elham ashrafi-dehkordi

Enriching potatoes with selenium is important considering the role that this plant has in the agricultural economy, feeding people and then improving the health of society. A greenhouse investigation was performed to examine the influence of selenium applied on the quality and quantity of potatoes at the Nutrition Research Center, Department of Food Hygiene and Quality Control, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences during 2021 using a randomized complete block design with four replications. Experimental treatments included control, foliar application of 15 gr/ha sodium selenite, foliar application of 30 gr/ha sodium selenite, soil applied of 3 kg/ha sodium selenite, foliar application of 15 gr/ha sodium selenite + soil applied of 3 kg/ha sodium selenite, as well as foliar application of 30 gr/ha sodium selenite + soil applied of 3 kg/ha sodium selenite. The results showed that foliar application of different concentrations and soil application of 3 kg/ha sodium selenite enhanced the selenium concentrations of potatoes; however, the most positive effects of sodium selenite were when selenium foliar application was applied with its soil application. It was found that the isoleysine amino acid content was not affected by sodium selenite applied; in contrast, foliar application and soil application of sodium selenite increased the concentration of glycine amino acid. The amount of soluble sugar and starch in potato tubers compared to the control increased under treatment with sodium selenite; however, the positive effects of foliar application of sodium selenite were high when applied to the soil. Sodium selenite reduced the nitrate content in potato tubers compared to the non-use of sodium selenite; in contrast, sodium selenite applied increased the nitrate-reductase enzyme activity, and the positive effects of foliar application of sodium selenite were high when applied with its soil applied. As well as the application of sodium selenite, which enhanced the potato tuber yield, the number of tubers improved compared to the non-use of this treatment. In conclusion, the soil application and foliar application of sodium selenite have a positive effect on the quantity and quality of potatoes as well as enrichment of selenium in potatoes; however, the positive effects of foliar application of sodium selenite were high when applied with its soil applied.

Breast cancer ranks as the second highest cause of cancer-linked deaths in women, with varying rates between Western and Asian countries. The consumption of phytoestrogens can influence breast cancer occurrence. To comprehend how soy isoflavones impact breast cancer cells, we conducted a meta-analysis, combining gene expression data from multiple studies. This approach aimed to identify crucial transcriptional characteristics driving breast cancer cell response to soy phytoestrogens. The gene expression profiles obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus and Array Express and were grouped into control and isoflavones exposure conditions. We performed a meta-analysis based on the effect size combination method to identify the differentially expressed genes (DEGs). In addition, we performed Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis, pathway analysis, weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) and recursive support vector machine (R-SVM) algorithm.  Based on this meta-analysis, we identified 3,890 DEGs, of which 2,173 were up-regulated and 1,717 were downregulated. For example, SGCG, PLK2, and TBC1D9 were the most highly down-regulated genes and EGR3, WISP2, and FKBP4 were the most highly expressed genes in the isoflavones exposure condition. The functional enrichment and pathway analysis were revealed “cell division” and “cell cycle” among the most enriched terms. Among the identified DEGs, 269 transcription factor (TF) genes belonged to 42 TF families, where the C2 H2 ZF, bZIP, and bHLH were the most prominent families. We also employed the R-SVM for detecting the most important genes to classify samples into isoflavones exposure and control conditions. It identified a subset of 100 DEGs related to regulation of cell growth, response to estradiol, and intermediate ribonucleoside monophosphate in the purine (IMP) metabolic process. Moreover, the WGCNA separated the DEGs into five discrete modules strongly enriched for genes involved in cell division, DNA replication, embryonic digit morphogenesis, and cell-cell adhesion. Our analysis provides evidence suggesting that isoflavone affects various mechanisms in cells, including pathways associated with NF-κB, Akt, MAPK, Wnt, Notch, p53, and AR pathways, which can lead to the induction of apoptosis, the alteration of the cell cycle, the inhibition of angiogenesis, and interference in the redox state of cells. These findings can shed light on the molecular mechanisms that underlie the response of breast cancer cells to isoflavones.

Intradialytic hypertension (IDH) is defined as a rise in blood pressure during or immediately after hemodialysis that is associated with increased mortality in these patients. This study aimed to evaluate the association between IDH and the nutritional intake of trace and micromineral elements in maintenance hemodialysis patients. Patients with chronic renal failure treated with maintenance hemodialysis were assessed in this case-control study. The participants who had IDH were selected as the case group. The Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) was used to collect nutritional data; and then, the diets of the two groups were analyzed. Totally, 23 patients with IDH and23 without IDH were included in the analysis. Although there was no significant difference in daily calorie intake between the two groups, the mean dietary intake of sodium, calcium, phosphorus, and total fat was significantly higher in the IDH group than the control group (p<0.05). In the group with IDH, the phosphorus intake was higher than the recommended amount, while thecontrol group consumed significantly less oral phosphorus. Advising limiting oral phosphorus and sodium consumption along with low-fat diet may help to reduce blood pressure in IDH patients and the subsequent mortality.

When Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium, a foodborne bacterium, is exposed to osmotic stress, cellular adaptations increase virulence severity and cellular survival. The aim of the gene network analysis of S. Typhimurium was to provide insights into the various interactions between the genes involved in cellular survival under low water activity (aw). We performed a gene network analysis to identify the gene clusters and hub genes of S.Typhimurium using Cytoscape in three food samples subjected to aw stress after 72 hours. The identified hub genes of S. Typhimurium belonged to down-regulated genes and were related to translation, transcription, and ribosome structure in the food samples. The rpsB and Tig were identified as the most important of the hub genes. Enrichment analysis of the hub genes also revealed the importance of translation and cellular protein metabolic processes. Moreover, the biological process associated with organonitrogen metabolism in milk chocolate was identified. According to the KEGG pathway results of gene cluster analysis, cellular responses to stress were associated with RNA polymerase, ribosome, and oxidative phosphorylation. Genes encoding RNA polymerase activity, including rpoA, rpoB, and rpoZ, were also significantly identified in the KEGG pathways. The identified motifs of hub DEGs included EXPREG_00000850, EXPREG_00000b00, EXPREG_000008e0, and EXPREG_00000850. Based on the results of the gene network analysis, the identified hub genes may contribute to adaptation to food compositions and be responsible for the development of low water stress tolerance in Salmonella. Among the food samples, the milk chocolate matrix leads to more adaptation pathways for S. Typhimurium survival, as more hub genes were down-regulated and more motifs were detected. The identified motifs were involved in carbohydrate metabolism, carbohydrate transport, electron transfer, and oxygen transfer.

Concerns about the negative impacts of genetically modified (GM) crops have grown worldwide, necessitating research to determine robust standards. The scientific community has focused on unacceptably harmful impacts of diets consisting of GM crops. Animal experiments are providing valuable and important information regarding the safety of GM crops for both animal and human consumption. In this regard in this study, the effects of a diet containing 70% GM soybean on organs of rats were investigated. Twenty four male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to two groups and were fed with a diet containing either (70%) GM soybean or (0%) GM soybean (control) for 120 days. Histopathological examination and appearance of organs were compared between rats fed non-GM soybean and those fed GM soybean. All rats fed GM soybean diet and non-GM soybean diet had normal small intestine, large intestine, stomach, cecum and testes and no histopathological changes were observed. But, some histopathological alterations were seen in the brain, heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, and spleen in two groups; although, the Fisher’s Exact test showed that there were no statistically significant differences (p>0.05) between the two groups in terms of the frequency of normal and abnormal parts of them. Regardless of whether the diet consisted of GM or non-GM feed ingredients, the alterations were seen in a similar range in both groups.

High blood pressure, coronary heart disease (CHD), and anxiety ailments entirely lead to many illness in patients and impose expenses on the health care system. Anxiety can significantly predict future CHD consequences. Spirulina is a known antioxidant that has a role in anxiety. The hypothesis was that Spirulina could alleviate anxiety and positively affect hypertension and its consequences. Nonetheless, there are scarce recently developed investigations on assessing the effect of consuming Spirulina on anxiety in human beings.

The present study assessed the effect of Spirulina on anxiety in 48 Iranian patients with hypertension (female and male) aged 24–65 years in a randomized triple-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. The patients were given either 2 g Spirulina in the form of spirulina-fortified dressing or placebo. Anxiety levels were evaluated for each patient before and after eight weeks following consumption products with the Beck Anxiety Inventory.

Forty-one participants completed the intervention. At the baseline, there was no significant difference in anxiety levels between groups, and they also had the same levels of stress based on the Holmes-Rahe questionnaire. The results showed no significant difference in the level of anxiety between groups after the intervention (P = 0.93).

Although no positive results were seen in this study, this novel issue has a potential for further investigations to make comprehensive decisions.

