Zahedan Journal of Research in Medical Sciences
Volume:15 Issue: 10, Oct 2013

Viruses are the most abundant and the most versatile pathogens which challenge the immune system and cause major threats for human health. In this review, I consider the mechanisms of viral evasion and subversion of immune system. Viruses inhibit humeral immunity in different ways which contains change of viral antigens, production of regulatory proteins of complement system and receptors of the Fc part of antibodies. Also, viruses disrupt interferon production with inhibition of infected cell signaling pathways for β interferon production. Additionally, one of the most important ways of viral evasion is inhibition and manipulation of cytokines and chemokines for example Herpsviruses and Poxviruses produce virokines and viroceptors. Some of the viruses inhibit apoptosis of infected cells to use cells for more amplification. In addition, viruses change maturation and expression of MHC1 and MHC2 molecule to hide of immune system recognition. Finally, most of the viruses have developed some strategies for evasion of immune system during their development. If we know them in detail we can combat them more successfully.

Glycogen storage diseases are a group of inborn error of metabolism and characterized by accumulation of glycogen in various tissues. The overall incidence of glycogen storage diseases is estimated 1 per 20,000-43,000 live births. There are twelve distinct diseases that are commonly considered to be glycogen storage diseases and classified based on enzyme deficiency and affected tissue. We searched all review articles and books in the national and international databases which considered as inherited metabolic disorders and the genetic associations of these disorders. A large number of enzymes intervene in the synthesis and degradation of glycogen which is regulated by hormones. Several hormones, including insulin, glucagon and cortisol regulate the relationship between glycolysis, glycogenosis, and glycogen synthesis.These diseases are divided into three major groups: disorders that affected liver, disorders that affected muscle and those which are generalized. Glycogen storage diseases are called by a Roman numerical that reflects the historical sequence of their discovery by an enzyme defect or by the author''s name of the first description.

Oxidative stress mechanisms are involved in the embryotoxicity. The objective of this study was to assess hepatotoxicity of bisphenol-A (BPA) in chicken embryos. Fertile eggs were randomly divided into 4 groups; three experimental and one control groups, (N=15, for each group). Embryos were administered 50, 100 and 200 PPM BPA, and incubated for 48 h at 37°C with a relative humidity of 63%. The experiment was terminated on day 20 of incubation. Then, the embryos were decapitated and livers of embryos were collected for biochemical analysis. The total antioxidant capacity, malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione (GSH), carotenoid and total protein levels were measured by spectrophotometer. The result of the present study indicated that the levels of total antioxidant in the livers of embryos exposed to 200 PPM BPA were higher than control and other groups, as well as the levels of MDA compared to control group (p<0.05). The levels of GSH, total carotenoids and total protein were higher in all groups exposed to BPA than control group (p<0.05). In addition, protein concentration in 200 PPM group was higher than of other groups (p<0.001). So far, BPA may lead to induce toxic response of oxidative system in liver throughout embryonic period.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is the most common kind of Mendelian inherited heart disease, affects 0.2% of the global population. HCM is also the most common cause of sudden cardiac death in individuals younger than 35 years old. To date more than 900 individual mutations has been identified in over 20 genes, such as MYH7, MYBPC3, and TNNT2. Interestingly, most of these genes encode sarcomeric proteins. In the present study, we investigated the possible presence of mutation in exons 12-15 MYH7 gene, which has already been reported to accommodate some mutations, in 30 patients with HCM in Chaharmahal va Bakhtiyari province. DNA was extracted using standard phenol-chloroform method and then was used for amplification and gel electroploresis by PCR-SSCP procedure. Finally, the suspected cases were selected for the direct sequencing and the results were analyzed using chromas software. There is no mutation in these exons, but two polymorphisms including: 5811 C>T and 5845 G> were found in the exon 12 of 1 and 5 separate patients, respectively. In this study with respect to none amino acid codon changes arisen from these polymorphisms, we concluded that mutations in these exons of MYH7 gene have a very low contribution in patients in this province and this is necessary to study other exons for better assessment.

