A common presentation of uncommon disease - Biliary Fasciola Hepatica.

Hepatobiliary fascioliasis is one of the rare but important parasitic infection in endemic areas such as Pakistan. Clinical manifestations overlap with common clinical conditions such as hepatitis and biliary stones causing common bile duct obstruction. Fascioliasis is a zoonotic infection caused by a leaf-shaped organism known as Fasciola Hepatica.

Adenoma detection rate as a quality indicator for colonoscopy: a descriptive cross-sectional study from a tertiary care hospital in Pakistan.

Adenoma detection rate (ADR) is validated for measuring quality of colonoscopy, however there is lack of colorectal cancer (CRC) screening program in South Asia. The purpose of this study is to analyze and review the polyp detection rate (PDR) and ADR and provide insight into the factors that influence them in Pakistan. This retrospective, cross-sectional study was performed at the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan, on patients ≥ 18 years, who underwent colonoscopy between January 1, 2017 and June 30, 2018.

Rosai-Dorfman's disease, an uncommon cause of common clinical presentation.

Sinus histiocytosis with massive lymphadenopathy also known as Rosai-Dorfman disease is a rare benign disease that typically manifests as lymphadenopathy with or without systemic manifestations whose etiology remains poorly understood. Most common clinical presentation is painless bilateral cervical lymphadenopathy. However, it also can present in various extranodal sites and can easily be missed because of its rarity if not considered in the differential diagnosis.

The miR-17∼92 cluster contributes to MLL leukemia through the repression of MEIS1 competitor PKNOX1.

Mixed lineage leukemias have a relatively poor prognosis and arise as a result of translocations between the MLL(KMT2A) gene and one of multiple partner genes. Downstream targets of MLL are aberrantly upregulated and include the developmentally important HOX genes and MEIS1, as well as multiple microRNAs (miRNAs), including the miR-17∼92 cluster. Here we examined the contribution of specific miRNAs to MLL leukemias through knockdown studies utilizing custom anti-microRNA oligonucleotides.

Mammalian alteration/deficiency in activation 3 (Ada3) is essential for embryonic development and cell cycle progression.

Ada3 protein is an essential component of histone acetyl transferase containing coactivator complexes conserved from yeast to human. We show here that germline deletion of Ada3 in mouse is embryonic lethal, and adenovirus-Cre mediated conditional deletion of Ada3 in Ada3(FL/FL) mouse embryonic fibroblasts leads to a severe proliferation defect which was rescued by ectopic expression of human Ada3. A delay in G(1) to S phase of cell cycle was also seen that was due to accumulation of Cdk inhibitor p27 which was an indirect effect of c-myc gene transcription control by Ada3.

MicroRNAs in leukemias: emerging diagnostic tools and therapeutic targets.

MicroRNAs (miRNA) are small non-coding RNAs of approximately 22 nucleotides that regulate the translation and stability of mRNA to control different functions of the cell. Misexpression of miRNA has been linked to disruption of normal cellular functions, which results in various disorders including cancers such as leukemias. MicroRNA involvement in disease has been the subject of much attention and is increasing our current understanding of disease biology.

Upregulation of the let-7 microRNA with precocious development in lin-12/Notch hypermorphic Caenorhabditis elegans mutants.

The lin-12/Notch signaling pathway is conserved from worms to humans and is a master regulator of metazoan development. Here, we demonstrate that lin-12/Notch gain-of-function (gf) animals display precocious alae at the L4 larval stage with a significant increase in let-7 expression levels. Furthermore, lin-12(gf) animals display a precocious and higher level of let-7 gfp transgene expression in seam cells at L3 stage.