Background: Direct transmission of avian influenza viruses with human receptor binding specificity to humans is a serious risk of newly emerging virus responsible for pandemy. The analysis of recent avian influenza hemagglutinin sequences and their glycans show their affinities to the human sialic acid receptors. The upregulation of proinflammatory cytokines and type I IFN genes, and host cell death responses contribute to the pathogenesis of influenza infection. Understanding the host cell-virus interactions and replication dynamic of the viruses in different cells is an essential step in surveillance and controlling programs against influenza.

Background:  Ferula assa-foetida is one of the common medicines that was used as antiseptic with a view to traditional uses, it can be used as a safe and effective drug to treat diseases particularly resistant bacterial infections. This study aims to product gelatin nano- capsules containing Ferula assa-foetida essential oil and investigate their antioxidant and antibacterial activities.

Materials and Methods: This experimental study was performed on gelatin nano-capsules containing Ferula assa-foetida essential oil (FAO) (2, 4, 6 and 8% w/w), glycerol (25% w/w) as plasticizer and glutaraldehyde as cross-linker. The morphology, antioxidant and antibacterial activities and operation of the nano-capsules were assessed according to American Standards by Scanning Electron Microscopy, ABTS, and microbiological tests.

Results: Gelatin nano-capsules exhibited low antioxidant and antibacterial activities while gelatin nano-capsules incorporated with FAO exhibited excellent antioxidant and antibacterial. The highest rates of these effects were seen merged with 8% of FAO.

Conclusion: Gelatin nano-capsules merged with FAO have excellent physical form, as well as they are an appropriate antioxidant and antibacterial that have been considered to produce antoxidant and antibacterial drugs.

  Background: Oxidative stress and severe neuro-excitation have significant effects on pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease and agents with antioxidant property can potentially prevent these effects. Herein we examined potential protective effects of melatonin as an antioxidant agent and memantine as an uncompetitive receptor of NMDA, on a model of Parkinson’s disease induced by 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1, 2, 3, 6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP).

  Materials and Methods: Male mice were divided into 8 groups with 7 mice in each group: saline, ethanol, melatonin, memantin, MPTP, melatonin+MPTP, memantin+ MPTP, melatonin+ memantin+ MPTP. All of agents were injected intraperitoneally once a day for 14 days before beam traversal test. Dopaminergic neurons of the Substantia Nigra Pars compacta (SNPC) were determined by immunohistochemical and were counted.

  Results: Melatonin improved notably movement dysfunction resulted of MPTP such as the number of errors, paces and the time of movement during behavioral test and also the counting of neurons of Substantia Nigra Pars Compacta. Memantin had a synergic effect on the most of improvements. However, the level of improvement and retrieval of signs was not as in saline and ethanol groups.

Conclusion: Melatonin especially together with memantine is able to prevent some of the MPTP-induced dysfunctions. However, the protective effects were not enogh, probably because of the amount of dose and the time of injection.

  Background: One of the factors determining the survival and neonatal health is maternal proper nutrition during pregnancy. The aim of the present study is to determine the maternal nutritional status with a view to the intake of some nutrients and its effect on anthropometric indices of newborn .

  Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional analytical study, 500 pregnant women referred to Sina maternity hospital in Ahvaz were studied. Dietary intake of calcium, zinc, iron, vitamin D was measured and its relation to average weight, length and head circumference at birth in infants was evaluated. Data were analyzed by using Independent T-Test in SPSS 17. P-value less than 5% was considered statistically significant.

  Results: There was a significant correlation between calcium intake rate, weight and length at birth. Between zinc intake rate, weight, length and head circumference at birth, there was a significant correlation. The maternal intake of vitamin D affected on birth weight(p<0/05). But, there was no significant association between iron intake rate and neonatal anthropometric indicators(p>0/05).

  Conclusion: The results of this study showed that the maternal nutritional intake of calcium, zinc and vitamin D influences on some infant anthropometric indicators.

Background: The growth of population, improvement of quality of life and the development of industries have led to increase in the rate of urban and industrial waste. As the leachate of the waste has a lot of pollution, influences harmfully human health and the environment. Researches have shown that the advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) such as Fenton and Fenton-related processes can reduce chemical oxygen demand (COD) of the leachate effectively.

