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Document details - A comparative analysis of saffron and methylprednisolone on bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis in rats
Background: The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of saffron and methylprednisolone on bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis in rats. Methods: This study was conducted in Bushehr, southern Iran in 2017.The animals were divided into four groups of five rats each. Three groups were injected with a single intratracheal dose of bleomycin (5 mg/kg). The fourth group was administered with normal saline at the same volume (200 µl). Saffron extract dissolved in water was given to one group (100 mg /body weight) orally while intraperitoneal injection of methylprednisolone (2.5 mg/kg) injected to another one for 16 days. The rats were sacrificed 28 days following surgery and their right and left lungs were removed and washed for measuring lung indices, myeloperoxidase activities and finally histopathological examination. Results: Injection of bleomycin caused decrement of body weight aggravated by intraperitoneal methylprednisolone treatment. Lung indices were increased in the bleomycin-treated group compared with the control, while methylprednisolone, unlike saffron, had no preventive effects on it. Both saffron and methylprednisolone treatment prevented the increase in lung myeloperoxidase as a destructive enzyme. In addition, excessive collagen deposition and thickening of alveolar septa were significantly prevented with saffron treatment as compared to methylprednisolone injection following hematoxylin and eosin staining. Conclusion: Saffron with established antioxidant properties could prevent some detrimental effects in bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis even more than methylprednisolone injection known as a standard therapy in this murine model. More investigations must be carried out to examine the beneficial or harmful effects of this remedy. © 2021 Portfolio Management Research. All rights reserved
Pediatric case with vaccine-related poliovirus infection: A case report
BACKGROUND As long as oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) is used, the potential risk for the emergence of vaccine-related polioviruses remains. CASE SUMMARY We report a case of Sabin-like type 1 poliovirus infection in an immunocompetent 17-mo-old child after receiving four scheduled doses of OPV. Somehow, the four doses did not confer full protection, possibly because of interference created by other enteroviruses. CONCLUSION The surveillance of vaccine-related polioviruses has important implications for improving health policies and vaccination strategies. Missed cases of vaccine-related poliovirus infection might pose a potential risk to global poliovirus eradication. Therefore, the global withdrawal of OPV and a shift to the inclusion of only inactivated poliovirus vaccine in the vaccination schedule is the main objective of the polio eradication program
Pharmacoligical characterization of the iranian cerastes cerastes gasperettii (Reptilia: Ophidia: Viperidae) venom
Objective: Snake envenomation is common in tropical and subtropical countries of the Middle East areas including Iran. Cerastes cerastes gasperettii is a dangerous snake living in southwestern provinces of Iran. It causes massive edema at the bite site and coagulopathy leading to death if untreated. Methods: The purpose of this preliminary animal study was to evaluate the toxicity and proteomic of this venom for the first time in Iran. Moreover, the hemodynamic changes with intravenous injection of the venom were assessed and inotropic in addition to arrhythmogenic properties of this venom were investigated. Results: The estimated amount of the LD50 with intraperitoneal injection was slightly less than the similar experiment in Saudi Arabia (1.32 mg/kg versus 978 µg/kg body weight). There were 8 distinct protein bands between 12 and 66 kDa in SDS-PAGE analysis that were different with Moroccan experiment due to inter and intra species variation. Inotropic potencies were not significant since the lethal dose with intravenous injection was much lower than the Arabian experiment in guinea pigs (2.4 mg/kg versus 0.8 mg/kg). Conclusion: According to the low hemodynamic changes induced with the venom, it seems that coagulopathy and edema are the most dangerous effects of this rare snake in Ira
Decellularization of kidney tissue: comparison of sodium lauryl ether sulfate and sodium dodecyl sulfate for allotransplantation in rat
