46 research outputs found
The Effect of Aerobic Training on Parathyroid Hormone and Alkaline Phosphatase as Bone Markers in Men with Mild to Moderate Asthma: The Effect of Aerobic Training on Parathyroid Hormone …
No full textBackground and Aim: Inhalation of corticosteroids in patients with asthma is associated with an increased risk of osteoporosis. This study aimed to assess the effect of aerobic training on alkaline phosphatase (ALP), parathyroid hormone (PTH) as bone biomarkers in men with mild to moderate asthma.
Methods: Twenty four sedentary middle-aged men with asthma aged 40±5 years were randomly assigned to two groups as exercise (aerobic training, n=12) and control (no training, n =12). Aerobic training was performed 3 days a week for 12 weeks in the form of running on a flat surface at 60-75% of HRmax. Fasting blood samples were taken before and after the training program for measuring serum ALP and PTH.
Results: There were no statistically significant differences between groups with regard to anthropometrical and bone markers at baseline (p>0.05). Aerobic training resulted in significant increase in ALP (p = 0.023) and PTH (p = 0.016) in exercise individuals. All variables remained unchanged in the control group (p>0.05).
Conclusion: With an emphasis on the increase in ALP and PTH, it is concluded that relatively long-term aerobic exercise is associated with improved bone formation markers in patients with asthma treated with inhaled corticosteroids.
*Corresponding Author: Mojtaba Eizadi; Email: [email protected]
Please cite this article as: Eizadi M, Behboudi L, Afsharmand Z. The Effect of Aerobic Training on Parathyroid Hormone and Alkaline Phosphatase as Bone Markers in Men with Mild to Moderate Asthma. Arch Med Lab Sci. 2020;6:1-9 (e20). https://doi.org/10.22037/amls.v6. 3353
Expansion of anti-AFP Th1 and Tc1 responses in hepatocellular carcinoma occur in different stages of disease
No full textCopyright @ 2010 Cancer Research UK. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.
To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/.Background: α-Fetoprotein (AFP) is a tumour-associated antigen in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and is a target for immunotherapy. However, there is little information on the pattern of CD4 (Th1) and CD8 (Tc1) T-cell response to AFP in patients with HCC and their association with the clinical characteristics of patients.
Methods: We therefore analysed CD4 and CD8 T-cell responses to a panel of AFP-derived peptides in a total of 31 HCC patients and 14 controls, using an intracellular cytokine assay for IFN-γ.
Results: Anti-AFP Tc1 responses were detected in 28.5% of controls, as well as in 25% of HCC patients with Okuda I (early tumour stage) and in 31.6% of HCC patients with stage II or III (late tumour stages). An anti-AFP Th1 response was detected only in HCC patients (58.3% with Okuda stage I tumours and 15.8% with Okuda stage II or III tumours). Anti-AFP Th1 response was mainly detected in HCC patients who had normal or mildly elevated serum AFP concentrations (P=0.00188), whereas there was no significant difference between serum AFP concentrations in these patients and the presence of an anti-AFP Tc1 response. A Th1 response was detected in 44% of HCC patients with a Child–Pugh A score (early stage of cirrhosis), whereas this was detected in only 15% with a B or C score (late-stage cirrhosis). In contrast, a Tc1 response was detected in 17% of HCC patients with a Child–Pugh A score and in 46% with a B or C score.
Conclusion: These results suggest that anti-AFP Th1 responses are more likely to be present in patients who are in an early stage of disease (for both tumour stage and liver cirrhosis), whereas anti-AFP Tc1 responses are more likely to be present in patients with late-stage liver cirrhosis. Therefore, these data provide valuable information for the design of vaccination strategies against HCC.Association for International Cancer Research and Polkemmet Fund, London
Clinic
Letter to the Editor: Can the seasonal influenza vaccine for 2019/2020 have cross reactivity with some of the SARS-CoV-2 proteins?
