Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most prevalent cancer and the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Egypt is one of the African countries with a high incidence of HCC. The process of carcinogenesis in the liver, particularly in post-hepatitic necrosis, is related to the severity of liver damage and fibrosis. The present Study aimed to investigate the utility of King’ s score to identify patients at higher risk of developing HCC among patients with hepatitis C virus-related cirrhosis. Method: 58 patients were included in this retrospective Case-Control Study. They were divided into two groups; group I included 29 patients diagnosed with HCC and group II comprised 29 patients without HCC. King’ s score was calculated for all the patients based on their pararmeters at the time of diagnosis and their records of one year prior to the diagnosis. Results: King’ s score was significantly higher in group I, not only at the time of diagnosis (95. 4± 45. 2 vs. 24. 23± 7. 4, P<0. 001), but also when calculated from the patients’ records a year before the diagnosis (70. 4± 41. 8 vs. 17. 46± 8. 2, P<0. 001). Conclusion: King’ s score can diagnose higher risk of developing HCC up to one year before the appearance of focal lesion.

Background: Autoimmune mechanisms are involved in the etiology of alopecia areata. It is also shown that selenium has some effects on regulation of autoimmune mechanisms. Objective: To compare the plasma level of selenium between those with and without alopecia areata. Patients and Methods: In this Case-Control Study, 29 patients with alopecia areata referred to Razi hospital in Tehran, and 29 persons without this disease were selected consequently. Plasma level of selenium was determined and compared between the groups. Results: The mean age of cases was 24.9±l0.5 and of controls was 29.1± 10.5 years. In both groups 15 (51.7%) patients were male and 14 (48.3%) of them were female. The mean plasma selenium level in cases was significantly lower than what was observed in controls (62.1±13.3 g/L vs. 88.3± 13.2 g /L, P<0.0005). Conclusion: This Study indicated that mean plasma selenium level in patients with alopecia areata was lower than those without this disorder. It is recommended to evaluate the effects of adding selenium to dietary regimen of patients with alopecia areata.

Background: Infertility is described as not receiving pregnancy despite unprotected and regular sexual intercourse in a 1 yr period. It is detected by 15% of the couples. Male and female factor in the etiology may be detected in similar rates. Objective: The present Study aims to investigate ion channel gene expression in semen samples of infertile male compared with fertile men. Materials and Methods: A total of 150 men who applied to the urology clinic due to infertility were divided into five equal groups: asthenozoospermia, oligozoospermia, oligoasthenoteratozoospermia, teratozoospermia, and normozoospermia (control). All paticipants were evaluated with Cation Channel Spermia (CatSper) 1, 2, 3, 4, Proton Voltage Gated Ion Channel1 (Hv1), Potassium Channel Subfamily U1 (KCNU1), and transmembrane protein (TMEM16A) gene expression in semen samples. Results: “ CatSper1, 4, HV1, KCNU1, and TMEM16A gene expression were detected higher in the oligozoospermia group compared to the controls. CatSper1, 2, 3, 4, KCNU1, and TMEM16A gene expression in the asthenozoospermia group and CatSper1, 2, 3, 4, KCNU1, and TMEM16A gene expression in the teratozoospermia group were detected lower compared to the controls. CatSper1, 4, HV1, and TMEM16A gen expression were higher in the oligoasthenoteratozoospermia men than the controls while CatSper3 gen expression was detected as lower. ” Conclusion: It was detected that these ion channels have an effect on sperm progressive motility and morphology. It may be considered that mutations in these ion channels may result in infertility.

