Maternal circulating status of vitamin D, adiponectin and lipid ratios in gestational diabetes mellitus

Background. The present research was an attempt to assess maternal serum values of 25-hydroxy vitamin D3 [25(OH)D3], adiponectin and the lipid ratios and comparison of their associations with insulin resistance and insulin sensitivity in gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Methods. It was conducted on 100 participants including 49 women with GDM and 51 normal pregnant women at 24–28 weeks of gestation. Maternal fasting serum values of glucose, 25(OH)D3, lipid profile, adiponectin and insulin were assessed and the lipid ratios and biomarkers of resistance and sensitivity to insulin were calculated. Statistical significance was set at P < 0.05. Results. Current research revealed that levels of 25(OH) D3 were significantly lower in GDM than in normal pregnancy. Binary logistic regression analysis showed that GDM was associated negatively with 25(OH)D3, HDL-C and adiponectin and positively with the lipid ratios. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that only values of 25(OH)D3 were independently associated negatively with the insulin resistance (P = 0.012). Conclusions. Levels of 25(OH)D3 were significantly decreased in GDM compared with normal pregnancy. On the other hand, 25(OH)D3 had a significant negative correlation with insulin resistance which was stronger than the lipid ratios and adiponectin

The effects of dietary Myrtle (Myrtus communis L.) supplementations on growth performance and some innate immune responses in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

This study investigated the effect of dietary Myrtle (Myrtus communis L.) powder on the growth performance, immune responses and haematological parameters of rainbow trout fingerlings. Twelve cages were assigned to four treatments in triplicate and thirty fish (6.50±0.55g (were stocked. Treatments were different levels 0 (control), 0.5 (M0.5), 1 (M1) and 1.5% (M1.5) of Myrtle powder. The highest weight gain and specific growth rate and lowest feed conversion ratio were observed in fish fed with 1% Myrtle. The RBC, WBC and haematocrit were higher in the Myrtle fed treatments compared to the control group. The results showed increased total protein in M1.5 and M1 treatments compared with the control and M0.5 treatment. Also, the highest and lowest albumin were observed in M1.5 treatment and control group. Furthermore, serum ALP decreased along with the increasing Myrtle levels in diet, and lowest level was observed in M1 treatment. Lysozyme activity increased with increasing dietary Myrtle inclusion levels, although no significant difference was noticed when compared with control. These results revealed the potential growth enhancing and health promoting effects of Myrtle powder

A Stereological Study Concerning the Role of Satureja Khuzestanica Essential Oil in the Improvement of Mesangial Expansion in Uninephrectomized Diabetic Rats

Background and Aim: Mesangial expansion may lead to renal failure due to the stenosis or occlusion of glomerular capillary lumen in diabetic patients. Oxidative stress is the main cause of diabetic mesangial expansion. The information obtained from the accurate estimation of mesangium volume, glomerular capillary volume and mesangial cells number via stereological methods is more reliable than that of morphometric or semi-quantitative variables in diabetic nephropathy investigations. Materials and Methods: Forty mature male rats were uninephrectomized and randomly divided into four groups as follows: group 1: the control group, group 2: diabetic without treatment, groups 3 and 4: diabetic treatment with SKEO 250 and 500 ppm in drinking water respectively. The treatment started after the induction of diabetes by alloxan. Treatment blood was sampled and the kidneys were fixed in formal saline solution after 8 weeks. Serum MDA was measured by thiobarbituric acid test. Kidney paraffin sections were prepared and stained via periodic acid Schiff (PAS) method. Mesangium volume, glomerular capillary volume and mesangial cells numbers were estimated via stereological methods. Data were analyzed via Mann Whitney U test at p<0.05. Results: Diabetes increased serum MDA, mesangium volume, mesangial cells number, and at once decreased glomerular capillary volume in comparison to control group. Treatment by SKEO ameliorated these variables when compared with group 2 (p<0.05). Conclusion: As an antioxidant agent, SKEO ameliorates diabetic mesangial expansion, glomerular capillary volume and mesangial cells numbers via inhibiting lipid peroxidation

Phytochemicals Analysis and Antioxidant Potential of Hydroalcoholic Extracts of Fresh Fruits of Pistacia atlantica and Pistacia khinjuk

