ARAK MEDICAL UNIVERSITY JOURNAL (AMUJ)
Year:2019 | Volume:22 | Issue:1 (137) |Papers Count:17

Background and Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the applied characteristics of wound covers containing nanoliposomic essential oil of ajwain, with suitable antimicrobial properties and lack of cytotoxicity. Materials and Methods: Liposomal formulations of the ajwain essential oil containing DSPE-PEG, cholesterol, span60 and SPC80 were prepared using a thin layer method. The rooting and spray methods on a cellulose fabric were used to produce skin wound cover. In addition to in vitro intracellular penetration and measurement of minimum inhibitory concentration of the product, textile characteristics, antimicrobial activity and 96 hours release of the essence in the wound cover were studied. Ethical Considerations: In this study, all principles of research ethics were considered. Findings: The loading efficiency of the liposomal formulation was more than 85%. The small particle dispersion index (PDI = 0. 02) in the form of the PEGylated formulation indicates optimal dispersion of the particles which reduces the buildup of the drug in the cutaneous application. The standard AATCC microbial test showed inhibitory effect of the wound cover on bacteria, especially E. coli. Textile tests indicated acceptable properties of the produced wound cover, too. Conclusion: Altogether, this wound cover showed acceptable features in combating the two selected bacteria responsible for infectious skin ulcers.

Background and Aim: Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common endocrine abnormalities that insulin resistance and obesity are among its main causes. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of chronic aerobic and resistive exercises along with supplementation of cinnamon on insulin resistance in women with polycystic ovary syndrome in Ahwaz in 2017. Materials and Methods: In this semi-experimental study, 40 women with aged 18 to 30 years (BMI ≤ 24) were randomly divided into 4 groups. The intervention group performed 6 weeks, 3 sessions per week with intensity 50 to 75% of maximum heart rate for 50 to 85 minutes of exercise aerobicresistance. Serum levels of insulin, glucose, and body composition indexes were evaluated. The t-test was correlated and ANCOVA was used. Ethical Considerations: This study with research ethics code EE/ 96. 24. 3. 77886/Scu. ac. ir has been approved by research ethics committee at Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Iran. Findings: Data analysis showed that body mass index, fat percentage and insulin resistance were decreased in exercise and supplementation exercises (p≤ 0. 05). Cinnamon was also effective in combination with combined exercises in body composition and insulin resistance index (p≤ 0. 05). Changes in fat free mass were not significant in any of the groups (p≤ 0. 05). Conclusion: It seems that this decrease in the difference in insulin resistance is more due to the combined exercise, and given the positive effect of cinnamon on reducing BMI, its use may be effective in the long term on insulin resistance.

Background and Aim: Hypercholesterolemia is an independent risk factor for atherosclerosis that the use of medicinal plants with minimal side effects is very important in the treatment of it. In this study, comparative evaluation of the effect of hydroalcoholic extract and quercetin of Otostegia persica Boiss with atorvastatin on ABC A1 gene expression in hypercholesterolemic male Wistar rats was carried out. Materials and Methods: Forty male wistar rats with about 180gr weight randomly individed into five groups of eight: 3 experimental groups, 1 sham group and 1 control group. The experimental and sham groups received a high-fat diet with 2% cholesterol (through gavage) for 40 days. The experimental groups were treated (were fed) separately with 40 mg/kg/day atorvastatin, 25 mg/kg/day quercetin and 25 mg/kg/day hydroalcoholic extract of Otostegia persica Boiss for 28 days. Sham group received daily 1 mg/kg saline water during this period. In the end, the expression of ABC A1 gene was determined by Real-Time PCR in leukocytes and serum lipids were measured by photometric method. Ethical Considerations: This study with research ethics code B/29/5/1/1799 has been approved by committee for ethics in biomedical research at Kashan university of medical sciensec on July 31, 2016. Findings: The hydroalcoholic extract and quercetin of Otostegia persica Boiss and atorvastatin significantly increased ABC A1 gene expression in three experimental groups {(1. 14 ± 0. 09), (1. 18 ± 0. 03), (1. 11 ± 0. 03) respectively} realated to control group(1. 00 ± 0. 011) (p<0. 05) and sham group(0. 89 ± 0. 03) (p<0. 05). Quercetin also was more effective than atorvastatin in increasing of ABC A1 gene expression (p<0. 05). Conclusion: Quercetin and hydroalcoholic extract of Otostegia persica Boiss have increased effect on ABC A1 gene expression in hypercholesterolemic male Wistar rats.

