مجله دانشکده پزشکی اصفهان
پیاپی 740 (هفته چهارم آذر 1402)

Chronic low-grade inflammation caused by obesity disrupts the balance of adipokines. The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet includes anti-inflammatory foods that have positive effects on body composition and adipose tissue. This study aims to compare the effects of the DASH diet with a low-calorie diet on serum levels of Spexin, leptin, and adiponectin in overweight and obese adults.

This randomized controlled clinical trial enrolled 120 overweight and obese adults who were randomly assigned to one of three groups: 1) a DASH diet with reduced calories, 2) a restricted calorie diet, and 3) an isocaloric diet (control group). The intervention period lasted 12 weeks, during which serum levels of adipokines, Spexin, leptin, and adiponectin were measured at the beginning and end of the study.

After the intervention, serum levels of adiponectin significantly increased and leptin significantly decreased in the DASH group. In the low-calorie group, only the effect on adiponectin was significant. The reduction in these variables was greater in the DASH group than in the low-calorie group. The difference between the three groups was significant for leptin and adiponectin, but no significant changes were observed in Spexin levels.

The DASH diet with reduced calories was found to improve serum levels of Spexin, leptin, and adiponectin, and reduce the risk of cardiovascular factors compared to the low-calorie diet.

Assessment of Cas9 cleavage in CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspersed Short Palindromic Repeat) system and screening of mutations is one of the challenges of this system. This study suggests a high-efficiency PCR-based method using non-denaturing PAGE that does not depend on the formation of heteroduplexes.

In this study, to investigate the CRISPR-Cas9 function, first, a proper guide RNA sequence with the target sequence was designed and synthesized. The BbsI digested pSpCas9(BB)-2A-GFP (PX458) vector and the guide RNA were cloned into the cleavage site. The recombinant plasmid was extracted, and after confirming the correctness of cloning using the sequencing technique, it was transfected into the HEK293T cell line. After confirming and determining the transfected percentage by flow cytometry, the genomic DNA of the cells carrying the recombinant vector was extracted. Two different PCR reactions were performed to check the function of the Cas9 enzyme in the desired region on the Beta-globin gene, and the cutting percentage was evaluated.

The enzymatic digestion of T7EI on the genome showed 32%, and the polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis system results showed a 66% function of the Cas9 enzyme. In this way, the PAGE system reliably detects changes as small as 5-10 base pairs in the length of the nucleic acid at the desired location.

The PAGE-based technique can replace the T7EI assay as a routine laboratory protocol for genotyping human cell lines produced by the CRISPR/Cas9 system.

The present study was conducted to compare the effects of caffeine and doxapram on respiratory and hemodynamic parameters of patients admitted to the intensive care unit after spine surgery.

The current study is a randomized clinical trial that was performed on patients who are candidates for spine surgery at Al-Zahra Hospital in Isfahan. 90 patients who were candidates for spine surgery were divided into three groups of 30 with doxapram, caffeine, and placebo using the block randomization method (with 9 blocks). Hemodynamic variables, number of apneas, duration of apnea, and the time interval between recurrence of apnea were monitored and recorded every 6 hours to 48 hours after surgery.

The mean percentage of oxygen saturation, diastolic blood pressure, and heart rate did not show a significant difference between the three groups. However, systolic blood pressure was significantly higher in the control group. The mean number of apneas in patients and also the mean duration of apnea in the doxapram group were lower. In this regard, the time interval between the recurrence of apnea in the doxapram group was more than the other two treatment groups.

Doxapram had a stronger effect than caffeine in reducing the parameters of apnea duration and its number; it was also able to improve the time interval between them.