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Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the leading types of malignancy worldwide, particularly in Asian populations. Although the exact molecular mechanism of GC development remains unknown, microRNA (miRNA) has recently been shown to be involved. The current study aims to investigate the expression levels of bioinformatically ranked miRNAs in gastric tissues. Using bioinformatics tools, we prioritized miRNAs thought to be implicated in GC. Furthermore, polyA-qPCR was used to validate bioinformatics findings in 40 GC, 31 normal gastric tissue (NG) and 45 gastric dysplasia (GD) samples. As identified by bioinformatics analysis, miR-335 was shown to be the top-ranked miRNA implicated in GC. Moreover, a significant downregulation of miR-335, miR-124, miR-218 and miR-484 was found in GC and GD compared to NG samples. We found bioinformatics to be an efficient approach to finding candidate miRNAs relevant to GC development. Finally, the findings show that downregulation of miRNAs such as miR-124 and miR-218 in gastric tissue can be a significant indicator for neoplastic transformation.

Background/Aims: The risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D) is determined by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Multiple studies have proposed that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are crucial molecules in regulating several biological processes and complex diseases. The study was aimed at investigating the association between the expression levels of lncRNA VIM-AS1, lncRNA CTBP1-AS2, and T2D susceptibility.Methods: lncRNA VIM-AS1 and lncRNA CTBP1-AS2 in the peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) of 100 healthy individuals and 100 T2D patients were collected for Quantitative Real-Time RT-PCR analysis. A logistic regression was performed to understand whether the likelihood of T2D can be predicted based on the expression levels of lncRNA VIM-AS1 and lncRNA CTBP1-AS2. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was also performed to determine the statistical analysis of VIM-AS1 and CTBP1-AS2 levels in 200 samples. Results:Our results display that decreased levels of VIM-AS1 and CTBP1-AS2 in PBMC were associated with diabetes in Iranian population. The logistic regression revealed that Systolic blood pressure (SBP), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), Fasting blood glucose (FBG) and CTBP1-AS2 are substantial predictors of T2D. The ROC analysis of CTBP1-AS2 revealed the area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.68 with a sensitivity of 58.7% and specificity of 75.3% in distinguishing nondiabetic from diabetic subjects. The ROC analysis of VIM-AS1 determined AUC of 0.63 with a sensitivity of 56.1% and specificity of 68.37% in distinguishing the two diagnostic groups.Conclusion: lncRNA VIM-AS1 and lncRNA CTBP1-AS2 expression levels are associated with T2D susceptibility. K E Y W O R D S CTBP1 antisense RNA 2, long noncoding RNA, Peripheral blood mononuclear cell, Type 2 diabetes, VIM antisense RNA 1 J Cell Biochem. 2019;120:9315-9323. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/jcb © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. | 9315 | 9321 ORCID Ali Rahimipour

Background:Differential expression profile of microRNAs (miRNAs) could be a diagnosis signature for monitoring gastric cancer (GC) progression. In this study, we focus on the comparison of expression levels of miR-21, miR-25, miR-93, miR-106b, and miR-375 during the sequential pattern of GC development, including normal gastric, gastric dysplasia, and GC sample.Methods:We used SYBR Green-based quantitative-PCR to quantify miRNAs expression.Results:Our analysis revealed the increased expression levels of miR-21 (p = 0.034), miR-25 (p = 0.0003), miR-93 (p = 0.0406), and miR-106b (p = 0.023) in GC samples. In addition, GC patients with positive lymph node metastasis showed the up-regulation of miR-25, miR-93, and miR-106b (p < 0.05).Conclusion:Our findings suggested that the expression of miR-21, miR-25, miR-93, and miR-106b altered in GC, and some of them may be further investigated as biomarkers for GC early detection and prognosis prediction.

BackgroundRapid diagnosis and correct treatment of cases are the main objectives of control programs in malaria-endemic areas.Methods and resultsTo evaluate these criteria and in a comparative study, blood specimens were collected from 120 volunteers seeking care at the Malaria Health Center in Chahbahar district. One hundred and seven out of 120 Giemsa-stained slides were positive for malaria parasites by microscopy. Eighty-four (70%) and 20 (16.7%) were identified as having only Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium falciparum infections, respectively, while only 3 (2.5%) were interpreted as having mixed P. vivax-P. falciparum infections.The target DNA sequence of the 18S small sub-unit ribosomal RNA (ssrRNA) gene was amplified by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and used for the diagnosis of malaria in south-eastern Iran. One hundred twenty blood samples were submitted and the results were compared to those of routine microscopy. The sensitivity of PCR for detection of P. vivax and P. falciparum malaria was higher than that of microscopy: nested PCR detected 31 more mixed infections than microscopy and parasite positive reactions in 9 out of the 13 microscopically negative samples. The results also confirmed the presence of P. vivax and P. falciparum.ConclusionsThese results suggest that, in places where transmission of both P. vivax and P. falciparum occurs, nested PCR detection of malaria parasites can be a very useful complement to microscopical diagnosis.