Pars Journal of Medical Sciences
Year:2019 | Volume:17 | Issue:2|Papers Count:7

Introduction: The relationship between iron status and risk of atherosclerosis in beta-thalassemia patients has been shown previously. In this case-control study, common carotid artery intima-media thickness (CIMT) was compared among beta-thalassemia major, intermedia, minor and healthy individuals. Materials and Methods and Materials: In this, case-control study, 27 beta-thalassemia major patients, 27 beta-thalassemia intermedia, and 27 beta-thalassemia minor (age: 19-28 years) with similar sex ratio were investigated in Jahrom, Fars province, Southern Iran. Exclusion criteria were diabetes, hypertension, obesity, thyroid dysfunction and smoking. In addition, 27 sex-matched healthy controls with the same age range were randomly selected from individuals referred to the out-patient clinic. Results: Serum cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) were significantly lower in patients with beta-thalassemia major and intermedia in comparison with betathalassemia minor and healthy control (P<0. 001). In all thalassemia groups CIMT were significantly higher in comparison with healthy individuals (P<0. 001). These results were similar after removal of confounding effect of other variables including serum ferritin levels, cholesterol, LDL, HDL, and age. Conclusion: It seems regardless of other relative risk factors of atherosclerosis, being beta-thalassemia is an influential determinant on the occurrence of atherosclerosis. Maybe some molecular and genetic factors can influence the occurrence of atherosclerosis in these patients that needs further larger combined clinical and basic studies.

Introduction: Adiponectin hormone is involved in modulating metabolic processes such as glucose regulation and fatty acid catabolism. Several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the transcription region of the gene and its sequences have been identified in different populations that are associated with the prevalence of various diseases. The aim of this study was to determine frequency of G276T polymorphism in breast cancer patients and its comparing in subjects without breast cancer. Material and Methods: 128 individuals with breast cancer and 128 healthy people were selected after the approval of a specialist physician. After blood collection and DNA extraction, all specimens were amplified with specific primers, then part of them was cut with Mva1269I enzyme and the genotypes of individuals were determined. The results were analyzed using IBM SPSS version 23 software by chi-square and logistic regression tests. Results: The two groups did not have a significant difference for mean age and body mass index. GT genotype was significantly different between the two groups and increased the risk of breast cancer by 1. 86 folds in their carriers. None of the genotypes had any relationship with histopathological changes. Conclusion: The T mutant allele at G276T position of adiponectin had a decreasing effect on breast cancer, indicating that this result needs to be investigated in different populations with a larger sample size for confirmation.

Introduction: Today, the use of natural ingredients in the food industry is one of important considerations in biotechnology. Medlar is one of herbs that its therapeutic effects has been considered from the past years. The aim of this study was to determine of the antibacterial effects of methanolic extract of medlar leaves against some of foodborne pathogenic bacteria in vitro. Material and Methods: In this in vitro study, the fresh leaves of the Medlar were collected from the Lalam village. Soxhlet method was used to preparation of the medlar leaf extract. Disk diffusion method was used to evaluate of the antibacterial effect and broth micro-dilution method was used to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC). Results: The maximum antibacterial activity of this extract was against Staphylococcus aureus that inhibitory zone diameter around it was 31. 83 millimeters. MIC for all tested bacteria except Pseudomonas aeruginosa was 62. 5 mg/ml and MBC value of the leaves extract was variable from 62. 5 to 500 mg/ml. Conclusion: Methanolic extract of medlar leaves has a strong antibacterial effect on both gram positive and gram negative foodborne pathogenic bacteria, therefore this extract probably can be considered as a natural herbal ingredient in the form of antimicrobial or food preservative agent.

