مجله مطالعات علوم پزشکی
سال سی و سوم شماره 5 (امرداد 1401)

Bone tissue engineering is a progressive approach in bone tissue repair in medical science. Induction of osteogenic differentiation is a very important process for bone repair. Fibrin as a natural polymer is used in bone tissue engineering studies as a 3D cell culture scaffold. In this study, the osteogenic differentiation effects of fibrin hydrogel scaffold on mesenchymal stem cells isolated from human Wharton's jelly have been investigated.

The third passage of Wharton jelly human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (WJ-MSCs) were cultured in two groups of two-dimensional culture and three-dimensional culture of fibrin hydrogel scaffold. DMEM Low-Glucose medium containing 10% FBS and 1% antibiotic was added to both groups. These cells were kept for 21 days at 37°C and 5% CO2, and their medium was changed every three days. At the end of the culture period, their osteogenic differentiation potential was evaluated by alkaline phosphatase (ALP) assay and alizarin red staining.

Mineralization was observed in the 3D culture group and was significantly reddened by alizarin red staining. Nevertheless, very few red dots were observed in the two-dimensional culture group. The activity of alkaline phosphatase enzyme was measured as 140.64±4.2 in the three-dimensional culture group and 6.85±0.46 in the two-dimensional culture group, and the difference between them was significant (P≤0.001).

Fibrin hydrogel can induce differentiation of WJ-MSCs into bone cells in the absence of osteogenic factors.

Adipokines play an important role in inflammation and pathogenesis of diabetes. The aim of this study was to study the simultaneous effect of combined exercises (aerobic + resistance) and the consumption of mulberry leaf extract on the serum levels of galectin-3, apelin, and HbA1C in elderly men with type 2 diabetes

In this semi-experimental and single-blind research, 40 elderly men with the age range of 67.07 ± 7.48 years were purposefully selected and randomly divided into five equal groups (exercise, supplement, Supplement+exercise, placebo, and control). A daily dose of 1000 mg (two 500 mg capsules) of Mulberry leaf extract was used 3 times a day for 2 months. The exercise and exercise + supplement groups practiced for 8 weeks in 3 sessions, each week for 90 minutes. The studied variables were measured 24 hours before and 48 hours after the intervention period.

Galectin-3, apelin, and HbA1C levels in the post-test of the exercise, exercise+supplement, and supplement groups were significantly reduced compared to the pre-test (P<0.05). Also, the results of covariance analysis showed that the levels of galectin-3, apelin, and HbA1C in the exercise, exercise+supplement and supplement groups were significantly reduced compared to the placebo and control groups (P<0.05).

It seems that combined exercises and consumption of Mulberry leaf extract can be effective in reducing inflammatory biomarkers effective in the pathogenesis of diabetes in the elderly with type 2 diabetes. However, supplementing with combined exercise has the greatest effect on controlling these inflammatory markers.

Acute aortic dissection is a rare but fatal event in pregnancy with a reported incidence of 14% of all cardiac-related maternal mortality. Saving a mother and her baby together in an emergent situation which needs proper decision-making and good teamwork. On the other hand, using standard diagnostic tools such as computed tomography (CT) angiography may not be a good decision as it postpones necessary intervention and causes encounter of the mother and her fetus to a more harmful situation. Here we present a 25-year-old pregnant woman with acute aortic dissection who was diagnosed by echocardiography data. On-time surgical intervention saved a mother and her baby’s life. One-year follow-up showed no complication.

Pneumoperitoneum is characterized by the presence of air inside the peritoneal cavity, which may be the result of a perforated hollow organ in GI (Gastrointestinal) tract, requiring emergency surgical intervention. However, pneumoperitoneum is known to be spontaneous, nonsurgical, or unexplained in some cases without perforation. The present study is a case series study, introducing two cases of pneumoperitoneum in the patients with COVID-19.

The first case was a 70-year-old woman with COVID-19 who underwent laparotomy, and no perforation was detected in her as the source of pneumoperitoneum under direct observation. The second case was a four-year-old girl who was referred to hospital after a car accident as pedestrian. After taking a CT scan, COVID-19 was diagnosed accidentally without any previous sign. After diagnosing pneumoperitoneum, since there was no symptom of perforation or peritonitis, the patient was actively monitored during the hospitalization period and discharged on day 8 of hospitalization in a general good condition.

Evidence from a previous study suggests that coronavirus has a high propensity to gastrointestinal tract. Enteropathic viruses can directly damage the intestinal mucosa and cause gastrointestinal complaints in the patients. Invasion of the virus into the intestinal wall can increase the permeability of the intestinal wall, leading to easier invasion of pathogens over the large intestine tract and intestinal complaints (including pneumatosis) by reducing the function of intestinal barrier. Increasing permeability of the intestinal wall may be a factor of pneumoperitoneum.

Nanoparticles are effective in cancer cells and in the treatment of diseases due to their ability to induce toxicity and induce apoptosis and antibacterial properties. Pecan seeds are rich in carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, mineral salts, alkaloids, and amino acids; among its important alkaloids are harmaline, harmine, harmalol and vazisine can be mentioned, which have many uses in industry and medicine. The aim of this research is to investigate the effects of pecan smoke loaded with nano-chitosan on cytotoxicity, apoptosis induction and its antibacterial effects.

