The effect of 12 weeks regular physical activity and vitamin E in the treatment of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis: A pilot study

Background: Despite the prevalence of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) and Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH), there was no treatment has been proven to be effective in these common diseases. Although many studies have shown that lifestyle modifications such as increasing physical activities and exercise could be effective in the treatment of these common diseases, the optimal strategy was still not determined. According to the beneficial effects of antioxidant agents in the treatment of NASH, vitamin E has been used for this purpose by some clinicians. We designed this study for assessing beneficial effects of regular physical activity on the biochemical and imaging responses in patients with NASH and comparing this with vitamin E as an accepted treatment for NASH. Materials and Methods: This study was Randomized and single-blind clinical trials were carried out in Gonbad-e Kavus through which a total of 30 consecutive patients with the ultra sonographic diagnosis of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH)were enrolled and randomized to one of the three groups: Vitamin E 800 mg/day, regular physical activity, or both. Results: In all treatment groups improvement in liver transaminases level, serum lipids and ultrasonographic grading of fatty liver occurred after three months of treatment. When these decrement was compared between the treatment groups, there was no statistically significant difference in the value of improvement between the three groups (ANOVA: p>0.5). I.e. all three interventions improved the biochemical and ultrasonographic finding of fatty liver in the same way. Both groups with regular exercise had significant mean weight loss in comparison with the vitamin E group (a mean decrease of 3.0 kg in exercise group, 5.8 kg in subjects on regular exercise plus vitamin E and 0.2 kg in vitamin E group, ANOVA: p=0.04). Conclusion: There were no significant differences between exercise and vitamin E alone or in combination regarding the reduction in the level of liver enzymes and sonographic evidences of fatty liver although both resulted in significant improvements in biochemical endpoints. This implies that physical activity could be considered as effective as vitamin E in the improvement of biochemical and ultrasonographic presentations of NASH and the addition of Vitamin E does not offer any benefits. According to the findings of this pilot study a full-powered study with a control group should be designed. © 2015, Iranian Association of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. All rights reserved

The effect of 12 weeks regular physical activity and vitamin E in the treatment of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis: A pilot study

Background: Despite the prevalence of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) and Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH), there was no treatment has been proven to be effective in these common diseases. Although many studies have shown that lifestyle modifications such as increasing physical activities and exercise could be effective in the treatment of these common diseases, the optimal strategy was still not determined. According to the beneficial effects of antioxidant agents in the treatment of NASH, vitamin E has been used for this purpose by some clinicians. We designed this study for assessing beneficial effects of regular physical activity on the biochemical and imaging responses in patients with NASH and comparing this with vitamin E as an accepted treatment for NASH. Materials and Methods: This study was Randomized and single-blind clinical trials were carried out in Gonbad-e Kavus through which a total of 30 consecutive patients with the ultra sonographic diagnosis of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH)were enrolled and randomized to one of the three groups: Vitamin E 800 mg/day, regular physical activity, or both. Results: In all treatment groups improvement in liver transaminases level, serum lipids and ultrasonographic grading of fatty liver occurred after three months of treatment. When these decrement was compared between the treatment groups, there was no statistically significant difference in the value of improvement between the three groups (ANOVA: p>0.5). I.e. all three interventions improved the biochemical and ultrasonographic finding of fatty liver in the same way. Both groups with regular exercise had significant mean weight loss in comparison with the vitamin E group (a mean decrease of 3.0 kg in exercise group, 5.8 kg in subjects on regular exercise plus vitamin E and 0.2 kg in vitamin E group, ANOVA: p=0.04). Conclusion: There were no significant differences between exercise and vitamin E alone or in combination regarding the reduction in the level of liver enzymes and sonographic evidences of fatty liver although both resulted in significant improvements in biochemical endpoints. This implies that physical activity could be considered as effective as vitamin E in the improvement of biochemical and ultrasonographic presentations of NASH and the addition of Vitamin E does not offer any benefits. According to the findings of this pilot study a full-powered study with a control group should be designed. © 2015, Iranian Association of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. All rights reserved

Occurrence of Bopyridae parasite (Epipenaeon elegans) in green tiger shrimp in the Persian Gulf (Bushehr Waters)

This study was carried out to determine the infection or Penaeus semisulcatus Epipenaeon elegans in Bushehr waters in 1994. The samples were collected during the fishing season from August to September. The sampling area were stratified to 3 strata of Northern, Middle and Southern and the percentage of infection was registered for each stratum separately. Among 249 collected shrimps from the northern region (Daylam) and 107 samples from southern region (Charak-Rostami), no parasite was found. On the other hand, in the middle region (Bushehr), 541 specimen Were collected in which 5 samples showed the infection to Epipenaeon (with frequency of 0.92 percent)

Stretching An Anisotropic DNA

We present a perturbation theory to find the response of an anisotropic DNA to the external tension. It is shown that the anisotropy has a nonzero but small contribution to the force-extension curve of the DNA. Thus an anisotropic DNA behaves like an isotropic one with an effective bending constant equal to the harmonic average of its soft and hard bending constants.Comment: 29 pages and 4 figure. To appear in J. Chem. Phy