Background and Aim: Dust was considered by researchers as one of the most important forms of air pollution. The aim of this study was to identify the physical and chemical characteristics of dust storm sources in Tehran. Materials and methods: This study was conducted in selected air sampling stations of Tehran, in the days of dust and ordinary from January 2016 for one year. The concentration of dust particles was determined by gravimetric. Heavy metal concentrations in samples after digestion were determined with graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS-GF). Mineralogy and morphology of the dust fall particles were inspected using X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy and sources particles using Enrichment Factor Analysis and principal component analysis (PCA) were performed. For statistical analysis, R software was used. Ethical Considerations: This study with research ethics code IR. IUMS. REC. 1397. 313 has been approved by research ethics committee at Iran University of Medical Sciences. Findngs: The highest average particle concentration in normal days was related to the central station (122. 63 μ g / m3), and the lowest for the East Station (67. 13 μ g / m3). The highest concentrations of the elements measured in the particles are related to iron and aluminum and the lowest concentrations of chromium and nickel. Lowest amount of Enrichment Factor was obtained for iron, less than one. Conclusion: The results of this study indicated that the concentration of dust in center was higher than other station. Natural and human resources both play a significant role in the release of metals. By conducting further studies on the source of dust in Tehran and using the results, effective control measures can be designed and implemented.

Background and Aim: The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of a hind limb immobilization on the expression of PGC-1α , NRF1, Mfn2, PINK1 and Drp1 genes as the main regulators of mitochondrial quality and function in soleus muscle of endurance trained rats. Materials and Methods: In this study, 15 male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into three groups (control, exercise +immobilization and immobilization). The exercise + immobilization group run on the treadmill for 12 weeks and five times per week. The hind limb of the animal was immobilized for seven days with the casting method. Soleus muscle was extracted and the expression of the genes was measured by RT-PCR method. Univariate ANOVA and Tukey post hoc test were used to determine the differences (α = 0. 05). Ethical Considerations: This study with research ethics code IR. SUMS. REC. 1396. S444 has been approved by research ethics committee at Shiraz university of medical sciences, Iran. Findings: Results showed that immobilization in both immobilization and exercise +immobilization groups, compared to the conterl group, reduced the expression of PGC-1α gene (p = 0. 001 and p = 0. 045), NRF1 (p = 0. 001 and p = 0. 006), Mfn2 (p = 0. 001, p = 0. 001) and increased the expression of PINK1 (p = 0. 001 and p= 0. 001), but the expression of Drp1 gene didn't change significantly (p = 0. 069 and p = 0. 223). Also, studies showed that the expression of PGC-1α (p = 0. 013), NRF1 (p = 0. 001) and Mfn2 (p = 0. 001) in the exercise + immobilization was lower in compare with the immobilization group. The expression of PINK1 was lower than immobilization group as well (p = 0. 001). Conclusion: This study shows that endurance training has a protective effect on mitochondrial quality during the immobilization period, but it can't prevent mitochondrial dysfunction.

Background and Aim: Children with cerebral palsy (CP) may have musculoskeletal disorder due to inappropriate position during sleep. The aim of this study was to design the equipment for sleep positioning of children with CP. Materials and Methods: This research was a designing device study for sleep positioning of children with CP. The design was carried out in three stages: needs assessment, develop an idea and final design. Seventeen children with CP aged 2-12 year olds at the levels of III to V Gross Motor Function Classification System Expanded and Revised (GMFCSE&R) were recruited from Tehran and Karaj rehabilitation clinics by a convenience sampling strategy. For data collection, some demographic questionnaire and GMFCS E&R were used. Ethical Considerations: This study was approved in Research Ethics Committee of Faculty of Applied Arts at Tehran University of Art with the code IR. ART U. REC. 1394. 118. Findings: In the process of needs assessment, a researcher made questionnaire and pictures of sleep positioning children with CP when they were sleeping were used. In developing an idea stage, the free and creative ideas under the name of black box, as well as, Etudes at the transparency stage were presented as the combination of creative ideas. In the final design stage, by using superior materials, positioning and packaging, we achieved a superior design. Conclusion: The proposed plan is designed as an interventional tool based on the need of Iranian children with CP and there is no similar national or international device available. The final design of the sleeping equipment includes a set of mattresses and a variety of modular styling devices based on a family centered approach, so that, allow parents to active engagement during sleep and rest of their children and can help the children to assume the proper positions.

