Journal of Advanced Biomedical Sciences
Volume:11 Issue: 2, Summer 2021

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a severe mood disorder. In this study adjunctive psychotherapy of cognitive-behavioral therapy based on emotion-goal detachment was developed and used to treat a patient with bipolar II disorder.

Case Report: 

A 24-year-old girl, who was diagnosed with bipolar II disorder participated in this study. When she was receiving pharmacotherapy, she went to a psychotherapy clinic and complained about depression symptoms. Her depression symptoms, matched the major depressive disorder (MDD) in accordance with DSM-IV-TR. She also complained about anxiety about her presence at the university.

She participated in 18 weekly sessions of The Emotion-Goal- detachment -Based CBT along with pharmacotherapy. She regulated and pursued her goals during the therapy. At the end, she showed no symptoms of MDD in accordance with DSM-IV-TR criteria.

The proposed CBT model was meant to mitigate the effects of emotions on goal pursuit so that it will not be affected by emotional dysregulation.

There are different factors affecting the reproductive fitness of organisms, such as the ecological and environmental factors, resource availability, and stress within their habitat. The challenging incidents in the organism’s environment result in activation of the response system of central stress mediated with the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. This axis’s regulatory function controls such items as immune and cardiovascular functions, metabolisms, and reproductive system. Its activation shows reproductive function through various stressors. Through up-regulating glucocorticoids, stress can adversely influence fertility. Clinical studies and experimental data have demonstrated that stress signaling can have a mediatory effect during direct actions in gonads and reproductive system. The focus of this review is on the stress mechanisms via up-regulating glucocorticoids on male reproductive dysfunction. The individuals with abnormal Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) had higher serum FSH and LH and lower serum total testosterone compared to those with normal HADS. Besides, it was observed that in individuals with abnormal HADS, morphologically normal spermatozoa, sperm count, and motility are lower. For infertility of male cases, stress management is needed.

Nanoparticles are used mainly for the transmission of the therapeutic molecules (like drugs, proteins, or DNA) to the organ/tissue of human body. Polymeric nanoparticles are mostly applied for therapeutic effectiveness in cancer therapy. The micro environment of tumor tissues in vessels can assist nanoparticles in achieving their anticipated accumulation. Poly (lactic acid)(PLA) is a novel green polymer with natural sources (like sweet potato and sugar cane). PLA is a linear aliphatic which has great sustainability, renewability and compostability. PLA has popper mechanical, thermal and barrier properties. This biomaterial is thermoplastic polyester with biocompatibility, non-toxicity and biodegradability. Various forms of PLA nanoparticles are synthetized for biomedical applications like cancer treatments and wound healing process. This review article introduces the various structures of polylactic acid nanoparticles used to deliver anticancer drugs. Furthermore, the investigational approaches that are considered for using PLA nanoparticles in treatment of different types of cancers will be reported briefly.

Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is the most common genetic disease in the world and an autosomal dominant disease characterized by increased plasma cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) concentrations. The clinical diagnosis of the disease is based on family history, the findings of medical examinations, and the measurement of cholesterol levels. The most important cause of FH is the mutation in one of the LDL-R, APOB, and PSCK9 genes. About 90% of mutations occur in the LDL-R gene, which accounts for a total of 2,000 different mutations. Different types of mutations have been observed on different exons of the LDL-R gene, but most of the mutations have been reported on Exon 4. The aim of this study was to sequence and analyze Exon 4 in patients with familial hypercholesterolemia in Bushehr province in Iran.

In this study, 32 patients were selected based on global criteria for diagnosing the disease, and a portion of LDL-R containing complete sequence of exon 4 was amplified using LDLRE4F1/ LDLRE4R1 Primers and blood genomic DNA as a template. PCR products were sequenced and compared with reference sequence to find probable muta tions.

The results of sequencing and comparison with the reference sequence showed that no mutation was found in the exon 4 LDL-R gene. Therefore, this exon did not play a role in FH in the population under study.

Therefore, the cause of FH may be due to the mutations in other areas of the LDL-R gene or other genes, such as APOB and PSCK9.

Corylus avellana essential oil (CAEO) due to its individual phytochemicals and phenolic compounds has been recognized as a potent cell-protective compound against oxidative stresses. In the current study, CAEO was encapsulated in the nanoemulsion drug delivery system to improve its bioactivity properties assuming antioxidant, antimicrobial, and anti-angiogenic potentials.

CAEO nanoemulsions (CAEO-NE) were synthesized applying a high energy ultrasonic method for the emulsification processes and were characterized by DLS, AFM, and SEM analysis. Their antioxidant activity was evaluated by measuring the radical scavenging effect on both DPPH and ABTS free radicals. The CAEO antibacterial and antiangiogenic potentials were studied by measuring the non-growth ring diameter of the staphylococcus aureus culture plate and monitoring the blood vessels of the chick chorioallantoic membrane and its length, respectively.

