Physiology and Pharmacology
Volume:20 Issue: 2, Jun 2016

The sense of olfaction reached its zenith in development much earlier than other special senses. Olfaction is much more acute than the other senses, exhibits both high sensitivity for odours and high discrimination between them. This plays a very important role even in the social and behavioral aspects of human beings. Recent studies using molecular genetics, electrophysiology and behavioral analysis have elucidated the mechanism, connectivity and functions of olfaction in different organisms. This review is a general topic of interest and discusses the recent advancements regarding the chemical nature of human olfactory receptors, mechanism of olfactory transduction, nomenclature and families of olfactory receptors, olfactory coding, smell discrimination in different animals and olfactory memory.

To protect genomes of all organisms from internal and external damages and maintain the genome integrity and the continuity of life, repair system has been developed in all living cells. Defects in repair system are responsible for various kinds of disease including cancers and neurodegenerative diseases such as Multiple sclerosis (MS). The relationship between various components of the repair system and MS has been confirmed by investigations on separate cohorts in independent research. The main aim of this study was to discover the genetic association of two functional polymorphisms of rs1799782 in XRCC1 and rs2303425 in MSH2 genes as the key players in DNA repair system; with MS.
The genotypes of 105 MS patients and 102 age and sex matched healthy controls for these polymorphisms were determined by a PCR-RFLP technique.
Genotype and allele frequencies of rs1799782 in patients with MS compared to the control group demonstrated a significant difference and a possible role for this polymorphism in MS pathogenesis (P value (0.02) and OR (3.4)). The rs2303425 polymorphism showed no significant correlation (P value = 0.41 and OR=1.5) with the risk of MS in Iranian population.
Our results suggest a possible role for repair system genes and their significance in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis.

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) and impaired lung functions have been associated with an increased risk for coronary heart disease. The aim of this study was to investigate the pulmonary functions in patients with MetS.
This cross-sectional study included 200 subjects with MetS in the study group and 100 subjects without MetS in the control group. Participants were examined at M.P. Shah Medical College, Jamnagar, India between 2013 to 2016. MetS was assessed according to the National Cholesterol Education Program’s-Adult Treatment Panel III Criteria. Pulmonary function, fasting glucose, insulin and lipid profile levels were measured and homeostatic model assessment was used to assess insulin resistance. Pulmonary function and components of MetS were examined using independent Student's t-test, analysis of variance and chi-square test.
The overall prevalence of pulmonary functions impairment in patients with MetS was 50% with high prevalence of restrictive ventilatory patterns (33%). Insulin resistance was significantly (P We found that components of MetS and insulin resistance were significantly related to the impairment of pulmonary function. Therefore present study suggests that increased components of MetS and insulin resistance are risk factors for decline pulmonary functions in subjects with MetS.

Although aging is the most important risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD), there is evidence indicating that neuroinflammation may contribute to the development and progression of the disease. Several studies indicated that minocycline may exert neuroprotective effects in rodent models of neurodegenerative diseases. Nevertheless, there are also other studies implying that minocycline has no positive beneficial effects. Thus, the aim of the present study was to assess the preventive effect of minocycline against Aβ-induced changes in intrinsic electrophysiological properties in a rat model of AD.
The present study extended this line of research by examining whether inhibition of microglial activation may alter the intrinsic electrophysiological properties of CA1 pyramidal neurons in a rat model of Aβ neurotoxicity, using whole cell patch clamp.
Findings showed that bilateral injection of the Aβ (1-42) into the prefrontal cortex caused membrane hyperpolarization, action potential (AP) narrowing and after hyperpolarization (AHP) amplitude enhancement. It was also resulted in a faster decay time of AP, higher rheobase current, lower firing frequency and smaller post stimulus AHP amplitude. Administration of minocycline (45mg/kg, i.p) not only failed to prevent Aβ-induced alterations in the intrinsic electrophysiological properties, but also enhanced the effects of Aβ on neuronal firing behavior.
It can be concluded that minocycline, as a microglial inhibitor, may enhance the disruption of electrophysiological properties of CA1 pyramidal neurons induced by Aβ neurotoxin, including AP parameters and intrinsic neuronal excitability.

