Anti-angiogenesis effect of <em>crocous sativus </em>L. extract on matrix metalloproteinase gene activities in human breast carcinoma cells

Introduction: There is an interest in Crocous sativus L. (Saffron) mainly because of its biological properties. Biomedical research has focused on saffron as a powerful antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor, but its mechanism has not yet been thoroughly clarified. In this study, the effects of saffron aqua extract on matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) gene expression were investigated. Methods: In this experimental study, the saffron was extracted using water as solvent. MCF-7 cells in RPMI1640 medium were supplemented with 10 FBS and incubated at 37 ˚C with 5 CO2. After 24 h, the cells were treated by saffron extract at concentrations of 100, 200, 400 and 800 &mu;g/ml. 48 h after treatment, total RNA was extracted and cDNA was synthesized using specific primer. Synthesized products were analyzed by Real Time PCR to determine expression level of MMP. Results: Data analysis showed inhibitory effect of saffron at concentrations of 100 to 800 &mu;g/ml on MMP gene expression in comparison with control group. Reduction for 100, 200, 400 and 800 &mu;g/ml were 5, 18, 15, 11, respectively. According to data analysis treating MCF-7 cells with saffron at concentration of 200 &mu;g/ml caused the highest decrease, with 18 reduction in gene expression (P&lt;0.001). Conclusion: Results indicate decrease in the expression of MMP compared with controls revealing induction of inhibitory effects of saffron on angiogenesis which might be also considered as a promising chemotherapeutic agent in breast cancer treatment.</p

Synergistic effect of pulsed electromagnetic fields and saffron extract on osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells

Introduction: Pulsed electromagnetic fields (PEMFs) are usually used to treat non-union fractures. Saffron is a medicinal plant with various pharmacologic effects. In the present study, the synergistic effect of PEMF and saffron aqueous extract on osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) was evaluatedMethods: BMSCs were isolated from rat femur. After purification, the cells were divided into four groups including control group (did not receive any treatment), saffron alone (800 &mu;g/mL), PEMF alone (50 Hz, 3 times a weak, 2 hours for every time, for 2 weeks), and saffron plus PEMF. Cytotoxicity was measured using MTT assay. After calculating the IC50 value for saffron extract (1.5 mg/mL), a lower concentration (800 &mu;g/mL) was combined with PEMF. The differentiation of each cell group was evaluated using alkaline phosphatase (ALP) enzyme activity, alizarin red staining and reverse transcribed polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method.Results: Saffron aqueous extract decreased dose-dependently the cell viability but the PEMF had not any significant effects on cell viability. The PEMF, saffron extract and their combination increased the ALP activity on day 10 but the increase was significant in synergist group. Alizarin red staining showed that mineralization groups were higher at day 14. RT-PCR results demonstrated that on the day 14 the group treated with both PEMF and saffron expressed osteogenic genes.Conclusion: Saffron extract combined with PEMFs could promote osteogenesis at the initial stage (the commitment of undifferentiated mesenchymal stem cells into osteoblast), hence, its usage might be beneficial in these patient

Comparing the influence of relaxation training and consumption of valerian on insomnia of menopause women: A randomized clinical trial

Background: Sleep disturbance is one of the symptoms of menopause, which occurs due to a decrease in sex hormones and dramatically affects the quality of life. This study was designed to compare the effects of relaxation and Valerian on insomnia of menopause women.Methods: The study was a randomized clinical trial in 129 menopausal women with insomnia that were randomly allocated to three groups valerian, relaxation and control. After 1 month information obtained by demographic questionnaire and sleep quality Petersburg, then data analyzed in the software SPSS20 at a significance level of 0.05.Results: The results showed there was significant difference in the level of education , age of marriage(p&lt;0.05 ).Comparing average scores before and after treatment of sleep disorders were determined in valerian and relaxation group was significant difference (p &lt;0.001) and in the control group no correlation was found (p &gt;0.05).Conclusion: This study showed that the herb valerian and relaxation techniques effective for menopausal insomnia and helps to increase the quality of their sleep.Key words: relaxation, valerian, insomnia, menopause

