جعفر آی

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a serious condition leading to complete or partial sensory and motor dysfunction. Currently, drug therapy, surgical decompression, and postoperative rehabilitation are the main potential treatments for SCI. Due to the complexity of the pathological microenvironment of SCI, there is no fully effective treatment approach. Investigations on SCI treatment are increasing to find drugs or methods that can help patients with SCI. In experimental studies, stem cell-based therapy and their derived exosomes, as well as certain drugs, hold significant promise for SCI treatment. This review study focuses on the latest advancements in SCI treatment. Data were collected from the PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and ScienceDirect databases.

Compared to stem cells, exosomes offer advantages, such as neuroprotection, low immunogenicity, ease of storage and transport, axonal regeneration, small size that avoids capture by lung and liver tissues, and the ability to cross the blood-spinal cord barrier. Biomaterials provide a supportive microenvironment, while exosomes and stem cells continuously release growth factors to help in various pathological conditions, such as SCI.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common disorder in women that usually occurs in reproductive age in a number of people around the world. Symptoms include impaired folliculogenesis, hyperandrogenism, menstrual irregularities, numerous small cystic follicles, infertility, and chronic anovulation. The present review study was conducted with the aim of describing the use of stem cells for the treatment of PCOS, their biological characteristics and mechanism of action. The information related to this review study was collected from 53 papers that searched from databases such as SID, Magiran, PubMed, Google Scholar, Ironed Scopus and clinicaltrials. Currently, only the studies are at the level of pre-clinical studies on bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells, adipose stem cells, cord blood stem cells and exosomes derived mesenchymal stem cells, and there are only two studies on the Clinicaltrials.gov website as clinical studies. Due to the uncertainty of the safety of this method for the purpose of using stem cells in human, more studies in this field should be designed and implemented.

Glioblastoma Multiforme is a very aggressive primary brain cancer that has a median overall survival even if the treatment period is less than 1 year. Despite progress in glioblastoma diagnosis and treatment, the prognosis of patients with glioblastoma still remains poor. Recently, it has been detected that stem cell therapies are an effective method for brain tumor cell targeting. Also, the anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic activity of taurine against cancerous cells has been found.

In this study, we employed taurine as an anti-cancer drug and PDLSCs as a potential agent for improving anti-cancer drug efficiency. Then, we investigated their effect on the glioma tumor cells in in-vitro 2D cell culture and in vivo.

Taurine had the best apoptotic activity on the C6 glioblastoma cells at the concentration of 80 μM after 72h post-treatment. The obtained results showed that a combination of taurine/PDLSCs induced the expression of caspase-3, caspase-8, and IL-17Ra and down-regulated the expression of Bcl-2 and IL-17Ra. Uses of taurine and PDLSCs suppress the migration of the cancerous C6 cells after 48h and show good potential in the suppression of GBM metastasis.

The taurine at concentration of 80µM has a strong potential in decreasing the viability of cancerous C6 Glioblastoma cells. Therefore, taurine and PDLSCs combination, due its therapeutic efficacy, has a considerable potential to be a successful method to glioblastoma brain cancer treatment.

The term "electromagnetic fields" (EMF) is a combination of electric and magnetic fields as a diagnostic method as well as a therapeutic tool with many advantages such as ease of operation and painlessness, very controllable, which today has found wide application in regenerative medicine and also cancer treatment.  In addition to organs such as nerves, hearts, and bones that have an electrical function, the presence of electrically charged particles inside the cells creates an internal electromagnetic field. This field can be affected by the external electromagnetic field and cause therapeutic effects. Its therapeutic effects relate to the applications of the electromagnetic field as a stimulus to induce various biological effects on cells, such as altering cell proliferation, differentiation, cell cycle, apoptosis, DNA proliferation, cytokine expression, and more. Also, combination therapy by the electromagnetic field, along with other physical therapies such as radiotherapy and even systemic therapy such as chemotherapy, are the most important approaches to using the electromagnetic field in the treatment of cancer. Subsequently, Electromagnetic fields can lead to the proliferation and differentiation of stem cells and the modulation of the immune system, which plays an important role in the treatment of inflammatory disease and regenerative medicine treatments. Also, this field can create new horizons in cancer treatment due to its many advantages such as being a non-invasive, selective function, and ease of using and as well as affordability.