No full textTrends of women's authorship in an Iranian medical journal from 1999 to 2019
No full textAuthor's gender is a potential factor in scientific publications. We evaluated the trends of authorship gender by focusing on women in an Iranian medical journal and followed two aims: A) Mapping gender trends in authorship positions; B) Drawing the patterns among authors. Our results showed that between 1999 and 2019, the role of women as first author was 26.7 and 54.9 (p < 0.05); as last authors 33.3 and 37.3 and as corresponding author 23.3 and 36.7, respectively. Despite progresses made by women, they were not significantly successful as corresponding and last authors. Further researchers around the world can have similar focus and be useful in making decisions for equality issues
Trends of women's authorship in an Iranian medical journal from 1999 to 2019
No full textAuthor's gender is a potential factor in scientific publications. We evaluated the trends of authorship gender by focusing on women in an Iranian medical journal and followed two aims: A) Mapping gender trends in authorship positions; B) Drawing the patterns among authors. Our results showed that between 1999 and 2019, the role of women as first author was 26.7 and 54.9 (p < 0.05); as last authors 33.3 and 37.3 and as corresponding author 23.3 and 36.7, respectively. Despite progresses made by women, they were not significantly successful as corresponding and last authors. Further researchers around the world can have similar focus and be useful in making decisions for equality issues. © 2020 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
NSP4 as adjuvant for immunogenicity and design of effective therapeutic HPV16 E6/E7/L1 DNA vaccine in tumor-bearing and healthy C57BL/6 mice
No full textAbstract Introduction In humans, approximately 5% of all cancers are attributable to HPV infection. Prophylactic vaccines can inhibit viral migration and persistence. However, further studies are still required to develop such treatments. To achieve this goal, we designed a therapeutic HPV DNA vaccine encoding a construct of E6/E7/L1 and used NSP4 antigen as an adjuvant to assess the efficiency of this construct in generating antigen-specific antitumor immune responses. Materials and methods Sixty female C57BL/6 mice (6–8 weeks old) were purchased from the Institute Pasteur of Iran. Through a subcutaneous (s.c) injection of a suspension of 100 µl PBS containing 106 TC-1 cells/mouse in the back side, 30 of them became cancerous, while 30 of them were healthy control mice. To amplify E6/E7/L1-pcDNA3 and NSP4-pcDNA3, the competent cells of DH5α and to generate a tumor, TC-1 cell line was used. Mice were then immunized with the HPV DNA vaccine. Cell proliferation was assessed by MTT assay. Finally, cytokine responses (IL-4, IL-12, IFN- γ) were measured in the supernatant of mice spleen cells. Result Mice receiving the NSP4/E6-E7-L1 vaccine had the highest stimulatory index compared to other groups, although it was not statistically significant. Interleukin 4/12 and IFN-γ production were significantly higher in E6-E7-L1 / NSP4 group and E6-E7-L1 group compared to other groups (P 0.05). Among the aforementioned cytokines, IFN-γ and IL-12 are among the cytokines that stimulate the Th1 pathway and IL-4 cytokine stimulates the Th2 pathway and B lymphocytes. Conclusion Our data revealed that the present vaccine can reduce tumor size, and cytokine measurement showed that it stimulates innate and acquired immune responses, thus it can be a therapeutic vaccine in the tumor-bearing mice model
Frequency of complementary medicine use and attitudes among Iranian patients with chronic diseases
No full textAbstract The study aimed to determine the frequency of the use of complementary medicine (CM) in patients with chronic diseases and its relationship with their attitude towards CM. This cross-sectional study was conducted in Sina Hospital, a general clinical setting located in Tabriz city, Northwest Iran. A total of 400 adult patients with chronic diseases—including cardiac, rheumatologic, endocrine, and nephrological conditions—were recruited using convenience sampling from both specialized outpatient clinics and a traditional medicine unit. Data collection involved structured interviews conducted in clinical settings. Descriptive statistics and bivariate tests were performed, followed by binary logistic regression analysis to identify predictors of CM modality use. According to the result, the most commonly used complementary and alternative Medicine within the past 12 months were Herbal Medicine, Prayer Therapy, Water therapy, Cupping and Massage Therapy with 83, 36, 27, 11, and 8%, respectively. The mean scores of the patients’ attitude towards holistic health were higher than their attitude towards the validity of complementary medicine (21.37 vs. 15.88). Logistic regression analysis revealed that belief in holistic health significantly predicted lower odds of using herbal medicine (OR = 0.85, p = .005), prayer therapy (OR = 0.85, p = .018), and water therapy (OR = 0.82, p = .009). Belief in CM’s scientific validity was positively associated with prayer therapy use (OR = 1.24, p < .001). Additional predictors varied by modality: increased age and high economic status predicted greater use of prayer and water therapies, whereas gender and education levels showed mixed associations. The use of herbal medicine was common among patients with chronic diseases. Therefore, health care providers should pay attention to the use of herbal medicine by their patients considering their interactions with modern medications, efficacy, and side effects. Given the poor attitude towards the validity of CM, there is a need for community-level education on the use of CM for prescribing it by professional practitioners
Green synthesis of MnO2 NPs using Arabic gum: assessing its potential antiviral activity against influenza A/H1N1
No full textAbstract Background The antiviral properties of metal nanoparticles against various viruses, including those resistant to drugs, are currently a subject of intensive research. Recently, the green synthesis of nanoparticles and their anti-viral function have attracted a lot of attention. Previous studies have shown promising results in the use of Arabic gum for the green synthesis of nanoparticles with strong antiviral properties. In this study we aimed to investigate the antiviral effects of MnO2 nanoparticles (MnO2-NPs) synthesized using Arabic gum, particularly against the influenza virus. Methods Arabic gum was used as a natural polymer to extract and synthesize MnO2-NPs using a green chemistry approach. The synthesized MnO2-NPs were characterized using SEM and TEM. To evaluate virus titration, cytotoxicity, and antiviral activity, TCID50, MTT, and Hemagglutination assay (HA) were performed, respectively. Molecular docking studies were also performed to investigate the potential antiviral activity of the synthesized MnO2-NPs against the influenza virus. The molecular docking was carried out using AutoDock Vina software followed by an analysis with VMD software to investigate the interaction between Arabic gum and the hemagglutinin protein. Results Simultaneous combination treatment with the green-synthesized MnO2-NPs resulted in a 3.5 log HA decrement and 69.7% cellular protection, which demonstrated the most significant difference in cellular protection compared to the virus control group (p-value < 0.01). The docking results showed that binding affinities were between − 3.3 and − 5.8 kcal/mole relating with the interaction between target with MnO2 and beta-D-galactopyranuronic acid, respectively. Conclusion The results of the study indicated that the MnO2-NPs synthesized with Arabic gum had significant antiviral effects against the influenza virus, highlighting their potential as a natural and effective treatment for inhibition of respiratory infections
Expression levels of taste genes, TAS1R1, TAS1R2 and TAS1R3 among SARS-CoV-2 patients
No full textAbstract Background The most common symptoms of COVID-19 infection include fever, myalgia, cough, dyspnea, and loss of smell and taste. Some studies have suggested that a COVID-19-related reduction in taste receptor expression may lead to the loss of taste. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the expression levels of taste receptor genes in COVID-19 patients. Gene expression levels of TAS1R1, TAS1R2, and TAS1R3 were analyzed in 100 COVID-19 patients (50 with loss of taste and 50 without) and 50 SARS-CoV-2 RT-qPCR-negative individuals. Methods 150 nasopharyngeal swab samples were collected from Iranian COVID-19 patients (50 with loss of taste and 50 without) and SARS-CoV-2 negative persons as a control group and evaluated for TAS1R1, TAS1R2, and TAS1R3 gene expression using mRNA measurement. Gene expression was evaluated using two-step real-time PCR, and RPLP0 was used as a reference gene. Result The expression levels of taste genes did not show a significant difference between healthy individuals and infected patients with and without loss of taste. There was also no significant difference between the gene expression levels in each group. Conclusions Although our findings were not statistically significant, temporary ageusia may be attributed to the high replication rate of SARS-CoV-2 in infected gustatory cells within the taste buds. This replication could induce inflammation and potentially lead to cell destruction
