Comparison Between Pre-COVID and Post-COVID Mucormycosis: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Introduction: Mucormycosis has emerged as one of the most fatal complications arising due to COVID-19, though it has to be mentioned that the disease is capable of causing serious illness even on its own.

Objectives: Through this investigation, we would review the threat that mucormycosis poses, in terms of its prevalence and degree of severity both in the pre- and post-COVID world.

Materials And Methods: A comprehensive examination of the studies published in online databases turned up 207 papers, 103 of which had undergone in-depth analysis, using both inclusion and exclusion criteria, shortlisting 15 studies that were appropriate for reviewing.

Penile Lichen Sclerosis: A Surgical Perspective of its Aetiology and Treatment.

Penile lichen sclerosis is a longstanding inflammatory disease of the skin with a controversial aetiology. Penile lichen sclerosis (PLS) is a growing, inflammatory dermatitis of the anogenital region, which involves the meatus, prepuce, penile shaft, and glans penis. Although the accurate aetiology of PLS is contentious, multiple factors including genetics, autoimmunity, infections of human papillomavirus, hepatitis C, Epstein-Barr virus, risk factors (hormonal and trauma), etc.

Alterations in microRNAs miR-21 and let-7a correlate with aberrant STAT3 signaling and downstream effects during cervical carcinogenesis.

Background: Present study provides clinical evidence of existence of a functional loop involving miR-21 and let-7a as potential regulators of aberrant STAT3 signaling recently reported by our group in an experimental setup (Shishodia et al. BMC Cancer 2014, 14:996). The study is now extended to a set of cervical tissues that represent natural history of human papillomavirus (HPV)-induced tumorigenic transformation.

Physical state & copy number of high risk human papillomavirus type 16 DNA in progression of cervical cancer.

Background & Objectives: High-risk human papilloma virus (HR-HPV) infection and its integration in host genome is a key event in malignant transformation of cervical cells. HPV16 being a dominant HR-HPV type, we undertook this study to analyze if viral load and physical state of the virus correlated with each other in the absence of other confounding variables and examined their potential as predictors of progressive cervical lesions.

Methods: Both, viral load and integration status of HPV16 were determined by real time URR PCR and estimation of E2:E6 ratio in a total of 130 PGMY-RLB -confirmed, monotypic HPV16-infected cervical DNA samples from biopsies of cytology-confirmed low grade (LSIL, 30) and high grade (HSIL, 30), and invasive carcinoma, (squamous cell carcinoma SCC, 70) cases.

Clinical impact of de-regulated Notch-1 and Notch-3 in the development and progression of HPV-associated different histological subtypes of precancerous and cancerous lesions of human uterine cervix.

Background: Cervical cancer is the leading cause of cancer related deaths among women in India. Limited reports are available for Notch-1 and Notch-3 protein in cervical carcinoma, which play crucial role in cell proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis.

Methods: This study was designed to evaluate the role of Notch-1 and Notch-3 with context to HPV infection in cervical carcinoma.

Incidence and cytomorphological peculiarities of lower genital tract infections in vault (post hysterectomy) smears versus pap smears from non-hysterectomy subjects: a retrospective study.

Objective: To evaluate morphology and frequency of lower genital infections in (post hysterectomy) vault smears of women.

Methods: We analyzed vault smears from 500 women who had undergone hysterectomy, either for benign diseases (230) or for carcinoma cervix (270) and findings were compared with Pap smear diagnosis of non-hysterectomy subjects.

Results: Majority 432/500 (87%) of the vault smears were negative for squamous abnormality in comparison to 381/500 (76%) Pap smears from non-hysterectomy subjects.

Defining the validity of classical and non-classical cellular changes indicative of low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion encompassing human papillomavirus infection in relation to human papillomavirus deoxyribonucleic acid testing.

Background: Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection as of now has been beyond doubt to be the causative agent for cervical carcinoma. Its morphological identification in Pap smear is important.

Aim: To define the validity of classical and non-classical cellular changes indicative of low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (SIL) encompassing HPV infection in relation to positivity for 'high risk' HPV16 as well as for 'low risk' HPV6/11.

Aberrant expression and constitutive activation of STAT3 in cervical carcinogenesis: implications in high-risk human papillomavirus infection.

Background: Recent observations indicate potential role of transcription factor STAT3 in cervical cancer development but its role specifically with respect to HPV infection is not known. Present study has been designed to investigate expression and activation of STAT3 in cervical precancer and cancer in relation to HPV infection during cervical carcinogenesis. Established cervical cancer cell lines and prospectively-collected cervical precancer and cancer tissues were analyzed for the HPV positivity and evaluated for STAT3 expression and its phosphorylation by immunoblotting and immunohistochemistry whereas STAT3-specific DNA binding activity was examined by gel-shift assays.

Elimination of high-risk human papillomavirus type HPV16 infection by 'Praneem' polyherbal tablet in women with early cervical intraepithelial lesions.

Purpose: 'Praneem', a polyherbal formulation developed by us, has successfully completed Phase II efficacy study for treatment of abnormal vaginal discharge due to reproductive tract infections that act as co-factors for HPV persistence. In the present study we evaluated potential anti-HPV activity of Praneem in women infected with high risk HPV type 16.

Methods: Twenty women molecularly diagnosed positive for HPV16 infection without or with low grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (LSIL) or inflammation were assigned to receive intra-vaginal, topical application of either Praneem tablet or placebo for 30 days excluding the days of menstrual period and were evaluated for persistence of HPV infection using HPV L1 consensus and HPV type 16-specific PCR as primary outcome.

Genetic variant of CCND1: association with HPV-mediated cervical cancer in Indian population.

The potential association of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (G870A and G1722C) of CCND1 with susceptibility to cervical cancer was investigated. The study included 200 cervical cancer cases along with an equal number of healthy controls. Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis and direct sequencing were employed for genotyping.

Human papillomavirus type 16 variant analysis of E6, E7, and L1 genes and long control region in biopsy samples from cervical cancer patients in north India.

High-risk human papillomaviruses (HPVs), particularly HPV types 16 and 18 (HPV-16 and HPV-18, respectively), play a cardinal role in the etiology of cervical cancer. The most prevalent type, HPV-16, shows intratypic sequence variants that are known to differ in oncogenic potential and geographic distribution. This study was designed to analyze sequence variations in E6, E7, and L1 genes and the LCR (for long control region) of HPV-16 in cervical cancer patients to identify the most prevalent and novel HPV-16 variants and to correlate them with the severity of the disease.