مجله فیض
سال بیست و چهارم شماره 1 (پیاپی 111، فروردین و اردیبهشت 1399)

Long lasting exposure to ethanol causes reversible impairment of learning and memory. Gut microbiota imbalance is linked to the neurological disorders. Recent studies indicate that probiotic consumption can relief learning and memory deficit. This study aimed to investigate the effect of probiotic supplementation with intragastric gavage on behavioral and electrophysiological aspects of learning and memory in ethanol exposed animals.

In this study, 4 groups including control (CON) and probiotic administered (C+P) groups, the group receiving chronic ethanol (CE) and CE animals receiving probiotic (E+P) were entered the study. The passive avoidance shuttle box test and in vivo electrophysiological experiment were carried out to assess hippocampal baseline filed excitatory postsynaptic potentials (fEPSPs) and long term potentiation (LTP).

Results showed that ethanol impaired memory in the CE rats. It also diminished the slope size of fEPSPs and prevented LTP induction in these animals. The probiotic supplementation improved the behavioral performance in the C+P rats but it did not influence synaptic transmission in this group.

Behavioral but not electrophysiological aspect of cognition cane be sensitive to the probiotic treatment in the ethanol exposed animals.

One of the most common endocrine diseases is type 1 diabetes, which causes oxidative stress in testis tissue. Today, in the treatment of diabetes, the tendency toward herbal medicines is increasing day by day. This study aimed to investigate the effects of safranal on Bax and Bcl2 and anti-oxidant levels of streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats.

In this experimental study, 24 rats were divided into 4 groups: control, non-treated diabetic and 2 safranal-treated diabetic groups (50, 100 mg/ml, 25 days intraperitoneal injection). The diabetic groups were diabetic with intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ) at a concentration of 55 mg/kg body weight of the mouse. On day 25, the testicles were exited to evaluate antioxidant enzymes and Bax and Bcl2. The results were analyzed by using SPSS 20 software, one-way ANOVA and LSD tests

The level of pro-apoptotic Bax and malondialdehyde level in the treated group with a concentration of 100 mg/ml of safranal was significantly reduced compared to the treatment group with a concentration of 50 mg/ml of safranal and control group. However, the level of pro-apoptotic Bcl-2 and glutathione peroxidase, superoxide dismutase and catalase enzymes in the treated group with a concentration of 100 mg/ml of safranal was significantly increased compared to the treatment group with a concentration of 50 mg/ml of safranal and control group (P<0.05); which indicates the effect of safranal concentration. Also, safranal significantly reduced the level of glucose in diabetic rats.

Safranal can improve the antioxidant activity and decrease the damage induced by diabetes in the testis tissue of diabetic rats.

Cervical cancer is the third most common cancer in the world. Considering the prevalence of cervical cancer in Iran and unsuccessful treatments, the apoptotic effects of TPSF small molecule investigated in comparison with the hydroelectric extract of Ziziphus Spina-christi leaves on the cervical cancer cell line (HeLa).

HeLa cells were cultured in a DMEM medium containing 10% FBS, and treated with different concentrations of TPSF and extract on days 1, 3 and 5. Apoptotic effects were investigated using MTT method, and the morphology of cells was studied by Giemsa staining using invert microscope.

2 μm concentration of TPSF was determined in 24 hours as IC50 for HeLa cells. The percentage of viability in cells treated with 0.5, 1, 2, 5, and 10 μM TPSF was 78, 63, 50, 42 and 37%. The concentration of 4 mM hydroalcoholic extract was determined as IC50 of HeLa cells in 24 hours. The percentage of viability in treated cells with 1, 2, 4, 6 and 8 mM from the extract of was 73, 61, 50, 41, and 37. The results showed a significant (P≤0.05) decrease compared with the control samples. Also, morphological results showed that the treated cells indicated notable changes such as the shrunk nucleus, damaged membrane, and wrinkled cytoplasm compared with the control sample.

The TPSF is significantly better than the extract of Ziziphus Spina-christi, it can be concluded that small molecules have the smallest amount of cytotoxic effect on HeLa cells and have a greater apoptotic effect.

