Journal of Isfahan Medical School
Year:2013 | Volume:31 | Issue:245|Papers Count:6

Background: Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is an endemic parasitic disease in Iran. Current treatments for the disease are not satisfying, have many side effects and are expensive. The healing effect of T-helper 1 (Th1) immune response, especially interferon (IFN) -γ secretion in CL has been previously documented. It has been shown that acupuncture, a traditional Chinese medicine, also might activate Th1 immune response. In this study, the effect of acupuncture on serum level of IFN-γ in experimental CL of BALB/c mice was investigated.Methods: 60 BALB/c mice were experimentally infected with Leishmania major and assigned randomly in to three groups: acupuncture treatment group which were given the acupuncture (thirty minutes daily, two days a week for 10 sessions) and intra-peritoneal diazepam, as a sedative agent; control group for diazepam which only received the diazepam; and a control group without any intervention. Serum level of IFN-γ was measured by means of ELISA at the beginning of the study and at sessions 5 and 10 of acupuncture treatment in three groups.Findings: The mean serum level of IFN-γ was not significantly different between and within the groups at the beginning and at the sessions 5 and 10 of the therapy.Conclusion: This investigation showed that acupuncture may not affect the serum level of IFN-γ in BALB/c model of CL. Moreover, diazepam does not interfere with the serum level of IFN-γ in such a study. Analysis of other immune factors and early measurement of IFN-γ in the course of treatment possibly may display the activated protective immune response against leishmaniasis by acupuncture.

Background: TSLC1 is a tumor suppressor protein its inactivation destroy the intracellular adhesion and connection between the membrane and cytoskeleton tend to malignant phenotype and metastasis.In this study, the expression of TSLC1 was examined in normal and cancerous ovarian cancer specimens.Methods: 60 samples of ovarian cancer and 60 adjacent normal tissues from the same tumor samples were studied. TSLC1 protein expression was evaluated by immunohistochemistry method. Percentage of cells stained from each tissue sections was checked with light microscope and Motic Advanced plus 2 software.Findings: The presence of brown cytoplasmic membrane, with or without brown membrane, was considered positive for TSLC1 expression. Protein expression in tumor tissue was significantly reduced compared to adjacent normal tissues (P<0.001). The reduction of protein expression was associated with lymph node metastasis (P=0.028) and more advanced tumor stages (P=0.032).Conclusion: According to the reduced expression of TSLC1 protein in tumor compared to normal samples in this study, expression of TSLC1 protein may be related to ovarian cancer pathogenesis. On the other hand, reduced expression of TSLC1 protein can cause ovarian carcinoma to become aggressive. So, this protein can be used as a diagnostic molecular marker for patients with ovarian carcinoma.

Background: Dexamethasone-induced hypertension is one of the animal models of hypertension. Lactoferrin is a natural iron-binding protein with proposed antihypertensive effects. In this study, the effect of chronic use of lactoferrin was investigated on dexamethasone-induced hypertension in rat and compared with captopril.Methods: In this experimental study, hypertension was induced by subcutaneously injection of dexamethasone (30 ±g/kg/day) for 15 days in Wistar rat. Lactoferrin (300 mg/kg) and captopril (40 mg/kg) were orally given from the day 8 to 15. Systolic blood pressure was measured by tail cuff. Body weight was measured during experiment and thymus weight was detected as a marker of glucocorticoid activity at the end of study. Findings: Administration of dexamethasone increased systolic blood pressure (115.6+3.3 to 150.1+7.4 mmHg) and decreased body and thymus weight (P<0.05). Chronic administration of lactoferrin and captopril for one week decreased systolic blood pressure (P<0.01 for both). Lactoferrin also prevented body weight loss.Conclusion: The results indicated antihypertensive effect of lactoferrin on dexamethasone-induced hypertension. Further studies are suggested for finding the mechanism of lactoferrin in this model of hypertension.

Background: Familial hemiplegic migraine (FHM), a rare type of migraine with aura, is genetically heterogeneous. Involvement of CACNA1A gene is demonstrated in FHM. In the present study, we searched for 6 common mutations in CACNA1A gene in patients with common migraine.Methods: The study population consisted of 74 patients who divided on two groups: positive and negative familial history. We collected data about frequency and duration of their attacks, severity according to Headache impact test (HIT6) and quality of life according to version 2.1 of Migrainespecific quality of life questionnaire (MSQ2). After collection of genomic DNA samples, mutation analysis was performed by direct sequencing of 5, 16, 32 and 36 exons in CACNA1A gene.Findings: Out of 50 cases with positive familial history, the mean±SD of frequency (in month), duration (hours in month), and severity of attacks, and also, quality of life were 9.66±8.11, 18.08±11.49, 62.84±7.03, and 44.8±13.5, respectively. The corresponded results were 9.95±9.39, 18.83±12.11, 61.04±6.55, and 38.38±10.9, respectively in 24 cases with negative familial history.Only a significant difference in quality of life was observed between the groups (P=0.047). Mutation analysis of the CACNA1A gene in 30 probands of migraine with positive familial history revealed polymorphism (nt 2369 G A) in exon 16 in 9 patients, but no mutations were identified in gene. There was no significant relationship between polymorphism and frequency, duration, and severity of attacks and also, quality of life and type of migraine.Conclusion: Our data suggest that in Iranian patients with migraine, no mutations in CACNA1A gene were identified and we have no evidence for involvement of this gene in these patients.

Cancer is a multifactorial disorder and its assessment requires a comprehensive study on cells, DNA, RNA and proteins of tumor samples. This type of research is called “Omics” which includes “genomics” and “proteomics”. Tumor bank is a term commonly used to describe a service collects, stores, and distributes fresh human tumor tissue for the purposes of biomedical and primarily cancer research. Most tumor banks collect their tumor samples from discarded tissues not needed for pathologic diagnosis, after patients undergo surgery to remove the tumor. The tissue is often snap frozen in liquid nitrogen or may also be preserved in special fixatives. Many cancer centers have a tumor bank to supply patient samples of cancer and associated adjacent normal tissue. The change in the methods of diagnosis and the discovery of biomarkers needs to access to sufficient number of samples and providing a tumor bank is an essential step in this case. Annually, tens and perhaps hundreds of surgeries are performed on the tumors in our country that is a vast treasure of cancer cells and it is possible to collect them, establishing tumor banks.