عباسعلی کریم پور ملکشاه

Cyclophosphamide (CP) is an alkylating anticancer drug and one of the most successful drugs with a wide range of clinical activities. This drug has toxic effects on most organs, especially kidney tissue. Piperine, as a flavonoid, has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-apoptotic properties. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the antioxidant effect of piperine (PIP) on nephrotoxicity following cyclophosphamide (CP) by tissue, serum, and histopathological biochemical evaluation.

In this experimental study, 48 adult male BALB/c mice aged 6-8 weeks and weighing 30-35 grams were divided into 6 groups, the control group (C), the group receiving cyclophosphamide (CP) with a dose of 200mg/kg, the group receiving piperine (Pip) with a dose of 5mg/kg, the group receiving piperine (Pip) with a dose of 10mg/kg, the group receiving cyclophosphamide and piperine at a dose of 5mg/kg (CP+Pip) and the group receiving cyclophosphamide and piperine with A dose of 10mg/kg (CP+Pip) was used. CP was administered on the third day of the study. Piperine was prescribed for 7 days in the form of pre-treatment and post-treatment. On the eighth day of the study, histochemical (GSH and MDA), histopathology, and serum biochemical evaluations were performed. Then, the data were analyzed with GraphPad Prism software one-way ANOVA and Tukey's post hoc tests.

CP induced oxidative stress with a significant decrease in GSH level (P<0.001) and increased MDA level (P<0.0001). On the other hand, administration of PIP with two doses of 5 and 10 mg/kg in mice receiving CP could significantly reduce the amount of MDA (respectively: P˂0.001, P˂0.001) and increase the amount of GSH compared to the mice that only received CP (respectively: P˂0.05, P˂0.05). In mice receiving CP, a significant increase (P<0.05) in the amount of urea and creatinine was shown compared to mice in the control group. In contrast, groups treated with piperine (5 and 10 mg/kg body weight) before and after CP administration significantly (P<0.0001) improved the kidney damage towards normalization compared to mice treated with CP alone and histopathological evaluation confirmed this finding. The effect of piperine was seen in a dose-dependent manner in this study. Thus, in the group treated with cyclophosphamide, the loss of epithelial cells and the widening of the lumen of the distal and proximal convoluted tubules, the contraction of the glomerular network, and the expansion of Bowman's capsule between the visceral and parietal layers were seen. The administration of piperine improved these changes, and the 5 mg/kg dose showed a more effective role.

The general results of the present study showed that before and after the administration of piperine in rats treated with CP, it reduces nephrotoxicity caused by CP and has a positive effect on improving kidney function in connection with its antioxidant effect. Piperine can be suggested as a potential candidate for cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.

Testicular damage due to spermatic cord torsion may lead toinfertility. It is probably because of changes in oxidative stress factors such asmalondialdehyde.

To investigate the protective effect of melatonin (MLT), as anantioxidant, on testicular damage induced by acute unilateral spermatic cord torsionand detorsion (T/D) in rats.

In this experimental study, 48 adult male Wistar rats wererandomly divided into three groups (8 rats/group): sham group underwent rightscrotal surgery only., the T/D group underwent right testicular torsion (for 1 hr) anddetorsion, and the melatonin group underwent right testicular torsion, received 25μg/kg melatonin intraperitoneally immediately after surgery of T/D. Then thehistological parameters and malondialdehyde (MDA) changes were evaluated.

Torsion and detorsion decreased the diameter of the tubules significantlycompared to controls (p=0.003). Melatonin could increase the diameter, but it wasnot significant (p=0.26). The heights of the epithelium were constant in sham, T/D,and melatonin groups without any significant difference between groups (p=0.98).Based on Johnsen’s score, spermatogenesis was normal in the sham group. Thetorsion significantly injured all lineage cells (p

Severe degenerative changes of testis were induced by acute unilateralspermatic cord torsion and detorsion in rats, but it had no effect on MDA level.

This study was conducted to determine the clinical patterns and major causes of infertility in mazandaran province in north of Iran.

The medical records of 3734 consecutive couples attending two infertility clinics in Mazandaran province north of Iran from 2003 to 2008 were recorded. The couples had not had a viable birth after at least 1 year of unprotected intercourse and were investigated fully.

Of the entire sample 78.7% had primary infertility and 21.3% had secondary infertility. The mean duration of infertility of couples was 5.7 ± 4 years. The etiology of infertility in couples revealed a male factor in 38.9% a female factor in 34.7% combined factors in 14.6% and an undetermined cause in 11.8%.

In this study delayed attendance of infertile couples to the infertility clinic was found. Therefore there is a need to revise public health program on infertility to focus on the education and prevention of infertility and its risk factors.

Background and

Ïn assisted reproductive (ÂRT) laboratory، during the experimental manipulation، oocytes and early embryos are exposed to day light or artificial light for variable periods. The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of fluorescent light exposure، with intensity almost equal to that produced by microscopes in ÂRT laboratory، on mouse early embryo development.

The bicellular embryos were obtained from superovulated pregnant female NMRÏ mice after 48 hours HÇG injection. Âfter washing، the embryos were randomly allocated in HËPËS buffered HTF medium into three experimental and one control group. Two hundred and fifteen (group B)، 222 (group Ç) and 229 (group D) bicellular embryos were exposed to fluorescent light of 800 LX for 5، 10 and 30 minutes at 37°Ç، respectively. The embryos of control group (215، group Â)، and also other groups (B، Ç and D) were kept on a heat plate during the time of experiment and protected from the light by covering the dishes with aluminium foil. Ëxpanding and hatching blastocyst rates were recorded after 72 and 96 hours of culture، respectively.

The results demonstrated that 61. 6%، 52. 5% and 65. 1% of embryos in the experimental group (group B، Ç، and D respectively) and 61% of embryos in the control group reached to blastocyst stage. There was no statistically significant difference between the experimental and the control group. Âlso the hatching rates and degeneration rates showed no significant differences between the groups. Çonclusion: The fluorescent light of 800 LX for a period of less than 30 minutes had no significant effect on mouse embryo development in vitro.

Aluminum (Al), the 3rd common element in the earth’s crust has a significant toxin potential for humans. Although the knowledge of Al toxicity has markedly improved in recent years, there is relatively little information regarding the embryotoxic and teratogenic potential of Al. the purpose of this study was to assess the effect of short-term exposure of pregnant mice to Aluminum Chloride on the external organ formation of their fetuses.

Mature NMRI mice (24-33 g) were used in this study. Day 0 of pregnancy defined as the day in which the vaginal plug was found. Plug-positive mice were randomly divided into size groups. The first, second and 3rd groups of animals were given IP injection of single dose of AlCl3 at 150 mg/kg/day on days 10, 11 and 12 of gestation respectively. Mice in the 3 other groups (Controls) received single injection of 0.3 ml saline on days 10, 11 and 12 respectively. Mice were killed on day 15 of gestation. Live fetuses were weighed and examined for external abnormalities.

The fetal body weight was significantly reduced in all Al-treated groups (P<0.05). The proportions of external malformations in 10th, 11th and 12th days treated were 47.0%, 37.0% and 33.1% groups respectively with significantly increase comparing to controls (P<0.05).

It is concluded that a single dose of the Al administered to pregnant mice can cause external malformations in their fetuses.