Among the different fields of modern medical sciences, regenerative medicine has attracted the attention of many researchers and physicians. The development of this branch of medicine has increased hopes for the treatment of incurable diseases. As a new idea in regenerative medicine in interaction with tissue engineering and genetics, cell therapy has been able to snatch the lead in modern medical sciences and confirm the clinical use of several cell-based pharmaceutical products. Cell therapy aims to transplant healthy human cells to replace or repair damaged cells for therapeutic purposes. Hence, this study aims to introduce and review approved cell-based drugs that are currently used in therapy.

This study is a non-systematic review in which all biological products with therapeutic approval worldwide were extracted and reported from relevant organizationschr('39') sites.
Articles were also searched manually and electronically in PubMed, Scopus, and Science Direct databases.

Since cell therapy products are related to products based on gene therapy and tissue engineering, all biological products with clinical use approval were collected and introduced from different countries. In total, the United States with 16 products, South Korea with 14 products, and the European Union with 8 products had the highest number of cell therapy products, respectively.

Due to the novelty of this branch of medicine and the entry of cell therapy-based products into the consumer market, a rising trend in production and attention to the future of reconstructive medicine and cell therapy is predictable.

The electrical functions of the organs of the body, such as the nervous system and the bone marrow, has led to the use of one of the most widely used therapies called electrotherapy, especially in relieving pain. On the other hand, advancement of medical science in the field of stem cells and regenerative medicine has made many perspective in treatment. Electric field-based therapies have recently been widely used in the treatment of cancer. The main issues in regenerative medicine are the proliferation of stem cells to the required extent and their guidance towards differentiation into the target tissue. Electric field stimulation (EF) can also play an important role in generating appropriate stem cell responses and guiding stem cell differentiation through osteogenesis/neurogenesis/cardiomyogenesis. Nanosecond pulsed electric field as well as the tumor treating field have attracted a lot of attention today for the treatment of cancer. Major signaling pathways and cellular responses elicited by electrical stimulation are included reactive oxygen species and heat shock proteins, intracellular calcium ion fluctuation, so ATP production, clustering or re-accumulation of cell surface receptors, Skeletal regeneration and so on that they can affect the stem cell fate. Also, none invasive, ease of usage, and reasonable price have caused that the treatment of cancer with an electric field to be increasingly used. This study seeks to provide a brief overview of the effects of electrical signals on the behavior of stem cells, as well as examples of their therapeutic effects in the treatment of tissue lesions and cancer.

It has been suggested the neural cell adhesion molecules (NCAM) are one of the main factors that play a role in progress or control of neurodegenerative diseases, such as multiple sclerosis (MS). It has been recently shown that exercises increase the NCAM expression in myofibres. This study aimed to investigate the effect of forced and voluntary training on the accumulation of NCAM-PSA in the neuromuscular junction in soleus muscles in pre and post-induction periods of an experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) mice model.

A total of 40 female C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into four groups including, induced control groups without EAE induction, induced EAE without training, induced EAE with forced, and voluntary training groups. Myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein peptide 35-55 (200 μg in saline) was injected subcutaneously at the base of the tail of each mouse. Forced and voluntary pieces of training were done using a swimming program and treadmill, respectively. The mice were euthanized and the soleus muscles were then isolated for investigation of protein expression using IHC. 

In the control group, a significant increase in the mean percentage expression of NCAM-PSAin pre and post-soleus muscle was detected compared to the EAE with and without training as well as EAE without intervention group. The mean expression level of NCAM-PSA in the pre and post-soleus muscle were significantly increased in rat with treadmill group compared to the swimming group. The lowest expression was detected in EAE without intervention.

