Advanced Biomedical Research
Volume:7 Issue: 12, Dec 2017

Chronic stress adversely infl uences brain functions while crocin, as an effective component of saffron, exhibits positive effects on memory processes. This study investigated the effects of different doses of crocin on the improvement of learning and memory as well as corticosterone (CORT) levels in the hippocampus and frontal cortex of rats subjected to chronic stress.

Forty male rats were randomly allocated to fi ve different groups (n = 8): Control, sham; stress (6 h/day for 21 days) groups, and two groups receiving daily intraperitoneal injections of one of two doses (30 and 60 mg/kg) of crocin accompanied by 21 days of restraint stress. Latency was evaluated as a brain function using the passive avoidance test before and one-day after a foot shock. CORT levels were measured in the homogenized hippocampus and frontal cortex.

Results revealed that chronic stress had a signifi cantly (P < 0.01) negative effect on memory. Crocin (30 and 60 mg/kg), however, gave increase to signifi cantly (P < 0.01 and P < 0.05; respectively) improved memory functions in the stressed rats. Furthermore, the CORT levels in the hippocampus and frontal cortex declined signifi cantly (P < 0.05) in the stress group compared to the control. Only a crocin dose of 30 mg/kg was observed modulate signifi cantly (P < 0.05) the CORT levels in the hippocampus and frontal cortex in the stressed group.

It was found that the lower crocin dose (30 mg/kg) had more benefi cial effects than its higher (60 mg/kg) dose on learning and memory under chronic stress conditions. Moreover, it was speculated that different doses of crocin act on different neurotransmitters and biochemical factors in the brain.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a chronic disorder that strongly affects one’s life and social, emotional, and occupational functioning. Due to the effect of religious beliefs on phenomenology of OCD, in this paper, we assess the effectiveness of religious cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) within 3 and 6 months follow-up.

This study is a clinical trial with follow-ups which last 2 months consisting eight sessions of 1.5 h of religious CBT. The research is conducted in a group of 40, with pre- and post-test after 3 and 6 months. Used YaleBrown OCD symptom scale, before, the end, after 3 months and after 6 months of intervention. Treatment is carried out by a psychiatrist and a clergyman through religious CBT. The trial is held in OCD clinic affi liated with Noor Hospital. Results are analyzed by ANOVA repeated measure with SPSS18.

The results showed a considerable decrease in OCD symptoms which remained almost persistent after 3 and 6 months (F = 3/54. P = 0/024). It also shows that religious CBT can leave substantial effect on OCD symptoms; permanency of this intervention after 3 and 6 months is noticeable (P < 0/001). In Conclusion this therapy could be helpful for OCD patients with religious content.

RCBT have a positive effect on people with religious obsessive -compulsive.

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is multifactorial disease, in which thrombotic occlusion and calcifi cation occur usually. New strategies have been made for diagnosis and treatment of CAD, such as transradial catheterization. Hemostasis could be done in two approaches: traditional and patent. Our aim is to fi nd the best approach with lowest complication.

In a comparative study, 120 patients were recruited and divided randomly into two subgroups, including traditional group (60 patients; 24 females, 36 males; mean age: 64.35 ± 10.56 years) and patent group (60 patients; 28 females, 32 males; mean age: 60.15 ± 8.92 years). All demographic data including age, gender, body mass index, and CAD-related risk factors (smoking, diabetes, hypertension) and technical data including the number of catheters, procedure duration, and hemostatic compression time and clinical outcomes (radial artery occlusion [RAO], hematoma, bleeding) were collected. Data were analyzed by SPSS version 16.

Our fi ndings revealed that the incidence of RAO was signifi cantly lower in patent groups compared with traditional group (P = 0.041). Furthermore, the difference incidence of RAO was higher in early occlusion compare with late one (P = 0.041). Moreover, there were signifi cant relationship between some factors in patients of traditional group with occlusion (gender [P = 0.038], age [P = 0.031], diabetes mellitus [P = 0.043], hemostatic compression time [P = 0.036]) as well as in patent group (age [P = 0.009], hypertension [P = 0.035]).

Our fi ndings showed that RAO, especially type early is signifi cantly lower in patent method compared classic method; and patent hemostasis is the safest method and good alternative for classical method.

This study was carried out to compare mucociliary function (MCF) of nasal cavity before and after septorhinoplasty surgery by saccharin test.

This study was carried out on 70 patients who needed septorhinoplasty surgery in Kashani and Alzahra Hospital during 2013–2014 to measure MCF. Saccharin test was performed on the patients before surgery and on three more intervals 1 day, 1 week, and on month after ward and the readings were recorded. Saccharin test is performed by placing saccharin granules on the anterior part of inferior turbinate and the time the patient feels the sweet taste is recorded the normal range is below 30 min.

