faranak hadi

The COMT gene, with its influence on motivation, emotions, stress tolerance, self-control, pain processing, perception, and neurodegeneration, may underpin variations in sports competition outcomes. Thus, this study aims to explore the frequency of the COMT gene rs4680 polymorphism in elite Iranian male athletes in the domains of basketball and wrestling.

A total of 60 wrestlers, 55 basketball players, and 60 non-athletes were included as subjects. Saliva samples were used for DNA extraction, and the Tetra ARMS PCR method was employed for genotype determination. The impact of mutations on mRNA second structure and COMT gene function was assessed using RNAsnp and PolyPhen-2 servers, respectively. SPSS22 software facilitated data analysis, with the chi-square test applied to evaluate genotype frequency.

The study did not reveal any association between the COMT rs4680 polymorphism and elite wrestlers and basketball players. Significant differences in genotype distributions or allele frequencies were not observed among (1) wrestlers and basketball players; (2) wrestlers and non-athletes; (3) basketball players and non-athletes. However, further replication studies are warranted (P < 0.05).

No significant association was identified between the COMT rs4680 polymorphism and the elite status of wrestlers and basketball players in the studied population. Nevertheless, additional replication studies are imperative for a comprehensive understanding of these relationships.

In the present study, the solvent effect (aqueous and hydroalcoholic) of the extraction on the content of phenol, flavonoid, and the antioxidant activity of six medicinal plants, including Persian oak fruit hull (Quercus brantii), Zataria multiflora, German Matricaria chamomilla, Teucrium polium, Rosa foetida Herrm, and mountain barberry (Berberis integerrima) was investigated.

To measure phenol and flavonoid content, folin ciocaltio and aluminum chloride reagents were used, respectively, and to measure the antioxidant potential, the DPPH method was used. The content of phenol and flavonoid compounds was calculated as mg equivalent of gallic acid and catechin per gram of dry weight of the plant, respectively. The collected data was analyzed in SPSS software (version 14).

According to the obtained results, the amount of phenol and flavonoid in the hydroalcoholic extract of oak fruit hull Quercus brantii, Zataria multiflora, German Matricaria chamomilla, and mountain barberry was more than the aqueous extract, and this difference was statistically significant (P<0.001). The highest content of phenol and flavonoid were related to the hydroalcoholic extract of oak by 310.2 ± 2.5 mg/g and 241.2 ± 1 mg/g, respectively, and the lowest amounts were related to the aqueous extract of Matricaria chamomilla (53.1±1.1 mg/g) and the aqueous extract of acorn (23.9±1.5 mg/g), respectively. The highest antioxidant activity (IC50) was related to oak fruit-hull hydroalcoholic extract (39.1±4.4 µg/ml), and the lowest was related to the aqueous extract of Matricaria chamomilla (315.3±3.3 µg/ml).

The findings of this study showed that the solvent used to extract plants is a significant factor in separation of phenol and flavonoid compounds as well as their antioxidant activity.

COMT gene can play an important role on the properties and activity of enzymes, dopamine level, cognitive ability and as a result in better control and performance in sports, the aim of the present study is to investigate the frequency of rs4680 polymorphism of COMT gene in the competitive performance of Iranian male and female martial arts athletes.

The subjects included 45 male martial artists (20 wrestlers, 20 taekwondo players and 5 judo players) with an average age (22.48 ± 7.18), 40 female martial artists (16 wrestlers, 4 judo players and 20 taekwondo players) with an average age (11 ± 7.13) 19) and 60 were non-athletes with an average age of (20.15 ± 73.20), DNA extraction was done from saliva samples. Tetra ARMS PCR method was used to determine the genotype, using RNAsnp and PolyPhen-2 server, the effect of mutations on the second structure of mRNA and COMT gene function was investigated. Chi-square test was used to check the frequency of genotypes.