The findings of the present study showed that voluntary training increases the expression levels of NCAM-PSA in the neuromuscular junction of the soleus muscle. Further studies are needed to investigate the effect of NCAM-PSA expression changes following exercise on muscular function in MS.

The engineered tissue structure includes three components: cells, signaling pathway and scaffold. The polylactide-co-glycolide/hydroxyapatite (PLGA/HA) has attracted much attention due to their optimal properties because of using PLGA polymer and hydroxyapatite. The aim of this study was to evaluate the biocompatibility effect of PLGA/HA scafffold on osteoblast differentiated from hEnSCs. We aimed to evallute the adhesin of cells on scaffolds. hEnSCs were isolated from human endometrium tissue and induced the osteogenic differentiation, then the differentiated cells were cultured on PLGA/HA synthetic scaffolds. A nanocomposite scaffolds based on PLGA/HA were fabricated by electrospinning methode and behavior of differentiated osteoblast cells was evaluated after seeding cells on this scaffold. Osteogenesis was investigated in terms of attachment, alkaline phosphatase activity and gene expression. Morphogenic of cells in scaffold was evaluated by SEM and biocampatibility of this scaffold was confirmed by MTT assay. The alkaline phosphatase activity confirmed osteoblast differentiation. SEM studies showed that the surface properties of scaffold were desirable and the cells had the ability to attach and proliferate better on the nanocomposite scaffolds. It has been shown that the nanocomposite scaffolds have appropriate properties to support the attachment of differentiated osteoblast cells.

Small molecule Purmorphamin (PMA) is the agonist of smoothened protein in Sonic hedgehog (Shh) signaling pathway. Effect of purmorphamin small molecule on differentiation of mesenchymal cells into bone tissue has been studied previously. Use of Shh causes progression of neural differentiation, and the differentiated cells express specific neural markers. Neurofilament (NF) and acetylcholine esterase (Chat) are specific markers of motor neurons and their expression in differentiated cells indicates their conversion into motor neurons. The aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of PMA to differentiate the human endometrial stem cells (hEnSCs) into motor neurons.
This analytical study was done in Tehran University of Medical Sciences laboratory on September of 2015. In this study hEnSCs were enzymatically extracted from endometrial tissue. After third passages, the flow cytometry was done for mesenchymal stem cells markers. The mesenchymal stem cells were divided into control and differentiated groups. FBS 10%ು೼嵶 was added to the culture medium of control group and the differentiating group was treated with differentiating medium containing N2, PMA, DMEM/F12, FBS, B27, IBMX, 2ME, FGF2, RA, BDNF. After 21 days immunocytochemistry (ICC) test was done for the expression of NF and Chat proteins and Real-time PCR analysis for expression of neural markers such as NF, Chat, Nestin and GFAP (as glial marker) at mRNA level.
The flow cytometry analysis showed that hEnSCs were positive for mesenchymal markers CD90, CD105 and CD146 and negative for endothelial marker CD31, and hematopoietic marker CD34. The immunocytochemistry and Real time-PCR results showed that the cells treated with PMA expressed motor neuron markers of NF and Chat.
According to the results of this study, it can be concluded that small molecule PMA has the potency to induce the differentiation of hEnSCs into neural cells, specifically motor neurons by activating Shh signaling pathway.

