Diversity and ecotypic variation in the antioxidant and antigenotoxic effects of Thymus kotschyanus Boiss & Hohen

Thymus species are amongst the most popular medicinal plants because of their biological effects and pharmacological properties, and they are widely used in folk medicine for many disorders. Fourteen ecotypic Thymus kotschyanus essential oils were isolated, and the biological functionalities of ecotypic oils were characterized in terms of free radical scavenging and antigenotoxic properties. The most abundant ecotypic oil constituents were thymol and carvacrol (27.2–75.6%). The oils produced scavenging capacity, bleaching inhibitory capacity, and COMET-inhibitory capacity values in a dose-dependent manner ranging from 0.15 to 4.79 mg/ml, 0.04 to 3.1 mg/ml and 0.03 to 5.00 mg/ml, respectively. The benefits of T. kotschyanus essential oils from different regions vary, and they represent an inexpensive source of natural substances that have the potential to be used as antioxidative and antigenotoxic agents. Although the impacts of the microenvironment, climate difference and agronomical condition on the medical benefits of the plant were complex and highly context dependent, some correlations among the biological effects, main essential constituents, and the geographical environment were predicted. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyrigh

Evaluation of Airway Management Proficiency in Pre-Hospital Emergency Setting; a Simulation Study

Introduction: Infrequency and low exposure to critically ill patients requiring airway management will lead to reduction in the skills and performance of the Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) over time. The present study was conducted primarily aiming to evaluate airway management in stationary ambulance simulations and identify the factors affecting Endotracheal Intubation (ETI) success rate.Method: This is a simulation study. The study population comprised of active EMTs in prehospital emergency bases in Hamadan province. The participants were placed at the back of an ambulance to perform the airway management scenario, which had already been prepared. To investigate the factors affecting the success (≤3 attempts) or failure rate of intubation, both unadjusted and adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) for univariate and multivariate regressions were reported.Results: 184 subjects with the mean age of 33.91+6.25 years and the median work experience of 8 years were studied (54.3% with a history of training in the past year).  The median number of previous intubations performed by technicians in the last year was 7 times (IQR 4-9). The total success rate at ventilation, intubation and back-up airway were 50.67%, 53.29%, and 50.0%, respectively. Out of the total 552 attempts for ETI placement, 58.2% of the technicians were able to perform ETI within 3 attempts. Univariate analysis showed that age (OR=1.06, P=0.022), previous number of ETIs (OR=2.49, P<0.001), work experience (OR=1.13, P<0.001), and previous ETI training (OR=1.85, P=0.041) were significantly associated with ETI success rate. After adjustment, previous number of ETIs (OR=2.66, P<0.001) was the most effective factor on ETI success rate.Conclusion: Success rate in airway management, especially ETI, is low. Therefore, improvement in modifiable factors such as increasing the number of ETIs performed and gaining experience in the same conditions as pre-hospital emergency is necessary

Knowledge and Attitude of Health Network Staff toward Illegal Drug Use

-

Effects of Combining Methylprednisolone with Magnesium Sulfate on Neuropathic Pain and Functional Recovery Following Spinal Cord Injury in Male Rats

Methylprednisolone (MP) has been widely used as a standard therapeutic agent for the treatment of spinal cord injury (SCI). Because of its controversial useful effects, the combination of MP and other pharmacological agents to enhance neuroprotective effects is desirable. Magnesium sulfate (MgSO4) has been shown to have neuroprotective and antihyperalgesic effects. In the present study, we sought to determine the effect of combining MP and MgSO4, on neuropathic pain and functional recovery following spinal cord injury (SCI) in male rats. A total of 48 adult male rats (weight 300-350 g) were used. After laminectomy, complete SCI was achieved by compression of the spinal cord for one minute with aneurysm clips. Single doses of Magnesium sulfate (MgSO4), (600 mg/kg), Methylprednisolone (MP), (30 mg/kg) or combining MgSO4 and MP were injected intraperitoneally. Prior to surgery and during four weeks of study Tail flick latency (TFL) and BBB (Basso-Beattie-Bresnahan) score and the acetone drop test were evaluated. In mean values of BBB score, a significant difference was observed in SCI+veh compared with other groups (P<0.05). Mean TFL also was significantly higher in SCI+veh compared with other groups (P<0.05). Mean acetone drop test score and weight were significantly different in MgSO4, MP and combining MgSO4 and MP  treated groups compared with SCI+veh group (P<0.05). These findings revealed that MP, MgSO4 and combining MgSO4 and MP treatment can attenuate neuropathic pains following SCI in rats include: thermal hyperalgesia and cold allodynia. They also can yield better improvement in motor function and decrease weight loss after SCI in rats compared with the control group

