DANESHVAR MEDICINE
Year:2012 | Volume:20 | Issue:102|Papers Count:12

Background and Objective: Some of medicinal plants have been used for pain reliving in Iarnian ancient medicine. Astragalus gummifer (AG) is one of them and its gum (tragacanth gum) were used for several health purposes. The present study was conducted to evaluate the analgesic effects of this gum in mice.Materials and Methods: In this study, the analgesic effect of tragacanth gum was determined using hot-plate and writhing tests. Mice were injected with tragacanth gum at doses of 125, 250 or 500 mg/kg i.p. as treatment groups. Morphine at doses of 2, 4 or 8 mg/kg i.p., and diclofenac at doses of 10, 20 or 30 mg/kg i.p. were used as control groups.Results: In writhing test, gum tragacanth at different doses (125, 250, and 500 mg/kg) significantly reduced the number of writhings in mice as compared to control group (p<0.05). In hot-plate test, maximum possible effect of tragacanth gum significantly increased only after 15 minutes but not in other time periods. In two models of pain assesment, both morphine sulfate and diclofenac sodium had also pain relieving potential.Conclusion: The present study indicated that tragacanth gum elicits prominent analgesic effects in an experimental model of acute and chronic pain. Additionally, data obtained in this study indicated the presence of some constituents with pain releiving properties that confirms the traditional use of the gum for pain relieving purposes.

Background and Objective: Several studies have been performed to achieve a scaffold for growing stem cells. The purpose of the study was to provide a biodegradable scaffold of chitosan - poly ethylene oxide (PEO) with the ability for growing, proliferation, un-differentiation and apoptosis of bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs).Materials and Methods: First, formation of chitosan-PEO nanofibers composed of 90 to 10 and 80 to 20 per electro technique were studied by scanning electron microscope (SEM). These scaffolds were located on 1% gelatin in 24-well plates and were then steriled. Femoral BMSCs of rats were cultured on scaffolds after two passages from the house empty plate as controls. BMSCs proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis were studied in days II, IV and VI.Results: The results showed that the morphology of cells was maintained on scaffolds similar to controls. The rate of cell proliferation on the scaffold on consecutive days increased in cultured cells of control group but the differences were not significant. The results also showed that at the end of the six days, BMSCs differentiation and the percentage of cell death on the scaffold were similar with cultured cells in control group.Conclusion: Proliferation, un-differentiation and no apoptosis of BMSCs on biodegradable chitosan-PEO nanofiber are obtained as a model that can be used in tissue engineering and cell therapy.

Background and Objective: Since long-term therapy of recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis patients with azol is accompanied with drug resistance and systemic toxicity, thus, researches have returned to nonazole drugs. This research compared clinical response of these patients to boric acid and leukorex (Zataria multiflora).Materials and Methods: This study was performed as a blind clinical trial in control with positive cases (parallel). Patients with recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis that had a positive culture without any predisposing factors were enrolled in this survey. Vaginal cream of Zataria multiflora 1% and boric acid 3% were given blindly. Signs and symptoms on first visit, and 1 and 6 months after starting treatment was analyzed using chi square, Mann-Whitney and t tests.Results: In boric acid group, the score of severity signs initially was 9±3.3 that got to 3.48±3.8 and 3.33±5.1 in first and second periods of therapy, respectively. In Zataria multiflora group, the score of severity signs initially was 8.21±3.6 that got to 2.52±2.46 and 3.36±3.7 in first and second periods of therapy, respectively. The reduced scores of two groups were significant (p</001). The final cure rate was 74.2% and 64.5% in boric acid and Zataria multiflora groups, respectively that there was not a significant difference between the two groups.Conclusion: Zataria multiflora is considers as an alternative drug in treatment of patients with recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis.

Background and Objective: Chronic hyperlipidemia accompanies various complications in the body. With regard to protective and beneficial effect of carnosine in metabolic disorders, this study was conducted to evaluate its effect on serum lipids and blood pressure in an experimental model of hyperlipidemia in mice.Materials and Methods: Mice were divided into five groups, i.e. control, high-dose carnosine-treated control, hyperlipidemic, and two carnosine-treated (125 and 250 mg/kg) hyperlipidemic groups. Carnosine was administered i.p. from 8th week after hyperlipidemia induction for 4 weeks.Results: Carnosine did not cause any significant reduction of serum glucose, there was a significant increase in serum total cholesterol and triglyceride in hyperlipidemic group as compared to control (p<0.05-0.01) and carnosine at a high dose significantly decreased it (p<0.05).Regarding serum HDL cholesterol, carnosine treatment did not significantly change it. In contrast, hyperlipidemia significantly increased LDL-cholesterol (p<0.05) and carnosine at a dose of 250 mg/kg significantly lowered it (p<0.05). In addition, hyperlipidemic mice has a significantly higher systolic blood pressure (p<0.05) and carnosine treatment did not significantly change it.Conclusion: Administration of carnosine to hyperlipidemic mice does not affect serum glucose level and systolic blood pressure and significantly lowers serum total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, and triglyceride level.

Background and Objective: Visfatin is a recently discovered adipokine. Previous studies have shown a direct relationship between plasma visfatin levels and type 2 diabetes mellitus. The current study was conducted to investigate the effect of aerobic exercise on plasma level of visfatin in type 2 diabetic men treated with metformin.Materials and Methods: Thirty-six men with type 2 diabetes who consumed metformin (age 46.08±3.08 years, BMI 30.1±2.32 kg/m2) volunteered to participate in this study. Subjects were randomly assigned in 2 groups. In this respect, 18 subjects were in the aerobic exercise group (3 days per week, 35 to 50 min per day, 40-55% heart rate reserve) and 18 subjects in the control group. Fasting plasma visfatin, insulin, glucose and HbA1c concentrations were measured before and after 8 weeks of exercise in these diabetic patients. For analysis of data, repeated measures ANOVA was used.Results: The findings showed that plasma visfatin level, insulin, glucose, HbA1c, BMI, WHR and body fat percentage significantly decrease in aerobic exercise group as compared to control group (p<0.05). The peak rate of oxygen consumption (vo2 peak) significantly increased in aerobic exercise group as compared to control group (p<0.05).Conclusion: The present study showed that decreased plasma visfatin level induced by aerobic exercise is most likely the result of improving glycemic status in type 2 diabetes patients treated with metformin.

