Journal of Advanced Biomedical Sciences
Volume:11 Issue: 1, Spring 2021

In traditional medicine, leaves of white mulberry (Morus alba L.) are used as antidiabetic agents. Considering the presence of flavonoids, this plant exhibits insulin mimetic activities. Nesfatin-1 is described as an anorexigenic regulatory peptide, which can influence glucose metabolism via insulin sensitivity enhancement. This study examined the effects of both mulberry leaf powder and extract (MLP and MLE) on fasting blood glucose (FBG), nesfatin-1, and insulin in diabetic Wistar rats.

Five groups of rats (n, 40) were included and examined in this study. A group was selected as the healthy control (I), while the other groups received streptozotocin and nicotinamide (55 and 110 mg/kg bw, respectively) for diabetes induction. Diabetic rats were then grouped as follows: control group (II); sham group (receiving ethanol) (III); treatment group receiving 600 mg/kg/day of MLE (IV); and treatment group receiving 25% MLP (V). After 6 weeks, we measured insulin, nesfatin-1, and FBG in the groups. 

The FBG level decreased in the treatment groups, while serum insulin increased in comparison with the diabetic controls. In addition, serum level of nesfatin-1 improved significantly (to an almost normal level) in MLP rats in comparison with the diabetic controls. (pvalue<0.05) The effects of MLE on serum nesfatin-1 was similar to MLP but not significant. (pvalue>0.05)

Considering the reduction in insulin level and the rise in blood glucose, the diabetic control group showed an increase in serum nesfatin-1 with a compensatory mechanism, while hyperglycemia improved in the MLE and MLP groups, and the level of nesfatin-1 reduced. MLP showed greater efficacy than MLE in the improvement of nesfatin-1, which might be related to the presence of ethanol in MLE.

Knowledge growth has been very rapid in recent years. Health centers can implement knowledge management in their organization to improve service quality, reduce costs and time, strengthen relationships among colleagues, and produce knowledge faster by reviewing barriers to knowledge management implementation at fasa health center.

Material & Methodes:

 In this qualitative study, some managers of Fasa Health Center were selected based on purposive sampling and the study continued until data saturation. Finally, 5 people were interviewed. Information gathering tools were MAXQDA software and data obtained from the semi-structured interview. Content analysis was used to analyze the data.

The findings lead to the extraction of a core theme as barriers to knowledge management implementation that consist of 5 categories: 1- Barrier of (with 5 subcategories), 2- Barrier of individual factor (with 3 subcategories) 3- Barrier of Organizational culture (with 4 subcategories) 4- Barrier of information technology (with 6 subcategories) 5-Barrier of management agent (with 4 subcategories)

The results showed that university authorities can provide appropriate culture, motivational factors to accelerate more case finding, expedite electronic health records, disease eradication, better cost management, disaster management, electronic submission of monthly data, eliminating the paper, and increasing staff productivity faster

The Physalis alkekengi is a herbaceous plant belonging to Solanaceae family. According to research, this plant can help inhibit cancer cell growth.

In this study, the extract of Physalis alkekengi was used to suppress angiogenesis in Balb/c mice. First, the MC4L2 cells were injected in the mice breastbone and the tumor began to grow in this area, then the mice were killed and the tumor removed from the mice and inserted in the test mice by surgical technique. Then, the mice were gavaged for 3 weeks at 50mg/kg and 100mg/kg daily Physalis alkekengi extract, and then the mice were killed and their tumor tissue removed, and tumor growth, apoptotic cell tissue and expression of VEGF gene were studied.

The results of this study showed that the hydroalcholic extract of Physalis alkekengi had a significant effect on tumor growth reduction in experimental groups 2 (50mg/kg body weight) and 3 (100 mg/kg) compared to the control group. Also, the results of the apoptotic cell in tissue showed that the extract of Physalis alkekengi significantly induced apoptotic and necrotic cells in experimental groups in comparison with the control group. The results of RT- PCR showed that the expression of VEGF gene in the experimental groups (50 mg/kg body weight) was significantly (P <0.001) less than that of the control group.

In the end, it was concluded that the extract of the Physalis alkekengi has anti-tumor properties and can be considered as an anti-cancer drug in future clinical studies.

