Koomesh
Year:2013 | Volume:14 | Issue:2 (46)|Papers Count:19

Multiple sclerosis (MS), an inflammatory disorder of central nervous system (CNS), is the most common cause of neurological disability especially in young adults. The disorder results from interplay between unidentified genetic and environmental factors. In MS, cells of immune system attack myelin, progressive loss of certain body function and physical ability occur. In severe cases, the progression of disease leads to permanent damage. The auto-reactive peripheral CD4+T cells recognize auto-antigen within CNS parenchyma and polarize toward Th1 phenotype. Activated Th1 cells cause myelin disruption and release of new potential CNS auto- antigen. Pro-inflammatory cytokines such as interferon-g, TNF-a and chemokines which is secreted by Th1 cells induce additional unspecific inflammatory cells and specific anti myelin antibody-forming B cells that amplify tissue injury. Finally, the apoptotic death of the T cells or conversion of the T cells toward Th2 phenotype positively modulates the outcome of the lesions in CNS.Clinical manifestation of the disease is classified in three types, primary: direct damage (weakness, tremors, tingling, etc); secondary: result of primary (paralysis lead to bedsores and bladder/urinary incontinence problems); tertiary: social, psychological and vocational complication (depression is very common).The aims of treatment are: reduction of sickness attack (by corticosteroid, interferon beta 1b and 1a, glatriamer acetate, natalizumab, etc) and reduction of the disorder. The prospect of the potential tools to prevent MS is tempting, yet challenging to investigate studies about roll of vitamin D in reduction of development of disease. Intensive research on MS provides a promising prospective of the disease management in the future.

Introduction: Neurotrophic factors play an important role in differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) into dopaminergic neurons. The objective of this work was to determine the expression of brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), nerve growth factor (NGF), ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF), glial cell derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), NT3 and NT5 and dopaminergic genes such as tyrosine hydroxylase in MSCs before and after dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) induction. The aim of this study was to evaluate the differentiation of MSCs induced by DMSO.Materials and Methods: MSCs obtained from the femur and tibia of adult rats were cultured in a-MEM mediums supplemented with serum. Fourth passage of MSCs were cultured in two different types of medium: 1-a-MEM containing 10% serum as control group (untreated cells) and 2- a-MEM containing 2% DMSO as treated cells. Identification and determination of the purity of MSCs were examined by immunocytochemistry staining. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to study mentioned genes expression of the MSCs.Results: These results represented that MSCs were immunopositive for alkaline phosphatase, antifibronectine and anti- CD90. In addition the semiquantative study of PCR method showed that some neurotrophic factors (BDNF, NGF, CNTF, GDNF) expression in the untreated MSCs increased significantly compared with that of DMSO-treated group (P<0.05).Conclusion: MSCs play an important role in the treatment of Parkinson's disease by expression of neurotrophic factors and some dopaminergic genes.

Introduction: Saccharomyces cerevisiae has 20 genes that encode hexose transporter proteins including HXT1 to HXT17, GAL2, SNF3 and RGT2. Among these gene families, seven genes (HXT1-HXT7) have important role in alcohol production. The aim of this study was the identification and isolation of HXT2 gene from Saccharomyces cerevisiae genome by PCR technique and cloning into vector containing suitable expression promoter in order to design expression vector as a basis to produce recombinant yeast by transformation.Materials and Methods: After designing specific oligonucleotides primers, fragment gene amplified by PCR. Gene HXT2 inserted into pTZ57R vector by restriction enzymes EcoRI and HindIII and T4 ligase.After transformation of pTZ57R/THXT2 into E.coli, plasmid recombinant analysis considered. The final further analysis by restriction enzymes digestion and software were evaluated.Results: HXT2 gene isolated from pTZ57R/THXT2 has correct size in agarose gel electrophoresis.Electrophoresis analysis showed that this gene has correct size on agarose gel. Software study showed that this gene encode proteins with 59.84 KDa molecular weight having 541 amino acids with isoelectric point 8.3.Conclusion: HXT2 gene by PCR optimization from saccharomyces cerevisiae was isolated and cloned into prokaryotic host. This is the first report of isolation and cloning of this gene by using genetic engineering technique in IRAN that can be used for cloning into suitable expression vector to improve alcohol fermentation yield.

