Journal of Advanced Biomedical Sciences
Volume:11 Issue: 4, Winter 2021

An upward trend in the incidence of Parkinson’s disease (PD), known as one of the most prominent neurodegenerative maladies, has evoked great concerns among medical community over the past decades. Recently, studies have suggested the initiation of PD in the gastrointestinal tract decades before the advent of manifestations. Accumulating evidence suggests that intracellular deposition of α-synuclein (α-syn) in patients with PD is associated with systemic inflammation leading to the neuroinflammation and neuropsychiatric disorders. The α-syn protein accumulation can be initiated from GI cells and distribute into CNS cells through trans-synaptic cell to cell transmission. Without doubt, gut microbiota affects the enteric nervous system (ENS) known as the “second brain”. Patients with PD have a different balance of bacteria in their intestines, as compared to healthy population. Metabolites from gut microbiota affect the enteric wall such as neurodegeneration. Probiotics have a substantial role in the neutralization or inhibition of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and free radicals and thus improve the PD symptoms. The anti-inflammatory role of probiotics also inhibits the neurodegeneration and PD development. Hence, probiotics contribute to the improvement of PD through several mechanisms which need more in-depth verification.

One of the criteria for determining health is health-promoting behaviors. A high level of nutrition literacy is an important factor for differences in diet and nutritional behaviors which promotes health. Therefore, the present study investigates nutrition literacy status and its related factors in the older adults in Tehran.

This is a descriptive-analytic (correlational) study. The study population included 270 older adults of Tehran city selected using random cluster sampling in Tehran in 2018. Data collection was carried out using a 28-item nutrition literacy scale (NLS) and demographic characteristics questionnaire. Then, data analysis was conducted using SPSS ver. 16 and descriptive statistics and Chi-square, Kruskal–Wallis, Spearman correlation coefficient and multiple regression tests.

In this study, the majority of the older adults were in the group aged 60–64 years (41.9%). According to NLS, 52.2% of the older adults had inadequate nutritional literacy, 37% had borderline nutritional literacy, and only 10.7% of them had adequate nutrition literacy (p<0.001). Also, there was a significant relationship between nutrition literacy and age, sex, level of education, and occupation.

The majority of Iranian elderly had inadequate and borderline nutritional literacy, and only one-tenth of them had adequate nutrition literacy. Therefore, due to low nutritional literacy and its relationship with age, the elderly need to receive simple and understandable information to communicate and understand health information to make appropriate decisions, and it needs more attention from health workers, health workers and physicians.

Oral candidiasis is the most common fungal infection of the oral cavity, mainly caused by the overgrowth of Candida albicans. One of the topical medications for candidiasis is nystatin, a polyene antifungal agent. Nevertheless, increased resistance to this drug because of overprescription has caused recurrent oral candidiasis. There is a lot of interest today in the use of natural products and compounds due to the side effects of synthetic products. Propolis is a natural resin substance produced by bees through the combination of wax and saliva with resins collected from plants, which has reportedly antibacterial, antifungal and antitumor properties. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of propolis mouthwash and nystatin on C. albicans.

The present in vitro study, in which the effects of antifungal agents were investigated on the standard strain of C. albicans, was conducted within two groups of 15, nystatin and propolis, using the Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion susceptibility test after preparation and sterilization. The diameter of the zone of inhibition (ZOI) was measured in this assay using the disc diffusion method onto Sabouraud dextrose agar (SDA) medium.

Statistical analysis of data by SPSS software using t-test statistics to evaluate the antifungal effect of the interventions showed a better antifungal effect of nystatin compared to propolis mouthwash against C. albicans (P<0.001).

The findings of this study demonstrated that the local propolis mouthwash was less potent than nystatin in inhibiting the growth of C. albicans, probably due to differences in the concentration and geographical region of collected propolis. Further research on species isolated from oral biofilm is needed to achieve complementary outcomes.

