Journal of Advanced Biomedical Sciences
Volume:13 Issue: 3, Autumn 2023

Due to the increasing trend of extensive antibiotic resistance among bacterial strains and side effects, seeking novel methods such as nanoparticles (NPs) is promising for infection eradication.

Eighteen Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans) clinical isolates were collected from dental plaques. Moreover, S. mutans ATCC25175 standard strain was obtained from Pasteur institute of Iran. Following preparation of nanoparticles, their antibacterial effects were assessed compared to chlorhexidine. The nickel NPs (Ni-NPs) was prepared and its antibacterial effect was compared to the 12% chlorhexidine. The minimum inhibitory and bactericidal concentrations (MIC and MBC, respectively) of Ni-NP (dilution range: 0.125-64µg/mL) were measured using broth microdilution method.

The nickel NPs (Ni-NPs) was prepared and its antibacterial effect was compared to the 12% chlorhexidine. The minimum inhibitory and bactericidal concentrations (MIC and MBC, respectively) of Ni-NP (dilution range: 0.125-64µg/mL) were measured using broth microdilution method. The MIC and MBC levels of Ni-NP against the clinical isolates ranged 2-16µg/mL and 4-16µg/mL, respectively. These values against the S. mutans ATCC27175 standard strain included 4 and 8µg/mL, respectively. Furthermore, the MIC and MBC of chlorhexidine against clinical isolates ranged 8-64 and 32-64µg/mL, respectively, while both included 64µg/mL against standard strain (p<0.001).

The results of this study outlined that Ni-NPs exert efficient antibacterial effect at nontoxic concentrations compared to 12% chlorhexidine.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of saffron extract on the embryo development of mice.

Pregnant NMRI mice were randomized into control and treatment groups at 25, 50, and 100 mg/kg saffron doses. Saffron extract was administered to mice by gavage on days 7-12 of pregnancy. On the 17th day of pregnancy, the embryos were removed from the uterus and their weight and height measured. Moreover, their brain tissue has been evaluated histologically. Subsequently, the expression of the Foxp2 and Ascl1 genes in the brain tissue was assessed using the real-time PCR method.

All embryos were aborted in mothers that received 100 mg/kg of saffron. At dose 50 mg/kg, only embryos of a mother reached the end of pregnancy. Embryos treated with 25 mg/kg saffron were significantly heavier than controls (P<0.05). Furthermore, the tail length was significantly shorter (P<0.05). Histological findings showed that there was no difference between the control and treated groups, and the brain tissue was well developed. Foxp2 and Ascl1 genes were significantly overexpressed in both the 25 and 50 mg/kg treatment groups compared to the control group (P<0.05).

The results of this study showed that saffron extract can have significant effects in low concentrations (25 mg/kg) on the development of the mouse embryos as well as the expression of Foxp2 and Ascl1 genes.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neurodegenerative disease that is characterized by demyelination and neuronal dysfunction. The study of the expression of cytokine genes seems to be an appropriate option for assessing their potential for the onset and development of the disease. Therefore, in the present study, changes in the expression of three interleukins (IL-36α, IL-37, and IL-38) in MS and their association with clinical factors were investigated.

In this study, blood samples of 45 MS patients and 45 healthy controls were enrolled. Relative expression of genes was evaluated using the real-time PCR. Finally, the pattern of expression was analyzed by using statistical analyses. In the next step, the relationship between clinical characteristics and IL-36α, IL-37, and IL-38 expression was investigated.

The results showed that IL-36α and IL-37 increased in MS patient (1.8 and 3.5 fold respectively, P<0.01).  Moreover, a significant reduction in IL-38 was observed in MS samples (0.21 fold, P<0.01). The dysregulation in ILs expression was associated with clinical features.

As a result, the two studied IL-1 family members (IL-36α and IL-37) may contribute to the progression of MS, so that increase in their expression is associated with EDSS disability and duration of disease. Another member of IL-1 family, IL-38 has a protective effect on MS diseases, and its downregulation is related to severe disability. Further investigation can help to determine accurate functional role of 3 interleukins in MS development.

Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with chronic renal diseases is an important factor for physicians to select a dialysis modality. The present study aimed to compare the HRQoL in hemodialysis (HD) and peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients.

In this cross-sectional study, a sample of HD patients and a sample of age- and sex-matched PD patients with at least six months dialysis were recruited. Then, the quality of life was assessed using the Short Form Health survey (SF-36). Demographic and disease-related information was also recorded. Then, data were analyzed using the SPSS software (ver. 21).

Totally, 172 HD patients and 86 age- and sex-matched PD controls were entered into the study. Overall the PD patients had more dialysis per week (P < 0.001). Comparing quality of life between two groups showed significant differences in physical functioning, role-physical, role-emotional and physical component summary observed (P < 0.05). In addition, role physical in HD patients and bodily pain in PD were the worst and best dimensions of quality of life, respectively.

The findings suggest that patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis had a better quality of life in most measures. It seems that we need to educate and encourage patients to choose peritoneal dialysis in order to enjoy a better quality of life.

Due to the lack of early diagnosis, it is unclear how the environmental stimulations in infancy would affect the underlying structures of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), as well as the onset or severity of symptoms. The study aimed to investigate the effects of receiving pre-weaning environmental enrichment on the severity of ASD symptoms and the hippocampal level of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the valproic acid (VPA) rat model.