Endometrial stem cells (EnSCs) were identified for the first time in 2004. These cells are capable of extensive self-renewal and have the potency to differentiate into chondrocyte, osteocyte, adipocyte, neuron and oligodendrocyte. PI3K/Akt signaling has been implicated in multiple cellular and organ functions, including differentiation, survival and cell death and its inhibition leads to cell differentiation. The purpose of this study was to investigate the differentiation of endometrial stem cells into neural cells by inhibition of PI3K/Akt pathway using small molecule Ly294002.
Endometrial tissues were treated enzymatically and segregated cells were cultured in DMEM/F12 with 10% FBS. The flow cytometry analysis was perfomed for CD105, CD90, CD146, CD31 and CD34 at the third passage. Then the neurogenic differentiation was evaluated at the third passage, 21 days after induction with differentiation media. Immunocytochemistry and Real-time PCR were performed to investigate the expression of specific neural stem cells markers.
The flow cytometry analysis showed that EnSCs were positive for CD90, CD105 and CD146 and negative for CD31 and CD34. Immunocytochemistry showed that the expression of nestin, NF and Chat neuronal markers in the cells treated with small molecule Ly294002. Real-time PCR also indicated expression of NF and Chat neuronal markers at the mRNA level.
According to the findings of this study it can be concluded that the EnSCs have neural differentiation potency in the suitable differentiation milieu. Ly294002 small molecules by inhibiting PI3K / Akt pathway possibly can prevent cell proliferation and induce cell differentiation

Induced pluripotent cells have been considered as one of the most recent and best cell sources for the cell therapy. In this study, the differentiation potency of human iPS cells, cultured on scaffolds, which can differentiate into definitive endodermal cells as precursor for hepatocytes, pancreatic and lung cells, was studied. Embryoid bodies composed of pluripotent cells, were seeded on electrospinning nanofiber scaffold. The cells were differentiated into definitive endoderm using IDE1. Expression of definitive endoderm markers including Sox17, FoxA2 and GSC were confirmed by immunocytochemistry staining and qRT-PCR analysis. In the present study, morphology and viability of cells were evaluated by utilizing a scanning electron microscopy and MTT assay, respectively. The results demonstrated the positive effect of 3D cultures, using suitable factors, on definitive endoderm differentiation.

Stem cells are undifferentiated cells able to self-renew as well as to produce more differentiated daughter cells. In this study, stem cells were isolated from the endometrium and were then compared with the mesenchymal stem cells for their nature to be determined. Endometrial samples from healthy donors with informed consent after laparoscopy were collected by a gynecologist. The bone marrow samples were aspirated from femur by a hematologist. At least 5 mL of blood was removed and the tissue is at least one square centimeter. After three successive passages, the stem cell surface markers of CD90, CD105, CD146, CD34, CD73, CD44, CD133, and CD45 were analyzed using flowcytometry. The karyotype analysis was also performed for the adherent cells. Endometrial stem cells were successfully isolated from the five samples. Adherent cells in flowcytometric analysis showed the positive expression of surface markers to be CD146: 59.3%, CD105: 98.3%, CD90: 95.8%, CD34: 0.9%, CD 45: 1.1%, CD73: 96%, CD44: 84%, and CD133: 1.4% while in bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells the expression of markers were CD105: 98.6%, CD90: 98.4%, CD34: 0.5%, CD73: 97.9%, CD44: 89.3%, CD146:13%, CD45: 0.3%, and CD133: 0.6%. The morphology of endometrial cells, spindle-like mesenchymal cells, the mode of application, and 44XX karyotype were normal. Stem cells isolated from the endometrial tissue had a heterogeneous population of the cells and high levels of expression of specific surface markers of stem cells especially the mesoderm lineage.

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a serious disabling condition associated with paralysis. Owing to suitable effects of hydrogels compared to preformed scaffolds, in this study a hydrogel based biomaterial, Matrigel, was applied. Matrigel is a termogel that forms nanofibers and hydrogel above 20°C. It contains laminin, nidogen and some growth factors that induce neural differentiation.
A moderate spinal cord contusion was performed in adult rats and 10 days after injury, matrigel was implanted. Then, they follow up via Basso, Beattie, Bresnahan test for 42 days. Cresyl violet staining was performed as a histopatological analysis.
Our data indicated less inflammation and dark cells in Matrigel group compared to control group. Locomotor test showed significant improvement of motor recovery in Matrigel group.
Our results suggest that Matrigel via some growth factors and adhesive molecules may have beneficial effects on functional recovery in SCI.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), also known as mesenchymal stromal cells, are considered as an important source of adult stem cells in tissue engineering and cell therapy. They are present in various tissues such as, endometrium as the supportive cells. According to anatomical position of endometrial mesenchymal stem cells that put them in neighborhood of the fetus, they may have a significant role in fetus tolerance during pregnancy. This study was conducted to evaluate the molecular mechanism of immunosuppressive affect of endometrial mesenchymal stem cells. Mesenchymal Cells from bone marrow and endometrium were cultured at density of 2 ×105 cells/ml at presence of 100IU/ml and 500IU/ml INF-γ (IFN-gamma) and expression of indoleamine 2 3-dioxygenase (IDO) were studied after 72 hours by real-time PCR and immunocytochemistry. The study showed that IDO expression in cells exposed to IFN-γ was increased compared to the cells in the absence of IFN-γ (p<0.05). Additionally, up regulation of IDO expression was higher in endometrial cells than bone marrow cells. From these results it is concluded that endometrial mesenchymal stem cells may be used as a good candidate for cell therapy.