In this experimental study which was conducted in vitro, MTT test was used to investigate the toxicity effect of chitosan nanoparticles loaded with pecan smoke on ovarian cancer cell line A2780 and HFF normal fibroblast cell. Also, to investigate the induction of apoptosis, the method of determining the expression of the caspase 3 gene was used, and to investigate the antibacterial properties, the disk diffusion method was used on the gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus and Micrococcus luteus and the gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Statistical analysis was performed by SPSS software and one-way analysis of variance. P<0.05 was considered as significant.

The result of the MTT test showed the value of IC50 for ovarian cancer cells in 48 hours after treatment as 17.155 μg/ml; while at the same concentration for the normal cell line, the survival rate was 98%. Also, the induction of apoptosis of A2780 cancer cells was observed based on a significant increase in the expression of caspase 3 gene. In addition, these nanoparticles had an inhibitory effect on the growth of Staphylococcus aureus and Micrococcus luteus bacteria.

Chitosan nanoparticles synthesized by Peganum harmalla smoke had anti-cancer, apoptotic, and antibacterial activity.

Besides a source of energy storage, adipose tissue acts as an endogenous tissue and plays an important role in maintaining the balance of the body's metabolism through secreting specific hormones and cytokines. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of date palm pollen extract and resistance training on adipose tissue metabolism and expression of secretory factors in male rats.

This experimental study was conducted on control and test groups. Thirty male Sprago-Dawley rats were divided into 6 groups of: control, resistance training, date pollen extract treatment, testosterone treatment, date pollen extract treatment + resistance training, testosterone treatment + resistance training. Date pollen extract was prepared and fed to rats at a dose of 100 mg/kg for four weeks. Testosterone enanthate at a dose of 2 mg/kg was injected into the target groups every day. The resistance training protocol, including ladder climbing with weights equivalent to 65% of the body weight of rats was performed for four weeks. Histopathological assessments were performed by H&E staining and the expression levels of leptin and IGF-1 genes were evaluated by real-time PCR. The resulting data were statistically analyzed using one-way ANOVA and Tukey's tests at a significance of p<0.05.

The results showed that taking date pollen extract and doing resistance exercises at the same time caused a significant decrease in leptin gene expression (p<0.05). Also, treatment with testosterone + resistance training led to a significant decrease in the expression of IGF-1 (p<0.05) and leptin (p<0.05) genes.

It could be concluded that resistance training combined with treatment with date pollen extract may be effective in the reduction of IGF-1 and Leptin gene expression as well as decrease in the number of adipocytes in the adipose tissue.

Salmonella is a gram-negative bacillus with characterizations of Enterobacteriaceae bacteria. Salmonella typhi is living in the nature as well as digestive system of the humans and animals, which can cause human and animal disease and environmental pollution. The purpose of this research was to investigate the antibacterial effect of copper nanoparticles and its combination with cotrimoxazole antibiotic in laboratory conditions and animal model in order to produce a more effective antimicrobial drug against Salmonella typhi.

In this clinical trial study, certain amounts of medium were prepared and subjected to the effect of the drug. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) for copper nanoparticles and its combination with cotrimoxazole was mesured using microdilution method. Then, their antibacterial effect was investigated in vitro and in infected mouse model. SPSS version 18 software was used for statistical analysis of the results. In P< 0.05 was considered as a significant level.

MIC and MFC for Salmonella typhi were 2000 ppm and 4000 ppm for copper nanoparticles alone, were 125 ppm and 250 ppm for the combination of copper nanoparticles with cotrimoxazole, and were 500 ppm and 1000 ppm for cotrimoxazole alone, respectively. The mouse model was confirmed to investigate the antibacterial effect of copper nanoparticles and its combination with cotrimoxazole against Salmonella typhi infection. The combination of copper nanoparticles with cotrimoxazole has the most antibacterial effect compared to others groups for Salmonella typhi.

The combination of copper nanoparticles with cotrimoxazole is very effective in comparison with other groups, especially antibacterial cotrimoxazol, and therefore could be used clinically.

Polycystic ovary syndrome is the most common endocrine disorder and the leading cause of infertility in the women of childbearing age. Considering the importance of this disease on women's health and their quality of life, this study was conducted with the aim of investigation of the relationship between dietary patterns and nutritional status on increasing the risk of PCOS in the women aged 20-40 years referred to Sarem Hospital, Tehran, Iran.

This case-control study was performed on 57 patients with PCOS and 58 healthy individuals. This study used demographic Information of the pationts, Physical Activity (IPAQ), and food frequency (FFQ) questionnaires to collect data. Anthropometric indices were also measured. In order to calculate the food groups received in this research, the food items were divided into 16 groups. Then, the obtained items were analyzed based on the normality or absence of the obtained information in two safe and unsafe food groups using appropriate statistical tests for each of the above states. The results were analyzed using SPSS version 24 statistical software.

The average age of people with PCOS was 29.86±5.01 and healthy people was 32.12±4.92 years. The results showed that weight, waist circumference, hip circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, waist circumference, waist height, and fat percentage were significantly different in the patients with PCOS from healthy individuals (P<0.05). Also, energy consumption, protein, EPA, DHA, sodium, potassium, vitamins B1, B2, B3, B6, B12, phosphorus, magnesium, zinc, copper, selenium, total fiber, crude fiber, and glucose were significantly different in the patients with PCOS from healthy individuals (P<0.05).

Anthropometric indices were higher in the patients with PCOS compared to healthy individuals. Also, intake of some macronutrients and micronutrients was higher in patients with PCOS compared to healthy people. However, there was no statistically significant difference in the amount of intake of any of the 16 daily food items between the two groups with PCOS.