Background: the PAI-1 rs1799889 polymorphism has been reported to be associated with susceptibility to ischemic stroke. However, the results of previous studies have been inconsistent or controversial. Hence, we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the association of PAI-1 rs1799889 polymorphism with ischemic stroke risk. Methods: A comprehensive literature search was performed on PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, SciELO, CNKI, and CBD databases up to November 05, 2019. Pooled odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) were used to access the strength of this association in fixed- or random-effects model. Results: A total of 44 case-control studies with 8,620 cases and 10,260 controls were selected. Pooled data showed a significant association between PAI-1 rs1799889 polymorphism and ischemic stroke risk in the overall populations (GG vs. AA: OR = 0.791, 95% CI 0.633–0.988, p = 0.039; GA vs. AA: OR = 0.807, 95% CI 0.683–0.953, p = 0.012; and GG+GA vs. AA: OR = 0.795, 95% CI 0.637–0.993, p = 0.043). Subgroup analysis by ethnicity revealed a significant association in Asian and Mixed populations, but not in Caucasians. Moreover, stratified analysis by country of origin revealed an increased risk of ischemic stroke in Chinese populations, but not among Dutch (Netherlands) and Swedish. Conclusions: This meta-analysis result suggested that PAI-1 rs1799889 polymorphism was associated with an increased risk of ischemic stroke, especially in Asian and Mixed populations.

Introduction: The matrix metalloproteinase-7 (MMP-7) gene -181A>G polymorphism has been reported to be associated with colorectal cancer (CRC) and gastric cancer (GC) susceptibility, yet the results of these previous results have been inconsistent or controversial. Aim: To elaborate a meta-analysis to assess the association of -181A>G polymorphism of MMP-7 with CRC and GC risk. Methods: Published literature evaluating the association from PubMed, Web of Science, Google Scholar and other databases were retrieved up to April 25, 2018. Pooled odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated using random- or fixed-effects model. Results: A total of 19 case-control studies, which included eleven studies on CRC (2,169 CRC cases and 2,346 controls) and eight studies on GC (1,545 GC cases and 2,366 controls) were identified. There was a significant association between MMP-7 -181A>G polymorphism and GC risk under the homozygote model (GG vs. AA: OR=1.672, 95% CI 1.161-2.409, p=0.006) and the recessive model (GG vs. GA+AA: OR=1.672, 95% CI 1.319-2.554, p=0.001), but not with CRC. By subgroup analysis based on ethnicity, an increased risk of CRC and GC was found only among Asians. Conclusions: This meta-analysis suggests that MMP-7 -181A>G polymorphisms is associated with GC risk, but not with CRC. However, our results clearly showed that the MMP-7 -181A>G polymorphism significantly increased the risk of CRC only in Asians.

Background: Dental caries also known as baby bottle tooth decay, is a critical public health problem around the world for which Streptococcus mutans (S.mutans) has been introduced as the main infectious etiology. In the past two decades, nanotechnology has permitted the development of new materials with antimicrobial properties. The aim of this study was to compare the bactericidal and bacteriostatic effects of three golden nanoparticles (SP, NR, and CS) on S.mutans. Methods: To determine the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) and the minimum bactericidal concentrations (MBCs), a liquid dilution method was applied. Results: All golden nanoparticles (GNPs) showed antimicrobial activity with no statistically significant differences (> 0.05) in MIC or MBC. Conclusion: Our findings revealed that the size and shape of the nanoparticles did not significantly affect the antimicrobial properties of the GNPs. This finding might be useful for achieving important clinical effects with reduced toxicity in the management of early childhood caries in future in vivo studies.

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