Effects of diode low-level laser therapy on healing of tooth extraction sockets: a histopathological study in diabetic rats

Lasers in Medical Science - Diabetes mellitus is mostly interrelated to deficiency in wound healing. Low-level laser therapy has been shown to exert reliable effects on the acceleration of wound...     

Assessment of MUSASHI 1 and MUSASHI 2 expression in spermatozoa and testicular tissue

MUSASHI (MSI) family plays the main role in the spermatogenesis process. The purpose of this study was the assessment of sperm MSI1 and MSI2, and sperm functional tests in infertile men (n = 30) with varicocele and fertile men (n = 30). Furthermore, MSI1 and MSI2 proteins were assessed in testicular tissue of azoospermic men (n = 9) as well as epididymal spermatozoa and testis of mice. Expression of MSI1 and MSI2 was assessed at RNA and protein levels in human spermatozoa. Sperm concentration and motility were significantly lower, while abnormal sperm morphology, lipid peroxidation, DNA fragmentation and protamine deficiency were significantly higher in men with varicocele compared to fertile individuals. Any significant difference was not observed in the expression of MSI1 and MSI2 mRNA between the two groups. Unlike MSI1 protein that was not detectable in humans, the relative expression of MSI2 protein was similar in varicocele and fertile individuals. The expression level of both Msi1 and Msi2 proteins was also observable in mouse spermatozoa. No significant relationship was observed between sperm functional parameters with expression of these genes. The data of this study demonstrated that although MSI1 and MSI2 play important roles during spermatogenesis, their relative expression in spermatozoa was not affected by varicocele.     

Quality of hospital services during New Year holiday (Nowruz) in Iran

Journal of Public Health - Iranian New Year, with long consecutive holidays, although it is celebrated and enjoyed, might influence the quality of services provided by hospitals. The present study...     

Immunogenicity and efficacy of a bivalent DNA vaccine containing LeIF and TSA genes against murine cutaneous leishmaniasis

There is no effective vaccine for the prevention and elimination of leishmaniasis. For this reason, we assessed the protective effects of DNA vaccines containing LeIF, TSA genes alone, or LeIF–TSA fusion against cutaneous leishmaniasis pEGFP‐N1 plasmid (empty vector) and phosphate buffer saline (PBS) were used as control groups. Therefore, cellular and humoral immune responses were evaluated before and after the challenge with Leishmania major. Lesion diameter was also measured 3–12 weeks after challenge. All immunized mice with plasmid DNA encoding Leishmania antigens induced the partial immunity characterized by increased IFN‐γ and IgG2a levels compared with control groups (p < 0.001). Furthermore, the immunized mice showed significant reduction in mean lesion sizes compared with mice in empty vector and PBS groups (p < 0.05). The reduction in lesion diameter was 29.3%, 34.1%, and 46.2% less in groups vaccinated with LeIF, TSA, and LeIF‐TSA, respectively, than in PBS group at 12th week post infection. IFN/IL‐4 and IgG2a/IgG1 ratios indicated that group receiving LeIF–TSA fusion had the highest IFN‐γ and IgG2a levels. In this study, DNA immunization promoted Th1 immune response characterized by higher IFN‐γ and IgG2a levels and also reduction in lesion size. These results showed that a bivalent vaccine containing two distinct antigens may induce more potent immune responses against leishmaniasis.     

Hematological profiles of goats naturally infected with Anaplasma ovis in north and northeast Iran

This study was conducted to measure selected hematological parameters in goats naturally infected with Anaplasma ovis. In this study 193 blood samples were collected from adult and young goats in north (Gonbad) and northeast (Mashhad) of Iran. Out of the 193 blood samples, 123 samples were positive (infected group) and 70 samples were negative (uninfected group) for A. ovis by polymerase chain reaction. Hematological analysis was carried out on 47 samples from the infected group and 37 samples from the uninfected group. Hematological analysis indicated significant decreases (P?<?0.01) in RBC counts, HCT values, and hemoglobin concentrations in the A. ovis-infected group of goats compared to the uninfected group (P?<?0.01). The mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular hemoglobin, WBC counts, lymphocytes, eosinophils, and monocytes in the infected group were lower but neutrophils were higher than in the uninfected group. These differences were not statistically significant (P?>?0.05). The result from this study revealed that A. ovis infection in goats is associated with marked changes in hematological parameters.     

Toxic effects arising from selenium and deferasirox interaction in the biological system

This investigation was conducted to evaluate the effect of deferasirox on selenium toxicity in male rat organs. After 50 days of selenium administration, all the rats showed toxicity symptoms. After poisoning, deferasirox was given orally to rats during 10 days. The results show that toxicity symptoms were unexpectedly increased. The new symptoms of toxicity after deferasirox administration were including loss of body hairs, yellowish discoloration of hair, weakness, brown spot on their skin, enlargement of the spleen and shrinking of sex organs. Selenium and iron concentrations were determined by GFAAS and FAAS, respectively. The results indicate the poisoned rats with selenium that received deferasirox as a drug, shown serious symptoms such as exacerbate toxicity, reduction in iron concentration, anemia and even death after a few days of deferasirox administration.     

Inhibitory effect of Crocus sativus L. ethanol extract on adjuvant-induced arthritis

Saffron is a well-known spice produced from dried stigmas of Crocus sativus L. flowers. Apart from its wide use in food preparations, it also has a broad range of medical properties. We examined the potential anti-inflammatory effects of saffron ethanolic extract (SEE) using an animal model of arthritis. Adjuvant-induced arthritis was induced in Wistar rats by injection of Complete Freund's Adjuvant. The rats were then injected intraperitoneally every other day with 25–600 mg SEE/kg or dexamethasone (DEX, 2 mg/kg). Changes in body weight, paw oedema and arthritis indices were recorded over the subsequent 12 days of treatment. Results revealed that SEE particularly at the higher concentrations significantly reduced paw and tibiotarsal joint diameters and comparing with DEX caused no significant change in body weight. These observations suggest that SEE displays a considerable anti-inflammatory potency and could potentially be used as an anti-arthritic agent in control of inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis.     

Hypothalamic‐pituitary‐adrenal axis activity in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis: a controlled study using insulin hypoglycemia stress test

Aim: To study the response of cortisol to insulin‐induced hypoglycemia in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods: We measured the response of cortisol to insulin‐induced hypoglycemia (0.15 µ/kg) in 10 patients (6 female, 4 male) with active RA and 10 (6 female, 4 male) healthy controls. All patients had never received glucocorticoids before the study. The cortisol concentration was assessed by radioimmunoassay. Results: The mean age was 47.3 years (± 14.2 years) in patients and 43.5 years (± 10.6 years) in control subjects. The mean disease duration was 66.3 months (range 12–120). The basal serum levels of cortisol in patients with RA were not significantly different from those of controls. Although the mean serum cortisol levels after insulin‐induced hypoglycemia were lower in patients with RA than controls in all samples, the significant difference was seen only in the samples 60 min after insulin injection (18.59 vs. 24.28 µg/dL, P = 0.041). Conclusion: Our findings suggest that active RA is associated with dysfunction of the hypothalamic–pituitary‐adrenal axis.