People with Illness Anxiety Disorder experience excessive worry and in this regard, they have a lot in common with Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Emotion Regulation Therapy (ERT) is a multifaceted and integrated treatment that is widely used for Generalized Anxiety Disorder and its effectiveness in anxious factors has been established in many studies.The aim of the present study is to examine Effectiveness of Emotion Regulation Group Therapy in symptom reduction and worry in individuals with Illness Anxiety Disorder through a Randomized Clinical Trial (RCT).

This is a Randomized Clinical Trial (RCT) experimental study with pre-test and post-test and control group. Population of the of the present study included all people with Illness Anxiety Disorder in Shiraz in 2019 who went to the psychiatric clinics of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. The sample was 16 people with Illness Anxiety Disorder who were randomly assigned to the experimental group and the control group. The subjects in the experimental group and the control group were assessed in both pre-test and post-test periods using Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5 (SCID-5-5), Anxiety and Related Disorders Interview Schedule for DSM-5 (ADIS-5) and The Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ).

Results showed that group format of emotion regulation therapy significantly improved symptoms of anxiety and worry of individuals with illness anxiety disorder.

Emotion Regulation Therapy throughout intervention in worry and emotion regulation construct which is known as mediators in the treatment of many disorders, significantly improve symptoms and worry of people with Illness Anxiety Disorder.

Alzheimer is a neurodegenerative disease in which numerous changes occur in the patientchr('39')s brain, since it is suggested that royal jelly (RJ) and Physical activity have several pharmacological activities, including neuroprotective and improvement of cognitive function. This study aimed to investigate the effect of eight weeks of voluntary wheel running exercise with royal jelly consumption on behavioral disorders and antioxidant capacity in rats with Trimethytin model of Alzheimer’s disease.

This experimental study was performed on 48 male rats; Alzheimerchr('39')s Trimethytin was induced on 40 rats. The rats were then randomly divided into six groups each group consisting of 8 members: healthy control group (HC), Alzheimer control group (ADC), voluntary exercise (VW) (wheel running), sham (SH), voluntary exercise combined with the royal jelly intake (VWJ) and royal jelly intake (RJ). Voluntary wheel running was done for eight weeks, three sessions per week and 60 minutes each session. To determine depression and anxiety, The Forced Swimming Test (FST) and Elevated Plus-Maze (EPM) were used respectively. Real-Time PCR was used to determine Gene expression of Superoxide dismutase (SOD) and Glutathione peroxidase (GPX). Data analysis was performed by the multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) test and post hoc Scheffe at the significance level of P <0.05 using SPSS software version 20.

The results of multivariate analysis of variance show that there is a significant difference in all five variables of OAT, SOD, GPX, OAE and immobility in at least one group. According to the results of Scheffe post hoc test the findings showed that immobility time decreased in the VWJ, RJ, HC groups. The anxiety related indices increased in VWJ, RJ, HC groups. Although the differences in SOD antioxidant index were not significant, Gene expression of GPX increased in VWJ and RJ groups.

In this study, voluntary exercise alone did not reduce anxiety and depression, and this highlights the role of Royal Jelly in it, and the results with the effect size of 0.757 showed the greatest effect on reducing the depression index. It seems that the combination of voluntary exercise with royal jelly supplementation can modulate behavioral disorders and antioxidant capacity in rats with trimethylettin-induced Alzheimer’s disease.

Beta-thalassemia are among the most common autosomal recessive genetic disorders in Iran, especially in Khuzestan province. Beta-thalassemia exhibits significant phenotype heterogeneity and there are currently more than 200 known mutations in this region. Oxidative stress exacerbates multiple disorders, including thalassemia, an inherited hemolytic anemia caused by globin gene mutations. We aim to characterize significant mutations of widespread β-thalassemia in south-western Iran with respect to biochemical parameters, oxidative status and complications of diseases.

Forty-five patients, aged between 15-35 years with β-thalassemia major were selected. The patients were receiving regular blood transfusion and chelation therapy and have been previously characterized to bear beta globin gene mutations. The subjects’ medical histories were documented by review of previous medical records. We also determined biochemical parameters including glycemic and iron indices, hepatic and renal function tests, oxidative stress markers and levels of advanced glycation end product species (Carboxy methyl lysine and Pentosidin).

