zohreh zamani

Parkinson disease (PD) is a prevalent neurodegenerative disorder affecting dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra (SN). Neuroinflammation has a vital role in PD pathophysiology.

This study assesses whether the neuroinflammatory molecular and signaling pathways could be associated with PD’s progression and clinical manifestations.

PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and Scopus databases were investigated from 2006 until December 2023 to find relevant studies. All observational studies written in English and reporting qualitative or quantitative information on the relationship between neuroinflammation and PD were included in this review.

Finally, 41 papers were involved in the systematic review. According to the involved studies, it is suggested that tumor necrosis factor-α, C-reactive protein, microsomal prostaglandin E synthase1, toll-like receptor-4 (TLR-4), CCL23, CCL25, TNF-receptor superfamily member 9, EV-derived cytokines, transforming growth factor alpha, vascular endothelial growth factor A, SH-SY5Y, TLR 2/4, miR-485-3p, leucine-rich repeat kinase 2, and α-synuclein may be upregulated in the PD patients. Also, the activity of astrocytes and microglial cells was reported to be increased in PD patients through different mechanisms. 

This study demonstrated that the neurodegeneration in PD could be initiated by α-synuclein protein aggregation and the activation of astrocytes and microglial cells, which leads to neuroinflammation characterized by inflammatory responses in neurons. Finally, chronic neuroinflammation could be the cause of dopaminergic neuronal death in SN. The impact of both single and all factors involved in neuroinflammation was assessed to plan further studies in a particular pathway to intercept the onset of inflammatory pathways in favor of therapeutic purposes.

This study aimed to determine pregnant women’s knowledge about COVID-19 and their anxiety and fear of the unknown.

This online cross-sectional study was conducted in March and April 2020 on Iranian pregnant women visiting comprehensive healthcare centers affiliated with the Gonabad University of Medical Sciences. Participants were selected using a stratified random sampling strategy among pregnant women who agreed to participate, had a Telegram or WhatsApp account or phone number, and had no history of pregnancy complications. A demographic questionnaire, Spielberger’s state-trait anxiety inventory, fearing the unknown questionnaire, and an uncertainty scale was used to collect data. Data were analyzed using simple and multiple linear regression models using SPSS software, version 16.

A total of 190 pregnant women were included in the analysis. The Mean±SD for knowledge of COVID-19 was 8.82±1.72. The knowledge of 71.1% of participants was moderate. The Mean±SD for fearing the unknown was 36.2±9.1. The Mean±SD for the state anxiety about COVID-19 incidence in pregnant women was 47.6±10.2. The results showed that 65.3% of the participants had a moderate level of anxiety. Multiple regression analysis showed an increase of 0.16 (P=0.029) in the fearing the unknown score for each week of increase in the gestational age. Similarly, the anxiety increased by 0.56 (P<0.001) for each unit of increase in fearing the unknown. Moreover, the results showed that the anxiety of people using Telegram or WhatsApp was 3.44 units more than others (P<0.018)

The findings showed that the pregnant women’s knowledge was moderate at the time of research. However, with increasing gestational age, fear of the unknown, and sources of knowledge were associated with anxiety. This points to the essentiality of increasing supportive programs and it is required to screen pregnant women to prevent the adverse effects of anxiety.

One of the most important problems in metropolises is slum and marginalized areas which affected by social issues and also affect them. Purpose of this article is to report community social work intervention with local development model based on antidiscrimination theory, in Farahzad area of Tehran.
Case: In order to conduct community internship, the social worker conducted his activities in Farahzad during the six stages of assessment; choosing the model of community-based social work intervention, holding a social mobilization meeting, forming a local team and holding weekly meetings, designing and implementing local projects, and evaluation. These interventions were based on the local development model and anti-discrimination theory. The main problems of the neighborhood were identified with the participation of the members of the neighborhood, and after choosing the appropriate solution, measures were taken to reduce the identified problems. Based on rapid situation analysis of Farahzad, the most important problems included drug use and distribution, the presence of street children, the lack of security, cultural poverty, health problems, roadside problems, the educational problems of children and domestic violence. Based on the nominal group technique, the problems were; personal and environmental hygiene, domestic violence, educational problems, and group strategies include education for children and education for families. The details of these interventions are described as a case report in this article.

Community-based interventions in marginalized areas of metropolitan cities can lead to sensitize locals to their problems and increase their participation; so that they can change what they are dissatisfied with.

The function of renin angiotensin system (RAS) is gender‑related, and this system affects cisplatin (CP)‑induced nephrotoxicity. In this study, we compared the effect of enalapril as an angiotensin‑converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor on CP‑induced nephrotoxicity between male and female rats.

Sixty‑two adult male and female Wistar rats were divided into eight groups. Both genders received CP (2.5 mg/kg, i.p.) and enalapril (30 mg/kg, i.p.) for 7 days in compared with CP alone or enalapril alone or vehicle alone treated groups. At the end of the experiment, blood samples were obtained, and the kidney tissue was investigated for histopathological changes.

CP increased the serum levels of blood urea nitrogen and creatinine as well as kidney weight and kidney tissue damage score in both genders (P < 0.05). However, not only enalapril failed to ameliorate the aforementioned parameters in both genders, but also it intensified nephrotoxicity in females (P < 0.05). In addition, enalapril enhanced body weight loss induced by CP in females (P < 0.05). CP alone decreased kidney level of nitrite in both genders (P < 0.05) and enalapril could not reverse this decreasing. The combination of enalapril and CP significantly increased serum level of nitrite in females, but this was not observed in males (P < 0.05).

Enalapril as an ACE inhibitor failed to ameliorate nephrotoxicity induced by CP in both male and female rats. In addition, enalapril aggravated CP‑induced nephrotoxicity in female possibly due to gender‑dependent RAS response.