Publications by authors named "Ramazan Rezaei"

Sulfur mustard (SM) induced pulmonary disorder is a heterogeneous disease characterized by uncontrolled inflammatory immune responses. In this cross-sectional study carried out in Isfahan-Iran, our objective was to thoroughly evaluate the clinical health and peripheral blood leukocyte profiles of adult veterans exposed to SM 25-30 years. In total, 361 people were studied in two groups, 287 chemical veterans with pulmonary complications and 64 healthy individuals as a control group.

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Undoubtedly, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is widely recognized as one of the most prevalent liver diseases worldwide, encompassing a broad spectrum from simple steatosis to the most advanced stage of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). However, effective treatments for NAFLD and NASH have not yet been clearly defined. Using appropriate terms such as "Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease", "NAFLD treatment", "Lipid metabolism", "lipid biosynthesis", autophagy "bFGF" and TFG-b" apoptosis, we searched for relevant articles in the PubMed and Scopus databases.

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Liver fibrosis is characterized by the excessive deposition and accumulation of extracellular matrix components, mainly collagens, and occurs in response to a broad spectrum of triggers with different etiologies. Under stress conditions, autophagy serves as a highly conserved homeostatic system for cell survival and is importantly involved in various biological processes. Transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) has emerged as a central cytokine in hepatic stellate cell (HSC) activation and is the main mediator of liver fibrosis.

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Article Synopsis
  • Liver fibrosis is a major health issue without an approved treatment, but previous studies show Imatinib can potentially reverse it despite its high side effects and required dosage due to conventional administration methods.
  • A new pH-sensitive polymer-based nanotherapeutic system has been developed using Vitamin A-modified Imatinib-loaded nanoparticles that release the drug effectively in the intestine while preventing premature release in the acidic stomach environment.
  • In experiments on mice with liver fibrosis, these targeted nanoparticles showed a strong accumulation in the liver, significantly improved liver enzyme levels, decreased collagen expression, and improved overall liver structure as assessed by various histological techniques.
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Purpose: Non-Alcoholic fatty liver disease is characterized by the accumulation of excess fat in the liver, chronic inflammation, and cell death, ranging from simple steatosis to fibrosis, and finally leads to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. The effect of Fibroblast growth factor 2 on apoptosis and ER stress inhibition has been investigated in many studies. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of FGF2 on the NAFLD in-vitro model in the HepG2 cell line.

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Liver fibrosis is a disorder in which inflammatory reactions play an important role, and central to the progression and pathogenesis of this disease are the immune-specific cells known as macrophages. Macrophage types are distinguished from each other by the expression of a series of surface markers. STAT6 and Arg1 play an important role in the polarization of macrophages, so these two factors are downstream of interleukin 4 (IL-4) and IL-13 cytokines and cause to differentiate M2.

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Article Synopsis
  • - Ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) of the liver can happen during surgeries and cause serious damage due to the release of harmful molecules called reactive oxygen species (ROS).
  • - Resveratrol, a natural compound, was tested to see if it could help protect the liver from damage caused by I/R.
  • - The study found that low doses of resveratrol were effective in reducing liver damage and improving recovery, while a higher dose didn’t work as well.
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Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) acts as a key receptor for the spike of SARS-CoV-2. Two main microRNAs (miRs), miR-200c-3p and miR-421-5p, are considered to modulate the expression of ACE2 gene and alterations in the expression of these miRNAs may influence the outcomes of COVID-19 infection. Accordingly, we examined whether miRNAs directing ACE2 expression altered in the SARS-CoV-2 infection.

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Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy is an encouraging and fast-growing platform used for the treatment of various types of tumors in human body. Despite the recent success of CAR T-cell therapy in hematologic malignancies, especially in B-cell lymphoma and acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the application of this treatment approach in solid tumors faced several obstacles resulted from the heterogeneous expression of antigens as well as the induction of immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. Oncolytic virotherapy (OV) is a new cancer treatment modality by the use of competent or genetically engineered viruses to replicate in tumor cells selectively.

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Exosomes have been introduced as a new alternative delivery system for the transmission of small molecules. Tumor-derived exosomes (TEXs) not only contain tumor-associated antigens to stimulate antitumor immune responses but also act as natural carriers of microRNAs. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the efficacy of miR-124-3p-enriched TEX (TEXomiR) as cell-free vaccine in the induction of antitumor immune responses in a mouse model of colorectal cancer.

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The association between the risk of allograft rejection after organ transplantation and FAS gene polymorphism has been evaluated previously. However, inconsistent results have been reported. Hence, we conducted the most up-to-date meta-analysis to evaluate this association.

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Aims: EMT is the process by which a polarized epithelial cell undergoes several changes leading to highly invasive and fibroblast-like morphology. It has been described that miR-375 is inversely associated with EMT in cancerous patients and can effectively inhibit invasion and migration of tumor cells. Here, we investigate whether miR-375 mimic delivered by tumor-derived exosomes could reverse EMT process.