Although dental composites have undergone a high level of development in recent years, there are still difficulties including microleakage. The incorporation of nanoparticles (NPs) in dental materials can produce antibacterial effects, but the effect of TiO2 NPs on microleakage has not yet been investigated. The present study aimed to determine the effect of TiO2 NPs incorporation in the universal single bond and pretreatment with them on microleakage of clV cavities using both total-etch and self-etch approaches.

Standard clV cavities were prepared on the buccal surfaces of the sixty non-carious human molar teeth. The restoration of samples was carried out with 6 different methods and randomly divided into six groups of ten subjects. Microleakage in both gingival and occlusal margins was determined after placement in 2% basic fuschin solution for 24h. Biocompatibility of a universal single bond was evaluated by MTT assay.

In both occlusal and gingival margins in all groups, the application of TiO2 NPs was better than no application. We observed the relatively low cytotoxic effect of TiO2 NPs incorporated in the universal adhesive on NIH-3T3 cell viability.

Regarding the limitations of the present investigation, using TiO2 NPs with both total-etch and self-etch approaches to universal single bond may lead to a decrease in the microleakage of resin composite restorations.

Emotional divorce, seems to be a reducing factor in the quality of marital life and mental health. This study aimed to design, construct and validate an emotional divorce instrument.

This study was an applied, psychometric survey using a multi-stage sampling method conducted on 805 women living in Iran between 2015 to 2018. After determining the items in a semi-structured qualitative study, face, content, structure, and concurrent validity as well as the split-half and Cronbach's alpha coefficient methods for reliability evaluation were used. For all analyses, the SPSS19 software (IBM Corp, 2013) and for confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) LISREL 8.8 was used.

36.81% of the total variance was justified by 63 factors with Eigenvalues of less than 1 and 63.19% by the first 12 factors with an Eigenvalue of higher than 1. The final questionnaire consisted of 66 questions. The total Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.979. The exploratory factor analysis (EFA) resulted in five factors consisting of "love and interest in the spouse", "attention to the needs and practice the tasks", "controversy and misbehavior", "mental health", and "respect and appreciation". The results of the CFA confirmed model derived from the EFA (Chi-Square=7653.70, df =2503, P-value= 0.0000, RMSEA = 0.051).

The reliability of this questionnaire was high in two consecutive evaluations. The structural validity also led to the identification of the desired number of items. Hence, this questionnaire seems to be an appropriate tool for assessing emotional divorce as a feature of quality of marital life. However, further investigation is needed for tool efficiency assessment in different communities.

 Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a complex endocrine and metabolic disorder, which is characterized by ovulatory dysfunction and hyperandrogenism. This study was done to evaluate insulin and estradiol (E2) in women with PCOS and its relationship with Body mass index (BMI).

This case-control study included, 104 women with polycystic ovary syndrome as a case group and 100 women without polycystic ovary syndrome as a control group. Concentrations of insulin, glucose and E2 were measured in fasting blood samples.

Insulin level was 7.02 ± 3.29 in control group, 11.41 ± 3.84 in the case group. FBS level was 82.75 ± 7.18 in control group versus 84.03 ± 5.82 in case group. E2 level was 70.74 ± 53.03 in control group and 60.21 ± 40.58 in case group. The insulin resistance level was 1.45 ± 0.74 in the control group versus 2.37 ± 0.83 in case group. According to correlation analysis, the insulin variable had a significant positive association with BMI (p < 0.0001, r=.245), although no significant correlation was seen between E2 and BMI (p-value = 0.245, r=.092)

Present data showed that E2 levels were not different in PCOS and non-PCOS patients, but insulin levels in PCOS were significantly increased and PCOS women had significant insulin resistance which is dependent on BMI.

Exercise has been shown to improve cognitive function in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Experimentally, glucocorticoids (GCs) treatment has been observed to improve cognitive deterioration in an autoimmune model for MS, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). We aimed to determine the combined effect of exercise and 4 mg/kg of dexamethasone (Dex) for 4 weeks on spatial memory in EAE.

