Background and Objective: Non-specific granulomatous prostatitis is an uncommon diffuse inflammatory condition of the prostate. It is important because it may be mistaken for prostatic carcinoma. The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of non-specific granulomatous prostatitis (NSGP) and comparing the results of transrectal ultrasonography, serum prostate specific antigen (PSA) and free prostate specific antigen levels, digital rectal exam (DRE) in NSGP with the prostate carcinoma and benign prostate hyperplasia.Materials and Methods: During a cross-sectional study, the prostate needle biopsy cases with the granulomatosts prostatitis diagnosis that had been referred to one of the largest pathology centers (1 year: 2006) were found and their clinical files were revised from the point of DRE, transrectal ultrasonography (TRUS), fPSA, and PSA. Some clinical and pathology findings such as age, microscopic findings, sonography information and experimental findings that had been necessary for the study were gathered and analyzed using SPSS software.Results: Out of 783 needle biopsies of prostate, 8 (1.02%) cases were non-specific granulomatous prostatitis. The age range of patients was 55-76 years (with a mean of 66.1 years). Mean of PSA level was 19.45 ng/ml and fPSA level was 0.7 ng/ml. In 2 patients, TRUS showed focal hypoechoic areas and in other 2 of these DRE revealed asymmetry and mild nodularity.Conclusion: There is no pattern of clinical, biochemical or ultrasound findings that allows a specific diagnosis of granulomatous prostatitis to be made or differentiate it from prostatic carcinoma and the biopsy is still necessary for the certain disease diagnosis.

Objective: In human, early oocyte DIFFERENTIATION occurs during fetal life. But in mice, it takes place in early postnatal period, providing a valuable model for investigating the effect of different factors on oocyte DIFFERENTIATION. It is thought that estrogen may have a role on early oocyte development and therefore the aim of the present study is to evaluate the effect of tamoxifen on early oocyte DIFFERENTIATION and follicular development in mice.Materials and Methods: In this study 30 adult female and 15 adult male mice are used. Two female mice at their sterous cycle were housed in a cage for mating. Observation of vaginal plaque was considered as the first day of pregnancy and the mice on the 13th day of pregnancy received 100 micro gram tamoxifen as ip injection. After delivery, the 2, 3, 6 and 7 days old pups were sacrificed and their ovaries removed and fixed and prepared for light and electron microscopy. Ultrastructural morphology of differentiating oocytes was studied and the number of oocyte nests and diameter of primordial and primary follicles were determined.Results: Microscopy showed that oocyte nests were formed on 2-3 day old pups and follicles were distinguished on 6 and 7 days. Morphometric studies revealed that the number and diameter of oocyte nests were significantly reduced in experimental group, in comparison to control group (p<0.001). However, the number and diameter of primordial and primary follicles were similar in both groups. Electron microscopic studies revealed that in control group oocytes were separated from each other and were mainly in the form of primordial follicles. However, in the experimental group, they mainly were in the form of oocyte nests.Conclusion: The results indicate that tamoxifen suppresses oocyte DIFFERENTIATION at early stages but does not affect the development of already differentiated follicles.

Objective:It has been reported that P19 embryonal carcinoma (EC) cells differentiate into beating cardiomyocytes under the action of oxytocin (OT). It has been suggested that dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) acts via the oxytocin/oxytocin receptor pathway because an oxytocin receptor antagonist not only blocks oxytocin-induced cardiomyocyte DIFFERENTIATION, but also blocks DMSO-induced DIFFERENTIATION. In this study, the DIFFERENTIATION ability of OT was tested using P19CL6 cells.Materials and Methods: P19CL6 cells were cultured as a confluent monolayer and aggregated cells. OT was then added to culture media as an inducing agent. The cells treated with 1% DMSO were used as a positive control group. Differentiated cells were evaluated morphologically and immunocytochemically, as well as by RT-PCR. In addition, a stable line of green fluorescent protein (GFP)-expressing P19CL6 cells were differentiated into beating cardiomyocytes by OT.Results: Aggregated P19CL6 cells could be differentiated into cardiomyocytes, whereas monolayer cells could not differentiate and express specific cardiac muscle marker genes. In the control group, both aggregates and monolayer cells could be differentiated into cardiomyocytes by DMSO. In addition, GFP-expressing P19CL6 cells differentiated efficiently into beating cardiomyocytes when treated with OT. The results of all evaluations confirmed that the differentiated cells were cardiomyocytes.Conclusion: We concluded that embryoid body formation (cell aggregation) is necessary for the DIFFERENTIATION of P19CL6 cells into cardiomyocytes when using OT as an inducer agent. Furthermore, because of the high rate of DIFFERENTIATION efficiency, GFP-expressing cardiomyocytes derived from P19CL6 cells have the potential to be used for regenerative therapies in experimental models.

Background: MicroRNAs are endogenous non-coding RNAs with important regulatory and cell fate functions. Many studies have shown that several microRNAs are obviously up-regulated during stem cell DIFFERENTIATION. The question rises here is weather inhibiting DIFFERENTIATION will affect the stemness and self renewal status of stem cells.Methods: miRCURY ™LNA microRNA inhibitor (anti-miR-145 and anti-let7g) are a sequence-specific and chemically modified oligonucleotide that specifically target and knockdown miR-145 and let7g miRNA molecules. Unrestricted somatic stem cells (USSCs) were isolated from umbilical cord blood and treated with LNAs. The effect of anti-miRNA transfection was assessed by quantitative real-time PCR.Results: Real-time PCR showed that LNA was efficiently introduced into the cells and reduced miR145 and Let7g expression levels to 40% and 10% in relation to corresponding scramble control, respectively. Gene expression analysis as to self renewal and expansion showed more than 3.5 fold up regulation in Oct4 in cells treated with mir145 inhibition. Similarly a significant up to 2.5 fold up-regulation in Oct4 and cMyc expression was observed in samples treated with anti-let7g.Conclusion: Suppression in DIFFERENTIATION inducing microRNAs (miR-145 and let7g) can enhance the self renewal and stemness status of USSCs at transcriptional level.