Materials and Methods: In this paper, the rate of decrease in the total suspended solids (TSS) of leachate from a composting facility in Isfahan was studied using electrochemical, Fenton and electro-Fenton processes. These processes were conducted at reaction times 0, 20, 40, and 60 minutes, with the currents of 0.5, 1 and 1.5A and hydrogen peroxide dosages 1000, 2000, and 3000 mg/L.

Results: In the three mentioned processes, the most TSS removal was observed at the first 40 minute of the reactions. Among the studied processes, the electro-Fenton removed up to 92.4% of the TSS and was recognized as the most effective method. Furthermore, electrochemical and Fenton removed 41.7% and 60.3% of the TSS, respectively.

Conclusion: Therefore, decreasing the TSS of leachate could change its qualities and reduce the leachate pollution and the adverse environmental effects.

Background: Heavy menstrual bleeding has a negative impact on quality of life. In this study, the effect of hydroalcoholic extract of capsella bursa pastoris on menorrhagia is evaluated.
Materials and Methods: This clinical trial was carried out on 90 women with complaint of heavy menstrual bleeding. Samples, after a control cycle of primary bleeding, were randomly divided to capsella bursa pastoris and control groups. Both groups were subjected to mefenamic acid treatment with 500 mg every 8 hours, from the first day to the end of bleeding, up to seven days, for two consecutive cycles. In capsella bursa pastoris group, in addition to mefenamic acid, capsella bursa pastoris capsule 500 mg every12 hours, from the first day to the end of bleeding, up to seven days, was prescribed. In control group, instead of capsella bursa pastoris capsules,it^,s placebo was prescribed with the same order. Data were checked and compared before and after treatment using SPSS software.
Results: The average amount of bleeding reduced in capsella bursa pastoris group from 135.27 in control cycle to 69.13 in third cycle and in control group reduced from 133.91 to 75.44 in third cycle(p<0.001). The average duration of bleeding was reduced in capsella bursa pastoris group from 7.38 in control cycle to 5.40 in third cycle and in control group was reduced from 6.91 to 5.31 in third cycle(p<0.001).
Conclusion: It seems that the extract of capsella bursa pastoris can be effective in reducing the amount and duration of bleeding in women of reproductive age with heavy menstrual bleeding.

Background: Due to high prevalence of vitrectomy surgery, and the importance of anesthetic technique in conducting an uncomplicated surgery, we decided to do this study.

Materials and Methods: This prospective randomized study was conducted on 80 patients 40-80 years old candidating deep vitrectomy sugery under general anesthesia that were categorized into II and III Class by American Society of Anesthesiologist (ASA). Patients were randomly allocated to two groups of 40 members. Anesthesia was induced in both groups in the same manner. For maintaining anesthesia, patients from I group receiVed 1.2% isofluran with 50% O2 in air at 4L/min and infusion of remifentanil (0.1 mg.kg-1.min-1). But in the P group, we used propofol up to 10mg/kg /hr with infusion of remifentanyl. Propofol and isoflurane in fusion was discontinued with the last surgical stitches, but remifentanil infusion continued in both groups until the eye was covered with shield. Hemodynamic variables were recorded just before the induction of anesthesia and in different time intervals till discharging of the patients from the recovery room.  Then, data were compared.

Results: Results showed that there is a significant changes in propofol group compared to isofluran in deep vitrectomy surgery operations.

Conclusion: Hemodynamic changes are more significant in maintaining propofol anesthesia when compared with isoflurane.

Background: Endothelial cells are very sensitive to mechanical force including microgravity and the morphological and functional changes in them are believed to be at the basis of weightlessness-induced cardiovascular deconditioning. It has been shown that the proliferation, migration, and morphological differentiation of endothelial cells play critical roles in angiogenesis. So far, the influence of microgravity on the ability of endothelial cells to foster angiogenesis remains to be explored in detail. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of microgravity condition on VEGFR-2 and CD34 genes expression in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) in angiogenesis.

