Background: Early diagnosis is an important factor to improve the survival of Invasive Cervical Cancer (ICC) patients. Molecular biomarkers such as micro RNA (miRNA) can be used in the early detection of ICC. The expression of miR-21 and miR-29a are deregulated in many types of human cancers.Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the differences in miR-21 and miR-29a expression patterns in the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) infection and various grades of cervical cancer among Iranian women.Methods: Small RNAs were extracted from positive for HPV, cervical cancer and healthy samples from 43, 50 and 46 individuals, respectively. Expression levels of miR-21 and miR-29a were analyzed by SYBR Green real-time RT-PCR using specific primers, and 5s rRNA as the internal reference gene.Results: Results have shown a significant increase in miR-21 and decrease in miR-29 in cancerous samples in comparison with the control groups (P < 0.0001).Conclusion: This study illustrated that miR-21 and miR-29a could be operated as an oncogene and tumor-suppressor in cervical cancer progression. More studies are needed to demonstrate the role of miR-21 and miR-29a as potential biomarkers for the diagnosis of cervical cancer in future investigations.

Frequency of cervical cancer related to Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) has increased remarkably in less-developed countries. Hence, applying capable diagnostic methods is urgently needed, as is having a therapeutic strategy as an effective step for cervical cancer prevention. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of various multi-type HPV infection patterns and their possible rising incidence in women with genital infections. This descriptive study was conducted on women who attended referral clinical laboratories in Tehran for genital infections from January 2012 until December 2013. A total of 1387 archival cervical scraping and lesion specimens were collected from referred women. HPV genotyping was performed using approved HPV commercial diagnostic technologies with either INNO-LiPA HPV or Geno Array Test kits. HPV was positive in 563 cases (40.59%) with mean age of 32.35±9.96. Single, multiple HPV genotypes and untypable cases were detected in 398 (70.69%), 160 (28.42%) and 5 (0.89%) cases, respectively. Multiple HPV infections were detected in 92 (57.5%), 42 (26.2%), 17 (10.6%) and 9 (5.7%) cases as two, three, four and five or more genotypes, respectively. The prevalence of 32 HPV genotypes was determined one by one. Seventeen HPV genotypes were identified in 95.78% of all positive infections. Five dominant genotypes, HPV6, 16, 53, 11 and 31, were identified in a total of 52.35%of the HPV positive cases. In the present study, we were able to evaluate the rate of multiple HPV types in genital infections. Nevertheless, it is necessary to evaluate the role of the dominant HPV low-risk types and the new probably high-risk genotypes, such as HPV53, in the increasing incidences of genital infections.

INTRODUCTION: Oral microbiota may contribute to the development of upper gastrointestinal (UGI) disorders. In this study, we evaluated the association between microbiota of saliva, subgingival, and buccal mucosa and UGI disorders, particularly precancerous lesions. We also aimed to identify which oral site have the greatest potential as biomarkers for the development of UGI cancers. METHODS: In this population-based study, 388 adults underwent upper endoscopy with biopsies for histopathological analysis. UGI symptoms were assessed using a validated questionnaire, and 16S rRNA gene sequencing characterized the microbiota in 380 saliva, 200 subgingival, and 267 buccal mucosa samples collected during endoscopy. RESULTS: Dysbiosis of the salivary microbiota was observed in subjects with gastroesophageal reflux symptoms (GERSs) alone, as well as in those with combined conditions such as GERS and esophagitis, or esophagitis and Barrett's esophagus. Significant microbial alterations were also found in individuals with several stomach disorders including Helicobacter pylori infection, chemical reactive gastritis, atrophic gastritis, and intestinal metaplasia. However, microbiota dissimilarity in subgingival and buccal mucosa samples was primarily associated with Barrett's esophagus or gastric atrophy. Among identified genera in saliva, the association between Prevotella and Fusabacterium and atrophic gastritis and intestinal metaplasia was notable. In subgingival samples, the link of Fretibacterium with Barrett's esophagus and Fusabacterium with gastric atrophy and intestinal metaplasia has also been found to be important. DISCUSSION: Dysbiosis of saliva microbiota is linked to a broad spectrum of UGI disorders. However, microbiota dysbiosis in subgingival and buccal mucosa sites is specifically associated with the premalignant conditions such as Barrett's esophagus and gastric atrophy. Among oral sites, the subgingival microbiota shows more potential as a infectious biomarker for UGI cancers.

