Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in males in many populations. Metformin is the most widely used anti-diabetic drug in the world, and there is increasing evidence of a potential efficacy of this agent as an anti-cancer drug. Metformin inhibits the proliferation of a range of cancer cells including prostate, colon, breast, ovarian, and glioma lines. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small, non- coding, single-stranded RNAs that downregulate gene expression. We aimed to evaluate the effects of metformin treatment on changes in miRNA expression in PC-3 cells, and possible associations with biological behaviour. Average cell viability and cytotoxic effects of metformin were investigated at 24 hour intervals for three days using the xCELLigence system. The IC50 dose of metformin in the PC-3 cells was found to be 5 mM. RNA samples were used for analysis using custom multi-species microarrays containing 1209 probes covering 1221 human mature microRNAs present in miRBase 16.0 database. Among the human miRNAs investigated by the arrays, 10 miRNAs were up-regulated and 12 miRNAs were down-regulated in the metformin-treated group as compared to the control group. In conclusion, expression changes in miRNAs of miR-146a, miR-100, miR-425, miR-193a-3p and, miR-106b in metformin-treated cells may be important. This study may emphasize a new role of metformin on the regulation of miRNAs in prostate cancer.

Down syndrome, which is the most common human chromosomal anomaly that can affect people of any race and age, can be diagnosed prenatally in most cases. Prenatal diagnosis via culture method is time-consuming; thus, genetic analysis has thus been introduced and is continually being developed for rapid prenatal diagnosis. For this reason, the effective use of microRNA profiling for the rapid analysis of prenatal amniotic fluid samples for the diagnosis of Down syndrome was investigated. To evaluate the expression levels of 14 microRNAs encoded by chromosome 21 in amniotic fluid samples and their utility for prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome. Case-control study. We performed invasive prenatal testing for 56 pregnant women; 23 carried fetuses with Down syndrome, and 33 carried fetuses with a normal karyotype. Advanced maternal age and increased risk for Down syndrome in the screening tests were indications for invasive prenatal testing. The age of gestation in the study and control groups ranged between 17 and 18 weeks. The expression levels of microRNA were measured by real-time polymerase chain reaction. The expression levels of microRNA-125b-2, microRNA-155, and microRNA-3156 were significantly higher in the study group than in the control group. The presence of significantly dysregulated microRNAs may be associated with either the phenotype or the result of abnormal development. Further large-scale comparative studies conducted in a variety of conditions may bring novel insights in the field of abnormal prenatal conditions.

Purpose Due to mass population movements driven by internal conflicts and wars, cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is becoming increasingly important in Turkey. This study is aimed at determining the...