An automatic decellularization device was developed to perfuse and decellularize male rats' kidneys using both sodium lauryl ether sulfate (SLES) and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and to compare their efficacy in kidney decellularization and post-transplantation angiogenesis. Kidneys were perfused with either 1% SDS solution for 4 h or 1% SLES solution for 6 h. The decellularized scaffolds were stained with hematoxylin and eosin, periodic acid Schiff, Masson's trichrome, and Alcian blue to determine cell removal and glycogen, collagen, and glycosaminoglycan contents, respectively. Moreover, scanning electron microscopy was performed to evaluate the cell removal and preservation of microarchitecture of both SDS and SLES scaffolds. Additionally, DNA quantification assay was applied for all groups in order to measure residual DNA in the scaffolds and normal kidney. In order to demonstrate biocompatibility of the decellularized scaffolds, human umbilical cord mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (hUC-MSCs) were seeded on the scaffolds. In addition, the allotransplantation was performed in back muscle and angiogenesis was evaluated. Complete cell removal in both SLES and SDS groups was observed in scanning electron microscopy and DNA quantification assays. Moreover, the extracellular matrix (ECM) architecture of rat kidney in the SLES group was significantly preserved better than the SDS group. The hUC-MSCs were successfully migrated from the cell culture plate surface into the SDS and SLES decellularized scaffolds. The formation of blood vessels was observed in the kidney in both SLES and SDS decellularized kidneys. The better preservation of ECM than SDS introduces SLES as the solvent of choice for kidney decellularization
Prevalence of osteoporosis among the elderly population of Iran
Summary: In a large population-based study of Iran, the age-standardized prevalence of osteoporosis was 24.6% in men and 62.7% in women aged ≥ 60 years. Osteoporosis was negatively associated with body mass index in both sexes, and with diabetes in men and hypertriglyceridemia in women. Purpose: Population aging has made osteoporosis and osteoporotic fractures an important health problem, especially in developing countries. This study aimed to explore the prevalence of osteoporosis and associated factors among the elderly population of the south-west of Iran. Methods: Baseline data of the second stage of the Bushehr Elderly Health program was used. Spinal, total hip, or femoral neck osteoporosis was described as a BMD that lies 2.5 standard deviations or more, below the average values of a young healthy adult in the lumbar spine, total hip, or femoral neck, respectively. Osteoporosis at either site was defined as total osteoporosis. Age-standardized prevalence of osteoporosis was estimated. We used the modified Poisson regression with a robust variance estimator to identify the factors related to osteoporosis, adjusting for potential confounders. Results: Overall, 2425 individuals (1166 men) aged over 60 years were included. In all, total osteoporosis was detected in 1006 (41.5%) of the participants. Using the reference value derived from Caucasian women aged 20–29 years, the age-standardized prevalence of total osteoporosis was 24.6 (95% CI: 21.9–27.3) in men, and 62.7 (95% CI: 60.0–65.4) in women. In men, osteoporosis was positively associated with age, smoking, history of fracture, and history of renal/liver diseases and negatively associated with body mass index (BMI) and diabetes. BMI, hypertriglyceridemia, and education were negatively correlated with osteoporosis in women, while years after menopause and history of fracture increased the likelihood of osteoporosis, significantly. Conclusion: Results support the high prevalence of osteoporosis and osteopenia in the elderly population. Considering the importance of severe complications, especially fractures, comprehensive interventions should be expanded
Examining the psychometric features of the Teacher’s Sense of Efficacy Scale in the English-as-a-foreign-language teaching context
Though the Teacher’s Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES) is widely used with English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) teachers, these teachers constitute a cohort left out from the widespread project to validate the scale in different fields of education. In addition, the previous validation studies have mostly applied factor analysis for this purpose, which leaves some aspects of validity untouched. Thus, through factor and Rasch analysis of the data from 435 Iranian EFL teachers, the present study was undertaken to provide evidence on the validity of using the TSES with EFL teachers. Both confirmatory factor analysis and Rasch modeling confirmed the claimed three-factor structure of the TSES; however, Rasch analysis identified a misfitting item and frequent problems with the functioning of the response categories. In search of an alternative rating scale for the TSES, Rasch analysis supported the validity of a revised rating scale with five categories. Both traditional reliability and Rasch-specific indices showed that the revised rating scale was very similar to the original rating scale of the TSES in terms of measurement precisio
Concentration, sources, and inhalation-based risk assessment of PM2.5-bound PAHs and trace elements in ambient air of areas with low and high traffic density in Tehran
