Therapeutic Properties of M2 Macrophages in Chronic Wounds: An Innovative Area of Biomaterial-Assisted M2 Macrophage Targeted Therapy.

Wound healing is a dynamic, multi-stage process essential for restoring skin integrity. Dysregulated wound healing is often linked to impaired macrophage function, particularly in individuals with chronic underlying conditions. Macrophages, as key regulators of wound healing, exhibit significant phenotypic diversity, ranging from the pro-healing M2 phenotype to the pro-inflammatory M1 phenotype.

The correlation between metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) grades and hemodynamic alterations of the portal, hepatic, and splenic vein and spleen size.

Introduction: Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), formerly known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), is the most prevalent chronic liver condition worldwide, affecting over 25% of the population. Fatty infiltration in MASLD leads to hemodynamic changes in hepatic circulation, which can be quantitatively assessed using Color Doppler Ultrasonography (US). In this study, we aimed to investigate the correlation of Color Doppler US findings of the portal, hepatic, and splenic venous system within various degrees of MASLD.

An updated overview of radiomics-based artificial intelligence (AI) methods in breast cancer screening and diagnosis.

Current imaging methods for diagnosing breast cancer (BC) are associated with limited sensitivity and specificity and modest positive predictive power. The recent progress in image analysis using artificial intelligence (AI) has created great promise to improve BC diagnosis and subtype differentiation. In this case, novel quantitative computational methods, such as radiomics, have been developed to enhance the sensitivity and specificity of early BC diagnosis and classification.

IL-17 in type II diabetes mellitus (T2DM) immunopathogenesis and complications; molecular approaches.

Chronic inflammation has long been considered the characteristic feature of type II diabetes mellitus (T2DM) Immunopathogenesis. Pro-inflammatory cytokines are considered the central drivers of the inflammatory cascade leading to β-cell dysfunction and insulin resistance (IR), two major pathologic events contributing to T2DM. Analyzing the cytokine profile of T2DM patients has also introduced interleukin-17 (IL-17) as an upstream regulator of inflammation, regarding its role in inducing the nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) pathway.

Outcome after Neuro-interventional Treatment of Intracranial Aneurysm (as a First Treatment Modality).

Endovascular treatment is widely applied as the first-line treatment for intracranial aneurysms and includes simple coiling (SC), stent-assisted coiling (SAC), flow diversion stent, and flow disruption stent. The present study is a retrospective cohort study performed in Imam Khomeini Hospital, Department of Neurovascular Intervention, between March 2016 and March 2021. A total number of 229 patients with intracranial aneurysms who underwent therapeutic intravascular interventions were enrolled, of which 89 were treated with SC, 111 with SAC, 25 with flow diversion stent, and 4 with flow disruption stent.

Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR)-Based Cell Therapy for Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus (T1DM); Current Progress and Future Approaches.

Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is an autoimmune disease that destroys insulin-producing pancreatic β-cells. Insulin replacement therapy is currently the mainstay of treatment for T1DM; however, treatment with insulin does not ameliorate disease progression, as dysregulated immune response and inflammation continue to cause further pancreatic β-cell degradation. Therefore, shifting therapeutic strategies toward immunomodulating approaches could be effective to prevent and reverse disease progression.

Current progress of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T versus CAR NK cell for immunotherapy of solid tumors.

Equipping cancer-fighting immune cells with chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) has gained immense attention for cancer treatment. CAR-engineered T cells (CAR T cells) are the first immune-engineered cells that have achieved brilliant results in anti-cancer therapy. Despite promising anti-cancer features, CAR T cells could also cause fatal side effects and have shown inadequate efficacy in some studies.

The role of heat shock proteins (HSPs) in type 2 diabetes mellitus pathophysiology.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a metabolic disorder characterized by sustained hyperglycemia caused by impaired insulin signaling and secretion. Metabolic stress, caused by an inappropriate diet, is one of the major hallmarks provoking inflammation, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, and mitochondrial dysfunction. Heat shock proteins (HSPs) are a group of highly conserved proteins that have a crucial role in chaperoning damaged and misfolded proteins to avoid disruption of cellular homeostasis under stress conditions.