Materials and Methods: In this study, HUVEC cells were purchased from Pastor Institute. We used a clinostat to simulate microgravity condition for 2, 24 and 72 hours. Real time PCR technique was used for gene expression analysis after extraction of RNA from cells.

Results:  Our results showed that microgravity for 72h leads to a significant increase (6 times compared with control group, p<0.001) in the VEGFR-2 gene expression. However, expression of CD34 did not change (p>0.05) with microgravity.

Conclusion: Based on the results, microgravity has positive effect on angiogenesis and can be used to generate vascules for cell therapy of ischemic diseases and atherosclerosis.

Background:  Schizophrenia is a chronic debilitating psychiatric disorder affecting 1% of the population worldwide. As for key role of free radicals in the development of this disease and that Quince leaf is a natural source of antioxidant substances, this study was aimed to evaluate the protective effects of Quince leaf extract on locomotor activity and anxiety-like behaviors by an intraperitoneal injection of ketamine in male mice in a ketamine model of schizophrenia.

Materials and Methods: In the experimental research, male adult mice were divided into six groups including: control, Sham (received water orally and saline intraperitoneally), psychosis group (received 10 mg/kg/day ketamine i.p. for 10 days) and treated psychosis groups (received 50, 100 and 150 mg/kg/day). Treated groups received hydroalcoholic Quince leaf extract orally for 3 weeks before injection of ketamine. Extract gavages continue for 5 days after the last ketamine injection. Locomotor activity and anxiety-like behavioral changes were measured in the open-field test.

Results: The results showed that chronic administration of ketamine increases horizontal locomotor activity and anxiety like behaviors (p≤0.001) and pretreatment of Quince leaf extract effectively decreases horizontal locomotor activity (p<0.001) and increases duration that spends in middle area of Open field (p<0.01) and vertical ocomotor activity(p<0.001).

Conclusion: The results of this research showed that chronic administration of Quince leaf extract improves locomotor disorder and induced anxiety-like behaviors by having antioxidant properties in a ketamine model of schizophrenia.

Background: Azoospermia is defined as the absence of sperm in the semen and is divided in two types; obstructive and non-obstructive azoospermia. Non-obstructive azoospermia include approximately 60% of azoospermia patients. Several genetic and environmental factors can be involved in the development of non-obstructive azoospermia. Until now, several genes have been introduced as the causing factor of the azoospermia that are involved in spermatogenesis and testicular development. These genes are located on Y and/or autosome chromosomes .The aim of the present study was to investigate Y chromosome microdeletions and STAG3 gene mutations in Iranian males with non-obstructive azoospermia.

Materials and Methods: In this study, peripheral blood samples were obtained from 122 men with idiopathic non-obstructive azoospermia and 100 Normo-sperm men who had at least one child and DNA was extracted. Samples were investigated for the presence of Y chromosome microdeletions by Multiplex PCR. Then, existence of probable mutations in exon 7 of STAG3 gene was investigated using MSSCP (multi-temperature single-strand conformational polymorphism) method.

Results: 13 patients (10.66%) had Y chromosome microdeletions, but none of the subjects showed mutation in exon 7 of STAG3 gene. The Y chromosome microdeletions were found in none of the control individuals.

Conclusion: The results showed that Y chromosome microdeletions are the most important cause of non-obstructive azoospermia and should be considered as the main candidate for male infertility diagnostic tests. Mutations in the STAG3 gene are not common among non-obstructive azoospermia patients.

Background: Gentamicin (GM) is one the aminoglycoside antibiotics which isroutinelyused to treatinfections gram-negative, either alone or insynergistic withbeta-lactamantibioticsused. However, frequent useleads toserious side effectssuch asrenal toxicity, ototoxicity. Coenzyme Q₁₀ has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and vasodilatory properties. According to these properties of Coenzyme Q₁₀ and tissue damage mechanism in GM induced-nephrotoxicity, in this study, the effects of these two substances for the co-treatment and post -treatment on renal injury induced by gentamicin were investigated.

