parisa hasanein

Wheat is one of the most important grains and considering the role of nanotechnology in crop production, it is very important to study the effect of nanoparticles on its growth processes. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of three metallic complex of iron and its Fe3O4 nanoparticles on growth and some physiological parameters of wheat. In this study, treatments included no seed priming (control), priming with different concentrations (100, 200 and 500 ppm) of iron complex and the iron nanoparticles. The structure of iron nanocomplexes were identified and confirmed by elemental analysis, infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) as well as monocrystalline X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (SC-XRD). The structure of Fe3O4 nanoparticles was also studied by infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (SEM). The total phenolic content was determined using Folin-Ciocalteu assay and the amount of flavonoid was determined by colorimetry. Antioxidant activity was determined by FRAP method. The results showed that the prepared iron oxide nanoparticles had a smaller particle size and a larger specific surface area than the iron nanocomplex. The results showed that all growth and physiological parameters increased significantly under the treatment of all concentrations of iron complex and iron nanoparticles compared to the control. The highest seed germination (94%) was observed at the concentration of 500 ppm iron nanoparticles. Maximum root length (27 cm), stem length (16.3 cm), stem dry weight (1.7 mg), root dry weight (1.2 mg), root dry weight (0.03 g), stem dry weight (0.04 g), root length (29.33 cm) and stem length (29 cm) were observed at a concentration of 500 ppm iron nanoparticles. According to the results of this study, seed priming with iron nanoparticles is suggested as a suitable stimulant for increasing growth and production of phenolic compounds.

Lead is one of the environmental pollutants and it is among the most important causes of oxidative stress in biological tissues. In this study, the effects of lead acetate on testicular tissue destruction were investigated. Ferulic acid (FA), which is an antioxidant and reduces free radicals, is expected to be effective in improving testicular function in lead-infected rats. For this study, 24 white male Wistar rats, categorized in four groups: control, lead acetate toxicity, FA control, and lead-Ferulic Acetate, were treated in the laboratory for 56 days. At the end of the treatment period, the rats were anesthetized and after blood sampling, they were analysed. Then, histological analysis was performed after testicular resection. To evaluate sperm characteristics, the distal part of the testicular epididymis was finally cut and fragmented.Research In examination of testicular tissue sections in the samples, it was observed that the mean diameter of seminiferous tubules in samples with lead acetate poisoning was decreased more than the control, whereas in the group with FA treatment, the diameter was increased. Increased bleeding in the space between seminiferous tubules and tissue vacuolation were also recorded in the lead acetate group, but it was improved in the treatment group. The number, motility, percentage of normal sperm, and survival percentage of sperm which had a significant decrease in the lead acetate group, and were increased in the FA-treated group. Likewise, testosterone levels, which had a significant drop in the lead acetate poisoning group, were increased in FA-treated group. The result showed that lead acetate, with its destructive effects on testicular tissue, reduces the number of healthy and mature sperms, and ultimately leads to mice fertility of these mice, but ferulic acid which acts as an antioxidant has recovery effects against lead acetate.

Drought stress is alarmingly on the rise over the past decades. The growth regulators including salicylic acid (SA) and chitosan are being successfully used to protect plants against biotic and abiotic stresses. To investigate the effect of SA, chitosan and their combination on biochemical traits and cucurbitacin contents in Citrullus colocynthis (L.) under different levels of drought stress, four irrigation levels (control (100% Field capacity: FC), 75, 50 and 25% FC) along with three different treatments by administration of SA and chitosan (150 mg L-1), and their combinations were used. Drought stress significantly increased the amount of sugar, proline, lipid peroxidation and the activity of antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) while decreased growth parameters, protein, leaf relative water content (RWC), chlorophyll and carotenoid contents. Although SA could increase some biochemical traits including sugar, chlorophyll and carotenoid contents only in severe level of drought stress, chitosan and the combined treatment exerted beneficial effects in almost all levels of irrigation. Furthermore, combination of SA and chitosan induced more protective effects compared to only chitosan treatment in increasing proline and the activities of SOD and CAT. Combined treatment was also effective in increasing cucurbitacin B, C and L contents but not cucurbitacin E. Combination of SA and chitosan showed the major impact on improving physiological parameters and cucurbitacin contents of C. colocynthis and therefore could be a potential candidate to protect the plant against adverse effects of drought stress.

Methamphetamine (Meth) and Buprenorphine (BUP) modulate pain perception. However, the antinociceptive effects of their interactions, which affect through different systems, are unclear in rats. This study aimed to compare the analgesic effects of Meth, BUP, and their coadministration, as well as the effect of withdrawal from these substances on nociception in male rats.

In this experiment, 40 male Wistar rats (weight: 250-300 g) were categorized into four groups: control, Meth, BUP, or BUP+Meth. After seven days of treatments, the antinociceptive effects were assessed using the hot plate and the tail flick tests. The differences among the groups were analyzed with ANOVA and Tukey’s post hoc tests. P values less than 0.05 were considered significant.

Meth and BUP increased the reaction times during the hot plate and tail flick tests. The combination of Meth and BUP increased reaction time more than Meth or BUP alone. 

The significantly high reaction times in rats treated with Meth and BUP indicate that these substances have antinociceptive effects. In addition, Meth enhanced the antinociceptive effects of BUP. These synergistic effects might occur through the dopaminergic, serotonergic, and or adrenergic systems.

One of the molecular mechanisms of alcohol-induced toxicity is mediated by oxidative stress. We investigated the protective effects of orally administered vitamin C (VC) in different doses on oxidative damage in rat eyes induced by chronic ethanol intake.
Eight groups of rats were treated for 30 days: control (C), VC (50, 100 and 200 mg/kg), ethanol (4 g/kg) and, ethanol VC (50, 100 and 200 mg/kg).Eyes were then removed for analysis of oxidant/antioxidant markers including superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and malondialdeyde (MDA).
Ethanol decreased the activities of SOD, CAT and GPx in the eye. These changes were accompanied by enhanced lipid peroxidation measured as increased MDA levels. Although VC (50 and 100 mg/kg) restored antioxidant enzymes activity and lipid peroxidation, there were still significant differences compared to control animals. However, 200 mg/kg VC clearly prevented the pro-oxidant and antioxidant imbalance. Interestingly, the highest dose of VC produced a potent inhibition of lipid peroxidation and improvement in antioxidant defense enzymes compared to other doses in non-alcoholic rats.
Oral administration of VC 200 mg/kg for 30 days prevented redox imbalance induced by chronic ethanol exposure in rat eyes by enhancing the activities of antioxidant enzymes and inhibiting lipid peroxidation. Relative to other chemical medications, vitamin treatments may be free of major side effects; therefore this antioxidant vitamin may provide a potential alternative for prevention of ethanol toxicity which deserves consideration and further examination.

In this survey, the effect of Averrhoa carambola fruit hydro-alcoholic extract on acute lead-acetate-induced hepatotoxicity in rats was studied.
In this experimental study, 24 male rats were equally divided to 4 groups. The first group received normal saline orally and served as negative control, the second group received only lead acetate for 5 days and served as positive control group. Groups 3 and 4 were treated orally with Averrhoa carambola at doses of 100 and 200 mg/kg, respectively, for 10 days. These groups were also received lead acetate (25 mg/kg) during the last 5 days. At the end of the study, serum liver enzymes and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels were assayed. Besides, histopathological changes of liver were examined under light microscopy.
Findings: Oral administration of Averrhoa carambola fruit extract at a dose of 100 mg/kg had no significant effect on serum levels of malondialdehyde and liver enzymes compared to positive control group. Treatment with Averrhoa carambola fruit extract at dose of 200 mg/kg significantly reduced serum levels of alanine transaminase (ALT) (P Results showed the protective effect of Averrhoa carambola fruit extract on acute lead-acetate-induced liver injury in rats.

The parabrachial nucleus is a critical link in the transmission of short latency nociceptive information to midbrain neurons. GABA (A) receptors have bidirectional roles in controlling nociception and are abundant in the parabrachial region. We examined the effects of bilateral intra parabrachial microinjection of different doses of the GABA (A) receptor agonist، muscimol، and the GABA (A) receptor antagonist، bicuculline، on pain modulation using a tail-flick test. Rats were anaesthetized with sodium pentobarbital (55 mg/kg) and then special cannulas were inserted stereotaxically into the parabrachial nucleus. After 1 week of recovery، the effects of microinjection of muscimol، (62. 5، 125،250 ng/side) or bicuculline، (50،100،200 ng/side) into the parabrachial on tail flick latencies were assessed. Tail-flick latencies were measured for 60 minutes every 5 min after drug microinjection. Microinjection of muscimol (62. 5، 125 ng/side) and bicuculline (50،100،200 ng/side) into the parabrachial did not have any statistically significant effect on tail-flick latency. Administration of، muscimol، (250 ng/side) produced thermal hyperalgesia (P<0. 05). The results of the present study showed that in this model of pain gaba a receptors in the paracrachial region are not Endogenously activated but these receptors in this region have a potential to affect pain modulation.

The primary somatosensory cortex has an important role in nociceptive sensory-discriminative processing. Altered peripheral inputs produced by deafferentation or by long-term changes in levels of afferent stimulation can result in plasticity of cortex. Capsaicin-induced depletion of C-fiber afferents results in plasticity of the somatosensory system. Plasticity includes short-term and long-term changes in synaptic strength. We studied the interaction between paired-pulse facilitation, as one form of short-term plasticity, with long-term potentiation (LTP) in the neocortex of normal and C-fiber depleted freely moving rat. Neonatally capsaicin-treated rats and their controls were allowed to mature until they reached a weight between 250 and 300g. Then animals were anesthetized with ketamine and xylazine. For recording and stimulation, twisted teflon-coated stainless steel wires were implanted into somatosensory cortex or corpus callusom. In experiments for LTP induction, after two weeks of recovery period, 30 high frequency pulse trains were delivered once per day for 12 days. Paired-pulse ratio (PPR) was monitored before and after the induction of LTP in capsaicin-treated and control rats. Paired-pulse stimulation affected all field potential components at intervals < 200 ms. The largest changes occurred at intervals between 20- 30 ms. C-fiber depletion postponed the development of LTP, whereas it had no effect on PPR. This finding provides further evidence that the expression of this form of LTP is postsynaptic. Furthermore, these results suggest that the effect of C-fiber depletion on cortical LTP is also postsynaptic and, therefore, is not caused by a decrease in neurotransmitter release.

Ascorbic acid improves cognitive impairments in several experimental models. Diabetes causes learning and memory deficits. In this study we hypothesized that chronic treatment with ascorbic acid (100mg/kg, p.o) would affect on the passive avoidance learning (PAL) and memory in control and streptozocin-induced diabetic rats. Diabetes was induced by a single i.p. injection of STZ (60mg/kg). The rats were considered diabetic if plasma glucose levels exceeded 250mg/dl on three days after STZ injection. Treatment was begun at the onset of hyperglycemia. PAL was assessed 30 days later.