Human endometrial stem cells (hEnSCs) contain a cell population that are capable of self-renewal and show similar properties to mesenchymal stem cells. The aim of this research is to show that these cells can differentiate to different cell lineages. In this study, endometrial tissue obtained from patients cells were extracted enzymaticaly. The released cells were cultured in DMEM/F12 with 10% FBS. The flow cytometry analysis was done for CD105, CD90, CD146, CD31 and CD34 in the third passage. The adipogenic, osteogenic, neurogenic and endothelial differentiation was evaluated in the third passage after 21 days of induction with differentiation media. The flow cytometry analysis showed that EnSCs were positive for CD90, CD105 and CD146 and were negative for CD31 and CD34. Moreover, results showed that the hEnSCs can differentiate to osteocyte and adipocyte. This was confirmed by alizarin Red and oil-Red O staining. Immunocytochemistry assey show that the markers including Nestin, MAP2 and CD31 has been expressede in differentiated cells into neuron and endothelial. Results showed that hEnSCs appear to be able to provide a source of different kinds of cells that will be able to be used to further study the cellular differentiation processes and cell therapy.

Various reviews have shown that strong electromagnetic fields have negative effects on human health. This study focused on the effect of MRI radiation on liver functional test histometery of liver in adult male rats. For this purpose, we used an MRI device that could produce 1.5 T electromagnetic radiations, and chose 22 Wistar rats as laboratory animal models. Rats were divided into two equal groups. The first group exposed to 1.5T electromagnetic radiation and RF radiation during a 30- minute MRI scan as experimental group. The control group experienced 1.5T electromagnetic radiation exposure without RF radiation by the same MRI device. The rats were anesthetized and blood samples were obtained from cardiac chambers to measure the serum levels of LDL, HDL, ALT, AST, ALP, total cholesterol, total protein, albumin, total billirobin, and direct bilirobin. Livers were then removed and the specimens fixed. Serial sections (5 μm thick) were prepared from livers and the diameter of hepatocytes and their nuclei were measured. The findings of the present study indicate that, there was a significant increase (P<0.5) in amount of HDL, ALT, AST, ALP, total billirobin, direct bilirobin and there was a significant decrease (P<0.5) in amount of total cholesterol, LDL, total protein, and albumin in experimental group by comparison with control group. But no significant differences were seen in the diameter of hepatocytes and their nuclei between both groups. The electromagnetic radiations of MRI device may influence the level of liver enzymes and liver function without any histomorphologically changes. Conducting clinical trial studies with human subjects is recommended.

Dear Editor,Regarding the questions raised and comments made on the paper authored by me "Secretion of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor in a Three-Dimensional Culture of Human Endometrium; an In-Vitro Model for Endometriosis" I have provided the following response for more clarification.

Ulcerative colitis is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease in which free radicals play an important role in its pathogenesis. It is supposed that diet enriched with Omega 3 fatty acid and antioxidant compounds can be effective in the treatment of this disease. Grape seed extract contains potent antioxidant compounds. The aim of the present study was to evaluate possible useful effects of fish oil and grape seed extract enriched diets on the reduction of colonic damage and inflammation in acetic acid induced colitis.