Materials and Methods:  Experiments has been done on 77 male Wistar rats in weight range of 200 to 250 g. Animals were divided randomly into 5 groups of 7 numbers. Renal nephrotoxicity induced by i.p injection of gentamicin (100mg/kg) Therapeutic effect of coenzyme Q₁₀ (10mg/kg)in the two protocols co-treatment  and post-treatmentwas investigated.The animals after the last injectionon the ninth day of co-treatment andthe seventeenth day of post-treatmentwere placed into individual metabolic cages so as to collection urine and urine volume was measured gravimetrically. Afteranesthesia, systolic blood pressure and renal blood flow was measured. Then blood sampling was done. Amount of urea, creatinin, sodium, potassium and osmolarity was measured in plasma and urine samples. Left kidney, for doing histological experiments in 10% buffered formaldehyde and right kidney for biochemical experiments in fluid nitrogen was preserved.

Results: Co-treatment with Coenzyme Q10 significantly decreased fractional excretion of sodium (6.37±1.33 %; p<0.001) and decreased fractional excretion of potassium(219.14±83.8 %; p<0.001) MDA levels (2.13 ±0.24µmol/gkw; p<0.001), and significantly increased renal blood flow (6.38 ±0.1ml/min: p<0.01) and FRAP levels (24.44±0.42mmol/gkw; p<0.001). Post-treatment with coenzyme Q10 significantly decreased fractional excretion of sodium (3.58 ±0.57 %; p<0.001), potassium (111.77±29.4%; p<0.001) and MDA levels (3.08 ±0.12µmol/gkw; p<0.001) and significantly increased renal blood flow (6.74±0.15ml/min: p<0.001) and FRAP levels (24.34±0.75mmol/gkw; p<0.001) that is reduced by gentamicin.

Conclusion: According to the results, this study showed thatpost- treatment with coenzyme Q₁₀more protective effect on the kidney tissue andAnda greater increase inantioxidant defensecreated.

Background: As dental solid waste are among the most important environmental pollutants due to its high contents of toxic and hazardous agents, suitable treatment and management of it are of great importance. The objective of this study was to quantity & quality analyses of dental solid waste and associated management practices in the general dentistry offices in the city of Arak.

Materials and Methods: 15 samples of solid waste were taken from the 5 selected general dentistry offices, classified into 66 components and 4 fractions, and then the quantity & quality characteristics were evaluated. Management practices of the solid waste were also investigated by using a questionnaire.

Results: According to the results, per capita and the average generation rate of each dentistry office were 66.71 g/day-patient and 1340.45 g/day, respectively. Potential infectious, domestic-type, chemical & pharmaceutical, and toxic wastes consisted of 54.25%, 35.14%, 8.19%, and 2.14% of the waste generated, respectively. 10 components including latex gloves, nylon & plastic, saliva & blood-contaminated kleenex, paper & cardboard, used ampoules, saliva ejector tubes, gypsum, food waste, saliva & blood-contaminated dental rolls, and nylon gloves were responsible for more than 80% of the total waste generated, respectively.

Conclusion: Each fraction of dental solid waste (toxic, chemical & pharmaceutical, potential infectious and domestic-type wastes) should be separately collected and disposed of according to the related criteria.

Abstract

Background: The lymphatic system as a key component in the organism's body can be affected by used drugs. Methylphenidate or Ritalin is widely used for treatment of behavioral disorders in children and some depressed people. This study carried out to examine the immunotoxic effects of Ritalin.

Materials and Methods: A total of 16 healthy adult female mice were selected and randomly divided into a control and three experimental groups. The experimental groups received Ritalin as 0.5,5 and 50 mg/kg body weight and control groups received distillated water by gavage method for 21 consecutive days. At the end of experiment, the structure and function of the lymphoid organs were evaluated. Results were analyzed by ANOVA and Duncan’s test (p<0.05).

Results: Significant alterations including a reduction in the size and number of lymphoid follicles, increasing in the megakaryocytes numbers as well as spleen capsular thickens were seen following Ritalin administration.  The atrophy of the lymph nodes together with significant reduction in the number and size of lymph follicles but an increasing in the parenchyma hyperemia were seen. Also lymphocyte numbers increased while the monocytes numbers decreased (p<0.05).

Conclusion: The consumption of Ritalin could be exerted detrimental effects on the lymphoid organs in the mouse model.

Abstract

Background: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease with broad clinical manifestations, but unclear etiology. Extensive tissue damage occurs due to the production of auto-antibody against nuclear and cytoplasmic antigens. Regarding the involvement of GADD45A gene in cell cycle control, T-cell proliferation suppression, and genome epigenetic regulation, this case-control study was done for the first time to evaluate the association of rs581000 polymorphism in 5’ near gene with the risk of SLE among patients in south of Iran.

Materials and Methods: This study was performed on 102 patients with SLE in comparison with 118 healthy controls. Genotyping of the GADD45A rs581000 polymorphism was performed using T-ARMS PCR.

Results: The T allele was significantly more frequent in the controls (0.13) than in the patients (0.01) with SLE (p<0.001). The frequency of genotypes carrying at least one C allele (CC+CG) was higher in control group (14.4%) compared to patient group (1%), and this allele showed protective effect against the risk of SLE (p<0.001, CI: 0.009-0.5, OR=0.06)

Conclusion: It seems that GADD45A rs581000 polymorphism involved in the SLE pathogenesis.

Abstract

Background: Nanoparticles are used in various applications due to unique mechanical and physicochemical properties such as their increased surface area to volume ratio and quantum effects. This study was designed to investigate the cytotoxic effects of zinc oxide nanopaticles on hematological and biochemical parameters BALB/c mice.

Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, 28 adult male mice BALB/c, were divided into four groups (one control group and three experimental groups). The mice in the experimental groups orally received Zinc Oxide nanoparticles with doses of 50, 100 and 300 mg/kg for 14 days. The control group received distillated water only. On 15th day, some hematological and biochemical parameters were studied on the blood samples collected.

Results: Results showed that Zinc Oxide nanoparticles cause changes in blood cells. In high concentration, nanoparticles increased some of factors such as white blood cells, hemoglubin, MCV and neutrophil and besides decreased amount of RBCs, pLTs, hematocrit, lymphocytes, glucose and kratenin significantly (p<0.05).

Conclusion: The findings showed that zinc oxide nanoparticles cause harmful effects due to the considerable variations in hematological and serum parameters in mice  in a dose-dependent way.

Abstract

Background: Prevalence extension of antibiotic resistant bacteria has raised concerns about control of infections especially nosocomial infections. Many attempts have been done to replace antibiotics or limit their use. The use of antimicrobial agents produced by bacteria as antibiotic replacement has been promising in recent years. The goal of this study was to isolate Bacillus strains and evaluate their antimicrobial activity against some standard pathogens and clinical antibiotic resistant strains.

Materials and Methods: In the present study, Bacillus strains were isolated from various resources and identified by 16S rDNA PCR method. Then, the phylogenetic tree of the isolates was constructed and antimicrobial activity of the isolates was investigated against some standard pathogens and clinical antibiotic resistant strains using spotting and well diffusion methods.

Results: Eight Bacillus strains were isolated from 15 different samples. Based on the molecular identification, the isolates were identified as B.pumilus, B.coagulans, B.licheniformis, B.endophitycus and B.amiloliquefaciens. The results showed that isolates have antimicrobial activity against meticilin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, vancomycin resistant enterococci, Klebsiella, Acinetobacter, Salmonella, Shigella, Listeria, Streptococcus and Escherichia coli.

Conclusion: In this study, isolated Bacillus strains produced antimicrobial agents against pathogens and antibiotic resistant strains and inhibited their growth.

Abstract

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third major cause of cancer death worldwide. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and HBx gene play an important role in the development of HCC by influencing signaling pathways. Since there is no detectable symptom in the early phase of HCC, there is need to find new HCC-specific markers with high sensitivity for early detection and diagnosis of HCC. On the other hand, by the advent and development of bioinformatic sciences, it is now possible to predict miRNAs as biomarkers, and their targets. Therefore, in the present study, based on the results of the bioinformatic software applications with different algorithm, we selected the miRNA targeting HBx and NOTCH1 mRNAs according to higher score, suitable connection with target gene and confirming them in more softwares.

Materials and Methods: First, the sequences of NOTCH1 and HBx genes were retrieved from NCBI. Afterwards, several software applications such as TargetScan, mirWalk, miRBase, Miranda, PicTar, miRVir, and DIANA were applied to predict miRNAs.