Preliminary studies confirmed reduction of cell death following treatment with antioxidants. According to this finding we investigated the relationship between consumption of CoQ10 and expression of bax and bcl2 in hippocampus ischemia that this expression related to cell programmed death. We studied the protective role of CoQ10 against ischemia-reperfusion. Experimental design includes four groups: intact (N=7), ischemic control (N=7), sham control (N=7) and treatment groups with CoQ10 (N=7). The mice (treatment group) treated with CoQ10 as Pre-Treatment for a week. Then, ischemia induced by common carotid artery ligation and following the reduction in inflammation (a week) the treatment group post-treated with CoQ10 for a week. Nissl staining applied to counting necrotic cells of hippocampus and the western blotting performed to measurement the bax and bcl2 expression. Tunnel kit was used to quantify apoptotic cell death while to short term memory scale, we apply Y-maze. Cell death was significantly lower when mice treated with CoQ10. Bax expression was significantly high in ischemic group but in treatment group was less and reversely the bcl2 expression in ischemic group was lower than treatment and vehicle groups. The memory test results were consistent with cell death results. Ischemia for 15 minutes induced cell death in hippocampus with more potent effect on CA1. CoQ10 intake significantly reduced cell death and decreased memory loss. with prevent of expression of bax and increase in expression of bcl2.

Endurance training improves the activity of G4 type acetylcholine esterase (AchE) in muscle fibres. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of 8 weeks of endurance training (ET) on activity of A12 type of AchE in Flexor Hallucis Longus (FHL) and Soleus (SOL) muscles of rats. Sixteen male Wistar rats (age: 10 weeks, weight: 172.17±10.080 gr), were randomly divided in 2 groups (control; N=8 and ET; N=8). Training group carried out 8 weeks (5 session/week) of endurance training on animal treadmill with speed of 10 m/min for 30 min at the first week. Forty eight hours after last session of training, FHL and Sol muscles of animals were moved out under sterilized situation by cutting on postero-lateral side of hind limb. For separating AchE subunits, homogenization and electrophoresis (0.06 non-denaturaing polyacrilamide) methods were used. AchE activity was measured by Elisa kit. Independent t-test showed that the activity of this protein significantly (p=0.017) increased in SOL muscle of ET group by 119%, but did not changed in FHL. In both groups (ET and Con), FHL muscle had significantly (ET: p=0.028 and Con p=0.01) higher basic levels of AchE activity compared to SOL muscle. This significant increase in AchE of SOL might be indicative of responsiveness of AchE of this muscle following endurance training for improving acetylcholine (Ach) cycle in neuromuscular junction. Endurance training might increase the A12 type AchE activity to improve the Ach cycle as part of the adaptation of neuromuscular junction to increased level of physical activity.

Toxoplasma gondii is an obligatory intracellular protozoan. Considering to high prevalence of this disease the best way to reduce the raised loses is prevention of human and animal infection, rapid diagnosis, differentiation between acute and chronic disease. Rhoptry protein 1 of Toxoplasma gondii is an excretory-secretory antigen that exists in the most stages of life cycle. According to specifications of excretory-secretory antigen that seems this antigen is a suitable candidate to produce recombinant vaccine and diagnostic kit. The main object of the present work was cloning rhoptry protein 1 (ROP1) gene of Toxoplasma gondii (RH) in a cloning vector for further production of rhoptry proteins. Genomic DNA was extracted by phenol-chloroform method. The ROP1 fragment was amplified by PCR. This product was approved by sequencing and was cloned between the EcoR1 and Sal1 sites of the pTZ57R/T vector. Then transformed into Escherichia coli DH5α strain and screened by IPTG and X-Gal. After isolating of this gene from pTZ57R/T, it was subcloned into pET32a plasmid. The plasmid was purified and approved by electrophoresis, enzyme restriction and PCR. After isolating of this gene from pTZ57R/T, it was subcloned into pET32a plasmid. After enzyme restriction and electrophoresis a fragment about 1183bp was separated from pET32a. Recombinant plasmid of ROP1 gene was constructed and ready for future study. That seems the antigen is a suitable candidate to produce recombinant vaccine and diagnostic kit.

Tuberculosis (TB) is now a major cause of mortality and morbidity in the world. Nowadays, different methods are used to diagnose tuberculosis. Although classical microbiological methods (such as sputum smear) are specific, they have little sensitivity and the culture is also time-consuming. Using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) in blood samples in terms of Mycobacterium tuberculosis DNA, this study examines diagnostic power of this test in the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis compared with other standard methods. In a cross-sectional descriptive-analytic study, blood samples were taken from 40 TB patients and 40 non-TB cases. Following DNA extraction by the commercial kit QIAGEN, the PCR assay was performed using IS6110 primer. In this study, there were 80 people in two groups of TB and non-TB cases. Each group composed of 14 men (35%) and 26 women (65%). Sensitivity, specificity as well as positive and negative predictive values obtained 37.5, 100, 100 and 61.5%, respectively. Despite high costs of using PCR for TB diagnosis, sensitivity of this method is low due to various factors and cannot replace current standard methods for TB diagnosis such as smear and culture. It can only be used as a complementary method to confirm diagnosis in strongly suspected cases of tuberculosis.

