Journal of Advances in Medical and Biomedical Research
Volume:27 Issue: 125, Nov-Dec 2019

Neural stem cells are undifferentiated cells that are located in limited areas of central nervous system. These cells have proliferation and self-renew ability and can be differentiated into neurons and glial cells. Mature nerve cells do not have proliferative ability; and due to the limited number of nerve stem cells, injuries to the nervous system are not recoverable. The purpose of this review is to identify characteristics and factors that may influence proliferation and differentiation of neural stem cells. These cells provide useful tools for in vitro study of neural cells developmental stages. Besides, they have extensive therapeutic applications providing an unlimited source of cells for tissue transplantation and repair. Overall, the identification of factors contributing to neural stem cell's proliferation and differentiation can be effective for body's natural capacity to repair nerve damages. For cell therapy purposes, application of induced medium or an appropriate stimulants may have an effective role in increasing the rate of growth and proliferation of these cells in vitro.

Diabetes causes fertility disorders by interfering with the endocrine gland function. There are reports that, green tea and catechins could have anti-oxidant and hypoglycemic properties. Therefore, in the present study, we evaluated the effects of green tea aqueous extract and catechin influence on pituitary-gonadal axis in rat models of type 1 diabetes.

Six groups of Wistar rats (8 in each group), including control, diabetic control (intraperitoneal injection (IP) of 0.5 mL saline solution for 30 days after induction of diabetes), diabetic treated with 100 and 200 mg/kg doses of green tea aqueous extract (IP injection of 0.5 mL green tea extract for 30 days), and diabetic treated with 100 and 200 mg/kg doses of catechin (IP injection 0.5 mL of catechin for 30 days) were used. The induction of diabetes was conducted through an IP injection of 240 mg/kg alloxan. At the end of the treatment course, the serum levels of LH, FSH, estrogen, testosterone, dihydrotestosterone and cytoplasmic HOdG-8 in testicular tissue were measured by ELISA method. ANOVA and Tukey post hoc test (P<0.05) were used to perform the data analysis.

The incorporation of 200 mg/kg green tea extract and 100 and 200 mg/kg concentrations of catechin, in comparison with the diabetic control group, led to a significant dose-dependent increase in the serum level of LH, FSH, estrogen, testosterone, and dihydrotestosterone. A dose-dependent significant decrease was observed in HOdG-8 in the testicular tissue of diabetic rats (P<0.05).  

Based on the obtained data, compared to green tea, catechin considerably enhanced the hormonal parameters and reduced HOdG-8 in testicular tissue of diabetic rats.

Skin ulcers and their slow healing are considered as one of the important medical aspects. Nowadays, various antibiotics and materials are used to accelerate the wound healing process. One of the methods taken in the field of wound healing is using ozone. On the other hand, one of the factors that hurt the speed of wound healing is stress. Therefore, the present study aimed to assess the effect of ozonated water on healing of skin ulcers in stressful conditions.

A total of 80 male mice were randomly divided into four groups: stress -no ozone, stress - ozone, no stress-no ozone, no stress- ozone group. Isolation stress was used (daily, 4 hours, for 14 days). The healing process was evaluated based on measuring the wound surface area in days 2, 6, 10, and 14 and histopathological data.

Isolation stress by decreasing the fibroblast maturation and angiogenesis in the wound leads to a reduction in the speed of wound healing. Ozone enhanced the rate of tissue repair in both stress and stressless situations by decreasing inflammation and increasing the fibroblast maturation, amount of collagen tissue, rate of re-epithelialization, new vascularization, and granulation tissue size.

The results of this study implied that treatment with ozone could accelerate the wound healing process and decrease the harmful effects of stress conditions in healing process of animal model.

Busulfan (BUS) as a drug for cancer treatment can produce free radicals. Crocin (CRO) is a potent antioxidant with beneficial effects. This study was designed to evaluate the effects of CRO against BUS-related damages to the male rats reproductive parameters.

Forty-eight male rats were randomly assigned into 8 groups; Group 1 (normal control group) received normal saline; Group 2 (BUS control group) received 10 mg/kg/body weight (b.w.) of BUS; Group 3-5 (CRO groups) received 12.5, 25.0, 50.0 mg/kg/b.w. of CRO, respectively; Group 6-8 (BUS + CRO groups) received BUS + CRO. Treatments were administered daily by intraperitoneal injection in a five-week period. The sperm parameters, testis malondialdehyde (MDA), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), testosterone level, and germinal layer height were evaluated histologically and analyzed statistically.

All parameters reduced significantly in the BUS control group compared to the normal control group (P<0.01) except the MDA level (which increased). The CRO and CRO + BUS treatments in all doses increased whole parameters significantly compared to the BUS control group (P<0.01) except MDA level (which decreased). No significant modifications were observed in all CRO groups compared to the normal control group (P>0.05).

