نشریه دانشور پزشکی
پیاپی 138 (دی 1397)

  Sulfur mustard (SM) is a toxic and chemical agent. The incidence of pulmonary complications and inflammatory processes play an important role in SM-exposed individuals. FOXP3 is one of the important factors in the development of chronic pulmonary diseases. FOXP3 gene promoter due to exposure to chemical and toxic materials leads to chronic pulmonary disease. In this study, the effect of toxic sulfur mustard was evaluated on the promoter methylation status of FOXP3 in SM-exposed individuals with delayed pulmonary complications.

In this case-control study, 20 SM exposed cases and 20 unexposed as control were studied. DNA was extracted from blood samples. Methylation specific PCR(MSP) was used to evaluate promoter methylation status of FOXP3.

There was no significant difference between the promoter methylation status of FOXP3 in the exposed group as compared to control group.

The methylation status of the FOXP3 gene did not significantly change after exposure to sulfur mustard and other mechanisms might be involved in expressing this gene. To determine the effect of SM on methylation and its role in the pathogenesis of chemical victims’ lung complications, it is needed to measure other epigenetic factors and further studies.

  Use of nano-carriers that contain plant cytotoxic compounds instead of common chemotherapy drugs can reduce many of the challenges in front of this method of cancer therapy. In this study, surfactant nano-systems containing pomegranate peel extract were designed to evaluate its cytotoxic effects on MCF-7 cell line (breast cancer) and investigated its physicochemical properties.

Niosomal vesicles were prepared using span60, cholesterol and polyethylene glycol by thin-film method and the pomegranate peel extract were loaded into the niosomes. Physicochemical characteristics were evaluated using Zeta Sizer, FTIR, SEM, and extract release amount was calculated at 37°C and 42°C. The toxicity of the nano-carrier containing extract was measured on the MCF-7 cell line of breast cancer using MTT assay.

The results of this study indicate that the niosomes-containing extract has the encapsulation efficiency, size, and surface charge as 61.28%, 14.36 nm, and 40.9 mV, respectively. The study of its releasing also shows that the niosomal nano-carrier has controlled release at 37°C and 42°C. The study of FTIR confirms that there is no interaction between peel extract and nano-carrier. Also, SEM shows the spherical morphology of the nano-carriers. MTT results demonstrate that the toxic effects of niosomes-contained pomegranate peel extract on MCF-7 cell line of breast cancer is higher than peel extract alone.

According to the results of this investigation, it is indicated that the carrier niosomal nano vesicles can be a suitable carrier for delivery of pomegranate peel extract in conditions of cancerous cells.

  Social stresses which affect the immune system and the physiological features of the organs, cause a range of disorders, as well as psychopathological deficits such as depression and anxiety. The oxytocin hormone which is produced in the central nervous system and some tissues plays an important role in reducing anxiety and depression caused by stress. Also, social stress affects the natural killer lymphocytes of the innate immune system that play an important role in defense against tumor and viral infections. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of unstable stress and extracellular oxytocin on the number of natural killer cells in rats exposed to this stress.

Wistar rats were subjected to instability stress for 21 days, hence their cage-mate were changed every three days. From the 11th day, a group of rats received 20 microliter and the other group received 40 microliter of 1 mg/ml oxytocin and the control group received normal saline by intranasal rout and there was a healthy control group without any injections. At the end of study, the animals were anesthetized and then were killed. Blood sample and spleen tissue were obtained and the number of NK cells was counted by flow cytometry with CD3-CD161+ markers.

The number of NK cells in peripheral blood in the instability stress groups treated with 20 and 40 μL doses of oxytocin (3.6 ± 1.8, 4.4 ± 0.9) compared with healthy controls (4.5 ± 2.1) did not have a significant difference. In the spleen, the number of NK cells in the instability stress group treated with doses of 20 and 40 μL was (4.4 ± 1.6, 4.7 ± 1.1), which was significantly higher than the control group (2.2 ± 0.6) (P value = 0.025 and P value = 0/008, respectively).

Instability stress combined with treatment with 20 and 40 μL of oxytocin increases the number of NK lymphocytes in the spleen of the rats, which in fact indicates that this synergistic effect puts the immune system in a precautionary state to confront infections and cancer

  Regulatory T cells (Treg) are the subgroups of lymphocytes that control inflammation response and regulates homeostasis by mechanisms of cellular contact and secretion of soluble agents. Here, we investigated percentage of Treg in peripheral blood of sulfur mustard-exposed patients with CD4, CD25, CD127, FOXP3 markers in comparison with healthy individuals and the correlation between these cells and long-term pulmonary complications.

In this study, 12 sulfur mustard-exposed patients and 12 healthy volunteers were invited. Clinical inspections of both groups were done by pulmonary specialists as well as spirometric evaluation that was conducted by pulmonary function test operators. After isolation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells, the percentage of Treg cells was determined by flow cytometry.

Percentage of Treg cells was not significantly different in those exposed to sulfur mustard. Also, there was no significant correlation between spirometric parameters and percentage of these cells.

According to the current study, there is no difference in the percentage of Treg cells between exposed patients with mild pulmonary complications and healthy volunteers and more studies are needed to understand the role of these cells in the pulmonary complications of these patients.

Natural sleep increases the strength of the body. Sleep is caused by increased moisture in the brain and the moisture in the nerves prevents the movement of the soul and thus the person goes to sleep. High costs, complications of treatment, and lack of appropriate response to common treatments have increased the interest in using complementary therapies. The present study examined the factors associated with insomnia and sleep of high quality from the perspective of Persian medicine and modern medicine. This study was a library research based on searching ancient medical books and databases. Finally, sleep and related disorders in Persian medicine were compared with allopathic medicine. The causes of insomnia are divided into internal and external categories in which factors such as dryness of the brain are internal causes and factors like sadness are external causes. The proper sleep is related to the temperament of the seasons and its moisture content, mild exercise, good digestion of food, the proper disposal of pesticides and waste materials, as well as proper control of mental movement and response. Proper moisture in the brain, avoiding unhealthy foods and increasing dryness of the brain and feet massage are good treatments for insomnia. Both modern and old medical schools emphasize on proper timing of sleep to avoid daytime sleep. Also, lifestyle modification is the first line of treatment for sleep-related disorders in both medical disciplines.