Zahedan Journal of Research in Medical Sciences
Year:2015 | Volume:17 | Issue:2|Papers Count:21

Background: Leptin is one of the possible mediators of ethanol intake. On the other hand, the concentration of total plasma homocysteine (Hcy) is a well-established indicator forthe risk of cardiovascular disease and seems to be related to ethanol consumption. So, theaim of the present study was to investigate the effect of acute (70%) and chronic (10%)exposure to evaporated ethanol on: 1-brain leptin and Hcy concentration on the 15th dayof embryonic development of chick.2- brain leptin and Hcy concentration immediatelyafter hatch of chick and 3- serum leptin concentration immediately after hatch of chick.Materials and Methods: In this experimental study 60 fertilized eggs were used. Eggswere divided into control; acute exposure to ethanol and chronic exposure to ethanol. Hcywas measured by using enzyme-linked assay and leptin was measured with the chickleptin radioimmunoassay kit.Results: Data showed brain Hcy concentration on the 15th day of embryonic stage ofchicken that acute and chronic exposure to ethanol significantly (p<0.05) decreased, butdid not have any effect on brain Hcy concentration immediately after hatch in chicken thatacute and chronic exposure to ethanol during embryonic stages. Acute and chronicexposure to ethanol during embryonic stages significantly (p<0.05) increased brain leptinon the 15th day of embryonic stage, brain leptin immediately after hatch of chicken andplasma leptin immediately after hatch of chicken.Conclusion: Present results indicated that acute and chronic exposure to ethanol byevaporation in embryonic stage of chicken can change the brain Hcy, brain leptin andserum leptin.

Background: Almost 20% of epileptics are drug resistant. Studies have shown that lowfrequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is with therapeutic effectson epilepsy-affected laboratory models. Anticonvulsant effects of rTMS depend on severalparameters among which radiation frequency is the most important one. In this study, thetherapeutic impacts of 1 and 2 Hz rTMS on convulsing parameters in epileptic model ofelectrical kindling stimulation of the perforant path were investigated.Materials and Methods: In this experimental study 21 rats were randomly divided intothree groups, namely ‘1 Hz treatment group’ and ‘2 Hz treatment group’ and ‘kindlinggroup’. The kindling group only received kindling stimulations for seven days. One Hzand 2 Hz frequency treatment groups received maximally 5 min rTMS after termination ofkindling stimulation per day for a week. Stimulation and stability electrodes had beenplaced, in turn, on perforant path and dentate gyrus. For quantifying the duration of thesubsequent discharge waves, two-way ANOVA test and Bonferroni post-test wereemployed. In addition, for quantifying the convulsive behaviors, Kruskal-Wallis and theMann-Whitney U tests were used.Results: The results showed that 1 Hz and 2 Hz frequency rTMS have considerableinhibitory impact on the development of convulsive phases. Anticonvulsive effect wasobserved from the first day after rTMS was undertaken. In addition, the animals did notshow fourth and fifth convulsive stages, and a significant reduction was evident in theirrecorded peak discharge waves compared with kindle group.Conclusion: Low frequency rTMS possesses significant anticonvulsive effects whichdepend upon sTMS stimulation frequency.

Background: Electromagnetic fields (EMF) have teratogenic effects during theembryonic development. In current study, histopathological and physiological effectsof sinusoidal EMF on the brain were investigated. We sought to determine theapoptosis level and changes in blood brain barrier permeability in brain tissue of preincubated white leghorn hen eggs in the field of EMF.Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, 300 healthy, fresh, and fertilizedeggs (55-65 g) were divided into experimental (3 groups, N=50), control (N=75) andsham (N=75) groups. Experimental eggs (inside the coil) were exposed to 3 differentintensities of 1.33, 2.66 and 7.32 mT and sham groups were also located inside thesame coil but with no exposure, for 24 hrs before incubation. Control, sham andexperimental groups were incubated in an incubator (38±0.5ºC, 60% humidity). Brainsof 14 day old chicken embryos of all groups were removed, fixed in formalin (10%), stained with H & E and TUNEL, apoptotic cells were studied under light microscope.Brains of other embryos were prepared for scanning electron microscope. By injectionsof Evans blue, any possible changes in brain vessels were also investigated.Results: Our results showed electromagnetic fields have toxic effects on cell organellesand cell membranes. EMF would increase the level of cellular apoptosis in the brain.They also would tear up the blood vessels. Thereafter, they would affect thepermeability of blood brain barrier of exposed chicken embryos.Conclusion: These findings suggest that electromagnetic fields induce differentdegrees of brain damages in chicken embryos brain tissue.