In the analysis of COMT gene genotypes, the frequency of GA genotype in elite martial arts men and women was 25% and 27.5%, respectively, more than the non-athletes group, which was a significant difference; Also, in total, the A allele in the elite group of men and women was 23.75% more than the control group and the difference was also significant.

It seems that there is a positive relationship between the GA genotype and the A allele of the COMT gene polymorphism with being elite in martial arts, which can be considered as one of the genetic factors that influence the success of martial artists at the professional level.

Festuca is one of the largest genera of the grass family, which has more than 600 species with different ploidy levels. The aim of this study was to estimate the genetic diversity within 22 populations of three species of Festuca (Festuca arundinacea, F.rubra and F.ovina) using a seed storage protein electrophoresis pattern. These species showed a significant variation in the number of protein bands from 5-13. The highest number of bands was found in G17 (F.rubra) and the lowest number of protein bands was in G5 (F.ovina). Band number 14 was only observed in G3. It is suggested that this band can be considered as a specific band for the identification of this genotype. According to the results of AMOVA analysis, there is a high level of genetic diversity within the species rather than between species that can be due to the out-crossing nature of this genus. According to observed differences for variation parameters among the three studied species, it is concluded that they have dissimilar genetic structures. The results of cluster analysis based on seed storage protein profiles in evaluated genotypes using Euclidean distance matrix and UPGMA method showed four groups. The lowest similarity coefficient was between G14 and G15 (F.arundinacea) with G6 (F.ovina). Hence, it is suggested that they evolved from a different evolutionary process and it is suggested to use them as the parents of new synthetic varieties. The observed diversity in the seed protein pattern in the three species of Festuca, can be explained by allogamy-induced-heterozygosity, species difference or population collection from various regions.

Allium genus with more than 900 important breeding and wild species, as a natural and bioactive antioxidant, is widely used in the pharmaceutical and food industries. This study aimed to investigate the effect of antioxidant activity of aqueous extract of Allium canadense and its effect on the inhibition of acetylcholinesterase enzyme and recovery of the inhibited enzyme activity.

After the preparation of Allium canadense aqueous extract, the antioxidant activity of the extract at the concentrations of 100, 500, and 1000 μg/ml was investigated using DPPH free radical scavenging method. Following that, the activity of serum acetylcholinesterase and its reactivation after inhibition by organophosphate diazinon was evaluated at the concentrations of 100, 500, and 1000 μg/ml of the extract by the Ellman method.

Inhibition concentration of 50% (IC50) of free radicals of DPPH was 360/19 μg/ml.   Aqueous extract of Allium canadense did not inhibit acetylcholinesterase activity and was added to the concentration dependently. The regeneration of the inhibited enzymes activity was also observed in the vicinity of different concentrations of the aqueous extract of the plant.

The aqueous extract of Allium canadense does not inhibit acetylcholinesterase activity; however, it can reactivate the enzyme inhibited by diazinon. The reason for this positive effect may be related to the high antioxidant activity in the extract.

Thymus species have significant amounts of phenolic and flavonoid compounds and demonstrate strong antioxidant activities. Paraoxonase1 act as antioxidant enzyme and protect the low-density lipoprotein against oxidation. In our study we aimed to evaluate the antioxidant capacity of Thymus Kotschyanus Hydroalcoholic extract and its effect on serum paraoxonase 1 activity in healthy and diabetic person.

The antioxidant activity, and functional groups of the constituents in T. Kotschyanus Hydroalcoholic extract were determined using DPPH free radical scavenging assay, and The FTIR spectroscopy, respectively. Paraoxonase-1 activity was determined in 40 healthy and diabetic persons by measuring the rate of paraoxon hydrolysis substrate to p-nitrophenol, which absorbance was monitored at 405 nm. The data Statistically were analyzed by Duncanchr('39')s and independent t-test.

The IC50 values (the concentration with scavenging activity of 50%) was found to be 477.5 μg/ml. FTIR spectrum analysis showed biomolecules containing a hydroxyl group and aromatic ring in T. Kotschyanus hydroalcoholic extract. Serum paraoxonase activity in healthy and diabetic humans exposed to the extract at concentration of 1 mg/mL increased by 49.95 ± 3.57% and 51.05 ± 3.25%, respectively. Although there was a significant difference between serum enzyme activity in healthy and diabetic subjects in the presence and absence of the extract but the amount of enzyme activation affected by the extract in two healthy and patient did not show significant difference.

This plant extract increased enzyme activity due to the antioxidant properties and the presence of phenolic compounds in the plant extract.

Various studies proposed virus infection is to be a possible cause of human breast cancer. However, the data argue the association between virus and cancer are inconsistent. This study was conducted to detect whether HPV-DNA is present in tissue samples of breast cancer in Isfahan province.

Paraffin embedded formalin fixed specimens were prepared from 40 breast tumor and 20 healthy tissues in women with breast cancer from Isfahan province. After DNA extraction and amplification of beta-actin housekeeping gene for evaluation of DNA purity, all DNA samples with appropriate purity were examined for detection of DNA-HPV by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using virus specific primers. Data was analyzed with Cramer test using SPSS16.0 software.

Presence of DNA-HPV 16 in 3 out of 40 cases (5.7%) and DNA-HPV18 in 8 out of 40 (20%) cases of breast cancer samples was observed and DNA-HPV18. DNA-HPV 16 and 18 were detected in none of the 20 control samples. Statistically, Cramerʹs index for HPV16 infection was 0.197 and Sig=0.077 in cancer samples, and Cramerʹs index for HPV18 infection was 0.333 and Sig=0.003 in cancer samples.

Therefore, in Isfahan province, HPV18 is meaningful associated with breast cancer in women and HPV16 is not meaningful associated with breast cancer in women. Further studies in other regions are needed to clarify the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms behind the association of HPV16, 18 infection and breast cancer

Glyphosate is a non-selective systemic herbicide with a broad spectrum of weed control that inhibits a key enzyme, 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate (EPSP) synthase, in the shikimate pathway.

Isolation and analysis of the epsps (aroA) gene responsible for glyphosate-tolerance in bacteria from Roundupcontaminated soils was the aim of this study.

Sampling was done from the soil of the gardens which were heavily contaminated by Roundup herbicide and then bacterial screening was performed in the presence of high concentrations of glyphosate. The genus of bacterium was identified via molecular methods such as 16S rRNA sequencing. The aroA gene of this bacterium (aroAHA-09) was isolated using the primers designed-upon specific regions of aroA genes available in NCBI GenBank database. The PCR product was cloned, sequenced and subcloned into pET28a as an expression vector and transferred into E. coli strainBL21(DE3). The cells were inoculated in liquid M9 minimal medium containing IPTG and different concentrations of glyphosate.

The genus of bacterium was identified as Pseudomonas sp. strain HA-09. The isolated aroAHA-09 gene from this bacterium was approximately 2.2 kb in size. Bioassay of E. coli expressing this gene showed high tolerance to glyphosate(up to 300 mM).

The aroAHA-09 gene could be considered as a novel and efficient candidate for development of glyphosatetolerant crop plants.

Breast cancer is one of the most common malignancies in the world. Although the etiology of breast cancer is not completely known, but exposure to Human papilloma virus (HPV) is suggested as a risk factor for breast cancer. This study was performed with aim to investigate the presence of HPV-DNA in tissue samples of healthy and breast cancer women in Khuzestan province.

In this retrospective study conducted in 2018, 40 paraffin blocks were collected from patients with diagnosis of breast malignancy and 20 healthy paraffin blocks from those without malignant lesion (Fibro adenoma) in Khuzestan province. After DNA extraction, amplification of beta-actin housekeeping gene was done for evaluation of DNA purity. The presence of DNA-HPV16,18 was examined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using virus specific primers. Data were analyzed by SPSS software (version 16) and Cramer test. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant.

