Zahra Hosseini

Epigenetic marks in estrogen receptor alpha CpG island correlate with some reproductive risk factors in breast cancer.

Reproductive backgrounds, such as age at menarche and menopause, age of first full-term pregnancy (FFTP), number of full-term deliveries and oral contraceptive use are main hormone-related risk factors of breast cancer. It seems that the mentioned factors may affect the risk of breast cancer by enhancing the duration of exposure to estrogen as a potent carcinogen for breast tissue, but the molecular mechanism which links each risk factor to breast cancer is unclear. Estrogen mainly works via its nuclear receptor (ERα). As epigenetic alterations such as CpG methylation are potential links between endogenous or exogenous exposures and genome, we hypothesized that hormone-related risk factors may correlate with the epigenetic marks of the ERα promoter in breast tumors. In the present study, the CpG methylation status of the ERα gene in 99 samples of breast tumors belonged to women with different reproductive histories was evaluated. The reproductive history data were collected from patients. ERα CpG methylation was investigated by methylation specific PCR in DNA samples were obtained from the breast tumors. We could show that some of the hormone-related risk factors (early FFTP and increased number of pregnancies) were inversely correlated with epigenetic marks in ERα gene in breast tumors. Other hormone-related risk factors such as age of menarche and menopause and oral contraceptive use did not show any association with ERα methylation. It seems that pregnancy-related risk factors in comparison with other hormone-related factors work via different mechanism. As ERα methylation is a poor prognosis marker in breast tumors, its association with some modifiable reproductive risk factors (FFTP age and numbers of pregnancies) reiterates the importance of programming reproductive life style not only for prevention of breast cancer but also in favoring the prognosis of the affected women. The exact molecular mechanisms of the observed correlation need more investigation in the future.

Adherence to HIV/AIDS antiretroviral therapy among drug users: A qualitative study in Iran

Background: The introduction of antiretroviral therapy has caused a remarkable decrease in the occurrence of diseases and mortality among HIV-positive patients, while this success has not been achieved among injection addicts due to a low adherence to antiretroviral medicine. This study aims at clarifying the important factors affecting adherence to treatment in addicts suffering from HIV. Materials and Methods: In this qualitative research, data were gathered through in-depth interviews and field notes, and were interpreted through content analysis in the form of constant comparison. The participants were 16 drug addicts living with HIV/AIDS. Most of them had records of imprisonment and were receiving Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) drug treatments in the AIDS center of Imam Khomeini Hospital complex, affiliated to Tehran University of Medical Sciences. Sampling was started in a purposive method and was continued until data were saturated. Results: Four main categories including psychological reactions, contradictory beliefs, perceived support, and individual and environmental barriers were extracted from the data, each having some sub-categories. Conclusions: The obtained results indicated that adherence to the treatment of HIV is not constant and mono-dimensional, but is a function of different factors. Hence, an individual having feeble adherence in a specific time and under specific circumstances may show desirable adherence under a different circumstance. Thus, treatment of addicts living with HIV/AIDS requires physical, psychological, and social attention along with drug treatments.

Risky behaviors of taxi drivers in Bandar Abbas, Iran

Background and aim It has been revealed that taxi drivers break more traffic rules than ordinary drivers. Such risky behaviors include stopping at prohibited areas and sudden change of direction. The present study aimed to determine the Risky Behaviors of Taxi Drivers in Bandar Abbas, Iran Methods In this cross-sectional study, 184 taxi drivers were randomly selected from eight taxi stations located at different parts of Bandar Abbas city in 2016. Taxi drivers’ risky behaviors were evaluated via a 20-item questionnaire. Data were analyzed by SPSS version 19, using descriptive statistics and independent-samples t-test. The p-values less than 0.05 were considered as statistically significant. Results The mean age of the drivers was 45.1 (±11.1) years. The mean of their occupational experience was 18.7 (±10.8) years. The risky behaviors which showed the highest frequency were respectively, failure to use signal-lights, driving too close to the cars in front, refusing to drive within the lanes and erratic lane changing. The lowest frequency belonged to running a red light, ignoring ‘no entry’ signs and taking illegal U-turns. Risky driving behaviors were shown to be significantly more prevalent among drivers with previous experience of crashes or tickets than drivers with no such experiences (p<0.01). Conclusion Increasing the role of police supervision for the strict implementation of driving laws, and modification of the drivers’ behavior and implementation of periodic training programs on drivers’ safety issues can be considered for reducing taxi drivers’ unsafe behaviors.