miRNA-145 and 9 may be as potential prognostic marker in patients suffering from cervical cancer.

The investigation of specific genes will establish more useful biomarkers for accurate detection and management of gynecological cancers, especially patients with cervical cancer (CCP). The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression level of RIPK4 and EZH2 messenger RNA (RIPK4 and EZH2 mRNA) in CCP. Expression of RIPK4 and EZH2 in the tissues was determined by immunohistochemistry and qRT-PCR methods. Correlations of RIPK4 and EZH2 mRNA with clinical and pathological parameters were analyzed using the Fisher's exact test. The mRNA level of RIPK4 was significantly upregulated in tumor tissues compared with matched adjacent normal tissues (4.10 ± 0.89 vs. 1.5 ± 0.82; p = 0.021). EZH2 mRNA was increased in cancer tissues compared to normal tissues (3.54 ± 0.71 vs. 1.2 ± 0.65; p = 0.003). High expression of RIPK4 was observed in 25 patients (64.1%), whereas weak expression was seen in 14 cases (35.9%). Furthermore, the expression of RIPK4 was overexpressed in matched adjacent normal tissues (p = 0.004). FIGO stage and lymph node metastasis were significantly linked to a higher expression of RIPK4 (p < 0.05). Overexpression of EZH2 was found in 30 patients (76.9%) and was associated with FIGO stage, histological type, and lymph node metastasis (p < 0.05). In conclusion, our data suggest that RIPK4/EZH2 markers might be used as potential predictors of prognosis in cervical cancer.

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Background:Mycoplasma hominis and Ureaplasma urealyticum are important causative agents of vaginitis, cervicitis, postpartum sepsis, reproductive infections and infertility in both males and females.Objectives:According to the uncertain prevalence of U. urealyticum and M. hominis in Iranian infertile females, the present study was carried out to determine the prevalence of U. urealyticum and M. hominis in high vaginal swab samples of fertile and infertile females.Patients and Methods:A total of 350 high vaginal swab specimens were taken from fertile and infertile females. Samples were cultured and those that were positive for bacteria were subjected to the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for further confirmation.Results:Of the 350 collected samples, eleven were positive for M. hominis (3.14%), fifteen were positive for U. urealyticum (4.28%) and five were positive for both of them (1.42%). Prevalence of U. urealyticum and M. hominis in the high vaginal parts of infertile females was higher than fertile females (P < 0.05). The results of traditional method were also confirmed, using the PCR amplification of urease gene of U. urealyticum and 16SrRNA gene of the M. hominis. Ureaplasma urealyticum and M. hominis had a higher prevalence in the high vaginal samples collected during the summer season.Conclusions:Considerable prevalence of M. hominis and U. urealyticum in the high vaginal swab samples of infertile females compared to the low prevalence in fertile females may suggest that these two pathogens can be cause infertility. Application of the PCR method is recommended for rapid and sensitive detection of M. hominis and U. urealyticum in high vaginal swab samples.

BackgroundMicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been documented as playing important roles in cancer development. In this study, we investigated to clarify the clinicopathological significance and prognostic value of miR-124 in breast cancer.MethodsQuantitative Real-time PCR method was used to assess the expression levels of miR-124 in breast cancer patients and the association of miR-124 expression levels with the clinicopathological characteristics in breast cancer patients. Survival and Multivariate Cox proportional hazards model analysis was used to evaluate whether the miR-124 expression level and various clinicopathological characteristics were independent prognostic marker for breast cancer patients.ResultsWe found that the lower expression of miR-124 in breast cancer specimens compared with corresponding adjacent normal breast tissues P < 0.05. Results showed that decreased expression of miR-124 was significantly related to advanced clinical stage (stage III and IV) (P = 0.021) and positive lymph node-metastasis (P = 0.011). Patients with low expression of miR-124 had significantly shorter overall survival (70.2 %) than patients who had cancers with high miR-124 expression (29.8), (logrank test P = 0.021). Moreover, Multivariate Cox proportional hazards model analysis indicated that lowr miR-124 expression was found to be independently linked to poor survival of patients with breast cancer and other factors were not significantly associated with survival of patients.ConclusionOur data suggested that decreased expression of miR-124 has prognostic value in breast cancer and may serve as a prognostic marker for breast cancer, and also downregulation of miR-124 was inversely associated with the lymph node metastasis in breast cancer.