Background and Aim: Working memory is a dynamic neural system for temporarily maintaining and processing of information. Prefrontal cortex (PFC) is the main processing center of Working memory by using different neurotransmitter systems communicate with other brain structures such as Basolateral Amygdala (BLA). In this study, we investigated the role of Opioidergic system in medial PFC and Dopaminergic system of BLA nucleus in working memory based on RAM test. Materials and Methods: In this study, The male Wistar rats were used. Rats were cannulated with stereotaxic surgery in mPFC and BLA sites. After a recovery period, they were microinjected. Parameters such as working and reference memory errors were calculated with DSWS protocol. Ethical Considerations: This study with research ethics code IR. UMZ. REC. 1397. 23 has been approved by Bioethics Committee at Mazandaran University, Iran. Findings: High doses of Morphine (2 μ g/rat) intra mPFC and Chloropromazine (2 μ g/rat) intra BLA have improving effects on working and reference memory (p≤ 0. 05). Low (0. 005 μ g/rat) and high dose (0. 5 μ g/rat) of Apomorphine had improving {(p≤ 0. 05), (p≤ 0. 01)} and the moderate dose (0. 05 μ g/rat) of it had decreasing effect on working and reference memory (p≤ 0. 01). Microinjection of Morphine (0. 5 μ g/rat) with triple doses of Chloropromazine had no significant change on working and reference memory errors. Interaction of Morphine (0. 5 μ g/rat) with different doses of Apomorphine could change Apomorphine different effects. Coadministration of different doses of Apomorphine with effective dose of Chloropromazine (2 μ g/rat) and Morphine (2 μ g/rat) decreased the working and reference memory errors. Conclusion: Our findings showed that in processing of working and reference memory, opioidergic system in mPFC and dopaminergic system in BLA, are interacting reciprocally.

Background and Aim: Physical activity causes the releases of bone resorption indices in the bloodstream by the mechanical load on bone, which in interaction with adipokines reduces obesity and prevent its complications. So, the present study aims to compare the effects of aerobic and resistance exercise on Anthropometric Indices and osteocalcin, leptin, adiponectin levels in overweight men. Materials and Methods: A total of 40 overweight young healthy men (BMI 28. 67± 0. 96 and age 31. 50 ± 2. 23) were randomly assigned to control (n = 14), aerobic exercise (n = 13) and resistance exercise (n = 13) groups. Subjects in the exercise group were on 8-week supervised exercise training programme for three sessions per week (aerobic exercise were performed at 60-85% of HRR, and resistance exercise were performed at 55-75% of 1RM). Osteocalcin and adipocytokines (leptin, adiponectin) were assessed from fasting blood samples before and after the 8-week exercise programme. Data were analyzed by t-test and ANOVA. Ethical Considerations: This study with research ethics code IR. IAU. RASHT. REC. 1396. 124 has been approved by research ethics committee at Islamic Azad University, Rasht branch, Iran and also has been registered with code IRCT20180226038876N1 at Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (IRCT). Findings: Aerobic and resistance training led to decrease in anthropometric indices (p<0. 05), leptin levels (p<0. 001, p=0. 001) and increase in osteocalcin (p=0. 001, p<0. 001) and adiponectin (p=0. 001, p<0. 001), respectively. In addition, the difference between the two training groups was not statistically significant (p>0. 05). Conclusion: Considering to the effects of aerobic and resistance exercise on osteocalcin and adipocytokines level, it seems that both exercise methods can be increasing mechanical load on bone mass and cause to change in energy metabolism and body weight and can be an important factor in decrease of obesity complications.

Background and Aim: Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) is one of the most common bacterial causes of diarrhea deaths among children and travelers in developing countries. The ETEC colonization factors, such as CFA/I and CS2 play an important role in the development of the disease. In this study, to produce the CFaE fusion recombinant protein, the tip subunits CFA/I(CfaE) and sub structural unit of CS2 (CotD) from ETEC, were used. Since mucosal immune responses to CFs can prevent disease, the aim of this study was to develop a chimeric antigen for developing the effective vaccine. Materials and Methods: In order to amplify the cfae-cotd gene, a dual gene construct consisting of cfae and cotd, the PCR reaction was performed by designed primers. The propagated gene was cloned in the expression vector pET28a. Following the induction of a recombinant gene construct with IPTG, the recombinant protein was expressed and purified by Ni-NTA chromatography column and confirmed by western blotting by Anti-Histag. Ethical Considerations: This study with research ethics code IR. IAU. SRB. REC. 1397. 066 has been approved by research ethics committee at Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch of Tehran, Iran. Findings: Cloning accuracy was confirmed by PCR and enzyme digestion reaction. The presence of the band in the SDS-PAGE 10% gel in the 68 kDa region, the expression of the recombinant protein, and the presence of the band on the nitrocellulose paper in the Western blotting test confirmed the production of recombinant protein. Conclusion: Optimization of codon and expression in heterologous hosts is a useful method for the production of recombinant proteins. The production of ETEC antigens as a candidate for vaccination against this bacterium is also prominent.

Background and Aim: Diagnosis of leukemia is very difficult, therefore, it is necessary to use image processing techniques. The main objective of this study was to provide a system based on intelligent models that could improve the accuracy of the diagnostic system for acute leukemia. Materials and Methods: The images produced in this study were extracted from the University Degli Studi Dimilan database and processed in the MATlab 2014a software. In this research, Fuzzy-Cmeans method was used in fragmentation and neural network and support vector machine in classification networks. Ethical Considerations: In this study, all principles of research ethics were considered. Findings: Feature data were extracted using the original image transfer to RGB, HSV, Lab and Enhanced RGB spaces. The data obtained from the previous step were entered into the SVM network, then the network separated normal data from abnormal data. The results of comparing the output of the proposed method with different educational methods showed the highest mean of accuracy equal to 95. 7%. Conclusion: The application of the proposed network in this study was that eliminate the weak points of all the networks in addition to presenting the advantages of these network. Combining the networks improved the accuracy of output up to 98% and considerably reduced the time required for calculations.

Background and Aim: Online games are one of a kind of Internet games that, due to increasing awareness of the people and especially young people with the Internet, increasing the speed of the Internet and the availability of mobile Internet through smartphones, especially among boys, it has become so sweeping. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between family emotional atmosphere and mental health with addiction to online game. Materials and Methods: This study is descriptive correlational. The population consisted of all bachelor student of Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz in 2013-2014 academic year. The research sample consisted of 192 student of who were selected using multi stage cluster sampling. To collect data, online game addiction (OGA) scale & the family's emotional atmosphere (FEA) scale and mental health (GHQ) scale were used. Ethical Considerations: This study with research ethics code 94228369 was approved in Research Ethics Committee of Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Iran. Findings: The results show that there is a positive and significant correlation between the emotional atmosphere of the family and online addiction (p <0. 01), and the overall score of mental health and addiction to online games (p <0. 01). Also, the results of regression analysis indicated that the family's emotional atmosphere could predict 0. 30 variance of online addiction. Conclusion: The results of this study, while confirming the relationship between addiction to online games with mental health, emphasize the importance of the family environment in increasing the extent of addiction to the game.

Background and Aim: Globozoospermia is a severe sperm morphological abnormality in men that characterized by round-headed spermatozoa with low or absence acrosome structure in their sperm samples. In these men, high level of DNA damage and abnormal chromatin packaging also were reported. These deficiencies can consider as the main etiologies of infertility in these infertile men. The aim of this article is to study the sperm chromatin structure in infertile men with globozoospermia. Materials and Methods: In this systematic review article, 77 articles related to protamine deficiency, DNA damage, aneuploidy in globozoospermic men were collected via data bases such as PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus since 1971-2017. Ethical Considerations: This study with research ethics code IR. ACECR. ROYAN. REC. 1396. 204 have been approved at research ethics committee of Royan Institute. Findings: Mean percentage of sperm DNA fragmentation and protamine deficiency were significantly higher in infertile men with globozoospermia compared to fertile men. While, the results of chromosome aneuploidy were controversial in infertile men with globozoospermia within studies. Conclusion: In addition to abnormal acrosome formation, as main etiology of failed fertilization, in infertile men with globozoospermia, high level of sperm abnormal chromatin packaging and DNA damage can be also involved in this phenomenon. Therefore, antioxidant therapy before intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection technique were suggested for these individuals to minimize sperm chromatin damage.