Background: Calcium has different functions in metabolic processes and increase ordecrease of calcium level in blood may lead to different disorders. Therefore, measurement of calcium level in blood is an important clinical issue. It is not possible tomeasure calcium in plasma samples which contain calcium chelators and we need serumsamples to do so. This research aims to investigate the simple and direct colorimetricmethod for calcium measuring in EDTA treated plasma.Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, through adding a patented solution toEDTA treated plasma, calcium ions are released from calcium chelators and then reactedwith ortho cresolphthalein complexone (o-CPC) as a coloring reagent and finally productof calcium reaction is measured using microplate reading format. The details ofmethodology are patented on 29.04.2012 in State Organization for Registration of Deedsand Properties with registration number of 74804, and are the exclusive property for theowners. Sensitivity, precision, accuracy and the correlation of plasma calcium with serumcalcium level were investigated.Results: Sensitivity of this method was 0.4 mg/dL. Coefficient of variation for intra assaysand inter assay were less than 5% and 6% respectively. According to recovery andparallelism tests, ratio and recovery percent ranged from 90 to 110% and correlationcoefficient in compare with determination of calcium in serum by the same reagent was0.92.Conclusion: This method is capable of measuring calcium in EDTA treated plasma and inaddition, it has the required sensitivity, precision and accuracy for common clinical tests.

Background: Deferoxamine (DFO) is an iron chelator. In the present research, thesynergic effects of deferoxamine and electromagnetic field (with 50 H frequency and 100Gauss intensity) on angiogenesis of chick chorioallantoic membrane were investigated.Materials and Methods: In this experimental study 80 fertilized egg used and randomlydivided 8 group: control group, laboratory control groups of 1 and 2, experimental group 1(treatment with electromagnetic field), 2 and 3 (treatment with deferoxamine 10, 100µmol, respectively), 4 and 5 (treatment both deferoxamine 10 and 100 µmol respectivelyand electromagnetic field). On 8th day of incubation, 2 and 4 groups were incubated with10 µL deferoxamine and for 3 and 5 groups were incubated with 10 µL deferoxamine 100µmol. On 10th day, 1, 4 and 5 groups were put in electromagnetic field. On 12th day, thenumber and length of vessels in all samples was measured by Image J software. Data wereanalyzed by SPSS-19, ANOVA and t-test.Results: The mean number and length of vessels in the control and experimental cases didnot show any significant differences. Comparison between mean number of vessels in thecontrol and group 2, 3, 4, 5 showed a significant decrease (p<0.05) and groups 2 and 4 wasshowed a significant decrease in the mean length of vessels compared with the controls(p<0.05).Conclusion: Using deferoxamine with low frequency electromagnetic field (50 Hz and100 G) cause inhibition of angiogenesis in chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane.

Background: Rhodotorula is characterized by the absence of ballistoconidia, fermentationability, and starch-like compounds. Biology of the species is not well-identified; thereforemolecular identification is required. Sequence analysis of the D1/D2 region can be usedfor the identification of the majority of Basidiomycetous species. Carotenoids which arenatural pigments can be synthesized by some genera of yeasts such as Rhodotorula. Theincrease of demand for carotenoids obtained from natural sources has promoted majorefforts to recognize potential microbial sources. The aims of this study were to identify astrain isolated from leather wastewater and to investigate its carotenoid production ability.The effect of 2 different medium (Semi-synthetic medium (MMS) and yeast malt extractmedium (YM)) on biomass and carotenoid production was studied.Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, sequence analysis of the D1/D2region in addition to morphological and biochemical characterization to identify the strainwas carried out. To isolate the carotenoid pigment, cells were suspended in acetone andbroken using a homogenizer, followed by centrifugation and supernatant was separated; thus pigments were measured spectrophotometrically at 450 nM using the extinctioncoefficient E1%450=2500.Results: Identification processes represented strain SG006 as a Rhodotorula slooffiae. Thesequence was deposited in the Gene Bank database with accession number JX997835. Theresults showed that SG006 are able to produce carotenoid and MMS medium promotedcarotenoid production.Conclusion: We found that Rhodotorula slooffiae showed the ability to producecarotenoid. However, further work is needed to optimize of the amount of product and tocharacterize the carotenoids.