Tolmetin (C15H15NO3) is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug that exerts its effects by inhibiting prostaglandins and mainly used in the treatment of acute and chronic arthritis, osteoarthritis, and arthritis. Studies have shown that Tolmetin has anti-carcinogenic effects on different cancer cells. Due to the limited studies on the apoptotic effects of Tolmetin, the present study aimed to evaluate the cytotoxic effects of Tolmetin on the evaluation of Bax and Bcl2 gene expression levels in cervical cancer cells (Hela).

In this experimental study, the cervical cancer cells were purchased from Pasteur Institute then randomly divided into control group (non-exposure to Tolmetin) and groups exposed to different concentrations of 0.3, 0.6, 1.25, 2.5, 5 and 10 mg/ml of Tolmetin. The cytotoxic effect of Tolmetin was measured using the MTT assay. Also, using Real-Time PCR, expression of BAX, and BCl2 genes was evaluated. Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA.

The concentrations of 0.3, 0.6, 1.25, 2.5, 5, and 10 mg/ml of Tolmetin resulted in cytotoxic effects on Hela cells. And IC50 dose of 5 mg/ml of Tolmetin increased the expression of the apoptotic Bax gene more than the anti-apoptotic BCL2 gene.

Tolmetin can possibly cause cell death in cervical cancer cells by inducing the Bax gene and the BCL2 anti-apoptosis gene.

In Persian food culture, Citrus aurantium L. (bitter orange) flowers and essential oil are consumed as jams or plant distillate in high doses. Some concerns were mentioned in Persian traditional literature about their effects on the liver. This study aimed to investigate the effect of the essential oil from C. aurantium L. flowers on liver health parameters in a laboratory animal model.

The essential oil was extracted by Clevenger-type apparatus and analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Six groups of rats (n=5) received intraperitoneal or oral essential oil with the doses of (0.5, 1 or 2 g/kg) for 3 days. The two control groups received olive oil (the vehicle). Forty-eight hours after the last administration, serum and liver samples were prepared and alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and glutathione (GSH) were determined. The liver histopathological changes was investigated.

The main ingredients of the essential oils were linalyl acetate, terpinene-4-ol, linalool and phenethyl alcohol. The intraperitoneal administration of essential oil at doses higher than (1 g/kg) caused a significant increase in AST, ALT and LDH levels. Inflammation of the liver tissue was observed at oral and intraperitoneal doses higher than (1 g/kg).

The changes in AST, ALT and LDH levels showed that at high doses of the essential oil had a mild liver toxicity and the histopathologic data confirmed this. These complication were probably due to direct and non-oxidant toxicity and it was not due to the oxidative stress.

 Breast cancer is the most frequent malignancy in women worldwide and occurs when cells in the breast begin to grow out of control. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMP), including MMP1 protein, are important in the progression of various types of cancer. Quinacrine, a derivative of 9-aminoacridine, has been shown to inhibit the growth of several types of cancer cells. In this study, we examined the effect of Quinacrine on MMP1 gene expression in breast cancer cell lines MDA-MB 231 and MCF7. MDA-MB 231 cell line has triple negative breast cancer cells properties.

Breast cancer cell lines, MDA-MB 231 and MCF7, were treated with 0.5 µM Quinacrine for 3 days. The dose was selected using MTT assay. Expression of MMP1 gene was quantified by Real-time PCR. Significance of observations were statistically checked by t-test using P<0.05 as the level of significance.

Quinacrine did not have meaningful effect on MMP1 gene expression on MDA-MB 231 and MCF7 cell lines in 0.5 µM concentration for 72 hours.

MMP1 gene is important in metastasis and the present study showed that Quinacrine could not affect the expression of this gene on these breast cancer cell lines.

Narcissus flower has been rich in several different secondary metabolites including essential oils, trinoids, flanoids, phenolic compounds, alkaloids and has bioactive, pharmaceutical properties and is beloved in the perfume industry. This study aimed to investigate the effect of alcoholic extract of bulbs of narcissus on indexes of renal function.