In the current work, the concentration, sources, and inhalation-based risk assessment of PM2.5-bound PAHs and heavy metals was assessed in ambient air of areas with low and high traffic density in Tehran, Iran. To this end, a total of 64 air samples—28 samples in low and moderate traffic areas (LTA), and 32 samples in high traffic areas (HTA))—were taken from March 2018 to March 2019 during warm and cold seasons and analyzed by gas chromatography equipped with mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) to determination of PAHs and metals, respectively. The findings showed that the mean concentration of PM2.5, PAHs, and heavy metals were 61.08 ± 8.69 μg/m3, 28.69 ± 20.14, and 15,392.7 ± 20,073.0 ng/m3 in the low traffic areas, and 83.00 ± 9.7 μg/m3, 41.1 ± 29.6, and 19,378.2 ± 20,038.0 ng/m3 in the high traffic areas, respectively. Furthermore, the concentration of pollutants in cold season was significantly higher than those of warm season (p < 0.05). The results of source apportionment using Unmix.6 model indicated that 41.1% of PAHs is emitted through industrial activities and diesel vehicles, which are followed by traffic and transportation sources (34.2%) as well as burning coal and heating devices (26.3%). Additionally, risk assessment showed that the risk values of carcinogenicity and non-carcinogenicity resulting from PM2.5-bound PAHs and metal had exceeded the recommended safe limit by EPA
Development of a Simple and Practical Screening Tool for Detection of Sarcopenia in Older People: The Bushehr Elderly Health Program
Background: Sarcopenia is defined by the loss of muscle mass and function with a considerable prevalence which increases morbidity and mortality. We aimed to develop and validate a simple tool for screening of sarcopenia in Iranian older population. Methods: In this study, we included 2,211 adults aged 60 years or older that participated in the stage II of Bushehr Elderly Health (BEH) program, a population-based prospective cohort study. We defined sarcopenia as reduced skeletal muscle strength plus low muscle mass. The study sample was divided into two parts; development set which were allocated to the development of the model (n = 1,499) and validation set (n = 712) were allocated to validation of the model. Results: There were 22.9% of men and 23.2% women classified as having sarcopenia based on EWGSOP-2.After selection of variables, the final models named SarSA-Mod (Sarcopenia Scoring Assessment Models) were developed with area to under curves (AUC) of 0.82 (0.79–0.86) and 0.87 (0.84–0.90) in men and women, respectively. The final model included “age,” “weight,” and “calf circumference” in both sexes. The sensitivity and specificity and positive and negative predictive values for sarcopenia were 84.3, 76.0, 49.8, and 94.5% for women, 85.4, 64.8, 40.2, and 94.2% for men, respectively. The model performance was tested in the validation set with accuracy 91 and 84% among women and men, respectively. Conclusions: Sarcopenia could be detected using SarSA-Mod, as a simple screening test with high accuracy among both sexes. Also, this screening test is valid, feasible, reliable and cost-effective compared to other tools
Experimental Evaluation of Mouse Hind Paw Edema Induced by Iranian Naja oxiana Venom
Iranian Naja oxiana (the Elapidae family) known as cobra snake inhabits in the northwestern part of Iran. This study aimed to evaluate the edematogenic potency of the crude venom with intraplantar injection into mice. Additionally, the inhibitory effects of three different drugs (i.e., promethazine, dexamethasone, and piroxicam) on paw edema were examined. Moreover, the gelatinase activity of this venom was assessed using the zymography method. Paw edema was induced by the intraplantar injection of different concentrations of the venom (0.5-5 μg dissolved in 50 μl of normal saline) into the mice (six in each group). It was estimated through the measurement of the increase in the paw thickness (%) with a digital caliper. The paws were pretreated and the rate of changes was measured after the venom injection. Pathological findings in the treated paws were evaluated with hematoxylin and eosin staining. Paw thickness reached its maximum amount within 5 min and resolved after 1 h. This venom had no gelatinase activity using the zymography method ruling out its role in edema. It caused non-hemorrhagic diffuse edema with the infiltration of inflammatory cells (i.e., leukocytes and lymphocytes) in the dermis. Intraperitoneal pretreatment with drugs significantly inhibited the venom-induced (1 μg/paw) edema; however, all the mice died unexpectedly a day after piroxicam injection. This in vitro and in vivo preliminary study demonstrated for the first time that N. oxiana venom-induced non-hemorrhagic edema in a short time. Dexamethasone (phospholipase A2 inhibitor; 1 mg/kg) and promethazine (H1 inhibitor; 5 mg/kg) decreased the venom-induced edema (p <0.001). It is suggested to carry out further studies to identify different mediators in venom-induced edema formation
Frequent detection of enterovirus D68 and rhinovirus type C in children with acute respiratory infections
This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of human rhinoviruses (HRVs) and the emergence of enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) in children. A total of 322 nasopharyngeal swab samples were provided from children with an initial diagnosis of upper and lower respiratory tract infections. A total of 34 and 70 cases were positive for EV-D68 and HRV, respectively. The phylogenetic analysis revealed that the clades A and B are the prevalent genotypes for EV-D68 and the HRV-positive samples belong to three types including HRV-A, HRV-B, and HRV-C. The results showed that EV-D68 and HRV-C are circulating in Iran especially in the winter. © 2020, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature