Research in Molecular Medicine
Volume:5 Issue: 4, Nov 2017

Toxoplasma gondii is well- known as a common parasite with high proliferative activity in the nucleated cells. This parasite has infected nearly one third of the people worldwide. Infection can result in chorioretinitis in immunocompetent hosts, encephalitis in HIV/AIDS positive patients and abortion and neonatal loss in congenital toxoplasmosis. Development of vaccines for toxoplasmosis infection is very important for decreasing infection transmission routes of the disease in various host species in the world. Live attenuated vaccines are closest to a natural infection; therefore, they are good rescuers of the immune system and often create lifelong immunity with only one or two doses. In this study, the researchers reviewed the current status in the development of live attenuated vaccines on Toxoplasma infection

Due to high differentiation potential and self-renewality, Mesenchymal Stem Cells are now widely considered by researchers in several diseases. FBS is used as a supplement in culture media for proliferation, differentiation, and other culture processes of MSCs, which is associated with transmission risk of a variety of infections as well as immune responses. PRGF derived from platelets contains growth factors causing the growth and proliferation of MSCs. This study was conducted to compare the effect of PRGF in comparison to FBS on the expression of h-TERT gene, in umbilical cord derived MSCs. This study is an experimental research. Four expired platelet concentrate bags were obtained from Kerman blood transfusion center, and PRGF was prepared by multiple centrifugation rounds of the platelet bag. Calcium chloride was added as an anticoagulant to PRGF in order to prevent gelatinization of the culture medium. On the other hand, mesenchymal stem cells were isolated from the umbilical cord as a primary culture. The phenotype of the cells was confirmed by flow cytometry, and the cells were randomly cultured as control (using FBS) and experimental (using PRGF) groups. The expression of the gene involved in increasing cell longevity (h-TERT) was investigated by real-time PCR technique after six days. Mesenchymal stem cells were successfully isolated from the umbilical cord. Morphologically, the mesenchymal cells cultured in the experimental group (using PRGF) were similar to the cells in the control medium. The cells exhibited a high expression level of CD73, CD90, and CD105, while the surface markers of hematopoietic cells such as CD45 and CD34 were slightly expressed. Therefore, there was no significant difference in the expression of cell surface markers between control and experimental groups. In this study, using the real-time PCR technique, it was shown that PRGF derived from the platelet could increase the expression of h-TERT gene in the umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells compared with the control.(P = 0.034) PRGF have been shown to be effective in increasing expression of h-TERT gene in the umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells and may also be an appropriate substitute for FBS in cell culture media

Enoxaparin is an anticoagulant medication. Anticoagulation inhibits tumor cell–mediated release of angiogenic proteins and diminishes angiogenic response. Angiogenesis is an important event in various cancers such as breast cancer. Angiogenesis provide oxygen and nutrients to tumor cells and causes tumor progression. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the anti-angiogenesis effect of an enoxaparin cream on breast cancer induced by dimethylbenzanthracene in rats. In this experimental in vivo study, 50 Wistar female rats were divided into negative control (vehicle), positive control (cream base), and 3 groups with enoxaparin treatment (40, 60, and 80 mg/ml). After one month of treatment along with breast cancer induction by dimethylbenzanthracene, breast tissue samples were isolated and stained with hematoxylin-eosin, and tumor growth suppression rate was calculated. Tumor size (length and width) was measured using a clipper, and the tumor volume was calculated using the following formula: V = (L × W × W)/2, where V is tumor volume, W is tumor width, L is tumor length. The data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA and Tukey's post hoc test. Tumor suppression was significantly increased in enoxaparin treatment groups compared to the positive control group (40 mg/ml of enoxaparin treated Vs positive control group; P=0.017, 60 mg/ml of enoxaparin treated Vs positive control; P=0.015, 40 mg/ml of enoxaparin treated Vs positive control; P=0.009, 60 mg/ml of enoxaparin treated Vs 40 mg/ml of enoxaparin treated; P=0.019, and 80 mg/ml of enoxaparin treated Vs 40 mg/ml of enoxaparin treated; P=0.011) in a dose-dependent manner. Enoxaparin inhibits breast cancer in a dose-dependent manner. The application of enoxaparin cream in patients with breast cancer may considerably reduce tumor growth

