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Background & Objective: Gastric cancer is the 2nd cause of cancer mortality after lung cancer. Approximately 12% of all cancer death are due to gastric cancer. Tumorgenesis is thought to be a multistep process involving a series of genetic changes in oncogenes and suppressor genes. The most common cancer-related genetic change known in human tumors is P53 mutation, particularly in gastric cancer. This study was done to determine P53 gene mutations in gastric cancer. Materials & Methods: This study was performed on 44 biopsy from patients with gastric cancer during 2002 in 3 hospitals in Tehran. For determination of P53 gene mutations was performed PCR-SSCP methods. Results: The patients group comprised 31 males and 13 females (Average age, 60.8 years Ranging from 34 to 84 years). 36 cases (81.8%) intestinal type, 5 cases (11.4%) were diffuse type and 3 cases no defined. 44 gastric cancers of gastric tissues were screened for the mutations of P53 gene mutations in exons 5-8 using the PCR-SSCP analysis. After polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, 9 patients (20.5%) showed an apparent electrophoretic mobility shift between the cancer and other normal samples. One mutation in exon 5 (11.1%), 2 were detected in exon 6 (22.2%), 3 were found in exon 7 (33.3%) and 3 were detected in exon 8 (33.3%). The mutation rate was 7 of 36 (21.2%) in intestinal type and 2 of (40%) in diffuse type. No significant correlation between P53 gene mutations and age and genus was found. Conclusion: This investigation showed the rate P53 gene mutation (20.5%) in gastric cancer in our society.

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Background and Objective: The staging of gastrointestinal cancer has an important role in the treatment of tumor. This study was done to determine the efficacy of endosonography method for determining the stage and deepth of esophagus and stomach cancers. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive study, endosonographic staging was performed in 23 patients (15 male and 8 female) with esophagus and stomach cancers, confirmed with pathologic findings in Taleghani hospital, Tehran, Iran during 2002-04. The results of surgical staging compared to preoperative endosonographic method. Results: Mean age of 23 patients was 57.2 years (43-72 years). 30% and 70% of the patients had esophageal and gastric cancers, respectively. The accuracy of endosonographic staging of esophagus and stomach cancers was 82%. The accuracy of diagnosis, positive and negative predictive value of cancers in assessment of the depth of the tumor by endosonography procedure were 79.4%, 69.6% and 84.9%, respectively. Conclusion: Endosonography is a precise method for evaluating depth and staging of tumor and lymph node involvement.

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Background and Objective: Low back pain is a common musculoskeletal disorder. Core stability exercises have been recommended to improve neuromuscular skeletal system function in order to increase the protection of vertebral column and improve functional activities. This study was done to evaluate the effect of core stability and general exercise on functional activity in non- specific low back pain patients.

Methods: In this clinical trail study, sixty patients with chronic low back pain were randomly divided into general exercise (n=30) and core stability (n=30) groups. The protocol of intervention included 4 weeks (3 sessions in week) of designed exercise for each group. The functional activities were measured before and after intervention.

Results: Functional activity indicators were significantly increased in core stability exercise compared to general exercise (P<0.05).

Conclusion: Core stability exercise is more effective than general exercise to improve functional activities in patients with non-specific low back pain.

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Background and Objective: Various infections and the formation of stones could be the cause for bile duct obstruction of that sterile organ. Determination of pathogenesis factors and the bacteria involved in infections are important in the prevention of disease, and cares needed following surgery. This study was done to determine the bacteria in the gallbladder of patients with cholelithiasis and evaluation of pathogenic factors of the prevalent isolated bacteria.
Methods: In this descriptive laboratory study, 35 samples of gallbladder tissues which contained gallstones were collected under sterile conditions in “Department of General Surgery of Imam Khomeini Hospital”, Tehran, Iran during 2016. The stone types were analyzed and decomposed by chemical procedures, and the bacteria existed in the tissues were also identified using biochemical experiments. The tissues with negative results in microbiological studies were looked for any contaminating bacteria, applying the DNA extracted from gallbladder tissue as a template using F27 and R1492 as the primers for PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) amplification of 16SrRNA gene. Those with the positive results of microbiological tests were subjected to the DNA sequencing following gel purification and blasted against the NCBI gene database. The most frequently isolated bacteria were studied according to the intensity of biofilm formation, using the microtitre plate method. CsgF and Ag43 (Flu), the genes involved in the induction of such phenotype were also analyzed in this study. The antibiotic resistance assay of the isolates was performed using disc diffusion procedure.
Results: Thirteen out of thirty five samples of post-surgery gallbladder tissues were found to be infected by different bacteria, including: Klebsiella (3 cases), Escherichia coli (4 cases), Enterobacter (1 case), Staphylococcus aureus (2 cases), Enterococci (2 cases), and Streptococcus (1 case). In 23 out of 35 samples (65.7%), no bacteria could be isolated using microbiological methods. However, in seven out of 23 samples, the amplified 16SrRNA had an indication of Klebsiella (6 cases) and Enterococcus (1 case) isolates. Therefore, the most prevalent genus in gallbladder infections was Klebsiella (47.36%). Chemical analysis showed that the highly frequent compound of gallstones (98%) were of cholesterol and bilirubin. Escherichia coli with fourcases were the highest culture growing isolated bacteria, in all of which, the biofilm formation genes were present. In the two out of four Escherichia coli isolates the intensity of biofilm formation was high. Although, in the remaining two isolates was medium. While, they were found to be sensitive to the most of the antibiotics, they showed resistance to Tetracycline, Ciprofloxacin and Ceftazidime in different ranges.
Conclusion: The present study provided evidence that non-cultural bacteria are hihly present in gallbladder infections. The high potential of the commonly isolated bacteria in biofilm formation should be taken as a warning to follow the precise protocol of antibiotic prescription for treatment of gallbladder infections.