Introduction: Several investigations have been conducted on the effects of Islamic Ramadan fasting on blood glucose levels and lipid profile of type two diabetic subjects. However, this matter remained to be controversial. This study was designed to investigate the effect of Ramadan fasting and structured SMBG on blood glucose control in this group of subjects.Materials and Methods: Forty type two diabetic subjects on oral agent were selected. These subjects were randomly divided into two equal groups and matched based on their age and sex. Group A monitored their blood glucose level using structured SMBG method and group B monitored their blood glucose level in a traditional way. Fructosamine level, total cholesterol, LDL, HDL and TG were measured in all subjects before and after Ramadan.Results: Fructosamine level raised from 363 (±53.55) to 400.29 (±73.25) (P<0.003) in group A and from 388.52 (±61.89) to 411.10 (±68.37) (P<0.04) in group B. Total chol, LDL and TG levels were increased and HDL level was decreased in both groups; however, these changes were not statistically significant.Conclusion: Poor metabolic control despite structured SMBG method is observed in this study. This might be due to have high caloric diet and less physical activity during Ramadan in order to prevent hypoglycemic attacks.

Introduction: Schizophrenia is a serious mental illness usually accompany with memory impairment that leads to difficulty in independent living function. Some type of memory dysfunction could be treated by training; therefore this study was carried out with the aim of assessing the effect of musical activities on the memory of patients with schizophrenia.Materials and Methods: 56 patients, who were members of Iranian Association of Patients with Schizophrenia, randomly divided into two groups of 30 intervention groups and 26 control groups. The experimental group took part in 24 music therapy sessions. Memory scores were gathered using Wexler memory test and backward counting test board in the pretest and post test stages.Results: There was a significance difference in Post-test of Wexler memory test in both experimental and control groups. In control group, there was a slight increase in memory scores (P= 0.002), however, this increase was greater in the intervention group (P=0.0001). There was no significant difference between groups in post tests (P=0.53 in Wexler scale and P=0.83 in reversal counting test). Also, there was a significant decrease in backward counting test board score in the pretest and post test stages in experimental (P=0.002), but not control group (P=0.18).Conclusion: Adjusted musical stimuli can enhance memory in patients with schizophrenia if alternative factors are controlled.

Introduction: The integration of reflexology as one of the non-pharmacological pain relief methods in to midwifery care has become more common in recent years. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of reflexology on pain intensity and the duration of labor in primiparous.Materials and Methods: This clinical trial study was carried out on 80 primiparous women with low risk pregnancy that referring to Karaj hospitals (Iran) then randomized in two groups, intervention group which received reflexology for 40 minutes and control group. Severity of labor pain was shown by visual analogue scale (McGill questionnaire), before, half, one and two hours after intervention. Moreover, the duration of labor was determined for both groups.Results: Severity of labor pain before and immediately after intervention foot reflexology did not vary between case and control groups (p>0.05). But half, one and two hours after it, severity of labor pain in the intervention group was lower than the control group (P<0.001). Duration of labor in the intervention group significantly was lower than the control group (P<0.001).Conclusion: Reflexology can lead to decrease in labor pain as well as duration of labor. Therefore, we can use this non-invasive technique to decrease the labor pain and encourage mothers to normal vaginal delivery that is one of the aims of midwifery.

Introduction: In recent years, the increase in obesity worldwide has drawn more attention to its undesirable effects on the people’s physical and psychological health. Studies done on the subject have produced contradictory results on the relation between obesity and self-esteem. The reason could be that individuals with higher self-esteem may have chosen a better lifestyle because they had a higher respect for themselves. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between self-esteem and BMI and some lifestyle factors in employed women.Materials and Methods: This was a case–control study conducted on 125 obese women 25-45 years of age, with BMI≥30 and 125 non- obese employed women from affiliated hospitals of Tehran University of Medical Sciences. Dietary intake and physical activity, as components of lifestyle, were assessed by semiquantitative and MET questionnaires, respectively. Self-esteem was assessed by Rosenberg questionnaire.Results: There was a significant difference between the two groups in level of education, economic status, physical activity (p<0.05) and self-esteem (p<0.001). Total energy intake and percentage of energy intake from fat were significantly different between the two groups (p<0.05).Conclusion: Self-esteem was higher in non-obese women. Women with higher self-esteem had a better lifestyle. Attention to psychological aspect of obesity is important in any health promotion program.