Background and Objective: The aged population is growing in Iran. Mal-nutrition is a very common disorder in elderly people, which is not diagnosed in most cases and, therefore, remains untreated. Aim of this study was to evaluate the nutritional behavior of elderly about prevention of gastric ulcers in Shiraz.Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional and analytical study that carried out on 270 elders (184 women and 86 men) in Shiraz. Inclusion criteria were ages between 60-70 years and without mental or physical illness. Data collection included questionnaire consisting of demographic information, survey knowledge questions and checklist for assessment and nutritional practice. Finally, for data analysis, the relationship between nutritional status and demographic factors was determined using logistic regression.Results: The results indicated that in terms of physical health, about 48% of the women and 41% of the elder men have disease and treated.Prevalence of various diseases such as hypertension, arthritis, osteoporosis and diabetes were more in women than men. Logistic regression analysis showed that the proper relationship between demographic factors and level of education (OR=0.31, CI=0.68-1.8), high income (OR=2.7 CI=1.6-4.3) and higher age (OR=1.9 CI=1.3-3.8) was statistically significant.Conclusion: Considering the possibility of appropriate intervention regarding these factors affecting health of elderly, nutritional behavior modification programs are important for elderly and provision of educational program is proposed.

oxidative stress is involved. Exercise and use of anti-oxidative substances such as anti-oxidative curcumin may stop the production of free radicals. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the protective effect of endurance training and curcumin against lead toxic effect on hepatic tissue in male rats.Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, 60 male Wistar rats were randomly divided into 6 groups, control, sham, lead, exercise +lead, curcumin+lead and exercise+lead+curcumin (n=10 in each group). The exercise training consisted of 25-64 min of running on an ungraded treadmill at a speed of 15-22 m/min for 8 weeks. Curcumin (30 mg/kg) and lead (20 mg/kg of lead acetate) were administered for 8 weeks, 3 days/week, intraperitoneally. Serum ALT, AST and ALP were measured by colorimetric method.Results: The results showed that 8 weeks of lead exposure causes a significant increase of AST and ALT in the lead group as compared to control group (p=0.002, p=0.007, respectively). Endurance training and curcumin consumption significantly decreased AST and ALT (p=0.041 and p=0.009, respectively). After endurance training and curcumin consumption, ALP non-significantly decreased (p=0.692).Conclusion: Regular exercise and curcumin supplement may inhibit liver damage induced by lead.

Background and Objective: Fatigue is a common symptom in multiple sclerosis (MS) and most MS patients are of two types; relapsingremitting (RRMS) and secondary progressive (SPMS). Fatigue with regard to feeling of weakness, lack of energy and clinical course due to the establishment of a variable prognosis can influence psychological symptoms, functional ability and employment status of patients. Thus, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of fatigue and clinical course on psychological symptoms, physical and psychological dimensions, and employment status.Materials and Methods: In this retrospective cross-sectional study, 152 patients were sampled by consecutive method. All patients were evaluated using fatigue severity scale (FSS), depression, anxiety, and stress scale (DASS-21) and short form health survey questionnaire (SF- 36). Data were analyzed using multivariate variance analysis (MANOVA) and Fisher exact test.Results: Mean of psychological symptoms and physical and psychological dimensions scores in fatigued and SPMS patients was worse than non-fatigued and RRMS groups. Also, un-employment was reported with higher frequency in fatigued patients. In this regard, no significant finding was observed between RRMS and SPMS. In addition, the difference between both groups of fatigued and non-fatigued, RRMS and SPMS patients was significant regarding the variables depression, anxiety, stress, and physical and psychological dimensions (p<0.05).Conclusion: This study explained the impact of fatigue and clinical course on psychological symptoms, physical and psychological aspects of life and employment status of MS patients. However, it seems that the influence of some variables on each other in a bidirectional relationship is also explainable. Clinical implications have been discussed in this report.

Background and Objective: Sleep deprivation affects physiological and psychological functioning and probably increases the body's energy demand. It seems that sleep deprivation can have a negative effect on athletes' performance and affect the body's hormones secretion. This study investigated the effect of 24-hour sleep deprivation on endurance performance and hormonal responses to endurance exercise.Materials and Methods: Twenty young men with a history of resistance training were divided into experimental and control groups (double blind and randomly). In two separate days, once after a normal circadian sleep and again after 24 hours of sleep deprivation, endurance performance of subjects was assessed using the Bruce test. Immediately after the Bruce test, blood samples were collected and level of cortisol and testosterone with chemiluminescence method and level of epinephrine and norepinephrine with ELISA method were measured. In order to analyze data, the dependent and independent t-tests were used respectively to examine within groups and between groups changes of variables.Results: The maximal oxygen consumption significantly decreased and cortisol level increased in the experimental group. Post-test cortisol level in experimental group was significantly higher than control group, but regarding other variables, there were not a significant difference between the two groups.Conclusion: Our study indicated that 24-hour sleep deprivation can have negative effects on endurance performance and increases cortisol response to endurance exercise, but it does not change testosterone, epinephrine and norepinephrine response to endurance exercise.