DNA-HPV16 was detected in 25 cases of 40 breast cancer samples (%62.5), and DNA-HPV 18 was detected in 10 cases of 40 breast cancer samples (%25). None of the 20 control samples showed the presence of DNA-HPV16 and DNA-HPV18. Statistically, the Cramer index for HPV16 and HPV18 infection in cancer sample was calculated 0.598 and 0.316, respectively.

There is a significant relationship between breast cancer and HPV16,18 virus infection in women of Khuzestan province.

Genetic manipulation of crop plants to obtain resistance to herbicide glyphosate is one of the most effective approaches for weed management. Application of the genes encoding glyphosate degrading enzymes such as glyphosate oxidoreductase (GOX) in combination with a glyphosate-tolerant EPSPS is the ultimate approach to provide commercial rates of glyphosate tolerance. The gox gene was first isolated from Ochrobactrum antrophi strain LBAA that catalyses the cleavage of glyphosate into aminomethylphosphonic acid and glyoxalate. In this study, the gox gene was synthesized and cloned in pET28a expression vector and transformed in E. coli. The expression of the target protein was confirmed by SDS-PAGE. The experiment for optimization of gene expression showed that the optimal condition was 37oC for bacterial culture, 4 hours of induction time using 1 mM IPTG in OD600=0.6. In the next step, in order to perform a bioassay on transformed bacteria, the threshold of tolerance of control bacteria in minimum phosphate-free medium with different concentrations of glyphosate was investigated and compared with recombinant bacteria. The result indicated that the wild type bacteria were not able to tolerate concentration of more than 0.5 mM glyphosate but the recombinant bacteria survived to a concentration of 1 mM. These results were confirmed by colony counting on selective media with three repetitions. Hence, glyphosate oxidoreductase gene could be a suitable candidate besides the other glyphosate resistance genes for genetic manipulation of strategic plants with the aim of obtaining higher and more sustainable levels of resistance to this herbicide.

Emergence of drug resistant strains and the limited use of antifungal drug due to possible toxic effects on humans, the high cost of their production and environmental pollution has made the search for novel bio-antifungal compounds a necessity. Microorganisms, particularly soil bacteria produce a wide range of active antimicrobial substances that some of them have antifungal properties. The purpose of this study is isolation and identification of the bacteria affecting the growth of fungi from Khorramabad agricultural soil.

Agricultural soils were collected from different areas of Khorramabad, Lorestan Province. The bacteria were isolated using nutrient broth and nutrient agar, then, the antifungal activity of their extracts and supernatant in the SCA media on several species of fungi was studied applying disk diffusion method.

Four strains showing a remarkable antifungal effect against some fungi, including Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus fumigatus and Candida albicans. These isolates were identified by biochemical features and 16S rRNA sequence. Analysis of their sequencing through BLAST in NCBI data bank showed that these bacterial similarly closed to Pseudomonas sp. and Acinetobacter sp. genus.

This study was the first report of antifungal analysis of soil isolated bacteria from Khorramabad. These bacteria could be a potential candidate for biocontrolling pathogenic fungi.The extraction, identification and development of their inhibitory metabolites can be used in the design and production of antifungal agents.

MicroRNA-133 and SRF is involved in various cellular processes, but the effect of endurance training on gene expression of this factors in fast and slow twitch muscles has still remained unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of endurance training on miR-133 and SRF gene expression in fast and slow twitch muscles in male Wistar rats. In this study, 14 rats weighing 113±20 grams (5 weeks age) were housed under controlled conditions, after familiarization protecols they were randomly assigned into control (7 rats) and experimental (7 rats) groups. The experimental group performed 14 weeks, 6 session per week endurance training program (that gradually reached to 60 min and 30 m / min) on treadmill and 48 hours after the end of the last session, both groups were sacrificed. The soleus and EDL muscles were removed. The gene expression level of miR-133 and SRF were measured using real- time RT-PCR. Data were analysd by sample t-test. After 14 weeks of endurance training the gene expression of miR-133 of fast twitch muscle (EDL) in experimental group significantly decreased (p=0.001) than control group .But the miR-133 gene expression of slow twitch muscle (soleus) in experimental group was significantly increased (p=0.001) than control group. Also miR-133 gene expression of EDL of experimental group was significantly decresed (p=0.001) than soleus muscle of the same group; the rate of SRF gene expression of EDL of experimental group increased significantly (p=0.009) but it did not effect on SRF gene expression in soleus. Endurance training induced differences in gene expression of miR-133 and SRF gene consistent to specification of fast and slow twitch muscles.