Mean of test for each time interval was obtained and comparison of measurements was made reading were mean of saccharin test before surgery (7.74 ± 1.65 min) the day after surgery (7.75 ± 1.7 min), on week after surgery (15.04 ± 3.4), and 1 month after surgery (8.49 ± 2.08 min). The readings before surgery did not have statistically signifi cant difference with the readings 1 day after surgery P = 0.99, but comparison of test results at other time intervals were signifi cant (P < 0.001). A relative increase in saccharin test time was seen in a period of 1 month after surgery the rise was more noticeable in the 1st week compared to 1 month after surgery.

This study in the period after septorhinoplasty surgery MCF undergoes slight impairment that gradually progresses to normal values during 1 month after surgery.

In radiation therapy, computed tomography (CT) simulation is used for treatment planning to define the location of tumor. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)‑CT image fusion leads to more efficient tumor contouring. This work tried to identify the practical issues for the combination of CT and MRI images in real clinical cases. The effect of various factors is evaluated on image fusion quality.

In this study, the data of thirty patients with brain tumors were used for image fusion. The effect of several parameters on possibility and quality of image fusion was evaluated. These parameters include angles of the patient’s head on the bed, slices thickness, slice gap, and height of the patient’s head.

According to the results, the first dominating factor on quality of image fusion was the difference slice gap between CT and MRI images (cor = 0.86, P < 0.005) and second factor was the angle between CT and MRI slice in the sagittal plane (cor = 0.75, P < 0.005). In 20% of patients, this angle was more than 28° and image fusion was not efficient. In 17% of patients, difference slice gap in CT and MRI was >4 cm and image fusion quality was <25%.

The most important problem in image fusion is that MRI images are taken without regard to their use in treatment planning. In general, parameters related to the patient position during MRI imaging should be chosen to be consistent with CT images of the patient in terms of location and angle.

Orexins are excitatory neuropeptides which stimulate the central regulatory pathways. Orexins increase the penicillin‑induced epileptic activity in rats. Orexin‑A increases in different types of seizures and its elevated level is the characteristic feature in the epileptic children during polysomnography. Recently, the orexin receptor blockage has been reported to increase seizure threshold in mice; however, effect of the selective orexin‑A receptor antagonist (SB‑334867) on 4‑aminopyridine (4‑AP)‑induced seizures has not been investigated.

We used the intraperitoneal injection of 4‑AP to induce seizure in male rats. Under urethane anesthesia, SB‑334867 (50 and 100 nmol) was injected stereotaxically into the ventral hippocampal commissure. Using video recording, the effects of SB‑334867 on electroencephalogram and tonic–clonic convulsions were compared to those that received diazepam or dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO).

SB‑334867 significantly decreased the duration of spike trains compared to DMSO‑treated rats (P < 0.001) and reduced the duration of convulsive seizures (P < 0.05). Seizure onset was increased significantly by SB‑334867, 50 nmol, compared to DMSO (P < 0.05) and diazepam (P < 0.01) treated rats.

Antagonism of orexin‑A receptor by a low‑dose SB‑334867 showed protective effects in 4‑AP‑induced seizure‑like activities in anesthetized rats.

One of the most lethal cancers is hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Genistein (GE) is a choice compound for treatment of certain types of cancer. Phytoestrogens are plant derivatives that bear a structural similarity to 17‑β estradiol (E2) and act in a similar manner. They are a group of lipophillic plant compounds with tumorigenic and antitumorigenic effects. E2 has stimulatory and inhibitory effects on cancer cell lines. This study was designed to investigate the antiproliferative and apoptotic effects of GE and E2 on the HCC HepG2 cell line.

HepG2 cells were cultured and treated with various concentrations of GE and E2 and then 3‑[4, 5‑dimethyl‑2‑thiazolyl]‑2, 5‑diphenyl‑2H‑tetrazolium bromideand flow cytometry assay were performed to determine cell viability and apoptosis.

GE and E2 induced apoptosis and inhibited cell growth significantly. Reduction of cell viability by 50% required 20 µM E2 for E2‑treatment groups and 20 µMGE for GE‑treatment groups. The percentage of the GE‑treated apoptotic cells was reduced by about 35%, 42%, and 47% (P ˂ 0.001) and that of E2‑treated groups 34%, 39%, and 42% (P ˂ 0.001) after 24, 48, and 72 h, respectively.

Our experimental work clearly demonstrated that GE and E2 exhibited significant antiproliferative and apoptotic effects on human HCC HepG2 cells.

Ovarian angiogenesis (OA) remains in lifetime and normal ovarian function depends to this continual remodeling of a complex vascular system. Endometrial thickness (ET) is one of the strongest predictors of successful implantation and pregnancy. Appropriate OA effects on ET by facilitating of ovarian hormone delivery.