The most common mutation was found to be CD36/37(28.9%) followed by IVSII-1, and IVSI-110. Values of iron indices were significantly different in various mutation groups. Carboxy methyl lysine and pentosidine were found to be higher in the β-thalassemia patients with IVSII-1 and IVSI-110, respectively. Also sLOX-1 was found to be significantly higher in IVSI-110 group. Complications of the disease were differently presented in mutation groups and hemochromatosis, hepatomegaly, and diabetes were among the most common problems.

About 72 % of β-thalassemia major cases in southwest Iran result form 3 common mutations with different clinical and laboratory presentations. Molecular genetic testing can be helpful to evaluate the patients’ situation.

The studies of the last two decades have shown that regular training is associated with the reduction of mortality among patients with breast cancer, and has an important role in inhibiting breast cancer progression as well as treatment of the disease. However, the micro-molecular mechanisms involved are not fully understood yet. However, the aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of a high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on the expression of miR-126, miR-296, HGS gene, and VEGF-A protein level in tumor tissue of the mice with breast cancer.  

For this purpose, 12 BALB/c mice (6-8 weeks, weight 19 ± 1.05 g), after induction of cancer (MC4-L2 subcutaneous injection into the right side of the mice), were randomly divided into two groups with 6 in each group: HIIT and control. Each session of HIIT group program includes six intervals of three minutes and 20 seconds with an intensity of 85 to 90 percent of VO2max and 1-minute recovery with 30 to 35 percent VO2max intensity between each interval; and the animals were sacrificed 24 hours after the last training session and the expression of miR-126, miR-296, HBS gene and VEGF protein levels in tumor tissues were examined.

The statistical results showed that the implementation of HIIT significantly reduced the expression of miR-296 and subsequently increased the HGS gene expression and led to increased expression levels of miR-126 and decreased levels of VEGF-A protein in the training group compared to the control group (p<0.05).

It seems that HIIT, by suppressing tumor angiogenesis signaling pathways, could be an effective intervention to inhibit the growth of breast tumors.

 Thyme have been used as a medicinal plant traditionally for the treatment of digestive system disorders. In present study, the effect of hydroalcoholic extract of thyme on motility of isolated colon of male rat and its interaction with cholinergic, adrenergic and nitic oxide systems was performed.

Ten adult male rats (180- 250 g) were kept in standard condition for one week. Then rats were anaesthetized by ethyl ether and their colon was isolated and divided in to 1 cm strips. The strips were held to a force transducer and inserted to organ bath contained Tyrode solution. The mechanical activity of strips was recorded by Power Lab system with administration of thyme extract (0.0175 mg/ml) and its solvent in experimental and sham groups, and after administration of acetylcholine, epinephrine and L-NAME drugs. Data were analyzed by SPSS software and independent-samples T-test.

 The result showed a significant decrease in the mechanical activity of isolated colon after administration of the effective dose of thyme extract in base line and after of administration of acetylcholine.
There was no significant difference of mechanical activity of the strips at the presence of extract and its solvent after epinephrine and L-NAME administration.

 It can be concluded that thyme extract caused colon relaxation via inhibition of cholinergic pathway and independent from adrenergic and nitric oxide systems.

Patients with HIV experience considerable negative affects, which may jeopardize their physical, mental, and social health. On the other hand, resilience and ambiguity tolerance in challenging situations may increase the psychological health of high-risk individuals, specifically HIV patients who are exposed to high levels of risk and stress. Hence, the present study aimed to investigate the relationship between positive and negative affect experiences and resilience and ambiguity tolerance among patients with HIV in 2019.

  This study used a descriptive-correlational design. Out of the HIV patients recorded in Hematological and Oncological Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, 95 cases were selected via simple random sampling method and, then, they were included in the study. Afterwards, data collection was performed using resilience, ambiguity tolerance, and PANAS (positive and negative affect schedule) questionnaires. Subsequently, multiple regression analysis was used to analyze the collected data.

There was a significantly negative relationship between the negative affect experiences and ambiguity tolerance and resilience. Besides, the positive affect experiences were shown to have a significantly positive relationship with resilience and ambiguity tolerance. In addition, results of the regression demonstrated that the resilience and ambiguity tolerance variables could appropriately predict the positive and negative affect experiences.

Considering the difficult conditions of the patients with HIV as well as their great number of problems, it might be possible to reduce the experiences of negative affect and, as a result, prevent the consequent outcomes of negative affect by increasing ambiguity tolerance and resilience.