In this study, 20 adult male rats were randomly divided into 3 experimental and one control group. Experimental groups received oral bulbs extract of 50, 100 and 150 mg/kg orally for 6 days. Blood samples were taken from all groups of mice on day 7 and renal function tests were performed. Data were analyzed by SPSS software version 21 and the results were presented as mean and standard deviation (Mean±SEM).

Total Proteins decreased significantly (P<0.01) at 100mg/kg Narcissus bulb extract. At the dose of 150 mg/kg of extract, total protein and albumin activity significantly decreased and creatinine significantly increased (P<0.05). Urea at 150 mg/kg concentration also showed a significant increase compared to the control group (P<0.01(. BUN did not change significantly at all doses of the extract compared to the control group.

Significant decrease in total protein and albumin, and significant increase in urea and creatinine, indicate toxicity at high doses of Narcissus bulb extract, which needs further histological studies.

The evaluation of exercise effects on the prevention of various diseases is one of the major research fields. In this research, the effect of swimming training on the prevention of kidney crystal deposit and damages induced by ethylene glycol was investigated.

In this experimental study, 24 rats were randomly divided into four groups: Control (C), treated with: ethylene glycol 1%(EG), swimming training (SW) and (EG+SW) group that concurrently received ethylene glycol 1%+ swimming practice. Rats in EG and EG+SW groups received 4 weeks drinking water containing1% ethylene glycol. The rats in SW and EG+SW groups were performed swimming training over 6 weeks, three sessions a week for 45 minutes. At the end of the swimming session, rats were euthanized, and kidneys, ureters and bladder tissue samples were histologically evaluated after haematoxylin & eosin staining.

Crystal deposition were observed in all urinary system epithelium surfaces together with renal damages in EG-treated rats, but not observed in urinary system tissue samples of C and SW groups. Renal crystals were detected in renal tissues of EG+SW group was lower than EG group. The total stones were detected in the renal tissue, ureters and bladder and its size in the EG+SW group were significantly lower than EG group (P=0.003). Renal tissue damages of EG+SW group due to ethylene glycol were much less pronounced than EG group.

The swimming training can prevent from renal stones formation induced by ethylene glycol and reduce the tissue damage caused by it.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver is the most common liver disease in the world. Due to protective effects and improvement of portulaca oleracea on liver function, this study aimed to determine the effect of combined training and Portulaca oleracea supplement on body composition indices and physical fitness factors in obese females with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

In this semi-experimental study, 40 obese females with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease were randomly divided into four groups of combined training with portulaca oleracea (n=10), placebo (n=10), portulaca oleracea (n=10) and training (n=10). Training was performed three sessions per week for twelve weeks. The amount of portulaca oleracea consumption was 500 mg per day for twelve weeks. Body composition, physical fittness and liver enzymes variables were assessed at baseline and after the end of interventions. Paired t-test and two-way anova were used.

the results of the present study showed that muscular strength (P=0.00) and vo2 max (P=0.00), body max index (P=0.00), WHR (P=0.00), BF% (P=0.00), ALT (P=0.00), AST (P=0.00) were significant differences between the four groups (P<0.05)

It seems that combined training and taking portulaca oleracea supplementation can improve body composition, physical fitness and liver enzymes in obese females with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Nowadays, one of the exercising methods which lead to improvement in performance and progress on motor skills is eye exercising. Hence, the present research aimed to analyze the effect of eye exercises with and without active movements on motor skills in children with amblyopia.

the current paper is a semi-experimental research with a pretest-posttest pattern. A group of 40 children aged 5-8 years with amblyopia were randomly assigned into three groups: eye exercises without active movements, eye exercises with active movements (ocular, ocular and manual, and displacement), and control. The groups were trained in 12 sessions of 30 minutes and the subjects of control group were engaged in their daily activities. The subjects participated in Lincoln Oseretsky's test before and after exercises.

