Iranian Journal of Basic Medical Sciences
Year:2004 | Volume:7 | Issue:3 (23)|Papers Count:16

Non-Hodgkins lymphoma (NHL) with primary gastrointestinal localization (GI-NHL) represents only 1-4% of the malignant tumors in the gastrointestinal tract. However, the gastrointestinal tract is the most common extranodal site of NHL. The etiology of GI-NHL remains unknown, however, recent studies have shown that infection with viruses like HTLV-1 in the gastrointestinal tract may increase the risk of T cell NHL. The present study was designed to investigate the presence of HTLV-1 genome using PCR on paraffin embedded tissue of primary GI-NHL specimens diagnosed during the period from 1981 to 2003 in the Department of Pathology, Imam Reza Hospital, Mashhad, Iran. The total number of biopsies was 103,573; and 65 cases with primary GI-NHL were found. All these 65 specimens were stained with immunohistochemical markers such as LCA, CD20 and CD3. The presence of HTLV-1 genome was detected in 48 selected patients using tax, LTR, pol and env (GD21) primers.Our results show that male to female distribution was 1.5:1. Most of the patients were in their second) or third decades of life. Eight patients (12.3%) had primary lymphoma in the stomach, 52 (80%) in the small intestine, two (3%) in the large intestine, and three (4.7%) patients had multifocal involvements Eileocecal). According to the Revised European-American Lymphoma (REAL) classification, IPSID lymphoma was the most frequent histologic subtype, comprising 40% of the cases. Sixty-four cases were classified as B cell lymphomas, and one as T-cell lymphoma. Out of 48 specimens which were amplified using PCR, two (4.2%) were positive for HTLV-1. The first case was a 55-year old male with diffuse pleomorphic T cell lymphoma who had a lesion in stomach; and the second case was a 15-month-old female with IPSID lymphoma who had involvement at duodenum.

Anti-D IgG is widely used to prevent hemolytic disease of the newborn. Maintenance of the structural integrity of this therapeutic protein is essential for its efficacy in relation to physiological and pharmacological activities.The aim of this study was to formulate the Anti-D IgG as a parenteral dosage form using suitable buffers and different stabilizing agents. Therefore, after purification, the Anti-D IgG preparation was firstly formulated in different buffers including citrate (pH 4.5), acetate (pH 5.5), and phosphate (pH 6.5 and 7.5) with the concentration of 10, 25, 50 and 100mM. The formulations were then incubated at sic for 4h and the transmittance was measured at 580 nm. Among the different buffers, the acetate buffer with the concentration of 10mM had the highest stability effect on the Anti-D IgG. Then, Glycine (Gly), polysorbate 80 and mannitol, in different concentrations were incorporated to the acetate buffer (pH 5.5, 10 mM) containing Anti-D IgG, as stabilizing agents and the stability was investigated as before. Among 16 formulattons, the formulation containing Gly, 0.3 M; polysorbate 80, 0.1%; and mannitol 7% had the highest stability. The stability of the formulations was also studied according to British Pharmacopeia (BP) based on bilogical activity. The result indicated that the loss of Anti-D potency of the aforementioned formula is only 9.57 ± 0.25% of initial value that meets the requirement set by BP. Conclusion could be made that this formula could be introduced as a candidate formulation of the Anti-D IgG as a parenteral dosage form.

Obesity (a scaled weight-by-height index) charts of a cohort of 317 healthy infants and their parents living in Shiraz (Southern Iran) are presented, and the familial pattern of infants obesity with that of its parents explored.An adjusted weight-for-height was used to develop power type obesity indices, Ip=W/Hp. Polynomial modeling was used by applying the HRY (Healy, Rasbash, Yang) nonparametric method to estimate age-related smoothed centiles of obesity. Principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to analyse the data as continuous variables to analyse familial pattern of parent-infant obesity structurally.The optimal value of p was found to be 2.5 for infants and 1 for their parents. No more than cubic and quadratic polynomials were needed to fit obesity-for-age smoothly for infant and their parents respectively. Infant obesity increases from birth to six months of age and decreases later on to the age of 21 months when it becomes stable. Parent obesity lies below the NCHS standard. Obesity indices and circumferences sizes were reduced to two principal components interpreting infants as well as family obesity.A structural analysis indicates a direct relationship between obesity of parents and infants. A local standard for assessing obesity in clinical practice as well as community health programmes in Iran is of urgent need, for which our data serves this purpose.

Cryo-preservation is a suitable method for preservation and protection of genome, cells and embryo, especially in cases of endangered species. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect two cryopreservation techniques on survival, maturation, fertilization and development of bovine cumulus oocyte complex (BCOC). After aspiration of BCOC, they were cryo-preserved using slow freezing or vitrification. For slow freezing 1.5 M DMSO + 0.1 M sucrose was used, while for vitrification 40% Ethelyenglycol + 18% VIW Ficol + 3 M sucrose + 105 mg/ml BSA was used. After thaw percentage survival of BCOC were assessed using tryp an blue vital staining, while percentage cleavage and development to 8-cell were taken as an index for BCOC maturation, fertilization rate and embryo development, respectively. The results showed no difference between the survival rate of BCOC in slow freezing (79%) and vitrification method (74.4). However, the percentage of 2 and 8-cell embryos were significantly higher in the vitrification group as compared to slow freezing group. Although there is no difference between the survival rates of BCOC between the two procedures, however the maturation and development of BCOC is greater in the vitrification method, suggesting that this method preferred for cryo-preservation of BCOC.