The 45.9-nm CAEO-NE significantly inhibited both DPPH and ABTS free radicals. Meaningful antibacterial and antiangiogenic impacts were detected following increasing CAEO-NE treatment doses (P-value < 0.001).

CAEO-NE exhibited three key medicinal activities (antioxidant, antibacterial, and antiangiogenic), which make it a potentially safe antibacterial compound. It is suggested that CAEO-NE has anticancer potential due to its antioxidant and antiangiogenic effects. However, further in vitro and in vivo studies are required to verify its mentioned bioactivities and define details of its mechanism.

 The Salmonella origin diseases is wide which could be from gastroenteritis, enteric fever, bacteraemia and focal infection. The infection of salmonella usually comes from the consumption of the contaminated food or water with animal or human excrement. This study aimed to design a Quantitative-LAMP method to real-time detection of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi (S. Typhi), the causative agent of Typhoid fever.

A new LAMP primer set specifically was designed based on ViaB gene and used for detection of S. Typhi. To evaluate the analytical specificity, the genome of some Salmonella-related and non-related bacteria were subjected to the S. Typhi LAMP assay. Also, the analytical sensitivity or limit of detection of the assay was evaluated. Furthermore, in the experiment, turbidity in tubes was assessed by a turbidimeter and then a standard curve was depicted by plotting time threshold values against the log of ViaB gene copy number. With this standard curve, we could use the method to make a quantitative.

The Salmonella Typhi LAMP assay specifically assessed the ViaB gene. The analytical sensitivity of the assay when using agarose gel electrophoresis or amplification plot obtained from Loop amp real-time turbidimeter system was 0.28 fg whereas with direct observation of fluorescent color change to evaluate amplification was 2.8 fg. So, the lower limit of detection of the assay when applying the revealing methods was ~1 and 8 copies of the ViaB gene respectively. 

The Salmonella Typhi LAMP assay is a simple and accurate tool to detect the causative agent of Typhoid fever that may designate to apply in clinical laboratories

α-Glucosidase is one of the main enzymes in the intestinal absorption of carbohydrates. Inhibition of this enzyme can improve postprandial hyperglycemia in diabetic patients. Also, antioxidants can ameliorate diabetes complications resulted from oxidative stress. In this study α-glucosidase inhibition, antioxidant activity and total phenol content of different extracts and obtained fractions of Moluccella aucheri have been evaluated.

The ethanol extract of aerial parts of M. aucheri was fractionated using liquid extraction method with petroleum ether, dichloromethane and ethyl acetate, respectively. The extracts and the resulting fractions of M. aucheri were tested against α-glucosidase enzyme from yeast using an in vitro colorimetric model at λ 405 nm. Antioxidant activity was assessed using two different methods, ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and the scavenging activity of DPPH radicals’ methods.

The screening results indicated that the antioxidant activity and total phenolic content of the methanol extract were potentially higher than ethanol extract, while the ethanol extract inhibited α-glucosidase enzyme to a greater extent. Ethyl acetate fraction illustrated potentially the highest antioxidant activity and phenolic content, but its inhibition activity against α-glucosidase was placed after the petroleum ether fraction. Two previously isolated methoxy flavones; genkwanin, 5-hydroxyl-7, 4'-dimethoxyflavone inhibited the α-glucosidase enzyme strongly.

Since the ethyl acetate extract has both considerable antioxidant activity and α-glucosidase inhibitory activity, it may be considered as a potential crude drug for diabetes.

Acrylamide (ACR) is a chemical with toxic effects on various body tissues. The present study was conducted to investigate the antioxidant effect of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) on the level of testicular apoptosis in acrylamide-treated adult rats.

Thirty-six adult male Wistar rats were randomly divided into 6 equal groups. The intact control group was without treatment, the positive control group (PC) received 50 mg/kg ACR by oral gavage, the negative control group (NC) received 40 mg/kg NAC intraperitoneally, the animals in experimental groups of 1 (EXP1), 2 (EXP2) and 3 (EXP3) received 10, 20 and 40 mg/kg NAC intraperitoneally, respectively, and then all groups received 50 mg/kg acrylamide by oral gavage. The treatment period in all groups was 28 days. At the end of the study, FAS mRNA expression level was measured by real-time PCR and testicular tissue was evaluated histopathologically.

The PC group showed a significant increase in FAS gene expression level (p<0.05) and spermatogenic degradation compared to the intact control and NC groups. The EXP1 and EXP2 groups showed decrease in FAS gene expression level (p˃0.05) and spermatogenesis improvement in a dose-dependent manner while the EXP3 group exhibited a significant decrease in FAS gene expression level (p˂0.05) and complete spermatogenesis recovery compared to the PC group.