Male rats exposed to valproic acid (VPA) or normal saline (Sal) embryonally (E12.5) were randomly assigned to 4 environments: Standard (ST), pre-weaning environmental enrichment (PEE), secondary environmental enrichment (SEE) and PEE+SEE (EE). Behavioral tests were repeated at postnatal day (PND)30 and PND60, in the light phase with a blinded examiner. The BNDF level was determined at PND68.

In VPA rats, receiving PEE, increased social interactions and decreased anxiety, pain sensitivity even in early adulthood. Also, it reduced repetitive behavior but with no significant differences. The BDNF level in VPA-PEE and VPA-SEE was lower than VPA-ST, VPA-EE and saline groups. The biggest improvement in symptom severity was seen in EE.

Reduction of symptoms severity in VPA-PEE and the best performance in VPA-EE showed that rich and sensory overflew environment in infancy can change the formation of ASD. Finding might point to hyperactivity or a lack of regulation of BDNF levels in ASD. PEE most likely reduced hyperactivity, and continued environmental enrichment in EE, regulated the level of BDNF in the hippocampus.

Dicer a member of the RNase III endonucleases has a crucial function in the development of miRNAs that affects gene expression in different kinds of cancers. The present research focused on examining the expression level of Dicer and its relation with clinicopathological features in children with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) among the population in the northwest region of Iran.

In a case-control study, 140 samples (70 patients and 70 healthy controls of similar age and sex rates) from 2019 to 2021 were included in the Dicer mRNA expression levels assessment. Quantitative Real-Time PCR analyses were utilized to determine expression levels of Dicer in samples and the demographic and clinicopathologic features and the relationship of these variables were evaluated.

Average Dicer expression Dct values were 2.8267 and up-regulated compared to healthy samples (P=0.000). No significant relationships have been found among gene expression, demographical and clinicopathological parameters. Also, demographical and clinicopathological factors were not correlated with the mRNA expression level of the gene except age (r=0.148, P=0.001).

The current research shows that the expression of Dicer is significantly up-regulated in ALL patients, which suggests that it could have a vital function in ALL pathology. It will also theoretically be seen in the potential as a new intervention objective for ALL cases.

Nowadays, owing to positive features of herbal plants, they are widely being applied to treat different diseases. The current study was designed to assess antibacterial activities and cytotoxic effects of hydro-alcoholic extract of Urtica dioica (U. dioica) on causative bacteria of mastitis and epithelial cells of bovine mammary gland in vitro.

Hydro-alcoholic extract of U. dioica was provided, then minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC)50 and MIC90 of the extract (µg/ml) was determined against both Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. Finally, after isolation and culture of epithelial cells of bovine mammary gland, cytotoxic effects of MIC50 and MIC90 concentrations of the hydro-alcoholic extract were evaluated using MTT assay during 24 and 48 h.

The hydro-alcoholic extract could inhibit growth of both E. coli and S. aureus, with higher inhibitory effect on S. aureus than that of E. coli. For both species, MIC50 concentration was 312.5µg/ml concentration of hydro-alcoholic extract and MIC90 was 39.06 µg/ml.  The results of MTT assay confirmed that viability of the epithelial cells for MIC50 concentration during 24 and 48 h was 68% and 28%, respectively. Additionally, cell viability for MIC90 concentration in 24 and 48 h was 50% and 6 %, respectively.

According to our results, it can be concluded that despite bactericidal activity of U. dioica extract, cytotoxic effects was observed at antibacterial levels. Hence, further formulations are required to treat mastitis using this herbal ointment.

Staphylococcus aureus causes problems in hospitals and it has emerged as a serious agent acquired from the environment in recent years. One of the capabilities of S. aureus is the formation of biofilms, in which bacteria can exchange antibiotic-resistance genes among themselves and increase the virulence of other strains of this species (S. aureus). A surface protein attached to the cell wall in S. aureus clumping factor A is a virulence factor in various staphylococcal infections.

In this study, after the Urea Analysis (UA) test, the urea culture test was applied to the blood agar and Baird-Parker Agar culture media from the infectious urine samples in Imam Hospital, Tehran, to identify S. aureus isolates. Finally, a molecular method was used for the confirmation of identified isolates. The microliter plate method was performed to determine the biofilm formation ability. The disk diffusion method was also used for profiling the antibiotic resistance of the isolates.

In the results of this study, 45 out of 160 urinary clinical samples were positive for S. aureus, among which 42 isolates expressed the clfA gene. Moreover, 39 isolates had the ability to form biofilms in vitro. Among these 42 isolates, the highest (88%) and the lowest (16%) rates of antibiotic resistance were observed against penicillin and cefoxitin, respectively. Data analysis with SPSS software and chi-square indicated a significant relationship between gene expression and biofilm production with antibiotic resistance (P < 0.05).

The resistance of S. aureus bacteria is increasing strongly due to the repeated use of antibiotics such as beta-lactams, especially in respiratory infections and pharyngitis. Moreover, biofilm formation and virulence factors, such as clfA and clfB, cause concerns to the World Health Organization for treatment, especially for people with sepsis or toxemia.