Association of Interleukin 10 (IL-10) Gene Polymorphism (819T > C) with Susceptibility to Acute Myeloid Leukemia: A Meta-Analysis

Background: Studies reported an association between interleukin (IL)-10 -819T>C polymorphism and the risk of developing Acute myeloid leukemia (AML), however due to inconsistency among these results, relationship between IL-10 -819T>C polymorphism and AML remained unclear. We herein performed this meta-analysis to investigate the association of IL-10 -819T >C polymorphism with the risk of AML. Methods: A systematic search through PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Cochrane Library and OpenGrey was performed from inception to Jan 2021. Odds ratios (OR) with their corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI) for five possible genetic models were calculated. Heterogeneity was assessed using the Cochran Q test and the I2 statistic. A total of 404 AML cases and 635 healthy controls were included in our meta-analysis. Results: Our results indicated no statically significant association between IL-10 -819T>C polymorphism and the risk of developing AML; dominant model (OR=0.87, 95% CI=0.42–1.81); recessive model (OR=1.17, 95% CI = 0.43–3.16); allelic model (OR=1.00, 95% CI=0.54–1.88); CC vs. TT (OR=1.00,95% CI=0.30–3.36); and TC vs. TT (OR=0.80, 95%CI =0.46–1.37). Conclusion: IL-10 -819T > C polymorphism is not associated with the risk of AML. However further studies focusing on other parameters such as sex, gene-gene interactions and environmental factors are required to reveal the true association of IL-10 -819T > C polymorphism with AML.

What do (some of) our association measures measure (most)? Association?

This paper discusses the degree to which some of the most widely-used measures of association in corpus linguistics are not particularly valid in the sense of actually measuring association rather than some amalgam of a lot of frequency and a little association. The paper demonstrates these issues on the basis of hypothetical and actual corpus data and outlines implications of the findings. I then outline how to design an association measure that only measures association and show that its behavior supports the use of the log odds ratio as a true association-only measure but separately from frequency; in addition, this paper sets the stage for an analogous review of dispersion measures in corpus linguistics.

Neuraminidase Inhibitors During Pregnancy and Adverse Birth Outcomes: A Meta-Analysis

Neuraminidase inhibitors (NAIs) are commonly used to treat influenza and are also considered the potential treatment for COVID-19. The association of using NAIs during pregnancy with the risk of adverse birth defects has been investigated repeatedly by epidemiological studies; however, results are largely inconsistent. We herein performed this meta-analysis to investigate the true association of NAIs with adverse birth defects, including preterm birth (PTB), low birth weight (LBW), and small for gestational age (SGA). A systematic search was performed through PubMed, Scopus, and Embase to indentify all pertinent studies; The ORs with their corresponding 95% CIs were extracted or calculated. Heterogeneity was assessed using the Cochran Q test and the I2 statistic. A random-effect model was used for this meta-analysis due to existing heterogeneity. Overall, eight studies were included in our analysis, meta-analysis using a random-effect model showed that NAIs during pregnancy reduced the risk of LBW (OR=0.78, 95% CI=0.66–0.91) and SGA (OR=0.76, 95% CI=0.67–0.86) but is not associated with PTB (OR=1.01, 95% CI=0.87–1.16). Results of the present study suggested that NAIs during pregnancy are safe and may reduce the risk of LBW and SGA. However, further studies from different ethnic populations are warranted to confirm our results.

Ocular inflammatory diseases in children with familial Mediterranean fever: a true association or a coincidence?

Purpose: To describe the characteristics of patients with familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) concurrent with ocular inflammatory disease (OID) and to criticize possible relations between them.Methods: Clinical data were extracted from electronic medical records. Additionally, the medical literature on OIDs in FMF was reviewed.Results: Among 512 pediatric patients with FMF, five patients were found to have OIDs: bilateral chronic uveitis, recurrent orbital myositis (ROM), recurrent optic neuritis, and acquired Brown’s syndrome. The first cases of ROM and acquired Brown’s syndrome in FMF have been introduced in the literature. All patients presented with early-onset typical FMF attacks carried at least one M694V mutation and experienced OID while on colchicine. Conclusion: Increased frequency of OIDs in FMF as per the pediatric population and relapsing and chronic course of OIDs occasionally with concurrent FMF attacks suggest that this inflammatory syndrome especially those carrying M694V mutations may be a predisposing factor for OIDs.

Case Report of Postpartum Thyroid Nodule Size Reduction

Introduction: Thyroid nodules are very common. They occur more commonly in women with an increased prevalence of thyroid nodules reported in pregnancy. Most thyroid nodules diagnosed during pregnancy are benign. Pregnancy causes major physiological changes including changes in the levels of thyroid hormones and the elevation of thyroid binding globulin. Thyroid nodules may also occur in people with abnormal thyroid function tests manifesting as hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism. We present a unique case of a new diagnosis of a large thyroid nodule that has significantly decreased in size after 20 months postpartum. Case description: Patient is a 31 year old female with past medical history of anxiety and white coat hypertension who was diagnosed with a 3.3 x 2.3 x 2.1 cm thyroid nodule a month following delivery. Patient did not have any abnormalities in her thyroid function tests before, during, or after pregnancy. She remained euthyroid throughout the pregnancy and in the postpartum period. Fine needle aspiration biopsy of the nodule showed atypia of undetermined significance (Bethesda Category III). The specimen was further analyzed by afirma testing that confirmed benign pathology. Twenty months postpartum, the thyroid nodule significantly decreased in size to 1.9 x 1.4 x 1.2 cm. Conclusion: Thyroid hormone levels physiologically change during pregnancy and this may affect the growth of thyroid nodules. We just presented a patient who exhibited a significant decrease in the size of her thyroid nodule. Sahin et al. showed that while the size of the thyroid nodule increases during pregnancy the number of nodules remains unaffected. Kung et al. showed that pregnancy is associated with an increase in the size of preexisting thyroid nodules as well as the number of newly developed thyroid nodules. Vanucchi et al. showed that although the thyroid gland becomes larger, particularly in late pregnancy, the sizes of any preexisting thyroid nodules remained unchanged and patients’ thyroid gland size returned to normal after delivery. The current literature provides conflicting data on this topic. The true association between pregnancy and thyroid nodules is unknown. Contemporary literature is ambiguous on this topic and more scientific studies are required to find the true association between pregnancy, the formation of thyroid nodules, and increase in the size or number of thyroid nodules.