Program Evaluation of the New English Textbook (Prospect 1) in the Iranian Ministry of Education

This study aimed at conducting a program evaluation of the newly developed textbook (Prospect 1) in the Iranian Ministry of education by applying the CIPP (context, input, process, and product) program evaluation model. To this end, the study was done in two different phases: in phase I, context, input, and process evaluation of the new textbook were conducted and the participants were 4 members of the textbook development team. In phase II, product evaluation of the new textbook was done and the participants were 30 junior high school teachers. For both phases of the study, a qualitative research method was adopted using interviews. The interviews were then analyzed using content analysis. The results of phase I indicated that there were some challenges with the textbook development project such as lack of suitable infrastructure, lack of enough budgets, and lack of necessary human and physical resources. The findings of the phase II showed that there were some pitfalls with the new English textbook such as using an unsuitable method of literacy instruction; over-localizing the content; complete abandoning of grammatical structures; and setting unrealistic objectives considering the time and resources constraints

Anti-angiogenesis effect of crocous sativus L. extract on matrix metalloproteinase gene activities in human breast carcinoma cells

Introduction: There is an interest in Crocous sativus L. (Saffron) mainly because of its biological properties. Biomedical research has focused on saffron as a powerful antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor, but its mechanism has not yet been thoroughly clarified. In this study, the effects of saffron aqua extract on matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) gene expression were investigated. Methods: In this experimental study, the saffron was extracted using water as solvent. MCF-7 cells in RPMI1640 medium were supplemented with 10% FBS and incubated at 37 ˚C with 5% CO2. After 24 h, the cells were treated by saffron extract at concentrations of 100, 200, 400 and 800 μg/ml. 48 h after treatment, total RNA was extracted and cDNA was synthesized using specific primer. Synthesized products were analyzed by Real Time PCR to determine expression level of MMP. Results: Data analysis showed inhibitory effect of saffron at concentrations of 100 to 800 μg/ml on MMP gene expression in comparison with control group. Reduction for 100, 200, 400 and 800 μg/ml were 5%, 18%, 15%, 11%, respectively. According to data analysis treating MCF-7 cells with saffron at concentration of 200 μg/ml caused the highest decrease, with 18% reduction in gene expression (P<0.001). Conclusion: Results indicate decrease in the expression of MMP compared with controls revealing induction of inhibitory effects of saffron on angiogenesis which might be also considered as a promising chemotherapeutic agent in breast cancer treatment

COMPARING THE INFLUENCE OF RELAXATION TRAINING AND CONSUMPTION OF VALERIAN ON INSOMNIA OF MENOPAUSEWOMEN: A RANDOMIZED CLINICAL TRIAL

Background: Sleep disturbance is one of the symptoms of menopause, which occurs due to a decrease in sex hormones and dramatically affects the quality of life. This study was designed to compare the effects of relaxation and Valerian on insomnia of menopause women. Methods: The study was a randomized clinical trial in 129 menopausal women with insomnia that were randomly allocated to three groups valerian, relaxation and control. After 1 month information obtained by demographic questionnaire and sleep quality Petersburg, then data analyzed in the software SPSS20 at a significance level of 0.05. Results: The results showed there was significant difference in the level of education , age of marriage(

Contributions of Iranian Journal of Medical Sciences (IJMS) during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Since late 2019, the world and since early 2020, Iran has been experiencing a catastrophic pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2).1 This fatal virus has a high potential for person-to-person transmission; therefore, this deadly outbreak has caused massive job losses, various psychiatric problems, and increasing difficulties for all businesses worldwide.2-5 Production of scientific data and its timely dissemination are the essential elements of an effective response to any crisis including the current pandemic. The current study aimed to determine the early contributions of the Iranian Journal of Medical Sciences (IJMS) during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. We retrieved all the IJMS publications in 2020 and divided the published articles into three main categories: clinical sciences, basic sciences, and editorials. We also identified and highlighted the studies related to COVID-19