Medicinal plants are known for containing potent antioxidants, primarily due to the presence of phytochemical components with diverse biological properties. In this study, we assessed the chemical constituents and antioxidant potential of Pistacia atlantica and P. khinjuk. The essential oils from P. atlantica and P. khinjuk oleoresin were obtained through hydrodistillation, and their chemical constituents were identified using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Additionally, we evaluated the total phenolic and flavonoid contents, total antioxidant activity, and free radical quenching potentials of hydroalcoholic extracts from P. atlantica and P. khinjuk. These assessments were performed using the Folin-Ciocalteu method, aluminum chloride method, phosphomolybdate test, and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) inhibition assay (Half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50 value)), respectively. The results revealed that the major phytochemical components in P. atlantica essential oil were ?-pinene, camphene, ?-pinene, D-limonene, cyclohexene, and careen. Additionally, P. khinjuk essential oil contained ?-pinene, ?-Pinene, trans-verbnol, bicyclo(3.1.1.)heptan, verbenene, camphene, D-limonene, and ?-campholenal. Furthermore, the total phenols and flavonoids content of P. atlantica were higher than those of P. khinjuk. However, the total antioxidant capacity was significantly greater in P. khinjuk than in P. atlantica. The IC50 value (DPPH assay) was also significantly higher in P. khinjuk compared to P. atlantica. Although the essential oils of both plants exhibited antioxidant effects, P. atlantica essential oils demonstrated superior antioxidant effects compared to P. khinjuk. In conclusion, the presence of abundant phytochemical components, such as monoterpenes, was observed in both the plants. These findings suggest that P. atlantica and P. khinjuk generally possess considerable antioxidant activity

Evaluation of antibacterial and antifungal activities of Pistacia atlantica and Pistacia khinjuk

Medicinal plants are renowned for their various therapeutic properties, including antibacterial and antifungal activities. This study aimed to investigate the antibacterial and antifungal activities of P. atlantica and P. khinjuk. Hydroalcoholic extracts of P. atlantica and P. khinjuk were prepared to assess their antibacterial and antifungal activities. Standard strains of Bacillus cereus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumonia, Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, Porphyromonas gingivalis, and Aspergillus flavus were utilized for the evaluation of antibacterial and antifungal activities. The inhibitory effects of the extracts on the growth of bacterial and fungal strains were evaluated using minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimal bactericidal concentration (MBC) through a 96-well microplate analysis following CLSI guidelines. Our findings revealed that the MICs and MBCs of P. atlantica and P. khinjuk for bacterial strains ranged from 0 to 64 mg/mL. Additionally, the MIC and MFC values for fungal strains ranged from 16 to 64 mg/mL. The results indicated that Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumonia were the most sensitive bacterial strains to P. atlantica. Furthermore, Aspergillus flavus was identified as the most sensitive fungal strain to P. atlantica. In conclusion, these findings suggest that P. atlantica and P. khinjuk possess antibacterial and antifungal effects. The paper argues that these plant extracts could be used as a supplementary treatment alongside conventional antibacterial and antifungal drugs

Tumor necrosis factor- α, adiponectin and their ratio in gestational diabetes mellitus

Background: It has been suggested that inflammation might be implicated in the gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) complications, including insulin resistance. The aims of the current study were to explore maternal circulating values of TNF-α, adiponectin and the adiponectin/TNF-α ratio in women with GDM compared with normal pregnancy and their relationships with metabolic syndrome biomarkers. Methods: Forty women with GDM and 40 normal pregnant women were included in the study. Commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay methods were used to measure serum levels of TNF-α and total adiponectin. Results: Women with GDM had higher values of TNF-α (225.08±27.35 vs 115.68±12.64 pg/ml, p<0.001) and lower values of adiponectin (4.50±0.38 vs 6.37±0.59 µg/ml, p=0.003) and the adiponectin/TNF-α ratio (4.31±0.05 vs 4.80±0.07, P<0.001) than normal pregnant women. The adiponectin/TNF-α ratio showed negative correlations with insulin resistance (r=-0.68, p<0.001) and triglyceride (r=-0.39, p=0.014) and a positive correlation with insulin sensitivity (r=0.69, p<0.001). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that values of the adiponectin /TNF-α ratio were independently associated with insulin resistance. Binary logistic regression analysis showed that GDM was negatively associated with adiponectin /TNF-α ratio. Conclusions: In summary, the adiponectin/TNF-α ratio decreased significantly in GDM compared with normal pregnancy. The ratio might be an informative biomarker for assessment of pregnant women at high risk of insulin resistance and dyslipidemia and for diagnosis and therapeutic monitoring aims in GDM