Targeting the cGAS-STING pathway as an inflammatory crossroad in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Context And Objective: The emerging pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), has imposed significant mortality and morbidity on the world. An appropriate immune response is necessary to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 spread throughout the body.

Results: During the early stages of infection, the pathway of stimulators of interferon genes (STING), known as the cGAS-STING pathway, has a significant role in the induction of the antiviral immune response by regulating nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB) and Interferon regulatory factor 3 (IRF3), two key pathways responsible for proinflammatory cytokines and type I IFN secretion, respectively.

Transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) pathway in the immunopathogenesis of multiple sclerosis (MS); molecular approaches.

Introduction: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an acute demyelinating disease with an autoimmune nature, followed by gradual neurodegeneration and enervating scar formation. Dysregulated immune response is a crucial dilemma contributing to the pathogenesis of MS. The role of chemokines and cytokines, such as transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β), have been recently highlighted regarding their altered expressions in MS.

Immune evasion of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2); molecular approaches.

In December 2019, a new betacoronavirus, known as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), caused an outbreak at the Wuhan seafood market in China. The disease was further named coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the disease to be a pandemic, as more cases were reported globally.

Major severe acute respiratory coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccine-associated adverse effects; benefits outweigh the risks.

Introduction: Since its emergence, there have been huge efforts to design vaccines against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) to inhibit its interpersonal spread. Global vaccine development is the most promising cost-effective method for overcoming the epidemic. However, following reports of post-vaccination thromboembolic adverse effects, there have been raising concerns about the safety profile of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Endocrine and metabolic complications of COVID-19: lessons learned and future prospects.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is well known for its respiratory complications; however, it can also cause extrapulmonary manifestations, including cardiovascular, thrombotic, renal, gastrointestinal, neurologic, and endocrinological symptoms. Endocrinological complications of COVID-19 are rare but can considerably impact the outcome of the patients. Moreover, preexisting endocrinologic disorders can affect the severity of COVID-19.

OMICRON: Virology, immunopathogenesis, and laboratory diagnosis.

Since its emersion, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been a significant global dilemma. Several mutations in the severe acute respiratory virus (SARS-Co-2) genome has given rise to different variants with various levels of transmissibility, severity and mortality. Up until November 2021, the variants of concern declared by the World Health Organization were Alpha, Beta, Delta and Gamma.

An updated overview of recent advances, challenges, and clinical considerations of IL-6 signaling blockade in severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Since 2019, COVID-19 has become the most important health dilemma around the world. The dysregulated immune response which results in ARDS and cytokine storm has an outstanding role in the progression of pulmonary damage in COVID-19. IL-6, through induction of pro-inflammatory chemokines and cytokines, is the pioneer of the hyperinflammatory condition and cytokine storm in severe COVID-19.

Chimeric Antigen Receptor-Engineered Natural Killer (CAR NK) Cells in Cancer Treatment; Recent Advances and Future Prospects.

Natural Killer (NK) cells are critical members of the innate immunity lymphocytes and have a critical role in host defense against malignant cells. Adoptive cell therapy (ACT) using chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) redirects the specificity of the immune cell against a target-specific antigen. ACT has recently created an outstanding opportunity for cancer treatment.

IL-38 as an early predictor of the ischemic stroke prognosis.

Background: Ischemic stroke is caused by a sudden neurological defect following a vascular occlusion and elicits a local and systemic inflammation in brain tissue. Interleukin-38 is an anti-inflammatory cytokine associated with ischemic and inflammatory diseases. This study was designed to analyze the effect of tPA therapy on interleukin-38 serum level changes and the serum level of IL-38 in the prognosis of ischemic stroke patients in the next three months.