Breast cancer is one of the most common malignancies in women. Although the etiology of breast carcinoma is not completely understood, exposure to Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is suggested as a risk factor for breast cancer. Studies have reported since 1995 that EBV is involved in the development of breast cancer. The aim of this study was to assess the presence of EBV in patients with breast cancer in Isfahan province.

This study was performed using 40 paraffin-embedded tumor tissues and 40 tumor-free breast tissues from women with breast cancer in Isfahan province. After extraction of the DNA using salting-out method and the amplification of housekeeping gene beta- actin, all samples were examined for EBV DNA using PCR (polymerase chain reaction) method. Data were analyzed with chi-square test using SPSS 16software.

EBV was detected by PCR in 20 out of 40 (50%) cases of breast cancer samples and 5 out of 40 (12.5%) control samples. The chi-square statistics for the analysis of EBV infection in tumor and normal samples was 0.000 indicating a significant relationship between breast cancer and EBV infection in Isfahan province.

The presence of EBV gene in a significant subset of women with breast cancer in Isfahan province shows EBVcan be one of the reasons for breast cancer, but more studies are needed to demonstrate the relationship between the virus and breast cancer

  Many study results have suggested that infection by the Epstein-Barr virus is a possible agent of human breast cancer. But the role of Epstein-Barr virus in breast cancer is still controversial. Paraffin embedded formalin fixed specimens were prepared from 40 breast and 40 healthy tissues in Khuzestan province of Iran. After DNA extraction, the purity of all DNA samples was evaluated by amplification of constitutive beta-actin gene. Then the presence of EBV gene in DNA extraction with appropriate purity was assessed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using virus specific primers. only 2 out 39 cases of tumor (5.12%) and none of the 37 healthy samples were positive for the presence of Epstein-Barr virus. Statistically, Cramer’s index for EBV infection was 0.160 in cancer samples. Our results indicated that there is no significant relationship between breast cancer and Epstein-Barr virus. Further investigation on more patients needed to determine the exact relationship between EBV and breast cancer in this province.

The role of microRNAs (miRs) is shown as a biomarker whose expression level changes have been associated with cancer development and progression. Circulating miRNAs have been postulated as biomarkers for breast cancer. Detection and diagnosis of miRNA markers could provide an improved and sensitive method in the clinical application. In this study, we applied and improved the effective approach by coupling a deoxyuridine-incorporated RT oligonucleotide with a secondary structure and a mimic PCR for assessment and direct detection of circulating miRs in serum. We designed mut miR-16, mut miR-145, and mut miR-223 as mimic miRs. These mimic miRs were used in RT-PCR for detection and quantification assay. As normalization of these mut miRs was performed with themselves, our mimic construct with 80 bp of these miRs shows the best normalization for this method in blood samples. This assay was tested in serum from 15 patients with different stages of breast cancer and 10 healthy female donors. According to our results, using a combination of miR-16 and miR-145 could represent as one of the best biomarker (p

Due to ever-increasing global diffusion and related socio-economic implications, the detection of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) is very important. In this study, we design a plasmid containing two genes in mutated form as construct-specific (cp4 epsps) and event specific (pd35S). It is applied for quantitative-competitor (QC) PCR as a simple and reliable method for the detection of GM food. This plasmid is calibrated with the external standard of the IRMM (The Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements), and then used to detect the presence of cp4 epsps and pd35S sequences in five foods derived from GM round-ready (RR) soya sold commercially in Iran. The results indicate the presence of GM RR soya in these products, quantitatively. In order to detect whether they contain more or less than 1% RR soya DNA, QCPCR with various amounts of DNA plasmids as a standard was performed. The results show that this plasmid can be used as a calibrator for 1% cp4 epsps and pd35S, and that it can also be applied instead of 1% IRMM genomics.