Results: Based on the high scoring by bioinformatics softwares and suitable targeting, miR-34a were selected to target NOTCH1 and miR-6510, miR-5193 and miR-214 were chosen to targetHBX gene.

Conclusion: Because of tumor suppression roles of miR-214 and miR-34a, they probably could be used as therapeutic strategy in cancer researches. It is also seems that the miR-5193 could act as a specific marker in Hepatocellular carcinoma.

Abstract

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of different concentrations of morphine and naloxone on epileptic activity in live brain slices taken from morphine-dependent and control infant mice.

Materials and Methods: Forty neonatal mice were randomly selected. To establish dependency, 2, 4, 8, 16 and 32 mg / kg morphine was injected subcutaneously once daily (0.1 cc) for 5 consecutive days from day 14-18 after birth. On postnatal days 19-20, brain slices were prepared and cerebrospinal fluid was perfused with low magnesium to induce experimental- epiletform activity. The effects of 10, 100 and 1000 µM concentrations of morphine and 10 µM naloxone were investigated on epileptic activity. Chenges in the number as well as onset and amplitude of activities were considered as an indicator to determine the quantity of their effect.  

Results: The results showed that morphine 100 µM increased the activity while 10 and 1000 µM concentrations of morphine and 10 µM naloxone attenuated epileptic activity in both groups. Naloxone reduced pro-seizure effect of morphine, but anti-seizure effect of morphine couldn't restored by naloxone.

Conclusion: Morphine has a two-phase concentration-dependent effect on epileptic activity in the infant mice; so that low and high concentrations of morphine inhibit epileptic activity, but its moderate concentration potentiates the epileptic activity. Naloxone has an anti-seizure effect.

Abstract

Background: Hearing loss (HL) is the most common congenital defect in humans. One or two in thousand newborn babies have prelingual hearing loss. Autosomal recessive non-syndromic hearing loss (ARNSHL) is the most common form of hereditary deafness. Hearing loss is more common in the developing countries which is due to genetic and environmental (cultural -health factors) reasons. HL has a wide range of clinical demonstrations including: congenital or late onset, conductive or sensory-neural, syndromic or non-syndromic hearing loss. The goal of this project is to determine the portion of the DFNB21 (TECTA) in ARNSHL in families with negative GJB2 gene in Khuzestan province.

Materials and Methods: We studied 21 families with ARNSHL with at least 4 patients and negative for GJB2 mutations from Khuzestan province. Genetic linkage analysis was performed using STR markers linked to DFNB21 locus.

Results: Following genetic linkage analysis and haplotyping, out of 21 families with ARNSHL, one family showed linkage to the DFNB21 (TECTA) locus.

Conclusion: The results of this project confirm other studies in Iran and give insight into the most common loci causing ARNSHL in Iran which could be helpful in research and clinic.

Abstract

Background: The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of preemptive adding topical Ketorolac to Tetracaine drop on pain intensity and hemodynamic parameters during and after cataract surgery.

Materials and Methods: Eighty patients scheduled for elective cataract surgery under sedation and topical anesthesia, were randomly allocated to two equal groups: group T received Tetracaine 0.5%, and group TK received Tetracaine with ketorolac eye drops. One drop of each ophthalmic drug was applied every 10 minutes from 30 minutes before surgery. Pain intensity and hemodynamic parameters were assessed just before starting the operation and 5, 10, 15and 20 minutes during the operation, and then 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 minutes after arrival of the patient to the recovery room.

Results: Mean pain intensity was significantly lower in TK group (1 ± 0.128) compared with T group (2 ± 1.54) during the surgery (p = 0.003), but there was no significant difference between the two groups in this regard during the recovery time (p =0.157). The number of patients requiring additional analgesic was not significantly different between the groups. There was no significant difference between the two groups regarding hemodynamic parameters except at 20th minutes and 15^th and 20^th minutes (heart rate and respiratory rate) after arrival to the recovery room.

Conclusion: Preemptive adding topical Ketorolac to Tetracaine drop is more effective than Tetracaine alone to reduce pain during cataract surgery.