Protocol Adherence in Prehospital Medical Care Provided for Patients with Chest Pain and Loss of Consciousness; a Brief Report

Introduction: Although many protocols are available in the field of the prehospital medical care (PMC), there is still a notable gap between protocol based directions and applied clinical practice. This study measures the rate of protocol adherence in PMC provided for patients with chest pain and loss of consciousness (LOC).Method: In this cross-sectional study, 10 educated research assistants audited the situation of provided PMC for non-traumatic chest pain and LOC patients, presenting to the emergency department of a tertiary level teaching hospital, compare to national recommendations in these regards.Results: 101 cases with the mean age of 56.7 ± 12.3 years (30-78) were audited (55.4% male). 61 (60.3%) patients had chest pain and 40 (39.7%) cases had LOC. Protocol adherence rates for cardiac monitoring (62.3%), O2 therapy (32.8%), nitroglycerin administration (60.7%), and aspirin administration (52.5%) in prehospital care of patients with chest pain were fair to poor. Protocol adherence rates for correct patient positioning (25%), O2 therapy (75%), cardiac monitoring (25%), pupils examination (25%), bedside glucometery (50%), and assessing for naloxone administration (55%) in prehospital care of patients with LOC were fair to poor.Conclusion: There were more than 20% protocol violation regarding prehospital care of chest pain patients regarding cardiac monitoring, O2 therapy, and nitroglycerin and aspirin administration. There were same situation regarding O2 therapy, positioning, cardiac monitoring, pupils examination, bedside glucometery, and assessing for naloxone administration of LOC patients in prehospital setting

Designing and validating an adaptation questionnaire among the husbands of Iranian Muslim women with breast cancer

BackgroundBreast cancer is the most common cancer among women and is the second leading cause of cancer death. This disease affects all aspects of the patient's life and family, especially the patient's spouse, which confirms the need to adapt to these changes. The common instruments used for the investigation of adaptation among husbands of women with breast cancer are mainly outdated, one-dimensional, or non-concordant with the Iranian culture. Therefore, the present study aimed to design and validate an adaptation scale among the husbands of Iranian Muslim women suffering from breast cancer.MethodsThis exploratory sequential mixed study was conducted in two qualitative and quantitative stages. In the qualitative stage, semi-structured interviews were performed with 21 participants. Then, items were developed through content analysis using the approach proposed by Elo and Kyngas on the basis of Roy's adaptation model. In the quantitative stage, the extracted items were reduced and psychometric properties such as face, content, and construct validity as well as reliability were explored. To investigate the construct validity, a cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted on 300 husbands of women with breast cancer selected via cluster sampling.ResultsThe initial questionnaire contained 79 items. After the assessment of face and content validity, 59 items were evaluated regarding construct validity using exploratory factor analysis. At this stage, six adaptation dimensions were observed among the women's husbands, with the variance of 51.71. The Cronbach's alpha and correlation coefficient of the questionnaire were 0.912 and 0.701, respectively.ConclusionThe developed 51-item adaptation scale had an appropriate validity and reliability and could be used for the assessment of adaptation in the target group

Potential Molecular Mechanisms of Bisphenol A in Obesity Development

Bisphenol A (BPA), an endocrine disruptor, is associated with metabolic disorders. However, several studies have suggested that exposure to BPA can cause obesity. It has recently got more attention from scientists as a risk factor for obesity due to its ability to mimic natural estrogens and bind to their receptors. Nonetheless, the molecular mechanism underpinning the environmental etiology of metabolic disorders has not been not fully clarified. In this regard, BPA exposure directly disrupts endocrine regulation, neuroimmune and signaling pathways, and gut microbes, resulting in obesity. In addition, epidemiological studies have revealed a significant relationship between BPA exposure and the development of obesity, although conflicting results have been reported. Therefore, this review summarized the possible role and molecular mechanisms associated with BPA exposure that may lead to obesity based on in vivo and in vivo studies