One-way ANOVA and post-test post-hoc Tukey test showed that there was a significant  statistical difference between the experimental groups and the control group in the motor skills of children with amblyopia (P<0.05), yet there was no significant statistical difference between experimental groups (P>0.05).

In general, the results of this study showed that eye exercises with and without active movements can improve motor skills in children with amblyopia.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic and debilitating disorder that renders degeneration of myelin within Central Nervous System (CNS). This study aimed to investigate the strength and muscle activity in two models of patients with multiple sclerosis in comparison to healthy individuals.

In this cross-sectional study, a population of women and men with diseases of MS province of Mazandaran were chosen. After informed consent 45 individuals were included in Relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RR) model, 22 in Secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SP) model, and 38 as a control group. In order to measure the maximum power of quadriceps muscles Brzycki's formula was used, while dynamometer was employed for assessing trunk muscles. Furthermore, the activities of tibialis anterior, medial gastrocnemius, peroneus longus and soleus muscles were assessed. The data were analysed using one-way analysis of variance, and for comparing intergroup differences Tuckey post-hoc test was utilized. 

There was a significant difference between healthy and MS groups (P<0.05). Moreover, the mean activity (P=0.001), maximum activity (P=0.001), co-contraction (P=0.004) and power of muscles (P=0.001) were higher in RR model than in SP model.

Disease progress pattern shows that both power and activity of muscles first increase and then decline. Thus, the RR period can be the best time for maintaining physical condition of MS patients and the initial phases of this debilitating disorder can be decisive in mitigating the future symptoms.

In the modern age, with its increasing reflexivity, death has changed to technical issue, its quality is left to the medical profession, so a new definition of death is introduced as brain death and the possibility of organ transplantation. Therefore, this article aimed to investigate death attitudes and its relationship with organ donation.

This descriptive-analytical study examined 475 people over the age of 20 years in Kashan in September 2017 using a population-based random sampling method. The research instrument was a researcher-made questionnaire based on Giddens' theory of late modernity. Data analysis is based on correlation and structural equation design using SPSS and AMOS software.

Among the five dimensions of belief to death, natural belief, with the acceptance of death as the end of life and an inevitable reality as a result of rethinking, awareness of death, medical advances and confidence in experts of the field among the five dimensions of belief to death, had the highest average (3.77 out of 5) and were the most important explanatory variables for both religious (β=0.35, P<0.001) and scientific (β=0.33, P<0.001) dimensions to the organ donation. Model fit indices, Absolute (RMSEA=0.03) Comparative (CFI=0.92) Parsimonious (PRATIO=0.58), showed that the collected data supported the conceptual model well.

The designed tools had good validity and reliability and structural equation showed that organ donation entails the acceptance of death and some kind of trust since in the case of denying the death with either theme of fear or avoidance, the individual cannot accept the organ donation.

Job burnout is a multifactorial disorder that can occur more frequently in occupations with a high concentration and mental burden, such as faculty members. Quality of sleep is effective on tasks that require new information storage and high mental load. So this study aimed to evaluate the correlation between job mental load and sleep quality with occupational burnout in non-clinical faculty members of Kashan University of Medical Sciences, 2018.

This descriptive-correlational study was performed on 102 non-clinical faculty members of Kashan University of Medical Sciences in 2019 and census. Data collection was done using Maslach questionnaires, NASA TLX and Pittsburgh. Statistical analysis was performed using Chi-square, Fisher's exact test, independent t-test and Pearson correlation coefficient.

About 90 percent of faculty members had high mental demand. There was no significant correlation between job burnout with mental job load and sleep quality. But there was a significant correlation between mental job load and sleep quality (R= -0/661, P<0.001). Also, job mental load was higher in faculty members of medical school and emotional exhaustion in faculty members of health faculty than other faculties (P<0.05).

Considering the high level of mental load of teachers and its negative impact on sleep quality, it is recommended that interventional programs aimed at creating proper occupational conditions, strengthening their job ability and teaching the principles of sleep health to reduce mental load of  job and improving the sleep quality of teachers, implemented.