Thirty adult female mice and twenty adult male mice were purchased. The female mice were divided into three groups: (1) control group without any intervention (n = 10), (2) gonadotropin group: receiving human menopausal gonadotropin (HMG) and human chorionic gonadotropin (n = 10), and (3) gonadotropin and sildenafi l citrate (SC) group: receiving HMG and SC administration (n = 10). After mating, animals were deeply anesthetized, and the ovary and uterus was rapidly removed for histology and immunohistochemistry process.

Four days after ovarian induction, all three layers of the uterus with specifi ed thickness can be clearly seen. The heights of endometrial epithelial cells in gonadotropin group were not signifi cantly different than those in control group. In gonadotropin and SC group, heights of the cells were signifi cantly (P < 0.05) shorter than control and gonadotropin groups. ETs in all groups were not signifi cantly deferent from each other (P > 0.05 each). Our results of immunohistochemistry survey for ovarian CD31 demonstrated that administrated SC increased OA but not signifi cantly (P > 0.05 each).

It may fi nally conclude that administration of SC does not cause notable alterations in OA and ET; although for realistic decision about the SC effects on aforementioned parameters, more molecular investigations and longer drug consumption period are necessary.

Cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) is an uncommon cerebrovascular disease with a wide spectrum of symptoms and severity. This study analyzes the factors influencing the incidence of papilledema in patients with cerebral venous thrombosis.

In this research 65 patients with CVT were examined between 2011 and 2013, and the patients were followed up one, three, six, and twelve months after the initial diagnosis. They were separated into two groups according to presence or absence of papilledema. We analyzed the frequency of symptoms and risk factors of cerebral venous thrombosis and the intensity of papilledema as time passed, as also the frequency of the involved sinus, in two groups of patients with and without papilledema.

This study showed that the most common symptom was headache, with a frequency of 92.3% and the least common symptoms were ataxia and quadriparesis, with a frequency of 1.5%. The most common risk factors were high waist circumference (WC) and oral contraceptive pil (OCP) use, and also in patients with papilledema the intensity is reduced as time passes.

This investigation showed that there was no significant relation between the frequency of risk factors and symptoms and intensity of papilledema as time passed in the two groups. The results showed that the most common sinuses involved in patients with papilledema were sagittal and lateral sinuses, which included 66.7%, and the most common sinus involved in patients without papilledema, which was the lateral sinus that included 40%.

The aim of this study was investigation of the effects of Nigella sativa (NS) seeds on hypothyroid pregnant rats and their progenies.

Hypothyroidism was induced by propylthiouracil (PTU) 0.03% in drinking water. Female rats were divided into seven groups: control, PTU, PTU‑NS (100, 200, and 400 mg/kg), and NS (100 and 400 mg/kg). All treatments were done 20 days before mating and during pregnancy. The weight of rat dams and progenies, number of progenies and serum T4, estradiol and prolactin (PRL) levels in rat dams were measured for all groups.

Serum T4 in all PTU‑NS groups before mating was significantly increased versus PTU group. Body weight of rat dams before mating in all groups of PTU‑NS was increased versus PTU group by P < 0.001, P < 0.05, and P < 0.001, respectively and in NS 100 and NS 400 was increased versus control group (P < 0.001). The number of offspring was significantly decreased in PTU and PTU‑NS versus control group. The weight of progenies in NS 400 was higher than control group (P < 0.001) and was increased in PTU‑NS 200 and PTU‑NS 400 versus PTU group by P < 0.001 and P < 0.05, respectively. Serum PRL level in rat dams in control, PTU, and PTU‑NS groups were not statistically different between groups but significantly increased in NS 400 group when compared to control group. Estradiol levels were not significantly different in rat dams at 5 days after delivery.

These results demonstrated that feeding of rat dams with NS extract before mating has positive protective effects on progenies. These effects may be due to antioxidant properties of NS in reducing oxidative stress and thyroid damages induced by PTU.

Adams–Oliver syndrome (AOS) is a rare congenital disorder with unknown etiology commonly presented with aplasia cutis and terminal limb defects. Central nervous and cardiopulmonary systems may also be affected. It is commonly inherited as an autosomal dominant disorder but autosomal recessive and sporadic cases have also been reported. Here, we present a 10‑year‑old boy with extensive aplasia cutis congenita and limb anomalies as well as mild pachygyria and focal acrania in neuroimaging. No other internal organ involvement was obvious in this patient. Family history was negative for this syndrome. AOS is a multisystem disorder, and so it is crucial to investigate for internal organ involvements.

In this study, we report a 26‑year‑old female case of Niemann–Pick disease type C in association with Fuchs heterochromic iridocyclitis who was admitted with the complaint of ocular pain and redness following trauma. She had mild inflammatory signs and also vertical ocular motility limitations.