Journal of Inflammatory Diseases
Volume:23 Issue: 3, 2019

 Acute and chronic effects of nitric oxide on oxidative stress and neuronal demyelination have been reported in human and animal models. 

 Oxidative stress is involved in the pathogenesis of demyelinated animals; thus, this study investigated the effects of nitric oxide system and ethidium bromide on oxidative stress in the hippocampal formation.  

 This experimental study was performed on eight groups of male rats, as follows: control, control, ethidium bromide, L-Arginine, L-NAME, ethidium bromide + L-Arginine, ethidium bromide + L-NAME, and ethidium bromide + L-Arginine + L - NAME. Three days after the injection of drugs into the hippocampal CA1 area, hippocampal biopsy was performed, and oxidative stress parameters were measured in this area. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and posthoc tests were used for data analysis.

 Injection of 3 μL ethidium bromide into the CA1 region increased oxidative stress parameters (P<0.01). Injection of 15.3 μg/rat L-Arginine in this region stopped the response of ethidium bromide (P<0.05, P<0.01); while, the injection of 15.1 μg/rat L-NAME failed to return the effects of the ethidium bromide. Moreover, the combination of 15.3 μg/rat L-Arginine and 15.1 μg/rat L-NAME only returned lipid peroxidation caused by the injection of 3 μL of ethidium bromide to normal (P<0.05); this process failed to improve antioxidant enzymes.

 The obtained results suggested the excitatory effect of the nitric oxide system on alleviating oxidative stress induced by ethidium bromide in the CA1 region of male rats.

Lipasin is a liver-derived secretory protein; i.e. associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus, obesity, and metabolic syndrome.  

The current research assessed the effect of resistance training on atherogenic and metabolic status and lipasin levels in obese rats.

 In this experimental study, 20 obese rats (8 weeks old, Mean±SD weight: 361±32 g) and 10 normal-weight rats (8 weeks old, Mean±SD weight: 248±13 g) randomly divided into three groups: obese control, obese trained, and control. The obese trained group received an 8-week exercise program for 3 days/week on a specific ladder with a carrying load of 30% of body weight, attached to their tails. The weight of the load was gradually increased during the training sessions, reaching 200% of the body weight of rats in the final week. There were three sets of 5 repetitions with a 3-min rest between each set of exercise sessions and 1 minute between repetitions. Forty-eight hours after the last training session, the blood samples were obtained and analyzed for metabolic status. The collected data were analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA), and statistical significance was set at P<0.05. 

Lipasin levels were higher in obese rats, than the controls (P=0.02). Atherogenic and metabolic status (TG, TC, LDL, glucose, insulin resistance) were improved in the exercise group, compared to the control group (P=0.05). Plasma lipasin levels were significantly decreased in the obese exercise group (P=0.05). 

 This study indicated that resistance training may be effective in improving metabolic status by decreasing lipasin plasma levels.

 Rotavirus is the most prevalent cause of severe gastroenteritis, hospitalizations, and deaths among infants and young children, globally. No specific antiviral drug is available against rotavirus infection. 

 The current study aimed to assess the antiviral effect of human cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide LL-37 on rotavirus infection in vitro. 

  This study was conducted in the laboratory conditions of Iran University of Medical Sciences, in Tehran City, Iran. The neutral red assay was performed to assess the cytotoxicity of different concentrations of the peptide on the MA-104 cell line, and its antiviral activity was determined by TCID50 (50% tissue culture infective dose) assay. 

According to the cytotoxicity results, viability maintained more than 90% up to the concentration of 50 μg/mL of LL-37 peptide. The antiviral assays results revealed that the concentration of 50 μg/mL LL-37 peptide could significantly reduce (3.36 log10 TCID50) the production of rotavirus progeny when administered before virus exposure (P= 0.0001). However, no inhibitory effect was detected after cell exposure to virus.

 The obtained data suggested that LL-37 can be considered as a new antiviral agent for protecting infants and young children against gastroenteritis caused by rotaviruses. However, further in vivo investigations are required to confirm this finding.

 Myocardial infarction (MI) is among the most frequent causes of mortality and morbidity, with socioeconomic harms. Upper limb exercise, as part of cardiac rehabilitation program, is one of the secondary prevention methods of further MI and disease improvement. 

The present study investigated the effect of upper limb sport on the rate of readmission in patients with myocardial infarction.

 In this randomized clinical trial study, 54 patients with MI were randomly divided into two groups of 27 patients (intervention and control). The intervention group performed upper extremity exercise for 6 weeks, twice a week and for 40 minutes per session. The demographic information of both groups was obtained before the exercise program, and at the end of the intervention. Furthermore, a checklist for referral to physicians and readmissions was completed. The collected data were analyzed using Independent Sample t-test and Chi-squared test.