The antiemetic effect of Mentha longifolia extracts and fractions was studied in young chickens in order to provide a basis for the traditional use of the plant. Emesis was induced with copper sulfate (60 mg/kg, orally) al1d ipecac suspension (600 mg/kg, orally). The LD 50 values of aqueous and methanolic extracts were 1561.7 mg/kg and 2161.6 mg/kg, respectively.The Maximum non-fatal doses of aqueous and methanolic extracts were 100 mg/kg and 800 mg/kg, respectively. The methanolic extract showed more efficacy, therefore the chloroformic and aqueous-methanolic fractions were prepared from it. Because of the better appearance and solubility of aqueous-methanolic fraction, other fractions were prepared from it by the method of MPLC. Among these, fractions C and F showed the most efficacy. In all groups, the positive control (metoclopramide) showed the most efficacy. In each step, more efficacy with lower dose showed that the extraction procedure was effective. Finally, fraction F showed more efficacy than fraction C and both of these fractions demonstrated more efficacy than the aqueous-methanolic fraction.According to these results, the aqueous and methanolic extracts as well as the fractions of Mentha longifolia showed antiemetic effects in young chickens with central and peripheral mechanisms.

Rosa damascena is well known in herbal medicine. In addition to perfume effect, in traditional medicine several pharmacological effects of this plant such as beneficial effects for premenstrual breast tenderness, anti-inflammatory, treatment of abdominal and chest pain were reported. In the present study, the analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects of 100, 500 and 1000 mg/kg aqueous, ethanolic and chloroformic suxheleted extracts of Rosa damascena were investigated. Analgesic effect of extracts was measured by Hot plate and Tail flick methods and inflammation was produced in the rats using carrageenan sodium salt. Anti-inflammatory effect was investigated through measurement of foot volume by displacement technique using a calibrated glass tube. The results showed that ethanolic extract had significant analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects comparable to morphine and diclofenac sodium respectively. Pretreatment of animals with naloxan significantly reduced analgesic effect of extract. Therefore the analgesic effect of extract seems to be, at least in part, through the opioid system.

Surfactants are widely used as detergents, emulsifiers, solubilizers and in recent years as penetration enhancers. In the present study, the hemolytic effects of four non-ionic surfactants from the polysorbate (Tween®) series including Tween®20, 40, 60 and 80 were investigated on human red blood cells as an indication of their membrane disrupting potentials. The results showed that all four surfactants were hemolytic to different extents such that the maximum hemolysis occurred at 1.6,40, 80 and 80 mM by Tween®20, 40, 60 and 80 respectively. This indicates that Tween®20 is much more damaging to biological membranes than the other three surfactants. The effect of temperature on hemolysis induced by surfactants was also examined, and it was found that an increase in temperature from 25 to 37°C resulted in a significant increase in hemolysis. When 2 mM Tween® 80 was added to the solution of Tween®20 the hemolysis reduced from 75% to about 1% which shows a mitigating effect for Tween ® 80 on the hemolysis caused by Tween® 20.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is the most common and severe type of muscular dystrophy which occurs due to the absence of the cytoskeletal protein of dystrophin. The gene that is responsible for DMD was localized in the XP21 of human genum. Severe weakness of the skeletal muscles seen in the DMD patients seemed to be due to the fibrosis, but the reasons for it were not revealed. It was shown that in lung fibrosis and scleroderma, mast cells intervene with fibrosis. Thus, we decided to evaluate the relationship between fibrosis and number of the mast cells in DMD patients.This research was done on 51 DMD patients and due to clinical findings, we classified them into two groups: mild and severe. Having done different staining on sections of paraffin blocks of the patients muscle biopsies, we evaluated the degree of fibrosis and the number of mast cells.Following by T-Test statistical method, the relationship between degree of fibrosis and number of mast cells was found. Therefore, it could be concluded that mast cells are responsible for mild and moderate fibrosis.

In some bronchial biopsies, differentiation between small cell carcinoma and severe lymphocytic infiltration of bronchial mucosa may be difficult. The aim of our study was to evaluate usefulness of AgNOR (Argyrophilic Nucleolar Organizer Region) staining method in this differentiation. Formalin fixed paraffin embedded tissues of 30 cases of small cell carcinoma and 30 cases of bronchial mucosa with benign lymphocytic infiltration were selected. Three microscopic slides from each case were prepared and stained for AgNOR, LCA (leukocytic Commn Antigen) and cytokeratin using immunohistochemical method for the last two. In small cell carcinoma the mean number of AgNOR count was 4.97 per cell, and in Iymphocytes it was 1.30 (P<0.001). The percentage of cells which demonstrated at least 3 AgNOR dots were 88.17% and 6.73% in small cell carcinoma and Iymphocytes respectively (P<0.001). The percentage of cells which exhibited at least 5 AgNOR dots was 55.67% and 0.6% respectively. AgNOR technique is a useful procedure for making differentiation between small cell carcinoma and lymphocytic infiltration in bronchial endoscopic biopsyies.