Rats with EAE were subjected to the Morris water maze (MWM) for four days and a prop test for one day. The prop test was repeated on day 40 post-induction (dpi). Rats were randomly assigned to one of four groups (10 rats per group): control EAE without treatment; EAE + dexamethasone, (EAE + Dex); EAE + exercise (EAE + Ex); and EAE+Dex+Ex. Rats receiving dexamethasone were administered 4 mg/kg injections daily for two weeks after EAE induction. Exercise training was initiated on a motorized treadmill 2 weeks before EAE induction and continued until 14 dpi. On day 41, animals were dissected and CORT level was assessed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay corticosterone kit.

One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with repeated measures followed by a protected LSD post hoc test indicated that, EAE+Ex group increased body weight (P < 0.001) and it displayed a significantly lower CORT concentration (P <0.001) with delayed clinical score until day 13 dpi. Further EAE+Ex improved memory by time spent (p > 0.001) and swimming speed (p>0.002).

The protocol selected in this study was an effective treatment for the EAE model to improve spatial memory and regulate corticosterone concentrations.

People who work in closed and underground environments such as mines get radioactive gases into their respiratory system due to the concentration in the air. These radioactive substances, after entering the body’s respiratory system, with radiating energetic particles, damage most of the live cells. The most damaged parts are in the alveolar air cells of the lung which may lead to cancer.

The absorbed energy and annual effective dose due to the emitted alpha beam of radon and derivatives on alveolar air cells of the adult lung using MCNPX 2.6.0 simulation are determined. Color profiles are shown as a result of simulation of absorbed dose in the 27 alveoli of lung due to alpha radiation of radon and its derivatives.

The investigations show that polonium-210 (210Po), as one of the radon derivatives with long life, has the most annual effective absorbed dose in the human lung and as a result can cause the most damage to the living tissue of the alveolar air cells in comparison with the other radon derivatives. After this element, 218Po, 222Rn ,214Po and 214Bi have more the absorbed dose in the human lung, respectively.

Most cancers from radon are generated by radon derivatives. They can play an important role in lung damage. Exposure to radon derivatives rises a person's lifetime risk of lung cancer. The risk increases in direct relationship with the length of exposure and the type of radon derivative. For reduction of 210Po is suggested the use of ventilation. It moves outdoor air into the building, and distributes the air within the building.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the deadliest disease globally, which in order to reduce this mortality rate statin has been used during last decades. In line, it has been revealed that statins negatively affect testicular tissue. Thus, in the current project, we aimed to investigate the vitamin D protective effects during simvastatin (SIM) administration.

In this project, 48 male mature Wistar rats were randomly divided into 6 control and experimental groups. The experimental groups were subdivided into Low and High dose SIM-received and Vitamin D co-treated SIM-received groups. After 45 days, the body weight of the animal groups was measured and then they were euthanized and testicles were removed. The right testicular tissue was fixed in fixative solution, while the left testicular tissue was used for biochemical and molecular analysis. To evaluate the pathological changes, hematoxylin and Eosin (H&E) staining were performed. The Malondialdehyde (MDA), Total antioxidant capacity (TAC), catalase (CAT) and Ferric-reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) levels were examined in order to evaluate the Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and antioxidant levels. Finally, Bax, Bcl-2, p53 and Caspase-3 mRNA levels were analyzed using real- time PCR.

Our observations revealed that the MDA, Bax, p53 and caspase-3 level enhanced in the sole-SIM-received groups compared to control group, while level of TAC, catalase and Bcl-2 diminished in SIM-received groups versus control group. In contrast, Vitamin D-co-treated animals showed a significant enhancement in level of TAC, catalase and Bcl-2 compared to sole-SIM-received animals (p≤0.05).

The vitamin D-co-administration can positively protect testicular tissue against SIM-induced oxidative stress condition by enhancing enzymatic activity of antioxidant defense and anti-apoptotic genes activation.

Hydatidiform Mole (HM) is a type of gestational trophoblastic disease which causes serious complications and recognizing risk factors can play an important role in reducing the incidence. The aim of this study is to evaluate HM risk factors in Kowsar hospital in Qazvin, Iran.