Introduction: Exercise and physical activity improve obesity and its complications via affecting on hormones regulating energy homeostasis and metabolism. This study examined the influence of moderateintensity endurance training on serum levels of leptin, cortisol, testosterone, growth hormone and insulin Resistance Index (HOMA-IR) in sedentary obese men.Materials and Methods: 20 sedentary obese men (BMI≥30) in two experimental and control groups participated in 16 weeks of moderate- intensity endurance training (60-70% of reserve heart rate), three days per week. Serum levels of leptin, cortisol, testosterone, growth hormone and insulin, and anthropometric indices were measured before and after the last training session.Results: Although 16 weeks of moderate- intensity endurance training significantly decreased leptin level (P=0.003) and increased cortisol (P=0.009) and growth hormone (P=0.040) levels, but no significant changes was observed in testosterone and insulin concentrations, and insulin resistance index in training group (P>0.05). Pearson correlation did not mentioned significant correlations between the primary level of leptin and primary values of anthropometric indices and HOMA-IR (P>0.05). However following the intervention, there were significant correlations between changes in leptin concentrations and changes in weight, BMI, waist circumference and WHR (P<0.05).Conclusion: Moderate- intensity endurance training improves body composition and changes leptin, cortisol and growth hormone concentration; and therefore ameliorates metabolic hormonal profile in obese men. However, these changes may not be in the line with changes in insulin and testosterone.

Introduction: Effects of stress on changes in neural system activity is well defined, which might be because of the changes in brain cortex architecture. In the present study, the effects of maternal noise stress on the morphological and functional changes in brain cortex of off springs of NMRI mice were examined.Materials and Methods: Female pregnant mice divided into two groups. Control group was maintained in their home cages without any invasion but the experimental group was exposed to the noise stress (80 db for 5 min/day) from day zero of pregnancy to day 14 (i.e.15 days). After delivery, six pups from each group were killed and their brains were fixed, sectioned and stained in H& E. These sections were investigated by MOTIC software for both control and experimental groups. Other pups were nursed by their mothers until their adolescence (22 g-8 weeks old). Then they were examined for behavioral side-biased and locomotor activity tests.Results: Decrease in cortex diameter and diameter of each layer for the experimental group was observed. In addition, neuron counting in each layer indicated that the number of the neurons in the middle and outer layers of cortex for the experimental group was reduced than the control group. In contrast, the number of the neurons in the inner layer of the experimental group was increased. From the functional view, in experimental group increases in left-handness especially in female off springs were observed.Furthermore, spontaneous locomotor activity in the new environment was increased in the experimental group.Conclusion: These results indicated that neuronal immigration and network connections in the inner layer of cortex through the middle and outer layers in the experimental group were inhibited. In other word, noise stress was able to inhibit brain cortex development in next generation.

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to assess the validity and reliability of the second edition of test of gross motor development (TGMD-2; Ulrich) in 7-11 aged children of Semnan province, Iran.Materials and Methods: TGMD-2 measures 12 fundamental movement skills divided evenly into locomotor and object control subtests.1277 children (651 girls and 626 boys) aged from seven to eleven years were participated.Results: Cronbach's alpha coefficients for the two subtests were ranged from 0.60 to 0.78, and test-retest reliability was from 0.86 to 0.89. Two-factor structure of TGMD-2 and proper assignment of skills to locomotor and object control factors were supported for our population.Conclusion: Based on our findings, we conclude that the TGMD-2 is an appropriate tool to examine the gross motor skills in this population.

Introduction: In the presence of competing risks, using of cumulative incidence function is important from the health economic evaluation point of view. This study aimed to use this function for determining the risk factors of competing events of colon and rectal cancers in metastatic patients.Materials and Methods: In this survival study, data including age at diagnosis, sex, marital status, Body Mass Index (BMI), morphology of cancer, tumor size, tumor grade and pathological stage were gathered from the Research Center for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Shaheed Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran for 94 metastatic colorectal cancer patients. Using a regression model based on the cumulative incidence function, parameters and tests of significance were obtained utilizing the R 2.13.1 software.Results: Five-year survival for metastatic patients with colon and rectal cancer, were 46.79% and 65.58% respectively, and the cumulative incidences were computed as.8 and 1.0 during a 100 months period, respectively. In the univariate and multivariate model, marital status in patients with colon cancer and in the univariate model, BMI and morphology were significant risk factors for rectal cancer.Conclusion: Using of modeling based on cumulative incidence function is recommended as a model to study the risk factor of colon and rectal cancers due to its optimal characteristics.