As genetically modified organisms (GMOs) development is now increasing¡ detection and determination of their quantitative threshold using reliable methods would be necessary. The goal of this study was to introduce a sensitive method for qualitative and quantitative detection of Roundup-ready soybean samples. For primary screening¡ semi-quantitative molecular assays have been used for detection of various percentages of transgenic and non-transgenic Roundup-ready soybean samples. Furthermore¡ an experiment was conducted using the CaMV 35S primers in combinations with soybean lectin-specific primers in two imported samples of soybean seeds. Real-time PCR-based analysis indicated that the amount of GMO material in the seeds and the limit of detection (LOD) obtained for 35S sequence was less than 1%. The sensitivity and accuracy of this method had conformity with the international standards of seed labeling. This is the first report of its type for quantitative detection of a genetically modified material in a commercial seed lot in Iran.

Mammalian ∆-(1)-Pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthase (P5CS) enzyme catalyzes the coupled phosphorylation and reduction-conversion of glutamate to ∆-(1)-pyrroline-5-carboxylate (P5C), a critical step in the proline, ornithine, citrulline and arginine biosynthesis. In plants and mammals, P5CS consists of two separate enzymatic domains: N-terminal γ-glutamyl kinase (γ-GK) and C-terminal γ-glutamyl phosphate reductase (γ–GPR). Hyperammonemia has been reported as a new inborn disorder, with a range of clinical symptoms which is associated with a reduced synthesis of proline, ornithine, citruline and arginine. A missense mutation, R84Q, which alters the conserved residue in γ-GK domain, is responsible for this disorder. In this study using in-silico approaches as a new bioinformatics method, sequence analysis was performed and the tertiary structure of γ-GK domain of human P5CS, which includes the R84Q missense mutation, was predicted and the mutation effects on structural and functional features of P5CS enzyme were analyzed. Our analysis showed that this substitution has an affect on the molecular surface accessibility and total energy of the modeled structure. We conclude that this mutation results in a reduced activity of P5CS enzyme and an impaired synthesis of these amino acids.

The engineering of transgenic canola (Brassica napus L.) to make tolerance to the broad-spectrum herbicide, glyphosate, is one of the most effective approaches for weed management. Glyphosate inhibits the enzyme EPSPS (5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase) enzyme which functions in the shikimate pathway and has a key role in biosynthesis of aromatic amino acids required for survival of the plant. Induction of glyphosate tolerance in transgenic canola via introducing mutated epsps to the plant genome has been previously reported. By this strategy, enzyme’s affinity for glyphosate is reduced. Applying glyphosate degrading enzyme of bacterial origin such as glyphosate oxidoreductase (GOX) in combination with a glyphosate-tolerant epsps is the ultimate approach to provide commercial rates of glyphosate tolerance. In this project, a synthetic geneencoding GOX enzyme with plant codon preferences was designed. The structure of the synthetic construct and its mRNA were analyzed by bioinformatic tools. This synthetic gene was subcloned and transformed into canola plant via Agrobacterium mediated transformation in order to investigate the potential roles in increasing glyphosate tolerance. The presence, copy numbers and expression of the transgene were confirmed by PCR, Southern blotting and RT-PCR analyses, respectively. The bioassay with glyphosate challenging showed that the transgenic plant tolerated glyphosate at a concentration of 1.5 mM whereas the non-transformed canola was unable to survive in the presence 0.5 mM glyphosate.