Background: Leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) is a glycoprotein, categorized as asubfamily of interleukin 6 cytokines which is known in many mammolals. A pluripotentcytokine with a wide biological function range has numerous effects on target cells. TheLIF regulates neuron survival, hematopoiesis and seen in LIF-/- knockout mice affectsblastocyst implantation, also acts as pre-inflammolatory cytokine, and regulates immoluneresponse. Further, it is able to maintain stem cells poly potency. The main object ofpresent work was expression, optimizing, and purification of recombinant human leukemiainhibitory factor (rhLIF).Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, Pet28 (+) carrying the LIF gene andkanamycin resistance marker was cloned in E. coli strain BL21. The induction wasoptimized by altering 3 factors including the temperature, the induction time, and theconcentration of the Isopropyl b-D-1-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG) as inducer. Thepurification of the recombinant human LIF (rhLIF) was done by single step affinitychromatography. After the purification, method accuracy was proved by Sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS) -PAGE electrophoresis and Western blotting.Results: Optimizing of the expression was reached by changing various parameters, andpurification has been done successful.Conclusion: rhLIF undergoes modification by glycosylation to get its full functionality.The produced rhLIF in prokaryotic host in this work is lacking of glycosylation. However, its proper function should be evaluated in further studies.

Background: We have investigated the effect of 8 weeks aerobic training (AT) and Ferulagummosis supplement (FG) on apelin and apelin receptor (APJ), nitric oxide (NO) andangiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) of hypertensive rats.Materials and Methods: In a experimental study, 50 adult male wistar rats were classifiedinto five groups; 1- AT, 2- FG, 3- combination of aerobic training+Ferula Gummosasupplement (TFG), 4- nitro-L-arginine-methyl ester (L-NAME), 5- shame (control) groups(SH). The rats in the 1 to 4 groups received L-NAME (10 mg/kg, 6 times a week for 8weeks). Also, the 1 and 3 groups experienced the training of 15 to 22 m/min for 25 to 64minutes, 5 times a week for 8 weeks, whereas, the 2 and 3 groups received Ferulagummosis supplement (90 mg/kg, 6 times a week for 8 weeks). However, rats in 5 groupsreceived NaCl solution.Results: At protocols resulted in a significant increase in apelin and APJ as compared tocontrol and L-NAME groups. The TFG protocols resulted in a markedly increase inapelin, APJ and significantly decrease of ACE levels as compared to L-NAME group.Chronically administration of L-NAME resulted increased, ACE, and reduced the levels ofapelin, APJ and NO, as compared to control group.Conclusion: The results in this study show that physical regular activity with and withoutherbal treatment induce amplification in apelin/APJ system and down-regulation bloodpressure in L-NAME induced hypertension in the rat kidney tissue.

Background: More than 80 million individuals suffer from infertility globally. Variousfactors such as some drugs and toxins have harmful effects on fertility. Anacyclus pyrethrumplant in Indian traditional medicine is used for treatment of many diseases includinginfertility.Materials and Methods: In this experimental study 48 male adult rats were divided randomlyinto four groups (N=12) including one control group (A) and three test groups (B, C and D).Test groups (B, C and D) received root aqueous extract of A. pyrethrum intraperitoneallywith doses of 50, 100 and 150 mg/kg for 28 days, respectively. At the end of the treatmentperiod, the reproduction variables such as weight of body and sex organs, the sperm count inepididymis and right and left vas deferens and percent of abnormal spermatozoids weredetermined. The test groups were compared to the controls using analysis of variancefollowing Tukey.Results: Data analysis of body and sex organs’ weight, sperm count of epididymis and rightand left vas deferens and percent of abnormal spermatozoids showed a significant differencebetween the tests and control groups (p=0.02, p=0.0001); however, no significant differencewas found between two groups regarding vas deferens weight.Conclusion: The results of the present study showed that root aqueous extract of A.pyrethrum increased the weights of body and sex organs, increase of sperm count ofepididymis and right and left vas deferens, and reduction of percent of abnormalspermatozoids in treated rats.