Extreme bendability of DNA double helix due to bending asymmetry

Experimental data of the DNA cyclization (J-factor) at short length scales, as a way to study the elastic behavior of tightly bent DNA, exceed the theoretical expectation based on the wormlike chain (WLC) model by several orders of magnitude. Here, we propose that asymmetric bending rigidity of the double helix in the groove direction can be responsible for extreme bendability of DNA at short length scales and it also facilitates DNA loop formation at these lengths. To account for the bending asymmetry, we consider the asymmetric elastic rod (AER) model which has been introduced and parametrized in an earlier study (B. Eslami-Mossallam and M. Ejtehadi, Phys. Rev. E 80, 011919 (2009)). Exploiting a coarse grained representation of DNA molecule at base pair (bp) level, and using the Monte Carlo simulation method in combination with the umbrella sampling technique, we calculate the loop formation probability of DNA in the AER model. We show that, for DNA molecule has a larger J-factor compared to the WLC model which is in excellent agreement with recent experimental data.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figure

Detection of human papillomavirus DNA sequences in oral lesions using polymerase chain reaction

The purpose of the present study was to estimate the frequency of HPV DNA in four groups of oral lesions, including oral squamous cell carcinoma. Sixty paraffin-embedded oral tissue samples were examined for the presence of HPV DNAs using the PCR technique. These specimens were obtained from patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), leukoplakia, oral lichen planus (OLP), and pyogenic granuloma (PG). Consensus primers for L1 region (MY09 and MY11) and specific primers were used for detection of HPV DNA sequences in this study. we detected HPV DNA in 60% (9 out of 15) of OSCCs, 26.7% (4 out of 15) of leukoplakia, 13.3% (2 out of 15) of OLPs, and 6.7% (1 out of 15) of PGs. Statistical analysis showed that the prevalence of HPV in OSCC was significantly higher than other groups (P < 0.05). The frequency of HPV-16 and 18 detection in OSCC samples were 40% and 20%, respectively. The prevalence of these high risk HPVs was significantly higher in OSCC group (P < 0.05). The results of the present study show a successive increase of detection rate of HPV-16 and 18 DNAs from low level in samples of pyogenic granuloma and non-premalignant or questionably premalignant lesions of OLP to premalignant leukoplakia and to OSCC. © 2007 Tehran University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved

Histochemical study of the oesophagus in the chukar partridge (Alectoris chukar) embryo

Study of the histogenesis of different organs is a useful laboratory method which helps us achieve accurate basic information about organ development during the embryonic period. It also reveals histological differences of each organ in different species. This research was carried out to study the histogenesis of the oesophagus of chukar partridge. For this purpose, the embryonated eggs were placed in the incubator and the embryos were collected between the 5th to 24th days of incubation period. The specimens were fixed in Bouin’s solution, and routine histotechnique processes were performed. The slides were finally stained with haematoxylin-eosin, Periodic Acid Schiff, Alcian Blue and Masson Trichrome, and the developmental changes of the oesophagus during the embryonic period were studied by light microscope. The four layers of oesophagus, including, the mucosa, submucosa, tunica muscularis and advantitia/serosa, both in cervical and thoracic oesophagus, were studied. During days 5 to 24 of incubation, developmental events in the oesophagus such as changes in the oesophageal epithelium, formation of muscularis mucosae and tunica muscularis, development of the mucous glands and the type of their secretion, were observed. Finally the results were compared with those of other studied avian species and the similarities and differences were discussed

Antioxidant Activity of the Bulb and Aerial Parts of Ornithogalum sintenisii L (Liliaceae) at Flowering Stage

Purpose: Ornithogalum sintenisii is an Iranian species with little known about its pharmacological effects. The purpose of the present study was to investigate some antioxidant properties of the plant.                    Methods: The antioxidant potency of the freeze-dried methanol extract of O. sintenisii bulbs and aerial parts were investigated by evaluating the following parameters: linoleic acid peroxidation, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl radical (DPPH), scavenging of nitric oxide and hydrogen peroxide as well as reducing power and Fe2+ chelating activity, using standard methods. Phenol and flavonoid contents were determined as gallic acid and quercetin equivalents, respectively.Results: The aerial parts contained higher phenol and flavonoid contents than the bulbs. IC50 for DPPH radical-scavenging activity was 368 ± 15 and 669 ± 25 μg ml-1 for aerial parts and bulbs, respectively. The reducing power of the extracts was less than that of vitamin C (p < 0.01) with the aerial parts showing stronger activity than the bulbs (p < 0.01). The extracts did not show any activity in the peroxidation test but displayed good H2O2 radical scavenging activity compared with quercetin (IC50= 52.0± 3.1 μg ml-1) which was used as positive control.Conclusion: The bulb and aerial parts of O. sintenisii aerial parts (at flowering stage) exhibited good but varying levels of antioxidant activities in nearly all the models studied.Keywords: Ornithogalum sintenisii ; Bulbs; Aerial parts; Antioxidant activity; Flavoniods; Phenol