Introduction: Renal complications is considered as important cause of mortality in diabetic patients. This study investigated the effect of hydroalcoholic extract of C. monogyna on renal histopathological changes in diabetic rats. Material and Methods: In this experimental study 40 male Wistar rats were divided into 5 groups (n= 8) including control (receiving normal saline), diabetic (receiving streptozotocin), treatment groups (receiving STZ and Crataegus monogyna (C. monogyna) extract at 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg). Treatments with drug and extract were performed 72 hours after intra-peritoneal injection of a single-dose of STZ (60 mg/kg). Glucose, urea and ceratinine in serum were meseared and then kidney tissue was removed under deep anesthesia and used for histopathological studies. Results: The amount of glucose increased on day 21 after treatment with extract C. monogyna and the level of urea in all treatment groups with extract increased compared to diabetic group. The dose of 100 and 400 mg / kg of extract reduced the creatinine level significantly compared to the diabetic group. In the diabetic group, complete destruction of the renal tissue in cortex and complete degeneration and 100% necrosis of the nephrons were observed. In diabetic rats treated with C. monogyna extract, kidney tissue was normal and no renal bleeding and necrosis were observed, and kidney cysts were normal. Conclusion: C. monogyna extract was effective in preventing renal tissue damage due to diabetes.

Introduction: Improving the metabolism of skeletal muscle is one of the important mechanisms for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on gene expression of the factors involved in the skeletal muscle metabolism of diabetic rats. Material and Methods: To implementation of this experimental research, 48 male Wistar rats weighing 220 ± 20 gr randomly were divided into 4 groups including control, diabetes, training and diabetes-training. In this study, the rats become diabetes type 2 using peritoneal injection nicotinamide-STZ. High-intensity interval training performed with intensity of 80-85% VO2max, 5 days a week and for 8 weeks. The expression of GLUT4 and PGC-1α genes were measured by Real Time PCR. Data were analyzed by One-way ANOVA and Tukey post hoc test at the P<0. 05. Results: The results showed a significant difference between the mean expression of GLUT4 and PGC-1α of skeletal muscle in diabetic rats in different groups (P< 0. 001). The changes in the expression of GLUT4 and PGC-1α of the skeletal muscle in the diabetes group were significantly lower than the control group (P=0. 036). High-intensity interval training significantly caused higher the expression of GLUT4 and PGC-1α (P< 0. 001). Conclusion: According to the findings of the present study, high-intensity interval training can help to improve cellular energy levels during diabetes as a result of increasing the expression of PGC-1α and GLUT4 in skeletal muscle.

Introduction: The liver is an organ at risk in radiotherapy of thoracic and abdominal tumors. In this study was investigated the alteration in liver functional tests during radiotherapy with gallium 67 and iodine 131. Materials & Methods: Sixty male Wistar rats were divided into 3 groups: the control without treatment, the experimental groups 1 and 2 received 0. 1Mci 131 iodine through oral gavage 0. 3Mci 67Gallium with intraperitoneal injection respectively. 48 hours after injection or oral gavage, the level of serum aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase and albumin were checked. Results: The results showed that level of serum aspartate aminotransferase in 131 iodine group and alanine aminotransferase and albumin significant increase in 131 iodine and 67Gallium than control group. Conclusion: Regarding liver sensitivity during radiation therapy and elevated serum levels of these enzymes, liver function tests may be useful as biomarkers for the detection of radiotherapy effects.

Introduction: Background: Neff regulatory protein as well as structural proteins such as MPER and V3 of HIV-1 is important targets in vaccine studies. Therefore, in the current study, the Nef-MPER-V3 fusion protein was cloned and expressed in prokaryotic expression system that will be evaluated as a candidate for future vaccine studies. Materials and Methods: The Nef-MPER-V3 sequence was synthesized and inserted into pET-28a(+) vector using Not I/HindIII enzymes. Then, the recombinant construct was expressed in BL21 (DE3) strain of E. coli. For optimization of protein expression, several factors such as time of induction, IPTG concentration and optical density (OD) were evaluated. The recombinant protein was purified on a Ni-NTA agarose column and analyzed by 12% SDS-PAGE. Finally, the fusion protein was confirmed by western blotting. Results: The target gene was successfully cloned into the recombinant vector. The best condition for the expression such as; 2 m IPTG, OD600 = 0. 7 and growth 5 hours post-induction were determined and the recombinant protein was purified by affinity chromatography in denaturing condition with urea at a concentration of about 300 µ g/ ml. The purified fusion protein migrated as a clear band of around 35 kDa in SDS-PAGE and was detectable using anti-Neff antibody in western blotting. Conclusion: Our results showed that the Nef-MPER-V3 protein was successfully expressed in prokaryotic system and purified protein may provide the antigen for future experiments for immunogenicity evaluation in mice is currently undertaken.