Background: Nowadays nitric oxide (NO) is an important signaling molecule which actsas a regulator of many physiological processes in many tissues including epithelial cell ofgastrointestinal tract. In this study, we investigated the effects of L-Argentine as a NOprecursor and L-NAME as a NO inhibitor on epithelial cell number and height of jejunaepithelium in rats.Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, 40 adult female rats with 8 weeks ageand 200-250 g weight were divided into 5 groups, containing 8 rats in each group. Exceptthe control group, the other groups received normal saline (2 mL/kg), L-Argentine (200mg/kg), L-NAME (20 mg/kg) and a mixture of 2 substances for L-argentine and L-NAMEgroup intraperitonealy for 3 days. Two weeks later, jejunum was expelled out and afterfixation and tissue processing, the sections were stained with Hematoxylin & Eosinmethod and the changes were assessed. Cell number and height was evaluated using ImageTools III Microsoft software. Statistical analysis was made by One-Way ANOVAfollowed by Tukey post hoc test to evaluate the statistical significance between differentgroups. A value of p<0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: There was a significant increase in the cell number and height of jejunaepithelium in L-Argentine group (p<0.05). Whereas no significant difference wasobserved between L-NAME, L-Arginine+L-NAME, normal saline and control groups.Conclusion: The results demonstrated that L-Argentine can result in proliferation ofjejuna epithelial cells whereas L-NAME has no effect on these cells.

Background: Alzheimer's disease is a progressive, neurodegenerative disease with bothgenetic and non genetic causes. Familial Alzheimer's disease can be caused by mutations inthe amyloid precursor protein, presenilin 1 and presenilin 2. Early-onset familialAlzheimer's disease (autosomal dominantly inherited) accounts for a small fraction (2-3%)of Alzheimer's disease cases. The aim of this study was investigation of exons 5, 7 inPSEN1 and exons 5, 6 in PSEN2 genes in Iranian patients with early onset Alzheimerdisease. These exons were hot spots in different country.Materials and Methods: In this experimental study 24 patients with early onset Alzheimerdisease and 48 healthy subjects as control group were included in this study. After DNAsextraction from whole blood, PCR-sequencing was used to amplify and analyze 4 exons.Results: Two known mutations (Glu 120 Lys in exon 3 of two patients and Arg 62 His inexon 5 of one patient) were found.Conclusion: According to the above findings, these exons were not hot spot in Iran.

Background: Opioid receptors change in CNS by anti thyroid hormones drugs. In thisstudy effect of acute and chronic methimazole (aMTZ and cMTZ) administration onmorphine withdrawal were investigated.Materials and Methods: In this experimental study adult male mice divided into controland experimental groups receiving aMTZ or cMTZ. All groups were addicted to morphineand morphine withdrawal was induced by naloxone and jumping, rearing and climbingsigns were evaluated.Results: Acute MTZ and chronic MTZ increased the climbing and jumping (p<0.01, p<0.001). cMTZ was more potent than the acute one.Conclusion: MTZ probably influences an opioid abstinence directly and/or indirectlythrough decrement of thyroid hormones.

Background: This study was carried out to evaluation the effect of human platelet richplasma (hPRP) on the bone repair process in rabbit model which could be used in manyprocedures of orthopedic or maxillofacial bone and implant reconstructive surgery.Materials and Methods: This study is a prospective experimental study on animal model.A critical size defect (10 mm) was created in the radial diaphysis of 24 rabbit and thensupplied with human PRP (treatment group) or the defect left empty (control group).Radiographs of each forelimb was taken postoperatively on 1st day and at the 2nd, 4th, 6thand 8th weeks post injury to evaluate bone formation, union and remodeling of the defect.The operated radii were removed on 56th postoperative day and were evaluated forbiomechanical properties and histopathological criteria.Results: The results indicate that human PRP (as a xenogenic PRP) in treatment groupsignificantly promote bone regeneration in critical size defects compared with controlgroup (p<0.05).