In this experimental study 50 male adult Wistar rats were randomly divided into five groups (n=10). Fish oil group (F group) received 1.6 ml fish oil, grape seed group (G group) received 50 mg/kg grape seed extract and fish oil + grape seed group (FG group) received 1.6 ml fish oil + 50 mg/kg grape seed extract orally for 1 month. Rats in control group (C group) and colitis group (Co group) received distilled water. After 1 month colitis induced in groups with intrarectal administration of 1ml acetic acid (4%) to induce ulcerative colitis. The control group received intrarectal saline. Two days after the induction of colitis the degree of tissue injuries and inflammation were assessed by macroscopical and histopathological scores of colonic mucosa.

Acetic acid administration induced ulcers, inflammation and severe crypts damages in mucosal tissue of the colon. The rats with colitis in the FG group showed significantly less macroscopic, microscopic damages and inflammation in colonic tissues compared with those in colitis group. However treatment with grape seed extract and fish oil did not result in any significant improvements in macroscopic and microscopic scores.

The result of this study showed that fish oil and grape seed extract enriched diets before colitis induction play a protecting role against damages due to acetic acid induced colitis.

Vital signs, including breathing, heart beat or involuntary movement of voluntary muscles, during child birth show that the fetus is healthy. Fetal death or still birth is one of the most complicated issues in medical science. Several factors contribute to still birth which are divided into maternal, fetal and placental groups. The present study deals with placental factors.

In this cross-sectional study, sixty placenta were investigated out of which thirty belonged to mothers with healthy fetuses (comprising control group), and the rest belonged to mothers with dead fetuses (experimental group). Having prepared the slides of the placentae in serial section with a thickness of five micrometers, the researcher conducted a histopathological study on calcification, congestion, vasculitis, perivascular fibrosis, fibronoid necrosis, vascular thrombosis in villi arteries and the presence of Hofbauer cells in the placenta. T test was used to analyze the data.

The results showed a significant increase (p<0.05) in the calcification, thrombosis, vasculitis, perivascular fibrosis, fibronoid necrosis in the decidual tissues, congestion in villi arteries, presence of Hofbauer cells and accumulation of glycogen in th experimental group compared to the control group.

The present study establishes a significant correlation between fetal death and an increase in variables such as calcification, vascular thrombosis in villi, vasculitis, and necrosis in placenta.

The human any one can be exposed to electromagneticfield produced by television, computer, MRI radiation and so on. Consideration of effect of electromagnetic field on various tissue especially folliculogenesis process is seemingly important. This study was focused on the effect of MRI radiation on folliculogenesis in adult rats. We used a MRI device that could produce 1.5 Tesla electromagnetic radiations, and chose 22 wistar rats as laboratory animal models. Rats were divided into two equal groups as followings: experimental group which exposed by MRI device with 1.5 Tesla electromagnetic radiation and RF radiation and control group which exposed by MRI device with 1.5 Tesla electromagnetic radiation and without RF radiation. Rats were housed at temperature (22-25C) and light (12 h light/12 h dark) controlled condition with standard rat chow and tap water. Afterwards the rats were anesthetized with ether and blood samples were obtained from cardiac chambers for the measurement of serum levels of FSH, LH, estrogen and progesterone using radioimmunoassay (RIA). Ovaries were then removed, fixed in 10% formalin and embedded in paraffin. Serial sections (5 μm thick) were prepared from both ovaries and stained using haematoxylin and eosin staining method. Diameter and weight of ovaries were also measured. In all sections, all follicles (primary, secondary and tertiary follicles) were counted. Statistical analysis was performed by T-test. The findings of the present study indicated that there was not a significant difference (P<0.5) in various groups in amount of progesterone, strogen, primary follicle, secondary follicle, graffian follicle, diameter and weight of ovaries but there was a significantly decrease (P<0.05) in amount of FSH and LH in experimental group ratio to control group. The electromagnetic radiations in MRI device are not able to damage folliculogenesis process in adult female rats. Reduction of LH an FSH in experimental group can be for animal position while they were exposed on radiation. Finally MRI radiation can be safe for folliculogenesis process in adult female rats.