Introduction: Extensive evidence documents arousal modulation of declarative memory in humans.However, little is known about the arousal modulation of implicit motor memory. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a post-acquisition acute exercise stress on implicit motor memory consolidation.Materials and Methods: Forty healthy subjects were randomly divided into stress (10 men and 10 woman) and non- stress (10 men and 10 woman) groups. Experiment consisted of two phases of acquisition and retention. Serial Color matching (SCM) task was used for this study. In acquisition period, all groups practiced the task for six blocks of 150 trials. Following, the stress group performed exercise on a treadmill until the moment of exhaustion while the non stress group did rest. In retention, all groups practiced the SCM task in one block. During the experiment the trends of saliva cortisol changes were measured.Results: Acute exercise stress leads to a significant increase in salivary cortisol level. While the nonstress group did not show enhancement of SCRT learning across the 24 hours delay interval, the stress group showed substantial enhancement across the same time (P<0.05).Conclusion: Our findings indicate that acute stress after acquisition can facilitate the implicit motor memory consolidation.

Introduction: Skilled and motivated workforce is the most important asset of any organization. The progress of any society depends on the protection and proper utilization of human resources and the academic elite. This study was designed to investigate the job satisfaction rate and its related factors on the faculty members of Semnan University of Medical Sciences (SUMS) in Iran.Materials and Methods: This study was conducted in 2012 in SUMS.83 faculty members of SUMS participated in this study. Job satisfaction questionnaire Smith, Kendall and Hulin demographic questionnaires were used for data collection.Results: The results showed that the participants expressed their job satisfaction as 15.7% with low satisfaction, 66.2% with moderate satisfaction and 18.1% with high satisfaction. The highest levels of job satisfaction have been in the nature of work and the lowest were in the job satisfaction rights and benefits.There was no significant difference in the areas of job satisfaction between men and women, degrees, and academic degrees. The option of "The pleasure of teaching and work in University and serving the scientific community" has had the highest level of satisfaction. Lack of encouragement and appropriate feedback system has been reported as a reason of the lowest satisfaction.Conclusion: The findings show that a proper evaluation system that leads to timely feedback of performance of faculty member is necessary. The activation of "Office of Industrial Relations" is a useful step in more community usage of faculty member empowering and enhancing their job satisfaction.

Introduction: Multiple sclerosis is a chronic central nervous system disease that affected all the aspects of life of patient, family and community. The importance of empowering programs has been increased with changed care approach from hospital to community. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of family- center empowerment model on the perceived satisfaction and self concept of the caregivers of multiple sclerosis patients.Materials and Methods: In this clinical trial study, 70 multiple sclerosis patients’ caregivers were grouped using random allocation to experimental and control groups. Based on training needs in the experimental group, 8 sessions for empowerment model were implemented in three months. Three months after the program implementation and collecting of self report checklists, the perceived satisfaction and self-esteem were evaluated in both experimental and control groups again.Results: Independent t tests showed significant differences in two groups after the intervention (P=0.001). In the experimental group, paired T- test also showed significant increase in the perceived satisfaction and self-esteem of family caregivers of patients (P=0.001). However in the control group, there were no significant differences in the perceived satisfaction and self-esteem of family caregivers of patients after three months.Conclusion: Family caregivers of chronic patients as hidden patients, have many problems. The interventions such as empowerment model implementation based on educational and therapeutic needs because of their low cost, safety and effectiveness for caregivers can enhance their perceived satisfaction and self-esteem.

Introduction: Recent studies showed the posibility of vestibular disorder in congenital hearing-impaired children. Our study was carried out to compare saccular function between children with congenital sensoryneural hearing loss and children with normal hearing.Materials and Methods: Thirty children with congenital profound sensory-neural hearing loss (mean age of 6.93 yrs) and 30 ones with normal hearing (mean age 7.18 yrs) were studied. Vestibular evoked myogenic potential (VEMP) test was recorded monaurally by 500 Hz tone burst stimululi via air conduction and insert receiver.Results: VEMP was recorded with mean threshold intensity level of 83.60 dB in 53.3% of hearingimpaired children and 76.64 dB in all of the children in control group. Regarding amplitude and latancy of response, there was a significant difference just in P1N1 amplitude (P=0.015). In four cochlear implanted children, VEMP was not recorded. Motor delay and developmental disorderas were reported in neonatal history of 8 children that six of them had no VEMP.Conclusion: About the fifty percent of our children had no VEMP resulting from succular disorder and impairment of postural control and static balance.