Some studies have demonstrated that aerobic exercise can reinforce antioxidant defensive system. To this end, the present study aimed to compare the effect of maximal and submaximal aerobic physical activity on saliva enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant indices in middle-aged women.

In this quasi-experimental study, 24 women (35-45 years, Weight: 67.41±5.03, Height: 161.83±2.98 and BMI: 25.74±2.01) were selected purposefully and voluntarily who were randomly categorized into two groups, Maximal Aerobic Physical Activity (MAPA) and Submaximal Physical Activity (SAPA) (n=12/group). SAPA were done with 50 to 70 percentage of heart rate reserve for 3 sessions/week for 6 weeks. To do MAPA, Bruce Protocol (seven stages for 3 minutes) was applied. It started with 10% incline and 1.7 miles/hour speed and continued with 2% increase for every 3 minutes until exhaustion, 3 sessions/week for 6 weeks. Required saliva samples were gathered before the first session and 24 hours after the last session of exercise to be applied to evaluate Catalase, Superoxide dismutase, Malondialdehyde enzyme, and total antioxidant capacity. Data were analyzed using an independent T-test (P≤ 0.05).

Research results represented a significant difference in saliva enzyme indices for MAPA and SAPA groups: Catalase (PCAT= 0.003), Malondialdehyde (PMDA=0.001), and total antioxidant capacity (PTAC= 0.04). MAPA group showed higher average. In addition, the results indicated no significant difference in dismutase superoxide enzyme levels (PSOD=0.88) in MAPA and SAPA groups.

According to the reported results, it may be concluded that due to its ability to increase antioxidant enzyme secretion, MAPA is applied to cope with oxidative stress.

Depression is one of the most prevalent psychiatric disorders. It causes enormous amount of costs for employees and leads to reduced social and occupational functions severely. This investigation was conducted to study depression prevalence and its relationship with demographic variables among Fasa University of Medical Sciences employees in 2017.

This descriptive-analytical study was conducted among 149 employees working at Fasa University of Medical Sciences in 2017. The data collection instruments included a demographic questionnaire and the Beck II standard questionnaire. The data were analyzed by SPSS (version 18) and through descriptive, Chi-2 and correlation tests. The significance level was considered at P<0.05.

44.8 and 55.2 percent were males and females respectively. Their mean age was 34.41 ± 7.01 with age range from 22 to 55 years old. The mean year of working record was 8.6 ± 16.36 with range of 1-27. Most of employees (77.9 percent) were married and 44.8 percent of them had B.S level of education. The results of present study show that 38.6 percent of employees suffered from different levels of depression so that 16.6, 17.9 and 4.1 percent of them had mild, average and severe to very severe depression, respectively. There was a significant correlation between employeechr('39')s depression and their education level (p=0.02).

Consequently, it is suggested to establish consulting centers in universities in order to screen employees’ health status. They can find susceptible cases and provide them with any necessary interventions to control their depression and cure them.

Nowadays, the use of natural materials in regenerative medicine is very important, especially using substances with calcium carbonate structure due to their similarity to the bone structure. In this study, the effect of Cerastoderma lamarcki shell and rice bran extract on stem cell proliferation and differentiation has been investigated.

First, crastoderma shells were collected and cut into small pieces. Its compounds were analyzed by X-ray diffraction. Finally, the structural features of shells were investigated by SEM. Stem cells were extracted and cultured from the umbilical cord of Whartonchr('39')s jelly. After cells seeding on the scaffold, cell survival was studied by MTT. Adhesion, morphology, and diffusion of cells on the shells were also examined by SEM. Cells were stimulated by osteogenic medium and osteoblastic differentiation by alkaline phosphatase activity was studied. Rice bran ethanolic extract was used. Cell survival was studied by MTT technique and osteogenic differentiation was studied by Alizarin Red staining.

MTT studies showed appropriate adhesion of cells on the scaffold and SEM studies also showed successful binding and their appropriate morphology on the scaffold. Alkaline phosphatase studies showed that osteogenic differentiation of cells on shells is significant. In another part of this study, we studied the survival and osteogenic differentiation of these cells in treatment with ethanolic extract of rice bran. MTT studies showed a dose-dependent decrease in cell survival in the presence of the extract. Alizarin staining also showed the differentiation potential of this substance.

The results showed the appropriate potential of these two natural substances in bone differentiation. However, further studies are needed to prove their effects.