Immune-Based Therapy for COVID-19.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a novel zoonotic virus identified as the cause of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) that has crossed species and infected humans. In order to develop new insights on the immune-based treatments against this disease, it is vital to understand the immunopathology of the COVID-19, implications of the immune response to SARS-CoV-2, and immune dysfunction in response to SARS-CoV-2. There is no approved drug for the treatment of COVID-19.

Immunobiology and immunotherapy of COVID-19: A clinically updated overview.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a new member of the coronavirus family that can cause coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). COVID-9 has become a global pandemic with severe health issues around the world. Identifying the accurate immunopathogenesis of the COVID-19 and the immune response against SARS-CoV-2 is necessary for the development of therapeutic approaches and rational drug design.

Clinical Applications of Interleukin-37: A Key Player in the Immunopathogenesis of Immune Disorders.

Recently, the era of medicine has been encountered with the exponential growth of special seroimmunobiomarkers in clinical trials. Lately, Interleukin-37 (IL-37) has attracted a wide range of basic medical scientists' attention due to its controversial functions in physiologic or pathologic microenvironments. In this research, an updated overview of immunobiological functions and clinical applications of IL-37 in a wide range of diseases, are discussed in order to highlight the role of recent laboratory-based results of IL-37.

Crystallographic and NMR Investigation of Ergometrine and Methylergometrine, Two Alkaloids from .

Ergometrine and methylergometrine are two alkaloids that are used as maleate salts for the prevention and control of postpartum hemorrhage. Although the two molecules have been known for a long time, few and discordant crystallographic and NMR spectroscopic data are available in the literature. With the aim of providing more conclusive data, we performed a careful NMR study for the complete assignment of the H, C, and N NMR signals of ergometrine, methylergometrine, and their maleate salts.

Solid Tumors Challenges and New Insights of CAR T Cell Engineering.

Adoptive cell therapy using CAR T cells has emerged as a novel treatment strategy with promising results against B cell malignancies; however, CAR T cells have not shown much success against solid malignancies. There are several obstacles which diminish the efficacy of CAR T cells, but the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME) of the tumor stands out as the most important factor. TME includes Tumor-Associated Stroma, Immunosuppressive cells and cytokines, tumor hypoxia and metabolism, and Immune Inhibitory Checkpoints which affect the CAR T cell efficacy and activity in solid tumors.

A New Chemoenzymatic Synthesis of the Chiral Key Intermediate of the Antiepileptic Brivaracetam.

Brivaracetam is a new anticonvulsant compound, recently approved as an antiepileptic drug. This drug substance presents a 4-substituted pyrrolidone structure: the (4)-configuration of the stereocenter present on the heterocyclic ring is the main target of the synthesis. The described method allows to prepare the suitable optically pure 2-substituted primary alcohol by means of a lipase-catalyzed transesterification.

Immune Cell Hacking: Challenges and Clinical Approaches to Create Smarter Generations of Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cells.

T cells equipped with chimeric antigen receptors (CAR T cells) have recently provided promising advances as a novel immunotherapeutic approach for cancer treatment. CAR T cell therapy has shown stunning results especially in B-cell malignancies; however, it has shown less success against solid tumors, which is more supposed to be related to the specific characteristics of the tumor microenvironment. In this review, we discuss the structure of the CAR, current clinical advantages from finished and ongoing trials, adverse effects, challenges and controversies, new engineering methods of CAR, and clinical considerations that are associated with CAR T cell therapy both in hematological malignancies and solid tumors.

Bile cast nephropathy due to cholestatic jaundice after using stanozolol in 2 amateur bodybuilders.

Elevated level of bile can cause bile cast nephropathy, which can be seen in patients with severe cholestatic liver disease. Stanozolol is a C17α-alkylation steroid derived from dihydrotestosterone and its major adverse effect is cholestatic jaundice. We report 2 bodybuilders who received stanozolol for 6 weeks and developed icterus.