Endometriosis is the presence of endometrial glandular and stromal cells outside the uterine cavity. The disease is prevalent in about 10% of women of reproductive age and in up to 50% of infertile women. Surgery continues to be the first line of treatment in eradicating endometriotic lesions but recurrence of the condition is seen in up to 47% of the cases. VEGF is an effective factor in the establishment of endometriosis. The aim of the present study was to determine VEGF levels in a three-dimensional (3D) fibrin matrix culture of human endometrial tissue. Endometrial biopsies were obtained from the uterine fundus of 10 ovulating (at 19th to 24th day of menstruation cycle) premenopausal women attending the Toronto Center for Advanced Reproductive Technology (TCART) for the treatment of infertility, ovarian cysts or non-endometrial complaints. Each tissue fragment was divided into ten segments for culture in a total of 100 wells. The samples were cultured on three-dimensional fibrin matrices and the supernatant fluid was collected from each endometrial sample for the assessment of VEGF levels. The endometrial samples were stained by anti-Cox-2 antibody (anti-cyclooxygenase -2) for immunohistochemical evaluation of angiogenesis. VEGF levels in the supernatant fluid of wells with angiogenesis was significantly higher (p<0.05) than wells with no signs of the phenomenon (492±3.11 and 183±13.2, respectively). The results were indicative of cell proliferation in 91% of the wells and angiogenesis was observed in 51 wells (56%) with cell proliferation. It seems that VEGF secretion plays an important role in promoting neovasculariza-tion and cell proliferation of endometrial cells. Therefore, VEGF secretion seems to be involved in the establishment of endometriosis. Seeking the relationship between cell proliferation and VEGF secretion rates is suggested.

Different factors such as hypoxia, nutrient deficiency and metabolic disorders (diabetes mellitus) are known to disturb wound healing process. Previous studies have shown that systemic and local administration of estrogens promote tissue repair through alteration of inflammatory responses, down regulating of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MMIF) and particularly release of growth factors. Estrogens have potent effects on angiogenesis by stimulating the endothelial cell migration and proliferation. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the effects of systemic administration of estradiol on the process of wound healing in excisional wounds of diabetic rat. Forty four male Sprague Dawley rats (N) were divided into four groups (2 normal and 2 diabetic groups). Diabetes was induced by Streptozotocin (STZ) administration (38mg/kg, IV). In one normal and one diabetic group estradiol valerate (200ųg/kg, IM.) was injected 24 hours before wounding. Control groups received same volume of vehicle (season oil). The rats received four full thickness excisional (6 mm in diameter) wounds (n) in paravertebral region on the back. Wound size was monitored and measured at days 1, 4, 8 of wounding. The surface area and the rate of size reduction were determined accordingly. To digitalize the wound size, wound images were scanned imported to a PC and analyzed by ScnImage software. Repaired tissue was harvested on day 10, post wounding. Also wound-healing qualities were evaluated by microscopic examination of the section prepared from harvested tissues. Administration of estradiol significantly increased the rate of wound size reduction, both in normal (P<0.05) and diabetic rats (P<0.05) compared with their control groups. Histological evaluation showed that angiogenesis and cell population was positively affected by estradiol in normal and diabetic repaired tissue. Systemic administration of estradiol 24 hours before wounding improved the wound healing in normal and diabetic wounds.

The use of adult stem cells for cell-based tissue engineering and regeneration strategies represents a hopeful idea for skeletal muscle repair. Autologous stem cells derived from muscle and bone marrow stem cells offers hope for the treatment of intractable muscle degenerative disorders; however, because the stem cell population is very small and decrease of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in bone marrow with increased age, the problem of inadequate tissue supply for therapeutic scale arises. We hypothesized that endometrial stromal cells are more suitable candidate for muscle regeneration.