HPV related cervical cancer as one of the most common women cancers in developing countries. Regarding accessibility of commercial vaccines, any long or short term modality for integrating preventive immunization against HPV in a national program needs comprehensive information about HPV prevalence and its genotypes. The important role of selecting most accurate diagnostic technologies for obtaining relevant data is underlined by different assays proposed in the literature. The main objective of the present study was to introduce an in-house HPV typing assay using multiplex real time PCR with reliable results and affordable cost for molecular epidemiology surveys and diagnosis. 112 samples of formalin fixed paraffin embedded tissues and liquid based cytology specimens from patients with known different grades of cervical dysplasia and invasive cancer, were examined by this method and the result were verified by WHO HPV LabNet proficiency program in 2013. HPV was detected in 105 (93.7%) out of 112 samples. The dominant types were HPV 18 (61.6%) and HPV 16 (42.9%). Among the mixed genotypes, HPV 16 and 18 in combination were seen in 12.4% of specimens. According to acceptable performance, easy access to primers, probes and other consumables, affordable cost per test, this method can be used as a diagnostic assay in molecular laboratories and for further planning of cervical carcinoma prevention programs.

For targeted eradication of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) to reduce gastric cancer burden, a convenient approach is definitely needed. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the LAMP assay for H. pylori detection using samples collected by noninvasive and self-sampling methods. The available LAMP assay for H. pylori detection was appraised and verified using reference and clinically isolated H. pylori strains. In addition, a clinical study was conducted to assess the LAMP assay on 51 patients, from whom saliva, oral brushing samples, feces, corpus, and antrum specimens were available. Clarithromycin resistance was also analysed through detection of A2143G mutation using the LAMP-RFLP method. The validation and verification analysis demonstrated that the LAMP assay had an acceptable result in terms of specificity, sensitivity, reproducibility, and accuracy for clinical settings. The LAMP assay showed a detection limit for H. pylori down to 0.25 fg/µL of genomic DNA. An acceptable consensus was observed using saliva samples (sensitivity 58.1%, specificity 84.2%, PPV 85.7%, NPV 55.2%, accuracy 68%) in comparison to biopsy sampling as the gold standard. The performance testing of different combinations of noninvasive sampling methods demonstrated that a combination of saliva and oral brushing could achieve a sensitivity of 74.2% and a specificity of 57.9%. A2143G mutation detection by LAMP-RFLP showed perfect consensus with Sanger sequencing results. It appears that the LAMP assay in combination with noninvasive and self-sampling as a point-of-care testing (POCT) approach has potential usefulness to detect H. pylori infection in clinic settings and screening programs.

Objective: Persistence of HPV infection is the true cause of cervical disorders. It is reported that competitionmay exist among HPV genotypes for colonization. This survey was designed to establish the multiple HPV genotypestatus in our community and the probability of multiple HPV infections involvement. Methods: All multiple HPVinfections were selected for investigation in women suffering from genital infections referred to private laboratoriesin Tehran, Iran. A total of 160 multi HPV positive specimens from cervical scraping were identified by the HPVgenotyping methods, “INNO-LiPA and Geno Array”. Result: In present study, HPV 6 (LR), 16 (HR), 53 (pHR), 31(HR) and 11 (LR) were included in 48.8% of detected infections as the most five dominant genotypes. HPV 16 wasdetected at the highest rate with genotypes 53, 31 and 52, while HPV 53 appeared linked with HPV 16, 51 and 56in concurrent infections. It appears that HPV 16 and 53 may have significant tendencies to associate with each otherrather than with other genotypes. Analysis of the data revealed there may be some synergistic interactions with a fewparticular genotypes such as “HPV 53”. Conclusion: Multiple HPV genotypes appear more likely to be linked withdevelopment of cervical abnormalities especially in patients with genital infections. Since, there are various patternsof dominant HPV genotypes in different regions of world, more investigations of this type should be performed forcareHPV programs in individual countries.