Th2 cells are essential for modulation of vascular repair by allogeneic endothelial cells

Author Manuscript 2011 April 1.Background: Endothelial cells (ECs) embedded within 3-dimensional matrices (MEEC) control lumenal inflammation and intimal hyperplasia when placed in the vascular adventitia. Matrix embedding alters endothelial immunogenicity in vitro. T-helper (Th) cell-driven host immunity is an impediment of allogeneic grafts. We aimed to identify if modulation of Th balance would affect immune compatibility and endothelial regulation of vascular repair in vivo. Methods: Pigs (n = 4/group) underwent carotid artery balloon injury and were left untreated (Group 1) or received perivascular porcine MEEC implants (Group 2), 12 days of cyclosporine A (CsA; Group 3), or MEEC and CsA (Group 4). Host immune reactivity was analyzed after 28 and 90 days. Results: MEEC treatment induced formation of EC-specific immunoglobulin (Ig) G1 antibodies (41 ± 6 mean fluorescence intensity [MFI]) and differentiation of host splenocytes into Th2, but not Th1, cytokine-producing cells (interleukin [IL]-4, 242 ± 102; IL-10, 273 ± 114 number of spots). Concomitant CsA therapy reduced IgG1 antibody frequency (25 ± 2 MFI; p < 0.02) and Th2-cytokine producing splenocytes upon MEEC treatment (IL-4, 157 ± 19; IL-10, 124 ± 26 number of spots; p < 0.05). MEECs inhibited luminal occlusion 28 and 90 days after balloon injury (12 ± 7%) vs untreated controls (68 ± 14%; p < 0.001) but to a lesser extent with concomitant CsA treatment (34 ± 13%; p < 0.02 vs Group 2). Conclusions: MEECs do not induce a significant Th1-driven immune response but do enhance differentiation of splenocytes into cells producing Th2 cytokine. Reduction in this Th2 response reduces the vasoregulatory effects of allogeneic ECs after injury

Soluble Fas might serve as a diagnostic tool for gastric adenocarcinoma

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Fas (Apo-1/CD95) and its specific ligand (FasL) are key elements in apoptosis. They have been studied in different malignancies but there are few published studies about the soluble forms of these markers (i.e. sFas/sFasL) in gastric cancer. We have compared the serum levels of sFas/sFasL in gastric adenocarcinoma patients and cases with pre-neoplastic lesions as potential markers for early diagnosis, and investigated their relation with clinicopathological characteristics.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Fifty-nine newly-diagnosed cases of gastric adenocarcinoma who had undergone gastrectomy, along with 62 endoscopically- and histologically-confirmed non-cancer individuals were enrolled in this study. sFas/sFasL serum levels were detected by Enzyme Linked Immunosurbent Assay.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Mean serum sFas level was significantly higher in gastric cancer patients than in control group (305.97 ± 63.71 (pg/ml) vs. 92.98 ± 4.95 (pg/ml), P < 0.001); while the mean serum level of sFasL was lower in patients with gastric adenocarcinoma (0.138 ± 0.04 (pg/ml) vs. 0.150 ± 0.02 (pg/ml), P < 0.001). Mean serum levels of sFas/sFasL were significantly different in both intestinal/diffuse and cardiac/non-cardiac subtypes when compared to the control group (P < 0.001). There was an increase in the serum level of sFas from the first steps of pre-neoplastic lesions to gastric adenocarcinoma (P < 0.001). Patients who had no lymph node involvement (<it>N₀</it>) showed significantly higher serum levels of sFas compared to others (P = 0.044).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Production of sFas may play a critical role in the carcinogenesis of intestinal-type gastric cancer. sFas serum level may serve as a non-invasive tool for early diagnosis of gastric cancer.</p