Background: We aimed to determine the role of demographic, lifestyle, and personality trait factors in predicting control of blood pressure (BP) among patients with hypertension (HTN) in West Azerbaijan, Iran. Methods: In this case control Study we recruited participants from all primary health centers of Salmas city,who were at least 18 years of age, had a HTN diagnosis during the previous six months, and had a mandatory household record. Of 490 random subjects approached, 441 (84. 2%) fulfilled our inclusion criteria (case: 221,control: 220). The age-matched controls were recruited from the same source population and were required to have controlled HTN. Data were collected through demographic Checklist, Ten-Item Personality Inventory (TIPI) and International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). Results: Upon multivariate analyses, factors related to personality traits subdomains including extraversion personality (odd ratio [OR]: 0. 85,CI: 0. 73, 0. 97) was effective in control of BP. Factors related to uncontrolled BP were agreement and consciences subdomains (OR 1. 26 [CI: 1. 07, 1. 48] and OR 1. 21 [CI: 1. 02, 1. 44]), rare fruit consumption (OR 5. 95 [CI: 1. 24, 12. 1]), Grade 1 and 2 obesities (OR 2. 29 [CI: 1. 28, 4. 09] and OR 7. 11 [CI: 2. 21, 12. 52]) and smoking (OR 3. 27 [CI: 1. 56, 6. 89]). Conclusion: In addition to regular physical activity and fruit consumption and quitting smoking,personality traits such as Agreement and conscience personality traits were predictive of HTN control. We believe our work provides the required knowledge to design comprehensive HTN prevention programs by taking into account the multi-level causality approach.

Background: Breast cancer is the most frequent malignancy and the leading cause of cancer-related death among women all around the world. In Iran, the mean age of the patients is approximately 10 years younger than that in other countries. We conducted the present Study to assess the risk factors of breast cancer among Iranian women in Mashhad. Method: This Case-Control Study was carried out between February 2016 and January 2018 on 460 women (230 cases and 230 controls) in the academic hospitals of Mashhad. The data from our cases and controls were collected and analyzed using SPSS version 18. 0 software (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). We employed logistic regression models and frequency tables to estimate odds ratio (OR) and to examine the predictive effect of each factor on breast cancer risk. P < 0. 05 was considered to be significant. Results: According to multivariate analysis, there was significant associations between breast cancer risk and body mass index (BMI) (Odds ratio (OR), 1. 1; 95% Confidence interval (CI), 1. 0-1. 2), age at menarche (OR, 0. 56; 95% CI, 0. 47-0. 68), menopausal age (OR, 1. 1; 95% CI, 1. 0-1. 1), family history of non-breast malignancies (OR, 7. 9; 95% CI, 2. 2-21. 1), and oral contraception pills (OR, 3. 1; 95% CI, 8. 341. 16). Conclusion: This Study revealed that age at menarche, family history of nonbreast cancer malignancies, BMI, menopausal age, and oral contraception pills were significantly associated with breast cancer.

Fibromyalgia (FM) is a chronic musculoskeletal syndrome characterized by pain and fatigue,however, its etiology remains unknown, and various hypotheses and biomarkers have been proposed. This Study it is aimed to investigate blood biomarkers in the pathogenesis of FM. The current Case-Control Study has been conducted on 45 females with the documented diagnosis of FM and 45 healthy controls referring to the outpatient clinic of rheumatology in 2018-19. The serum levels of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEAS), erythrocytic sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), complete blood count (CBC), and thyroidstimulating hormone (TSH) was measured and compared between the groups. DHEAS serum levels in cases and controls were 27. 55±, 18. 80 and 33. 55±, 21. 80, (P=0. 16), ESR was 29. 17±, 9. 75 and 17. 37±, 2. 82 (P<0. 001), CRP was 4. 17±, 1. 53 and 3. 53±, 1. 15 (P=0. 02), TSH was 3. 307±, 0. 27 and 3. 41±, 0. 22 (P=0. 09), respectively. The two groups were similar in CBC indices, including hemoglobin, hematocrit, white blood cell, lymphocyte, neutrophil, and platelet count (P>0. 05). DHEAS was slightly, but insignificantly, lower among the females with FM than healthy cases. On the other hand, the serum ESR and CRP levels were remarkably higher among the females with FM,however, in the normal range, a fact representing the possible traces of inflammation in the pathogenesis of FM.