Biolmpacts
Volume:1 Issue: 3, Sep 2011

Application of nanoparticles has been extensively increased in last decades. Nanoparticles of noble metals such as gold, platinum and especially silver are widely applied in medical and pharmaceutical applications. Although, variety of physical and chemical methods has been developed for production of metal nanoparticles, because of destructive effects of them on environment, biosynthetic methods have been suggested as a novel alternative. Some bacteria and microalgae have different ranges of potentiality to uptake metal ions and produce nanoparticles during detoxification process. In the present work, we study the potential of three Lactobacilli and three algal species in production of AgNPs in different concentrations of silver nitrate. Utilizing AAS, XRD and TEM methods, Nannochloropsis oculata, Dunaliella salina and Chlorella vulgaris as three algal species in addition to three Lactobacilli including L. acidophilus, L. casei, L. reuteri were monitored for production of silver nanoparticles. Three concentrations of AgNO3 (0.001, 0.002, 0.005 M) and two incubation times (24h and 48h) were included in this study. Our findings demonstrated that C. vulgaris, N. oculata and L. acidophilus have the potential of nanosilver production in a culture medium containing 0.001 M of AgNO3 within 24 hours. Also L. casei and L. reuteri species exhibited their potential for production of silver nanoparticles in 0.002 M concentration of AgNO3 in 24 hours. The size range of particles was approximately less than 15 nm. The uptake rate of silver in the five species was between 1.0 to 2.7 mg/g of dry weight. Nanoparticle production was not detected in other treatments and the algae Dunaliella. The biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles in all of three Lactobacilli and two algal species including N. oculata and C. vulgaris was confirmed.

To date, isolated cell based blood-brain barrier (BBB) models have been widely used for brain drug delivery and targeting, due to their relatively proper bioelectrical and permeability properties. However, primary cultures of brain capillary endothelial cells (BCECs) isolated from different species vary in terms of bioelectrical and permeability properties. To pursue this, in the current investigation, primary porcine and bovine BCECs (PBCECs and BBCECs, respectively) were isolated and used as an in vitro BBB model. The bioelectrical and permeability properties were assessed in BCECs co-cultured with C6 cells with/without hydrocortisone (550 nM). The bioelectrical properties were further validated by means of the permeability coefficients of transcellular and paracellular markers. The primary PBCECs displayed significantly higher trans-endothelial electrical resistance (~900 W.cm2) than BBCECs (~700 W.cm2) - both co-cultured with C6 cells in presence of hydrocortisone. Permeability coefficients of propranolol/diazepam and mannitol/sucrose in PBCECs were ~21 and ~2 (×10-6 cm.sec-1), where these values for BBCECs were ~25 and ~5 (×10-6 cm.sec-1). Upon our bioelectrical and permeability findings, both models display discriminative barrier functionality but porcine BCECs seem to provide a better platform than bovine BCECs for drug screening and brain targeting.

We have already shown the protective effects of soy protein on rheumatoid arthritis in rats. In this study, the effects of genistein and daidzein, two isoflavones from soy on rheumatoid arthritis prognosis and prevention in rats have been investigated. Rheumatoid arthritis was induced in female Sprague-Dawley rats using collagen type II plus adjuvant. Rats were then treated with soy protein (7 g/kg), dexamethasone (1 mg/kg), genistein (20 mg/kg genistein), daidzein (20 mg/kg genistein) and casein (in control groups) by daily gavage feedings for 50 days. Scores of arthritis were recorded every day for each paw of animal. Serum concentrations of TNF-α, IL-6, adiponectin and leptin were characterized. Tibiotarsal tissue was used for histopathologic analyses. Treatment with genistein and daidzein resulted in not only a reduction in disease symptoms but also a delay in the onset of symptoms. Results from delayed-type hypersensitivity test demonstrated that the ear thickness in treated rats was significantly lower than that in the control group (p<0.05). There was a reduction in TNF-α, IL-6, adiponectin and leptin serum concentrations after treatment with genistein and daidzein. Dexamethasone reduced the serum concentrations of TNF-α, IL-6 and adiponectin but increased leptin serum level. Prevention of the tissue damage and joint inflammation was also observed following treatment with two soy isoflavones. soy isoflavones, daidzein and especially genistein, could significantly improve rheumatoid arthritis symptoms in rats. The structural similarity of isoflavones to estrogen could be the possible underlying mechanism involved in the function.