Mesenchymal stem cells have been widely considered in clinical researches because of their self-renewality and differentiation into various tissues. Nevertheless, their limited in vitro life span, which occurs only after several divisions, makes some changes in these cells, which affects all of their characteristics and remarkably reduces their application. In this study, the effect of platelet-derived microparticles, a rich source of growth factors, proteins, enzymes and microRNAs, was evaluated on the expression of hTERT gene as one of the main factors, involved in aging process and cell longevity. Umbilical cord-mesenchymal stem cells were used for this study. The cells were confirmed by evaluating their morphology and surface markers using inverted microscope and flow cytometry, respectively. Platelet microparticles were prepared by centrifuging platelet bags with different speeds, and their concentration was determined by Bradford assay. When confluency of cultured MSCs was 30%, cells were treated with 50 µg/mL of microparticles for 5 days, Then, RNA was extracted and cDNA was synthesized. The quantitative expression of hTERT gene was assessed using Real-Time PCR. The fibroblast-like cells were isolated from umbilical cord tissue, and their mesenchymal markers were approved by flowcytometry. The results of Real-Time PCR showed that the expression of hTERT gene was increased more than 3 times compared with control group. It can be concluded that platelet-derived microparticles can potentially be recognized as a suitable, safe and effective method in increasing the hTERT gene expression and maybe life span of mesenchymal stem cells; however, further investigations is needed

Recently many studies have focused on the possible role of corticosteroids inhalation on osteoporosis in asthma patients. This study aimed to determine whether the indicatives of bone formation or resorption are different between asthma patients with healthy subjects. To achieve this outcome, twenty one middle-aged asthma patients treated with inhaled corticosteroid and the same number healthy individuals matched for age (38 ± 6.5 years of old) participated in this study by accessible sampling. All subjects were non-trained and no smoker. Serum osteocalcin (OC), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and cross-linked telopeptides of type I collagen (CTX) were measured to assess and compare bone formation and resorption between 2 groups. An Independent sample T-test was used to compare all variables between asthma and healthy subjects. Significant differences were not observed in body weight and other anthropometrical markers between 2 groups (p > 0.05). Serum osteocalcin have shown a borderline significant lower in asthma patients than healthy subjects (p = 0.051). ALP was significantly lower in asthma patients than healthy subjects (p = 0.021). But serum CTX levels were higher in asthma patients than in healthy subjects (p=0.014). Based on these finding, it is appear that inhaled corticosteroid in asthma patients can be affect bone turnover in asthma patients, although more research is needed to further explore any potential link between corticosteroids and osteoporosis

The role of potentially probiotic lactic acid bacteria of human milk in the early colonization and protection of infant against infections is the subject of increasing researches. Colonization with Lactobacillus plantarum in early infancy is suggested to be important for health in later life. However, we presently investigated the strain of Lactobacillus plantarum in the breast milk among Iranian infants. Human breast milk samples (n = 40) with all full‑term breastfed were collected from randomly lactating women. Information about personal characteristics were collected after birth. The samples were cultured in media through Pour plate with MRS (de Man, Rogosa and Sharpe) (Merck Germany) and were detected by biochemical methods. Then, the genus of Lactobacillus was identified using 16-23S rRNA and In order to identify L. plantarum species, the recA gene primer in PCR method was done. Our study showed 35 (87.5%) as suspected of Lactobacilli based on phenotypic tests and 30 (85.71%) were confirmed as Lactobacillus genus using genotypic PCR method all of whom were Lactobacillus plantarum. The probiotic bacteria in mother’s breast milk could have positive effects on her infants health, and therefore, would open new perspectives on using breast milk as a source of probiotic bacteria for bacteriotherapy

HIV infected persons are also at risk for Infection with other pathogens, like Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and Hepatitis C virus (HCV). One of the main steps in the planning of treatment and prevention is the study of the HIV positive population who have HBV and/or HCV infection.
The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of HIV and Hepatitis B and C dual infection in north of Iran Blood samples were collected into EDTA containing tubes by sterile syringes and needles from 83 HIV positive patients which were previously confirmed by Real-time Polymerase chain reaction in the HIV center of the north of IRAN. A structured questionnaire was used to obtain socio-demographic data from participants. Samples were screened for Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and anti-HCV antibody. All non-reactive samples were recorded as negative. Out of the 83 patients, 50(60%) were male and 33 (40%) were female. Positive hepatitis C antibody was found in 28 (33%) and positive hepatitis B surface antigen was present in 15 (18%) of patients. The frequency of all these three viruses co-infection was 7 (8%). Seroprevalence of HCV and HIV co-infection was high and it was strongly related to mutual ways of acquisition.