Cerium is a trace element and a member of the lanthanide group. Cerium cation is similar to ferric ions with regard to transferring binding, suggesting transferrin-receptor mediated transport could be possible to uptake the element. Therefore the aim of the present study was to survey of cytotoxic activity of cerium in the presence of transferring on growth of adenocarcinoma gastric stomach (AGS) cell line in vitro. Adenocarcinoma gastric stomach cells obtained from Pasteur institute were cultured on RPMI-1640 medium and the effect of cerium lanthanide with 0.1, 1, 10, 100 (µM) concentration with and without transferrin in 24 h and 48 h incubation periods was investigated by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-Yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) assay. The results obtained from LDH assay showed that cerium without transferrin and cerium with transferrin decreased survival AGS cells significantly. Also results obtained from MTT assay showed that cerium without transferrin and cerium with transferrin decreased survival AGS cells significantly. In our results cerium could induce the inhibition of cell growth but the percent of growth inhibition could be higher with presence of transferrin. Our results indicate that at a certain concentration, the cerium compounds could inhibit the growth of cancer cells.

Many studies have shown that some types of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) play an important role in cervix cancer which has been identified in 99% of cervix cancers worldwide. This study aimed at identifying the frequency of high-risk types of this virus in cervical lesions among patients referred to Al-Zahra Hospital, Rasht. Forty five vaginal and cervical swap samples of women with genital warts were tested considering the presence of DNA of 14 common HPV types by using 3 series of specific PCR. Out of 45 vaginal swap samples of women suffering genital warts, 37 samples (82.2%) were reported with 95% CI (70.6-93.83) considering the presence of HPV. The frequency distribution of HPV types in 45 patients with genital wart were as follows: 5 cases (13.5%) with HPV35, 4 cases (10.8 %) with HPV16, 4 cases (10.8 %) with HPV31, 3 cases (8.1 %) with HPV33, 3 cases (8.1 %) with HPV52, 3 cases (8.1 %) with HPV58, 2 cases (5.4 %) with HPV45, 1 case (2.7 %) with HPV18, 1 case (2.7 %) with HPV59, and 1 case (2.7 %) with HPV39. Inasmuch as samples of our study have been collected from one of the most important women-referring medical centers (Al-Zahra Medical and Teaching Center) in Guilan province, thus the results can be used for screening, management, and vaccination of the target population against the common types of virus in Guilan.

Morphine and other addicting drugs induce an uncontrolled desire in man to consume the drugs overtly and stimulate the brain compensative systems such that the neuron sensitivity produced is not desensitized for some time after the consumption and detoxification of the drug. Therefore, the aim of this study is to examine the effect of memory attenuation in creating morphine dependency. In this study, 60 male mature mice (85 days old) with a weight of 30-35 grams were enrolled as the experimental and the control groups. The experimental groups included 3 subgroups treated with morphine, scopolamine or morphine+ scopolamine, respectively. Morphine was used for dependency and scopolamine for memory attenuation. Conditioned place preference (CCP) method was used to estimate dependency. Results showed no meaningful difference between the control and the witness groups and between the control and scopolamine groups in preferring a special location to receive the drug. However, there was a meaningful difference (p<0.05) between the control and the morphine groups in preferring a location to receive morphine, and a meaningful attenuation was observed in the scopolamine+morphine group in preferring the location for receiving the drug compared with the group receiving morphine alone. The results show that through memory attenuation, scopolamine decreases morphine dependent CPP. Binding of scopolamine to muscarinic receptors and blocking them affects the opioid receptors which together with reduced nitric oxide synthesis and decreased intracellular calcium, reduces the morphine-induced CPP.

Calcium oxalate is one the most significant causes of human kidney stones. Increasing oxalate uptake results in increased urinary oxalate. Elevated urinary oxalate is one the most important causes of kidney stone formation. This study aims to evaluate oxalate-degrading capacity of lactic acid bacteria and its impact on incidence of kidney stone. This case-control study was conducted on serum, urinary, and fecal samples. The research population included a total of 200 subjects divided in two equal groups. They were selected from the patients with urinary tract stones, visiting urologist, and also normal people. The level of calcium, oxalate, and citrate in the urinary samples, parathyroid and calcium in the serum samples, and degrading activity of fecal lactobacillus strains of all the subjects were evaluated. Then, data analysis was carried out using SPSS-11.5, X2 test, Fisher’s exact test, and analysis of variance. The results revealed that the patients had higher urinary level of oxalate and calcium, as well as higher serum level of parathyroid hormone than normal people. In contrast, urinary level of citrate was higher in normal people. In addition, there was a significant difference between the oxalate-degrading capacities of lactobacillus isolated from the patients and their normal peers. Reduction of digestive lactobacillus-related oxalate-degrading capacity and increased serum level of parathyroid hormone can cause elevated urinary level of oxalate and calcium in people with kidney stone.

