JOURNAL OF ISFAHAN MEDICAL SCHOOL (I.U.M.S)
Year:2014 | Volume:31 | Issue:265|Papers Count:7

Background: Cadmium, as an environmental and industrial pollutant, due to its in-vivo accumulation in tissues and especially in the testis results in extensive degenerative changes. The aim of this study was to determine the possible protective effects of ghrelin against cadmium and on sperm quality parameters in rats.Methods: Thirty adult male rats were allocated into three equal groups, control-saline, cadmiumsaline and cadmium-ghrelin. Induction of testicular injury was achieved by a single injection of 2 mg/kg cadmium chloride intraperotoneally; 10 nmol of ghrelin was given 1 day before cadmium injection and continued for 10 consecutive days. Five rats from each group were sacrificed on the days 5 and 10 after cadmium toxicity and sperm was taken from the epididymal tail for the evaluation.Findings: Testicular weight and sperm concentration significantly decreased by cadmium toxicity (P<0.05). Likewise, the percentages of sperm progressive motility on the day 10 and membrane integrity on both days significantly decreased in cadmium group (P<0.05 for all). Whereas, ghrelin treatment enhanced hypo-osmotic swelling test (positive cells) on the days 5 and 10 compared to the cadmium-saline group (P<0.05). However, it failed to increase progressive motility, sperm concentration or testicular weight significantly.Conclusion: Ghrelin, due to its possible antioxidant properties, caused an increase in sperm membrane integrity that can be prerequisite for progressive movement. Ghrelin could be implicated for attenuation of cadmium effects on sperm quality.

Background: Children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) have difficulty in motor activity. Motor impairment is the main feature of this disorder. In addition to the movement problems, these children interfere with other areas of difficulty. The aim of this study was to compare the neuropsychological characteristics such as executive function and attention and sensory-motor functions, language, memory and learning in preschool children with and without developmental coordination disorder.Methods: In this causal-comparative study, the preschool children at the age of 6 years in Isfahan city, Iran, were enrolled.50 children with developmental coordination disorder and 50 children without it were selected by multi-stage cluster sampling. Data were collected using Conner neuropsychological questionnaire and analyzed using multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA).Findings: There were significant differences between neuropsychological characteristics (executive function and attention and sensory-motor functions, language, memory and learning) in children with and without developmental coordination disorder (P<0.05 for all).Conclusion: This study showed that children with developmental coordination disorder in comparison with normal children are at a lower level of neuropsychological characteristics and suffer from movement problems.

Background: Nocardia are Gram-positive, aerobic and partially acid-fast and cause dangerous infectious disease, nocardiosis, by entering the respiratory tract or damaged skin. In this study, we used various biochemical tests for identificating Nocardia species in soil samples of the city of Tehran, Iran.Methods: After isolation of Nocardia using paraffin baiting method, for detection and identification of various species, some phenotypic tests including growth in lysozyme broth, hydrolysis of amino acids such as hypoxanthine, xanthine, tyrosine, casein, gelatin and urea, production of nitrate reductase, growth at 35°C and 45°C, and utilization of some carbohydrates were used.Findings: The analysis of phenotypic tests presented that 12 isolates of Nocardia asteroides (63.15%), 5 isolates of Nocardia cyriacigeorgica (26.31%), and 1 isolate of Nocardia otitidiscaviarum (5.26%) were identified. Only 1 isolate (5.26%) remained undetected after phenotypic tests.Conclusion: In this study, several Nocardia species isolated from the soil samples of Tehran which were phenotypically similar to the well-known species. However, further identification tests are required to confirm the heterogeneity of the isolates and to identify the exact phenotype and genotype of the Nocardia species.

Background: Anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (CCP) antibodies are highly specific and predictive for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Recently, existence of anti-CCP in several other inflammatory conditions from psoriatic arthritis to neurodegenerative disorder like Alzheimer’s disease (AD) has been reported. We compared the level of anti-CCP titer between the patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer’s disease; then, we compared it between the patients with mild rheumatoid arthritis and Alzheimer’s disease.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 40 patients with rheumatoid arthritis, 29 patients with Alzheimer’s disease, 30 patients with mild cognitive impairment and 30 healthy controls were enrolled. Anti-CCP titer was measured by solid phase enzyme immunoassay kit. Statistical analysis was performed using one-way analysis of variance and post-hoc Tukey tests.Findings: Level of anti-CCP titer (mean±SD) was higher significantly in patients with Alzheimer’ s disease (13.6±1.6) was higher than healthy subjects (4.2±1.1) and patients with mild cognitive impairment (4.8±1.3) (P=0.0100 for both). Anti-CCP serum level in 32.1% of patients with Alzheimer’s disease and 95.5% of patients with mild rheumatoid arthritis was higher than normal range. In addition, the antibody level was significantly higher in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (54.7±4.8) compared to patients with Alzheimer’s disease (P=0.0001).Conclusion: We obviously observed differences in Anti-CCP titer between patients with Alzheimer’s disease and those with mild rheumatoid arthritis. It was expected since anti-CCP has a high specificity for rheumatoid arthritis and become positive in early stages of disease with a high predictive value. However, we found that in early stages of cognitive impairment, we could not use this biomarker as a diagnostic test but during disease progression, a significant difference was observed between patients with mild cognitive impairment and those with Alzheimer’s disease. It needs more studies to confirm the role of anti-CCP antibody production in patients with Alzheimer’s disease.

Turmeric is the general name forCurcuma Longa, an Indian spice belonging to the ginger family. Due to its various applications as a spice, coloring agent etc., turmeric has been used widely for the treatment of various illnesses such as arthritis, ulcers, jaundice, wounds, fever, trauma and skin diseases. The medicinal properties of turmeric are mainly due to presence of a component in the rhizome termed curcumin. The mechanisms by which curcumin exerts its anticancer effects are discussed in this paper. Curcumin has antioxidant, antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, anti-proliferative, and proapoptotic effects. Especially, it has therapeutic applications against different cancers and could be used as a preventive agent. Curcumin induces anticancer activities by prevention of inflammation and proliferation of cancerous cells. Furthermore, it induces apoptosis and prevents metastasis.