The findings indicate that ACR increases apoptosis and destroys spermatogenesis by increasing FAS gene expression levels. In contrast, at the maximum dose (40 mg/kg), NAC could inhibit ACR-induced apoptosis by reducing FAS gene expression and improves spermatogenesis in rats.

Hypertension is one of the leading causes of death in the world. Some more effective management of this disease can be achieved by making changes in the lifestyles of patients by self-care education. It is important to use new educational methods to better influence education on people's learning. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of using educational tools appropriate to learning style during self-care training on the lifestyle of hypertensive patients.

This quasi-experimental study was performed on 44 patients with hypertension who were divided into four groups of visual, auditory, reading/writing and kinesthetic based on their answers to the VARK learning style questionnaire. Patients' self-care training was conducted in the form of four 60-minute sessions based on the learning style of each group. Before and two months after the intervention, the LSQ lifestyle questionnaire was completed by all patients, and finally, data were analyzed using SPSS ver.21.

According to the results of the present study, the mean score of lifestyle dimensions of all research units at all stages of lifestyle increased significantly after the educational intervention compared to before the intervention, (p< 0.001). Also, the increase in the mean of the total lifestyle score after the intervention compared to the time before it was statistically significant (p<0.001).

Considering the favorable effect of self-care education based on learning style in promoting patients' lifestyle, this educational method can be used as a cheap and practical method in changing the behavior of hypertensive patients.

Gender equity is imperative to the attainment of healthy lives and well-being of all, and promoting gender equity in leadership in the health sector is an important part of this endeavour, the present study aimed to evaluate the experiences of female educational supervisors on leadership challenges in Kermanshah hospitals.

In this ante narrative study, the required data were collected in an individual semi-structured interview. Totally 12 nurses working in hospitals of Kermanshah city were selected by targeted sampling method. Analysis was done by content analysis.

According to the research findings, the extracted themes included low self-confidence and the impact of professional role conflicts and family preferences. The factors of self-control were moral competence and purposefulness.

The results of this study can be beneficial to policymakers, human resource managers, educational planners, and leaders at all health system levels.

The teratogenic and embryotoxic potential of Bisphenol A (BPA) has been identified in recent years. Bromelain is a natural compound of pineapple that contains different beneficial effects on the fetus. So, this study aimed to investigate the effect of bromelain against BPA-induced skeletal anomalies in the rat fetuses.

In this experimental study, 36 pregnant Wistar rats were divided into 6 groups including control, BPA (300 mg/kg), Bromelain (40 mg/kg), BPA + Bromelain (10 mg/kg), BPA + Bromelain (40 mg/kg) and BPA + Vitamin E (100 mg/kg). The treatment period was at the 6-15th days of gestation. Fetuses were collected at the 20th day of gestation and after clarification, the skeletal system was stained by Alizarin red and Alcian blue method. Then, skeletal anomalies were evaluated using a stereomicroscope.

The BPA increased anomalies percentage of cleft palate, spina bifida, non-ossification of the sternum, non-ossification of the last rib, delayed ossification of the forelimb, non-ossification of forepaw, delayed ossification of hindlimb, and non-ossification of the hind paw. Administration of bromelain, as same as vitamin E, reduced the percentage of these anomalies. However, the higher dose of bromelain had a better effect than its lower dose and vitamin E.

Bromelain is dose-dependent and even better than vitamin E, can reduce skeletal anomalies induced by bisphenol A in the rat fetus.

The present study was conducted to determine testosterone and ferritin levels in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and investigate its relationship with body mass index (BMI)

In this case-control study, 104 PCOS cases and 99 controls were included. The concentration of testosterone, ferritin, lipid profile, insulin, glucose, and androgen was measured in fasting blood samples.

Testosterone level was equal to 1.08 ± 0.50 and 0.85 ± 0.42 in the case and control groups, respectively (P< 0.001). Values of ferritin (123.45 ± 18.21ng/dl vs. 92.14 ± 17.74 ng/dl in control group, p< 0.001), insulin (11.41 ± 3.84 µU/ml vs. 7.02 ± 3.29 µU/ml in control group, p< 0.001), and insulin resistance (11.41 ± 3.84 vs.7.02 ± 3.29 in control group, p< 0.001) were also measured. There was a significant relationship between serum concentration of testosterone and ferritin with BMI) p<0.001). The role of ferritin to predict PCOS was significant (ß:-1.1, P< 0.001).

According to the findings of the present study, the levels of testosterone and ferritin were increased in patients with PCOS. Although elevated testosterone levels are effective in PCOS, ferritin concentration is an important factor in predicting and exacerbating the disease.