peaks of prominent functional groups of naproxen were found in the FT-IR spectra of naproxen-SLN, which confirmed the entrapment of naproxen in the lipid matrix. FT-IR results also ruled out any chemical interaction between drug and the chemicals used in the preparation of SLNs. The amount of naproxen detected in the receptor chamber at all the sampling times for the reference formulation (naproxen solution containing all surfactants at pH 7.4) was higher than that of the Nap-SLN8 formulation. Nap-SLN8 showed an increase in the concentration of naproxen in the skin layer with less systemic absorption. This indicates that most of the drug in Nap-SLN8 remains in the skin which can reduce the side effect of systemic absorption of the drug and increases the concentration of the drug at the site of the action.

Fibroblast and T cells conditioned media induce maturation dendritic cell and promote T helper immune response.

Dendritic cells (DCs) induce pathogen-specific T cell responses. We comprehensively studied the effects of addition of maturation stimulus, fibroblasts (fibroblast conditioned medium), PHA activated T cells (T cell conditioned medium), and mixture of fibroblast & PHA activated T cells (FCM-TCCM) conditioned media on maturation of DCs. Monocytes were cultured with GM-CSF and IL-4 for five days. Maturation factors included MCM and TNF-α as control group. FCM and TCCM, or FCM-TCCM supernatant were considered as the treatment group. Tumor antigens were added at day five. Matured DCs were harvested at day seven. Phenotypic and functional analyses were carried out using anti (CD14, CD80, CD86, CD83 and HLA-DR) monoclonal antibodies. Phagocytic activity, mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR) and cytokine production were also evaluated. At the end of culturing period, significantly fully matured DCs with large amount cytoplasm and copious dendritic projections were found in the presence of MCM, TNF-α with or without FCM, TCCM, FCM as well as TCCM. Flow cytometric analysis revealed that expression of CD14 decreased in particular in treated DCs, at the 5(th) day and expression of CD80, CD86 and HLA-DR was higher when FCM, TCCM, FCM plus TCCM were added to maturation factor. This study demonstrated that DCs matured with these methods had optimum function in comparison with either factor alone.

Mixture of fibroblast, epithelial and endothelial cells conditioned media induce monocyte-derived dendritic cell maturation.

Fully matured DCs with large amount cytoplasm and copious dendritic projections were visible at the end of culturing period in the presence of MCM, TNF-α and poly (I:C), with or without FEECM. Thus, DCs generated with these maturation factors are nonadherent and have typical satellite morphology. Flow cytometric analysis using anti-CD14, -CD80, -CD86, -HLA-DR and -CD83 revealed that expression of CD14 is decreased in particular in FEECM treated DCs, on day 5 and expression of CD80, CD86 and HLA-DR was the higher when FEECM are added to maturation factor. Functionally, when DCs matured in the presence of FEECM elicited stronger MLR, reduced phagocytic activity. These results support the use of the FEECM with MCM, TNF-α and poly (I-C) as maturation factor in DC generation that could result in functionally mature monocyte-derived DCs in comparison to either alone.