PREME: Preference-based Meeting Exploration through an Interactive Questionnaire

The recent increase in the volume of online meetings necessitates automated tools for managing and organizing the material, especially when an attendee has missed the discussion and needs assistance in quickly exploring it. In this work, we propose a novel end-to-end framework for generating interactive questionnaires for preference-based meeting exploration. As a result, users are supplied with a list of suggested questions reflecting their preferences. Since the task is new, we introduce an automatic evaluation strategy. Namely, it measures how much the generated questions via questionnaire are answerable to ensure factual correctness and covers the source meeting for the depth of possible exploration

The Role of Business Cycles in the Impact of Government Expenditure Components on Income Distribution (MSAR Approach)

The government expenditure in economic affairs can act as a tool for creating and sustaining development by improving income distribution. Therefore, prioritization and optimal allocation of economic expenditures of governments will be so important. In this regard, the present study has investigated the impact of government expenditure on economic sector and related sub-sectors (agriculture, industry and mining, trade, information technology, energy, housing, transportation, environment, cooperatives affairs, and water resources) on income distribution in Iran's economy during business cycles. In this study, Markov Switching Auto Regressive model (MSAR) has been used to estimate time-series data during the time period between 1973 to 2019. The result of the study indicates that economic sector and agricultural, water resources and transportation subsectors during business cycles, “housing, trade, and cooperative affairs” subsectors during the boom periods, and the environment subsector during the recession periods have reduced income inequality significantly. Also, the government expenditure in industrial, mining, and energy subsectors during business cycles and information technology subsector during the boom periods have increased income inequality significantly. Finally, the subsectors of agricultural, water, industry and mining, commerce and cooperation, transportation have been more stable in the recession regime. Meanwhile, the economic sector and subsectors of information technology, housing and development, environment and energy have been more stable in the boom regime. Therefore, the components of government expenditure on income distribution have asymmetric behavior

A Narrative Review on Nephrotic Syndrome Emphasizing its Correlation With Polymorphism of Angiotensin Converting Enzyme and Renin-Angiotensin System

Numerous meta-analyses have been shown that the nephrotic syndrome is one of the most important reasons of renal failure in children that is monies-taking for health organizations around the world. Because of the global and strategic importance of this issue we intend to investigate the different aspects of nephrotic syndrome to propose our suggestions with a multi-dimensional perspective. Present narrative review is based on scrutinizing the contents of relevant papers searched in PudMed search engine. The correlation of nephrotic syndrome with renin-angiotensin system (RAS) and involving enzymes, in particular angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE), has been investigated in different populations. Nephrotic syndrome in children is usually in two types of minimal change and focal and segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), but more of minimal change. ACE gene has 2 polymorphic alleles of deletion (D) and insertion (I). DD genotype is associated with higher production of angiotensin-II. So it seems that persons with DD genotype are more at risk of renal diseases. Through identifying and screening the involving genetic diversities we can take the prophylactic actions. It seems that early starting of steroid therapy can prevent symptoms of the disease. As well, early starting of supplement administration of vitamin A and E could be a less harmful preemptive measure. Further researches on gene therapy methods is recommended

Costs of hospital admission on primary immunodeficiency diseases

Background Primary immunodeficiency diseases (PID) are heterogeneous group of inherited disorders mainly characterized by recurrent infections leading to several times hospital admissions. The economic impact of PID is a challenging issue; therefore, this study was designed to determine the medical costs of hospitalizations in this group of patients as an indicator of the direct cost of these diseases. Methods One hundred and ten children with PID hospitalized in the Children’s Medical Center Hospital, Tehran, Iran were included in this study during Jan 2011 and Jan 2012. All direct costs during the admission period were calculated, using the hospital information system. Results Medical cost was $7.090 per patient per admission. Among them, about 1.580$ belong to drug consuming during hospitalization. Anti-infective drugs for systemic use were the most cost-consuming group of drugs, followed by alimentary tract and metabolism and blood and blood forming organs agents. Investigation of anti-infective group internally showed that immune sera and immunoglobulin and antiviral agents for systemic use consisting the most important medication for PID patients during hospital admission. Conclusion Although the results of economic evaluations in a region cannot necessarily be applied to other regions, having an overall estimation of hospital admission costs and types of drugs used during admission could be helpful in health policy system