Atrial Fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia which represents a major public health problem. The main purpose of this research is to evaluate the Radiofrequency (RF) ablation effects in the patients with chronic AF scheduled for cardiac surgery because of different heart diseases. The descriptive and prospective study was conducted on 60 patients with AF scheduled for surgery along with RF ablation. The data were collected by questionnaire and included: patient's age, sex, NYHA class, operation type, past medical history, type and cause of valvular heart disease, preoperative ECG (electrocardiogram), duration of surgery, clamping time, cardiopulmonary bypass, and RF ablation time. RF ablation was followed by the main operation. The follow up examination, ECG, and echocardiography were performed 3 and 6 months after operation. The mean age of patients was 48±10 years (18-71 years). Forty one patients had permanent AF and 19 had the persistent AF. The left ventricular ejection fraction was 48.27±9.75 percent before operation, and reached to 56.27±7.87 percent after the surgery (P<0.001). The mean NYHA class before the surgery was 2.83±0.68 which decreased to 1.34±0.46 6 months after the surgery with RF ablation (P<0.001). One patient (1.6%) died after surgery. Complete relief and freedom from AF recurrence was observed in 70% of patients in the mean follow up in 7 months after the surgery. The sinus rhythm with efficient atrial contraction was established in 100% of discharged patients. RF ablation is an effective procedure to cure atrial fibrillation in patients undergoing cardiac surgeries.

Interaction of several genes is responsible for psychiatric diseases such as depression. Despite the numerous microarray studies in this field, findings are controversial and hard to conclude. Male Wistar rats were randomly selected to receive Chronic Mild Stress model for 4 weeks. Different aspects of depression were measured by forced swimming test, open field trial and sucrose preference tests in the experience group and controls. Sucrose was preferred by 40% of CMS group and 80% of controls (p=0.025). Twenty percent of CMS group and 80% of controls were “active” (p=0.001). Last escape was at minute 238 for CMS group and minute 245 for controls and controls had more escape efforts. This paper is a preliminary report of a genomic study on animal model of depression which tries to achieve reliable results by a joint of clinical view with recent techniques. Predicted challenges in this procedure and the solutions as well as the limitations may be helpful for future researches.

Today, with the tremendous potential of genomics and other recent advances in science, the role of science to improve reliable DNA extraction methods is more relevant than ever before. The ideal process for genomic DNA extraction demands high quantities of pure, integral and intact genomic DNA (gDNA) from the sample with minimal co-extraction of inhibitors of downstream processes. Here, we report the development of a very rapid, less-hazardous, and high throughput protocol for extracting of high quality DNA from blood samples. Dried, clotted and ethylene diamine tetra-acetic acid (EDTA) treated fresh and frozen blood samples were extracted using this method in which the quality and integrity of the extracted DNA were corroborated by agarose gel electrophoresis, PCR reaction and DNA digestion using restricted enzyme. The UV spectrophotometric and gel electrophoresis analysis resulted in high A260/A280 ratio (>1.8) with high intactness of DNA. PCR and DNA digestion experiments indicated that the final solutions of extracted DNA contained no inhibitory substances, which confirms that the isolated DNA is of good quality. The high quality and quantity of current method, no enzymatic processing and accordingly its low cost, make it appropriate for DNA extraction not only from human but also from animal blood samples in any molecular biology labs.

Recent report on existence of a stem region of hemagglutinin has arisen new hopes for vaccination of influenza A as it consist of a conserve fusion peptide shared across several influenza subtypes and can be targeted by human immune system. Given that traditional vaccination based on live attenuated viruses often fails to surpass such viral infection, a great deal of attention has been devoted to develop a safe yet efficient system for vaccination influenza A. We believe that a natural bioshuttle can be recruited for spontaneous mass vaccination. Thus, here, we hypothesize that a bioengineered transgenic Hirudo medicinalis can be considered as an alive bioshuttle for in-situ vaccination against influenza A virus. By introducing the designated gene(s) encoding the target fragment (i.e., stem region of hemagglutinin), this microsurgeon can act as a rapid microproducer of viral proteins for in-house mass vaccination through imparting the necessary proteins such as those, naturally presented in leech's saliva. This peculiar bioshuttle can be easily exploited as a medical modality choice at home resulting in greater patient compliance.

Nanotechnology is the study and application of extremely small things and can be used across all the other science fields, such as chemistry, biology, physics, materials science, and engineering. An alternative method for considering the trend of research activities in countries is quantitative analysis of scientific output. The objective of current study is to analyze and visualize the trend of scientific output in the field of nanotechnology in MEDLINE during a period of 10 years 2001-2010. The extraction of data was restricted to the data set that was indexed as a major main heading of “nanotechnology” in MEDLINE through 2001 – 2010. Data about patent applications was obtained from WIPO Statistics Database. Database of Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE) was selected from Web of Science to obtain publications indexed under the topic of nanotechnology. Analysis of data showed that the research activities in the field of nanotechnology have been increased steady through the period of study. The number of publications in 2010 was ~ 84 times greater than those in 2001. English language consisting of 98% of total publications was the most dominant language of publications. Based on Bradford’s scattering’s law the journal of “Nanoscience and Nanotechnology“distributing 12.8% of total publications was the most prolific journal. The USA contributing 39% of world’s publications in the field was the most productive country followed by China (10%), Germany (6%), Japan (6%), Korea (5%) and UK (4%). The most majority of world’s publications (70%) were produced by these six countries. The tremendous growth of publications was simultaneously with the rapid growth of patent application in the field of Micro-structural and nano-technology in WIPO.