In this case-control study, 77 pregnant women, by complete enumeration method with sonographic and pathological diagnosis of molar pregnancy in Qazvin Kowsar hospital in 2016-2017, were assigned to the case group and 77 pregnant women with no delivery problems were assigned to the control group. All demographic and midwifery data were extracted from the records in the hospital archive. Before patients were enrolled in this study, written consent was obtained. Data were analyzed by t-test and chi-square in SPSS software version 22. P<0.05 was considered significant.

Mean age in both case and control groups was 27.16 ± 7.26. There was no significant difference in preeclampsia, multiple pregnancy, blood groups, Rhesus (Rh) and contraceptive methods in case and group groups (P>0.05). There was a significant relationship between HM and history of molar pregnancy and multiparity (OR: 2.1; CI: 1.77-2.48; p=0.01, OR: 1.85; CI: 1.07-3.6: p=0.04).

The present study also showed that HM was more likely to occur in multipara patients and patients with history of molar pregnancy. Therefore, it is recommended that women should undergo health care before pregnancy and further studies are required to provide solutions to reduce the cases of HM.

Assisted reproduction techniques and preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) for aneuploidies help infertile couples achieve a healthy live birth. The objective of this study was to investigate if there is a correlation between chromosomal aneuploidy and maternal age.

We used 277 embryos with 6-8 cells and graded A derived from intracytoplasmic sperm injection cycles. There were two subgroups: fresh-PGT cycles (n = 38) and Frozen Embryo Transfer (FET) cycles (n = 38). The PGT cycles results were evaluated by fluorescence in situ hybridization and polymerase chain reaction assays. Couples (n = 76) with PGT on the third day were classified into four maternal age groups: ≤35 years (n = 35), 36-40 years (n = 24), 41-45 years (n = 11), and ≥46 years (n = 6). The rate of aneuploidy, blastocyst quality, and pregnancy was assessed in FET and fresh-PGT cycle.

Aneuploidy rate in 13, 18, 21, X, and Y chromosomes in FET and fresh-PGT cycles are not significantly related to maternal age (p = 0.1). Significant differences were found in a decreased chemical pregnancy (p = 0.001), clinical pregnancy (p = 0.001), ongoing pregnancy (p = 0.001), and live birth rate (p = 0.001) among both groups. Decreased blastocyst rate increased maternal age in fresh PGT and FET PGT (p = 0.02). Early and clinical pregnancy loss was not related significantly to maternal age.

After evaluating cycle characteristics, an association was found between maternal age and declined pregnancy outcomes in embryos. There was a significant relationship between increasing female age with decreasing blastocyst rate.

Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a condition that is associated with an increase in inflammatory markers and studies show that resistance exercise with appropriate intensity can reduce inflammation generally. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship of serum glucose with Interlekin18 (IL-18) and Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha (TNF-α) in Diabetic rats with progressive resistance exercise.

In this experimental study, 32 Wistar male rats were distributed to sedentary control, trained control, sedentary diabetic, and trained diabetic groups of 8. Diabetes was induced by Streptozotocin (55 mcg/bw-i.v.). The resistance training protocol consisted of elevating upward from a ladder with weight, supporting an overload equivalent to 5% of body weight, during 6 weeks. The data obtained were analyzed by ANOVA and Tukey's posthoc multiple comparison tests, and a significance level of 5% was considered.

According to results, serum concentrations of TNF-α and IL-18 decreased significantly in trained diabetic group compared to sedentary diabetic group after resistance training. While in the amount of TNF-α in the trained control group compared to the sedentary control group, a significant increase was observed, and in the amount of IL-18 in trained control group compared to the sedentary control group, a significant decrease was observed. But regarding the correlation between serum IL-18 concentration and glucose, only in sedentary control group, a significant correlation was observed.

Resistance training was able to reduce TNF-α and IL-18 inflammatory markers in trained diabetic rats and improve metabolic and immune aspects in diabetes mellitus.