A greenhouse investigation was performed to examine the influence of salicylic acid and brassinolide on growth and cadmium accumulation of spinach under cadmium stress conditions at Nutrition Research Center, Department of Food Hygiene and Quality Control, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences during 2020 using a factorial as randomized complete block design with three replications. Experimental treatments were including salicylic acid (0, 0.5 and 0.75 mM), and brassinolide (0, 0.5 and 0.75 μM) and cadmium (0, 300 and 600 μM). The results showed that cadmium stress enhanced the concentrations of malondialdehyde (MDA), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and electrolyte leakage (EL) as well as reduced the spinach biomass. Under Cd stress conditions, the activities of antioxidant enzymes and the concentrations of proline and carbohydrates increased. Also, application of SA and Br considerably reduced the MDA and H2O2 content and EL, in contrast, elevated the activities of antioxidant enzymes and osmolytes content in Cd-stressed spinach plants, however; the positive effects of SA were high when applied with Br. It was found that the cadmium content in the root was greater than that of spinach leaves. Under 600 μM cadmium stress conditions, application of 0.5 mM salicylic acid, 0.75 mM salicylic acid, 0.50 μM brassinosteroid, 0.75 μM brassinosteroid, 0.5 mM salicylic acid+ 0.5 μl brassinosteroid, 0.5 μM salicylic acid /0 0 mM+ 0.75 μM brasinosteroid, 0.75 μM salicylic acid+ 0.50 μM brasinosteroid and 0.75 μM salicylic acid reduced the cadmium content 12.68, 13.68, 13.93, 22.13, 25.37, 30.09, 30.34 and 45.02% respectively in leaf, as well as 6.53, 10.13, 11.76, 18.30, 26.30, 32.67, 33.34 and 42.81% respectively in root compared to the non-use of these hormones. In conclusion, alleviation of Cd stress by seed priming and foliar application of Br and SA was associated partially with enhanced the activity of the antioxidant system, increase the accumulation of proline and carbohydrates, as well as improve cell membrane stability. Generally, supplementation with Br and SA had a significant effect on reducing the accumulation of cadmium and improving quality and quantity of spinach under Cd-stress.

Increasing the world population and subsequently increasing demand for food has led to the use of new biotechnology methods to produce food. Transgenic plants are one of the major biotechnological achievements in agriculture that have gained part of the world food market in recent years and the cultivation area of these plants is constantly increasing. Human needs to increase agricultural production and food security, the use of biotechnology has made it inevitable and on the other hand, the potential dangers of producing these products have raised concerns for human health and consumer rights. One of the concerns expressed by people is transferring unknown genes to plants from other countries and importing these products into the country without using GMO label, that these products may have an impact on human health and other living organisms. Therefore, first step is identifying and labeling transgenic products. In this study, 30 samples of domestic and foreign rice were randomly purchased from Shiraz market. DNA was extracted using the standard CTAB method and the polymerase chain reaction for SPS gene was performed to prove the presence of rice genome. The PCR for EPSPS gene, 35S promoter and NOS terminator were performed to identify transgenic rice. The results of PCR using specific primers showed that none of the rice samples purchased from Shiraz market were transgenic.

Among all edible mushrooms, truffles are the most expensive ones. This study assessed nutritional properties and phylogenic characteristics of black truffles grown in two regions of southern Iran.

In this experimental study, the samples were collected from two towns of Firuzabad and Sarvestan in Fars Province, southern Iran. They were analyzed in terms of chemical properties (carbohydrate, protein, reducing sugar, antioxidant, fat, minerals, and ash) according to the Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC) procedures. The sequence alignment and tree were determined using Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis (MEGA7) software. The Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) region of rDNA of the two truffles was amplified using ITS1 and ITS4 primers and were sequenced. The phylogenic analysis was conducted using Nucleotide Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) in the GeneBank (NCBI).

Specimens for the two regions were very similar in composition. The samples of Firuzabad and Sarvestan contained 63.5 and 66% carbohydrate, 13.06 and 12.93% protein, 5.81 and 5.69% fat, 5.16 and 5.05% ash, 2.05 and 1.72% reducing sugar based on dry weight, respectively. The truffles belonged to the species of Terfezia claveryi and the IST sequences of the truffles of the two areas were similar.

The Iranian black truffles were shown to be a good source of carbohydrate, protein, and minerals. These truffles in comparison to other mushroom had more antioxidant activity considering Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power (FRAP) values of 21.57 and 23.54 mmol per 100 g on dryweightbase. The genome sequences of truffles for the two cities were identical.

The acceptance of a new technology by consumers is the most critical stage in the development of that technology. This study investigated perception and attitude towards genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and biosafety in Chahar Mahal va Bakhtiary Province. A questionnaire containing personal information with 39 questions was prepared and distributed among participants in 1387. The results indicated that education level, education field and job had the highest impact on public perception of GMO and biosafety. Around 30% of respondents had no information about GMO and close to 33% of them disagreed with the production of these organisms. Around 60% of respondents agreed with biotechnology and transgenic plants and believed that they are necessary for modern agriculture. Near to 17% of participants had no information about biosafety and close to 33% of respondents had a little information about biosafty. More than 90 % of respondents were not familiar with biosafety regulations for controlling the risk of GMOs. Results indicated that mass media were not active in this field and they should play more effective role in this area to improve public perception about GMO and development the public acceptability of GMO.