Jorjani Biomedicine Journal

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Background & Objectives: Defect in Immune responses, such as immunosuppression is one of the major causes of AML pathogenesis and progression which could be targeted for immunotherapy of these patients. CD200 and IDO are immunoregulatory factors which are overexpressed in some solid tumors and hematological malignancies. Distinct researches have shown that CD200 and IDO expressions are associated with AML progression. In the current study, we simultaneously examined the expression of these molecules, as the two important factors including in immunosuppression, in the newly diagnosed and relapse AML patients to investigate their correlation with each other.

Methods: In this study, 48 Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells (PBMCs) samples of newly diagnosed and relapsed AML patients were tested and also 32 PBMCs of normal subjects were employed as normal controls. CD200 expression level was examined on the cells by Flowcytometry and quantitative real time RT-PCR was used to determine the IDO-1 gene expression. Finally data were analyzed statistically by Spss 17 software.

Results: Our data showed that CD200 (P=0.02) and IDO-1 (P=0.44) were overexpressed in AML samples especially in relapsed patients. Comparison between FAB AML subgroups demonstrated no statistical differences regarding CD200 level but expression of IDO-1 was slightly increased only in M4 subgroup in comparison to M3 (P=0.01). Correlation analyses showed strong association between the expressions of CD200 and IDO-1 in all patients particularly in relapsed AML, whereas no significant correlation was found in normal subjects.  

Conclusion: According to the role and overexpression of CD200 and IDO-1 in AML patients and also their two-way correlation with T-reg lymphocytes in disease induction and progression, simultaneous assessment of these parameters are so valuable for more exact prognosis detection. Also inhibition of all these immunoregulatory pathways could be so useful for immunotherapy outcome, especially in relapsed AML. 

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Background and objectives: Endometrial tissue growth and its activity outside the uterus cause endometriosis. It has been suggested that various epigenetic deviations play a major role in the pathogenesis of endometriosis. Steroidogenic factor 1 (SF-1; NR5A1) is an essential transcription factor for estrogen biosynthesis in endometrial cells. The expression of SF-1 in endometriosis and lack of expression in normal endometrium is primarily determined by its promoter methylation. Here, we aimed to compare the methylation status of the SF-1 gene promoter region in women with endometriosis in comparison to healthy subjects.
Methods: In the present case–control study, DNA was extracted from 25 endometrial tissue samples from women with endometriosis and 5 normal post-hysterectomy endometrium tissues which were collected from Tabriz hospitals including Vali-e-Asr, Taleghani, 29 Bahman and Shams in 2016. The obtained DNA samples were subjected to Bisulfite-treatment. Finally, the status of SF-1gene promoter methylation was evaluated by methylation specific PCR method. Statistical analyses including descriptive and inferential statistics were conducted using tables, bar charts by statistical software SPSS version 20 and independence test.
Results: The methylation status of SF-1 gene promoter was decreased significantly in endometriosis samples (P<0.05).  
Conclusion: SF-1 gene promoter hypomethylation could increase the relative expression of SF-1 gene in endometriosis which may lead to the development or progression of the disease.

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Infertility is defind as the inability to conceive after one year of regular unprotected sexual intercourse by a couple. Female infertility can have different causes that all factors can in somehow be influenced by genetic factors. Studies have shown that epigenetic changes play an important role in fetal development, oogenesis and spermatogenesis. During the growth of oocyte, follicular cells make a multilayer coating of granulosa cells. Granulosa cells are affected by gonadotropin hormones. The CYP₁₁A₁ gene is one of the genes involved in the production of steroid hormones in luteinized granulosa cells. The CYP₁₁A₁ enzyme in the progesterone prodaction path way leads to the conversion of cholesterol to pregnenolon. Progesterone is an important steroid hormone that plays an important role in fertility and pregnancy. Histone modifications help to express the CYP₁₁A₁ gene. Trimethylation of Lysine 4 on histone H₃ (H₃K₄me₃) works to active transcription in the CYP₁₁A₁ promoterIn the present study, the level of methylation H₃K₄me₃ in regulation area of CYP₁₁A₁ gene in granulosa cells collected from the women with infertility problem and also from fertile women giving oocyte was investigated in Tabriz Jihad Daneshgahi infertilization center. To do this, the Chromatin Immunoprecipitation and then Real-Time PCR were used to investigate the level of methylation.According to the results of the present study, the level of methylation H₃K₄me₃ in the regulating area of CYP₁₁A₁ gene in the given infertile people doesn’t show significant difference in comparision with control group and no significant relationship was observed between methylation of histone in CYP₁₁A₁ promoter and number of follicles and oocyte.It is suggested that epigenetic changes in regulating area of CYP₁₁A₁ gene are not involved in the number of follicle and oocytes.