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Background: Previous studies evaluated the association of IL-4 C33T polymorphism and risk of bronchial asthma but failed to establish a consistent conclusive association. In the present meta-analysis, we intend to define a more reliable estimate of the association in the presence of filling published literature.

Methods: An exhaustive search in Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed databases was performed to identify all relevant publications before September 2020, and 24 publications (28 studies) with 6587 cases and 8408 controls were included in final analysis.

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Background: Several studies have assessed the association between the vitamin D receptor (VDR) polymorphism and the risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS). However, the results were inconsistent and inconclusive. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis to clarify the exact association between the vitamin D receptor (VDR) polymorphisms and the risk of MetS.

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The prevalence of infertility is increasing and worrisome. About 10 to 30% of infertility is classified as idiopathic or unexplained infertility (UI). is multifunctional and immunoregulatry cytokine which regulates both implantation and adhesion of trophoblasts to the extracellular matrix during pregnancy.

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Article Synopsis
  • A meta-analysis was conducted to clarify the inconsistent findings regarding the relationship between vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene polymorphisms and the risk of developing urolithiasis (kidney stones).
  • Researchers systematically reviewed 33 studies and evaluated various VDR gene single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) using pooled odds ratios.
  • The study concluded that while no significant overall association was found, the ApaI and TaqI SNPs were linked to a higher risk of urolithiasis in East-Asian and Caucasian populations.
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Background: The association between the Vitamin D Receptor (VDR) gene polymorphism and the risk of Multiple sclerosis (MS) has been evaluated in several researches. However, the findings were inconsistent and inconclusive. Therefore, we set out a meta-analysis of all eligible published case-control studies to obtain an exact evaluation of the association between VDR gene polymorphisms and MS.

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Cancer stem cells (CSCs), also known as tumor-initiating cells (TICs), are elucidated as cells that can perpetuate themselves via autorestoration. These cells are highly resistant to current therapeutic approaches and are the main reason for cancer recurrence. Radiotherapy has made a lot of contributions to cancer treatment.

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The immunosuppressive features of tumor lesions participate not only as one of the major players inducing cancer progression but also a big challenge for effective immunotherapy. It has been found that immunosuppression associated with chronic inflammatory factors, such as growth factors, cytokines, and chemokines is generated by stroma and tumor cells. Chronic and exhaustive secretion of these mediators triggers the generation of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) demonstrating one of the key players engaged in tumor immunosuppression.

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Background: Several genetic studies have assessed the association between polymorphisms in killer immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIR) genes and susceptibility of individuals to ankylosing spondylitis (AS), but the findings have been inconclusive and incongruous. Therefore, we conducted this meta-analysis of all case-control studies meeting the inclusion criteria for obtaining an exact conclusion of the effect of KIR polymorphisms on the risk of AS.

Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted in electronic databases, including Scopus web of science, ScienceDirect, and PubMed to find all eligible studies exploring the association between KIR polymorphisms and the risk of AS, prior to June 2017.

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Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a chronic autoimmune disease of the connective tissues of unknown etiology, characterized mainly by fibrosis of the skin, vascular abnormalities, and systemic involvement of other organs, such as gastrointestinal tract, kidneys, lungs, and heart. SSc has been associated with a complex etiology with the involvement of both environmental and genetic factors in the onset and outcome of the disease. Although several major histocompatibility complex (MHC) and non-MHC genes have been associated with the disease risk, there are several questions to answer.

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Atherosclerosis is regarded as one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity in the world. Nowadays, it seems that atherosclerosis cannot be defined merely through the Framingham traditional risk factors and that autoimmunity settings exert a remarkable role in its mechanobiology. Individuals with autoimmune disorders show enhanced occurrence of cardiovascular complications and subclinical atherosclerosis.

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Systemic sclerosis (SSc), an autoimmune disease of connective tissue, is characterized by inflammation, fibrosis, and vessel endothelial damage. Products of Integrin subunit beta 2 (ITGB2) and selectin L (SELL) genes participate in several functional pathways of immune system. The aim of this investigation was to survey the transcript level of ITGB2 and SELL genes as well as methylation status of CpG sites in promoter region of differently expressed gene in PBMCs of SSc patients.

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Several studies have evaluated the association between interleukin-6 (IL-6) -174 G/C polymorphism and Graves' disease (GD); however, the results have been inconsistent. In the current study, a meta-analysis was performed to assess the association of IL6 -174 G/C polymorphism with Graves' disease. Medline, EMBASE, and Web of Science databases were searched to identify all eligible studies published before August 2016.

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Sulfur mustard (SM) is an extremely toxic gas used in chemical warfare to cause massive lung injury and death. Victims exposed to SM gas acutely present with inhalational lung injury, but among those who survive, some develop obstructive airway diseases referred to as SM-lung syndrome. Pathophysiologically, SM-lung shares many characteristics with smoking-induced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), including airway remodeling, goblet cell metaplasia, and obstructive ventilation defect.

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