It seems that CRO could increase the quality of spermatozoa and improves BUS -induced adverse effects on male fertility parameters.

Biofilm formation plays a crucial role in wound infections and increases the bacteria resistance to treatment. The present study investigated the relationship between the biofilm formation, ESBL, AmpC, and KPC enzymes in Acinetobacter baumannii isolated from the wound specimens.

Eighty- nine A. baumannii isolates were collected from wound specimens and were confirmed by different biochemical tests. The biofilm-producing strains were identified using the crystal violet method. The producing strains of KPC, ESBL, and AmpC β-lactamase enzymes were detected through phenotypic tests. Further, the PCR method was employed to identify the ESBL, KPC, and AmpC. The Chi-square test and SPSS 16 were used for data analysis.

Among 89 wound isolates, 21 and 68 were collected from male and female patients, respectively. The strains resistant to ciprofloxacin (69.66%) and gentamicin (66.29%) were the most frequent strains while ceftazidime (7.86%) and colistin (1.12%) resistant strains had the lowest frequency. Furthermore, 40 isolates were considered as ESBL-producing enzymes, 33 isolates as AmpC, and 26 isolates as KPC-producing enzymes. In addition, the isolates were categorized as strong biofilms with 20 isolates, moderate biofilms with 19 isolates, and weak biofilm-producing strains with 10 isolates. The distribution of the β-lactamase genes in A. baumannii isolates was blaVEB (34.83%), blaPER (32.58%), blaFOX (29.21%), blaADC (30.33%), blaIMP (28.08%), and blaKPC (22.47%).

Our results demonstrated that isolates with a higher level of antibiotic resistance tended to form stronger biofilms. Likewise, the results showed that the relationship between biofilm formation and antibiotic resistance might be affected by the type of β-lactamase enzyme in wound infection.

Mutations in embB306 gene and their association with resistance to ethambutol (EMB) in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis) have not been fully investigated. The aim of this study was to investigate the point-mutations in emb306B gene and their association with resistance to EMB in M. tuberculosis.

This case (M. tuberculosis resistant to EMB) -control (M. tuberculosis sensitive to EMB) study was performed in the West of Iran (2014-2015), in order to determine the sensitivity of M. tuberculosis strains. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-DNA sequencing was used for determining the point-mutations of embB306 gene in both groups (sensitive and resistant to EMB). Data was analyzed by SPSS 16 and Fisher's exact test.

Fifty M. tuberculosis strains were isolated from 1019 patients that were suspected to have tuberculosis (TB). 86% of the isolates were sensitive and 14% were resistant to EMB. EmbB306 gene sequencing showed no mutation in control samples; but mutation was observed in 85.71% of resistant samples in case samples. The embB306 mutation showed a significant relationship with EMB resistance (P= 0.00).

Mutations in embB306 were observed in the strains resistant to EMB; however, there was no mutation in the sensitive group. There is a direct relationship between these mutations and this type of resistance, so it is an indicator of creation of resistance to EMB in M. tuberculosis.

Although Pinus eldarica is considered as a pine with many valuable phytochemical constituents, little is known about the pharmacological effects of its bark extract. Therefore, the present study aimed to evaluate in vivo antioxidant activity and also the possible beneficial effects of the bark extract of P. eldarica on dexamethasone-induced dyslipidemia in rats.

Total phenolic content was determined using Folin-Ciocalteu method. The in vivo antioxidant assays included the measurement of hydroperoxides level and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) value in plasma samples of rats receiving intraperitoneal injections (IP) injections of plant extract (100, 200 and 400 mg/kg) for 28 days. For induction of dyslipidemia, dexamethasone (10 mg/kg) was subcutaneously administered during 8 days. Different doses of extract were given orally plus dexamethasone in three groups of animals. Serum lipids, blood glucose and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels and liver histopathology were assessed.

High total phenolic content was determined as 375±1.2 mg gallic acid equivalent/ g of dried bark extract. The extract significantly decreased plasma hydroperoxides level at all doses and increased FRAP value at the dose of 400 mg/kg during in vivo antioxidant analysis. P. eldarica led to a significant reduction in serum levels of blood glucose, total cholesterol, triglyceride and MDA and improved liver histopathological changes at the doses of 200 and 400 mg/kg in dyslipidemic rats.

These findings suggest the potential antioxidant, antihyperlipidemic and antihyperglycemic activities for the bark extract of P. eldarica which may be due to the high amounts of phenolic compounds.

The prominence of the hand function is underlined fundamentally by its rich vascular system. The superficial palmar arch incredibly provides hand with the blood supply, which is normally formed by the ulnar artery and superficial palmar branch of the radial artery. In the current case, the unilateral absence of superficial palmar arch with the rare presence of the median artery was reported, which was noticed in the right hand of a male cadaver during a routine educational dissection. The awareness of particular variations in hand blood supply during hand operations leads in preventing surgical mistakes.