Trends in Pharmaceutical Sciences
Volume:5 Issue: 4, Dec 2019

Methyl-tertiary butyl ether (MTBE), as a fuel additive is added to reformulated gasoline to enhance octan number and air quality. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect(s) of low doses of MTBE on some hematological indices in the male rats. In this study, two separate experiments (A and B) were conducted. In experiment A, the rats were randomly divided into 2 equal (n=5) groups that recived 0 and 10 mg MTBE/kg/day in tap water by gavage for 28 consecutive days. In experiment B, animals were assigned into two equal groups (n=5) that recived 0 and 1 mg MTBE/kg/day for 10 consecutive days. At the end of the exposure period, the white blood cell count (WBC), red blood cell (RBC), hemoglobin (HGB), hematocrit (HCT), mean corpusular volume (MCV), mean corpusular hemoglobin (MCH), mean corpusular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) and platelet count (PLT) were determined. Statistical analysis revealed that, there was a significant alteration in MCHC between control and treatment groups (P<0.05) in experiment A. No changes were observed for the other blood parameters. Also, in experiment B, the means of WBC, MCH and MCHC showed significant differences between groups (P<0.05). In conclusion,the present study showed that exposure to low and very low levels of MTBE can alter some hematological indices in the male rats.

This study aims to provide a discussion on pain management challenges in opium addict patients. Pain and addiction are complicated with each other, and their managing requires more clinical consideration. The number of opioid abusers has grown rapidly through the Iranian population, and it seems that opium is the drug of choice in addicted patients. Due to illegal sources of procurement, the purity of substances is suspicious, and it makes pain management more challenging in the field of medication choosing. Although hospitalized patients should receive their daily opioid dose in morphine equivalent, there is no equal value for such substances using in Iran. This concern is not limited to the selection of the treatment, but withdrawal symptoms, relapse causes, drug interactions, and comorbidities are also essential and various in patients. Therefore, pain control should individually be started and proceed based on each one's response. As most guideline recommendations from which the Consensus Statement was derived were based on expert opinion alone, this review identified key issues for evidence-based practice in this area.

Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is a pathogen in community-acquired or hospital infections. Hence, the identification of this pathogen in clinical samples is a health concern and demands continued surveillance and close monitoring. In the current study, S. aureus strains were isolated from various clinical specimens in the Shariati Hospital, Tehran, Iran. Samples were studied to discover S. aureus enterotoxin-coding genes A (sea), B (seb), C (sec), and D (sed). It was found that 21% enterotoxigenic S. aureus harbored sea gene, 39% were carried seb gene, 37% were positive for sec-gene, and 3% were carried sed gene. None of all S. aureus strains harbored more than one of the enterotoxigenic genes. Based on the data obtained from the current study, it could be suggested that seb and sec genes are good candidates for the identification of S. aureus in clinical specimens. Further investigations are required to discover the association between these genes and the pathogenicity of this bacteria, and finally using these data in clinical settings.

Considering potassium citrate ability to induce urine alkalization, it may be useful in the treatment and prevention of renal stone formation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potassium citrate preventive effect on recurrence and also expulsion of calcium oxalate renal stones residual fragment. The study was made on 96 adult patients who referred to Shahid Faghihi hospital affiliated to Shiraz University of Medical Sciences and underwent surgical intervention with detected and cleared calcium oxalate renal stones (more than 60% of stones component). The patients had no urinary tract infection or urogenital anomalies. Four weeks following treatment of urolithiasis, patients cleared from the renal stones (n=58) and patients with urinary residual stones (n=38) were divided to two groups based on age and gender. One sub-group received 40 mEq of oral potassium citrate daily for one year while the other observed. All 4 sub-groups encouraged to high fluid intake with low salt, low oxalate diet. A significant difference in recurrence rate of renal stone was seen in patients of untreated sub-group (25.86%) with treated sub-group (1.72%) in stone free group. In the patients with residual urinary fragments, a significant decrease in stone fragments in treated subgroup (72.22%) and untreated sub-group (33.33%) was reported. The findings of this study showed that administration of potassium citrate led to significantly declined recurrence rate of calcium oxalate renal stone.Also it has a good expulsive effect on residual fragments.

Taurine (TAU) is the most abundant free amino acid in the human body. High concentrations of this amino acid are found in tissues such as the skeletal muscle, brain, and kidney. Recently, a focus has emerged on the effects of TAU on cellular mitochondria. It has been found that TAU could positively affect this organelle by enhancing mitochondrial membrane potential, increasing ATP levels, and mitigating mitochondria-mediated ROS formation. The current study aimed to evaluate the effect of a wide range of TAU concentrations (0.01 mM-1000 mM) on mitochondrial function. Mice liver mitochondria were isolated and exposed to different concentrations of TAU (30 min). Several indices, including mitochondrial depolarization, dehydrogenases activity, permeabilization, and ATP content, were monitored. It was found that TAU supplementation significantly enhanced parameters such as mitochondrial ATP levels and mitochondrial membrane potential in comparison with the control group. Moreover, TAU prevented Ca2+-induced mitochondrial permeabilization. This amino acid revealed no significant adverse effect on isolated mitochondria even at very high and supra-physiological concentrations (e.g., 100, 250, and 500 mM). These data suggest TAU as an ideal and safe agent to protect mitochondria against toxic insults or regulating cellular function in different mitochondria-linked disorders.

Acetaminophen (acetyl-para-amino phenol; APAP)-induced hepatotoxicity is the most common form of drug-induced liver injury (DILI) worldwide. APAP is also used as a model drug to assess hepatoprotective strategies against DILI. In the current study, the potential cytoprotective effects of Allium cepa (Onion) extract (OE) was investigated in APAP-treated hepatocytes. Isolated hepatocytes were prepared with the collagenase perfusion of rat liver. Isolated hepatocytes (10 mL, 106 cells/mL) were incubated in the Krebs Henseleit buffer (pH = 7.4) in continuously rotating 50 mL round bottom flasks, under an atmosphere of carbogen (95% O2 and 5% CO2) in a 37 °C water bath. Cytotoxicity, ROS formation, and mitochondrial membrane potential collapse were assessed as oxidative stress markers. APAP administration to rat hepatocytes (500 µM) was accompanied by cytotoxicity, ROS formation, depletion of cellular glutathione (GSH) reservoirs, and mitochondrial depolarization. It was found that OE administration (100 µL) significantly reduced cell death, ROS formation, and its consequences, such as the decrease in cellular GSH and mitochondrial injury induced by APAP. These results indicate that the crude extract of Allium cepa exhibits hepatoprotective action, probably through antioxidative properties and protecting vital cellular organelles such as mitochondria.