There is evidence that diabetes affects seizure susceptibility. Ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) which is used in traditional medicine has antioxidant activity and neuroprotective effects. The aim of this study was to evaluate the seizure threshold induced by pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) in diabetic mice after induction of diabetes with streptozocin and to examine the possible role of ginger extract in this manner.
The anticonvulsant effect of ginger was investigated using i.v. PTZ-induced seizure models in non-diabetic and diabetic mice. Different doses of the hydroethanolic extract of ginger (50 and 100 mg/kg; i.p.) were administered daily for 2 weeks before PTZ challenge. The effect of ginger on the appearance of three separate seizure endpoints e.g. myoclonic, generalized clonic, and tonic extension phase were recorded.
The results showed that the ginger extract has anticonvulsant effects in the experimental model of seizure tested as it significantly increased the seizure threshold. Diabetic animal’s shows high blood glucose level and lower seizure threshold compared with non-diabetic control animals. Hydroethanolic extract of ginger significantly increased the onset time of myoclonic seizure (p Based on the results, the hydroethanolic extract of ginger has anticonvulsant effects in diabetic mice, possibly through hypoglycemic effect, antioxidant mechanisms, and oxidative stress inhibition.

For thousands of years, plants have been used as the main source of drug worldwide. Recently, it has been found out that the plant Artemisia annua and especially its derivatives such as artemether have anticancer properties.
In this study, the anticancer effect of artemether on MCF-7 breast cancer cell line was examined. MTT assay was used to assess the viability of cancer cells.
The data showed that artemether (100-300 nM) resulted in MCF-7 growth inhibition. Artemether plus vincristine or doxorubicin compared to each drug alone showed significant cytotoxic effects. Over 50 percent of cells were killed in combination of non-effective doses of artemether and doxorubicin (50 and 160 nM, respectively).
Taken together, the combined therapy of artemether and anticancer drugs would be a promising strategy for breast cancer but the effectiveness of such combination therapy needs to be verified by experimental and clinical investigations.

The nucleus paragigantocellularis lateralis (LPGi) is involved in the descending pain modulation. The neurostreoid, 17β-estradiol found in the PGi nucleus and modulates nociception by binding to estrogen receptors and also by allosteric interaction with NMDA receptors. In this study, the role of NMDA receptors in the 17β-estradiol-induced pain modulation was investigated by assessing the inflammatory pain responses changes after blockade of the LPGi nucleus’ NMDA receptors.
In order to study the antinociceptive effect of intra-LPGi microinjection of 17β-estradiol, a guide cannula was implanted into the right LPGi nucleus. 500 nl of drugs were administered 15 minutes prior to formalin (50 μl of 4%) injection. Then, formalin-induced paw jerking behaviour was recorded for 60 min. For assessing the role of the NMDA receptors in the pain modulation by 17β-estradiol, it was injected 15 min after the intra-LPGi administration of 0.5 nmol of AP5 (the NMDA receptor antagonist); and paw jerking frequency was recorded for 1 h.
The results of the present study showed that intra-LPGi injection of 0.8 μmol of 17β-estradiol attenuated the chronic phase (P According to the results of this study, it can be concluded that the analgesic effect of intra-LPGi injection of 17β-estradiol on the formalin-induced inflammatory pain might be mediated via NMDA receptors.

Multi-drug resistant (MDR) P. aeruginosa is constantly increasing and causing severe issues in combatting widely spread health problems. The aim of this study was to assess colistin susceptibility in MDR P. aeruginosa isolates obtained from different infection sites.
Ninety clinical isolates of P. aeruginosa were collected from different hospitals of the Tabriz University of Medical Sciences. All isolates were identified using standard microbiology tests. The disk diffusion susceptibility testing was performed according to the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guidelines. Antibiotic disks used in this study included ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin, ceftazidime, amikacin, gentamicin, cefepime, imipenem, meropenem, ticarcillin/clavulanic acid, piperacillin, aztreonam, and colistin. The MIC (Minimum Inhibitory Concentration) of colistin was determined by the agar dilution method according to CLSI guidelines.
MDR isolates were found in 75.6%, in which there was a high frequency in wound specimens (23.3%), followed by blood (17.8%), urine (15.6%), trachea (13.3%), and peritoneum (5.6%). High resistance rate (above 50%) was observed with piperacillin, aztreonam, ceftazidime, cefepime, meropenem, gentamicin, amikacin, ciprofloxacin, and levofloxacin. All isolates were found to be susceptible to colistin through the disk diffusion method; however, two isolates were non-susceptible in the agar dilution method.
The present study shows a high frequency of MDR P. aeruginosa in our subjects, the limitations of empirical therapy, and the need for susceptibility testing. The most effective antibiotic against MDR P. aeruginosa was colistin. Therefore, colistin may be an alternative antimicrobial agent for infections due to MDR P. aeruginosa.