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  Background & Objectives :�Prematurity is still one of the main causes of neonatal mortality and morbidity that makes a lot of financial, psychosocial and emotional problems.

  Although the main cause of preterm labor is unknown but understanding of its risk factors is important for planning health policies for preventing and decreasing the rate of preterm labor. This study aimed to compare lifestyle of women with term and preterm delivery.

  Methods :�This research is a case-control study. Subjects of this study were 132 women with preterm labor and 264 women with term labor that referred to Educational and Medical Center of Alzzahra. The subjects were selected by convenience method and matched in age and educational level. Data were collected by questionnaire containing two sections, demographic characteristics and woman's lifestyle including,�nutrition, exercise, smoking and use of alcohol and substance abuse, social support, stress management and self care. Data were analyzed by SPSS with descriptive statistics and statistical tests of t Test, Man Witny U, χ 2 and Fisher's Exact Test.

  Results : The results of this study showed significant differences in nutrition, smoking, use of alcohol, substance abuse, social support, stress management and self care between two groups, but the mean score of exercise in term and preterm birth was not statistically significant.

  Conclusion: The findings of our study suggest that there is a relation between lifestyle in pregnancy and preterm birth. Lifestyle is changeable and achieving this aim is possible by efforts to increase health education .

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Background & objectives: Nuclear Factor kappa B (NF-κB), a master switch transcription factor, plays a critical role in the progression and development of hyperglycemia-induced microangiopathy. Hyperglycemia activates NF-κB, and subsequently increases pro-inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-1β leading to development of inflammation. Some new studies have revealed the involvement of microRNA-146a (miR-146a) in the pathogenesis of diabetic complications through an NF-κB-dependent negative feedback loop manner. Despite numerous reports indicating changes of plasma miR-146a during hyperglycemia, the origin of this change remains unclear. This study was designed to evaluate the role of NF-κB on the miR-146a gene expression level in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) during a hyperglycemic condition.
Methods: HUVECs were cultured in normal glucose (5 mmol/L), and hyperglycemic (25 mmol/L) endothelial cell growth medium in the six well plates for 24 h. JSH-23 (30 μmol/L), as an inhibitor of NF-κB translocation to the nucleus, was added to the culture medium, 30 min before induction of hyperglycemia. Quantitative Real Time PCR was performed to measure the expression levels of miR-146a and mRNA NF-κB. NF-κB activity was measured by Elisa.
Results: Hyperglycemia markedly increased the NF-κB activity and mRNA level in HUVECs. The expression of miR-146a significantly increased in hyperglycemic group compared to the normoglycemic group. On the other hand, JSH-23 prevented from miR-146a increment in hyperglycemic group and also it increased the mRNA expression level of NF-κB in this group.
Conclusion: This result shows that NF-κB increases the gene expression of miRNA-146a in the early phase of hyperglycemia in HUVECs.
 

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Background & objectives: Mucopolysaccharidosis IVA (Morquio syndrome type A) is a lysosomal storage disorder caused by a mutation in the GALNS gene located on chromosome 16q24.3 and is inherited in an autosomal recessive manner. To date, more than 300 different mutations associated with MPS IVA, have been reported. Mutational heterogeneity can lead to difficulties in interpretation of molecular testing results, as novel mutations/variants of unknown significance may be detected relatively frequently. The purpose of this study is to analyze the GALNS mutations in Iranian MPS IVA patients.
Methods: Mutation screening of the GALNS gene was performed using direct sequence analysis on DNA samples from 8 unrelated Iranian MPS IVA patients.
Results: We have identified three novels and four previously reported mutations in 8 Iranian patients. We identified three novel missense mutations including: c.680T>C (p.F227S) in exon 7, c.G949C (p.G317R) and c.956G>C (p.R319T) in exon 9 in three different Iranian MPS IVA patients.  Bioinformatics analysis predicted the novel mutations as being disease-causing.
Conclusion: Our findings indicate the molecular heterogeneity of GALNS gene in Iranian patients. We also managed to find three new mutations of MPS IVA in Iranian patients, which are helpful in diagnosis, genetic counseling and prenatal diagnosis in affected families