The number of readmission in the control group was higher than the test group; however, the group difference was not significant in terms of readmission (P=0.250 Moreover, in terms of the reasons of readmission (P=0.434), and the duration of readmission (P=0.095), there was no significant difference between the two groups. The difference between the two groups in terms of the number of referral to physician (P=0.231), and the reason for referral to physician, was not significant (P=0.111).

 The involvement of upper extremity exercises did not significantly change the rate of readmission and referral to physician of patients with myocardial infarction. Thus, further investigations are required in this regard.

 The effect of physical activity and nutrition on the method of childbirth has been studied; however, it cannot be assured. 

 This study aimed to explore the relationship between the type of delivery and nutrition and physical activity.

 In a case-control study, women were entered either in cesarean section or normal vaginal delivery (each group: 52 subjects) groups. Data regarding physical activity and nutrition information during pregnancy were collected using a questionnaire. The scale’s reliability and validity were confirmed by the experts. 

 Age, height, pre-pregnancy weight, gestational age, the number of previous pregnancies, and pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI), were not different in the two groups; however, the groups differed in terms of BMI at the end of pregnancy, rate of changes in BMI, the employment status, sweets consumption before bedtime, taking medicines, the participants’ energy status compared with natural position, and reading nutrition facts label.

 If the observed differences between the two groups are causative, the interventions can reduce the risk of cesarean section, such as preventing excessive weight gain during pregnancy. Otherwise, they can be used as markers or pose a possibility of childbirth type.

Nitrate is among major anions in drinking water. Therefore, it is crucial to investigate its concentration in water resources. Modeling is a management strategy to predict the behavior of nitrate in water resources.

The current study aimed to predict nitrate concentration in the aquifer of Qazvin plain, using Groundwater Modeling System (GMS).

 The GMS7.1 software was used to prepare the groundwater flow model. MODFLOW pattern was used to investigate the three-dimensional flow. MT3D pattern was used to assess the changes nitrate concentration in the aquifer. Additionally, several scenarios were designed to evaluate the process of nitrate changes in the aquifer by altering in the aquifer feed and nitrate input rates.

 There was no anomaly concentration in the aquifer. The scenarios of rainfall reduction suggested that nitrate feed was ineffective in changing nitrate concentration in the aquifer. Moreover, with entry 100, 200, and 300 mg/L of nitrate into the aquifer, the average of nitrate concentration after the end of the two-year periods would increase to 31, 55, and 100mg/L, respectively.

The obtained results indicated that in a wide area of the saturated aquifer nitrate concentration was below than national standards. Furthermore, high nitrate concentrations were due to the penetrating of the sewage into the aquifer. The outputs of the GMS model suggestd that these conditions could lead to more contamination in central parts of the aquifer.

Breast cancer is highly prevalent worldwide. Treatment of this disease is a major global public health problem; therefore, numerous studies have explored new molecular profile helping for breast cancer therapy. Different risk factors are attributed to breast cancer; however, chronic inflammation and immune regulation are highly essential. Various molecules impact this context, including toll-like receptors (TLRs), which are mainly expressed on the membrane of different immune cells and trigger pro-inflammatory responses. Of note, expressing these receptors, as well as inhibiting their functions lead to different and remarkable results in patients with breast cancer. More specifically, TLRs can induce the apoptosis of cancerous cells, expression of adhesion molecules, metastasis, and cytokine profile change. Therefore, evaluating new therapies and various factors, including demographic characteristics, nutrition, colonized microbial flora, and immune regulatory molecules in breast cancer patients is essential. Such information helps to improve our understanding of this disease and assists scientists to find effective therapies in the future. The content of this article is a review of 128 articles, published in prestigious international journals. Search in Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus, and Science Direct were conducted using keyword combinations of “Breast cancer and Toll-like receptor”. This review article is an overview of the role of TLRs in the treatment and progression of breast cancer. According to various research studies, TLRs can significantly affect the progression, metastasis, and treatment of breast cancer.

Postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) is among the most significant causes of maternal death worldwide. The time of diagnosing and the proper management of hemorrhage are essential in preventing maternal mortality. The current study aimed to evaluate the effect of Bakri balloon on the management of PPH. Bakri balloon was effective in controlling PPH of 92.3% of patients. The most frequent indications for using Bakri balloon was uterine atony (46.1%). Furthermore, Bakri balloon is among the simplest and low invasive methods that can be used to control PPH before invasion methods, like hysterectomy.