Vanadium compounds have antidiabetic, but there is no study about the antidiabetic effects f ammonium monovanadate nono-particles. In this study, antidiabetic effect of ammonium monovanadate was compared with its nonoparticles. In this experimental and animal modeling study, 42 male Sprague Dawley rats were divided in 6 groups (each group 7 rats). Diabetes was induced by IP injection of 60 mg/kg streptozicin to five groups. One normal group and one diabetic group were kept without treatment as control groups. Other diabetic rats were treated with nonovanadate 25 mg/kg (NV25), ordinary vanadate 25 mg/kg (V25), nonovanadate 15 mg/kg (NV15) and water ordinary vanadate 25 mg/kg (WV25) groups for 10 days by gavage. Heparinized blood was collected at days 11 and 21 and centrifuged to separate plasma. Glycosylated hemoglobin, insulin, triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), HDL-c and LDL-c were measured at both time and compared between groups. All treatment except in V25 decreased glycemia, but insulin increased only in NV25 group (p<0.05). All treatment decreased TG, TC and LDL-c significantly (p<0.001). Ammonium mono vanadate nonoparticle has better effects than ordinary ammonium mono vanadate on some biochemical factors in experimental diabetes.

Bodybuilding athlete''s bodies are placed under much pressure in during the exercise, which is causing changes in the immune and hormone system in the long term. The purpose of this study was to compare levels of serum immunoglobulin A (IgA), immunoglobulin G (IgG), immunoglobulin M (IgM) and cortisol in the professional bodybuilding athletes (BA) and the non-athletes (NA) male. This study was a descriptive-analytic and 29 volunteer subjects in the professional BA and NA men participated. Levels of serum IgA, IgG, IgM using Single Radial Immunodiffusion (SRID) and levels of serum cortisol using Radioimmunoassay (RIA) were measured with blood sampling from brachial vein at rest and fasting. Data were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U-test (p<0.05). There were not any significant differences between the mean levels of serum IgA, IgG, IgM in the BA than the NA (p>0.05), while, the levels of serum cortisol (22.10±2.60 vs. 15.41±3.44 μg/dl, U=0.001, p=0.001) significantly greater in the BA than the NA. The results of this study showed that participation in training and competitions bodybuilding has no effect on serum levels of IgG, IgA, IgM, but increased levels of serum cortisol.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a multisystem disease with unknown etiology. We hypothesized that insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) gene may influence the development and/or progression of SLE and lupus nephritis. In a crass sectional case-control study, genomic DNA from 106 SLE patients and 103 healthy controls matched for sex, age, and ethnicity, were genotyped for the (I/D) polymorphism of ACE gene by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Comparison of quantitative variants between two groups was assessed by student t-test and association between qualitative variables was analyzed by the chi-square or Fisher exact tests. The frequency of DD genotype in SLE patients was significantly higher than control group (25.5 % vs. 14 %), and the risk of SLE was 2.2 times greater in subjects with DD genotype than the individual by DI and II genotypes (OR, 2.2 [95% CI, 1.1 to 4.4]; p=0.023). The distribution of D allele in SLE patients was significantly higher (p=0.021) compare to controls (47 and 36.4, respectively). The Risk of nephropathy in SLE patients with DD genotype was three times more than other genotypes (OR), 3 [95% CI, 1.1 to 8]; p=0.027]. This study demonstrated that ACE DD genotype acts as a risk factor on SLE and Lupus nephropathy in an Iranian population.

Knowing of anatomical variations is very important during surgery, autopsy and cadaver dissection in the axillary region. In this study, a unilateral variation of the brachial nerve plexus, which is characterized by the absent of the musculocutaneous nerve (MCN), was found in the right arm of a male cadaver. The MCN normally originates from the lateral cord of the brachial nerve plexus and innervates the anterior brachial compartment muscles and lateral coetaneous of the forearm. In this case, the lateral cord of the brachial plexus was joined to the median nerve at the level of coracoid process with no evidence of any nerve braches from lateral cord to the anterior brachial compartment muscles. These muscles were innervated from some branches of median nerve directly.