Investigating the association of Val/Met polymorphism of the BDNF gene with the incidence of disease in patients with Alzheimer and comparison with healthy elderly people in Iran

Background: Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia in the elderly and the genetic and environmental factors interfere with its creation. The BDNF gene is responsible for producing a brain-derived neuronal factor. In this disease, the valine66methionine polymorphism and nucleotide changes of 196 (G>A) BDNF are genetic risk factors .This polymorphism has not been investigated in patients with Alzheimer's disease in Iran. This study aimed to provide appropriate information on the prognosis of the disease and the ability to get it. Materials and Methods: In this case-control study, 73 patients with Alzheimer's disease and 100 healthy controls were evaluated. Blood samples were taken from the subjects and DNA was extracted. After quantitative and qualitative DNA analysis, PCR-RFLP was performed and the results of both groups were analyzed and compared. Results: Fourteen patients and seven controls had polymorphisms of BDNF gene. Fifty-nine patients had normal allele, 8 patients with heterozygote allele and 6 patients had methionine/methionine allele. In the controls, 93 patients had normal allele, 5 with heterozygote allele and 2 had methionine/methionine allele. Conclusion: The findings of this study indicate that the increase in valine/methionine polymorphism in the BDNF gene in Alzheimer's patients compared to the control group can express the role of this polymorphism in this disease. Also, patients with this polymorphism had a worse clinical status than patients without this polymorphism. Therefore, evaluation of this polymorphism can provide appropriate information about the patient's condition

The effect of the human cumulus cells-conditioned medium on in vitro maturation of mouse oocyte: An experimental study

Background: To increase the results of infertility treatment, many efforts have been made to improve the treatment methods. As assisted reproductive technology is mainly using cell culture methods, one of the approaches to improve this technology is conditioned medium from different sources. It is desirable to apply in vitro maturation (IVM) and use oocytes from normal cycles instead of stimulating ovulation. Objective: To investigate the effect of human cumulus cell condition medium (hCCCM) on the IVM of immature mouse oocytes and morphology. Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, 240 germinal vesile oocytes were collected from four-six wk-old mice after 48 hr of 5IU pregnant mare serum gonadotropin (PMSG) injection and cultured in hCCCM (test group, n = 120) and DMEM + 20% FBS (control group, n = 120). The IVM rates and changes in perivitelline space (PVS) and shape were investigated at 8, 16, and 24 hr following the culture. The mature (MII) oocytes were subjected to in vitro fertilization (IVF) and the fertilization rate was assessed in three days. Results: A significant difference was observed between the maturation rates in the hCCCM and control groups (24.16% vs 0%; p = 0.001), as well as morphologic changes between the two groups (p = 0.04, p = 0.05). The development rate for MII oocytes attained from IVM in the hCCCM group was 27.58% (2-cell) and 6.89% (4-cell). Data displayed that hCCCM is an effective medium for oocytes maturation compared to the control medium. Conclusion: hCCCM supports oocyte in vitro growth and maturation. Moreover, hCCCM changes the oocyte shape and size of perivitelline space. Key words: Germinal vesicle, Cumulus cell, Conditioned medium, In vitro fertilization, In vitro maturation, Oocyte

The Effect of The Conditioned Medium from Human Embryonic Stem Cells on Mouse Oocytes In Vitro Maturation

Objective: Some reports have indicated that conditioned medium from growing mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs)provides a supportive condition for small follicles growing, oocyte maturation, and following embryo growth. The aim ofthis study is assessing in vitro maturation (IVM) and consequent in vitro fertilization (IVF) outcome of immature mouseoocytes using human embryonic stem cells conditioned medium (HESCM).Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, 240 germinal vesicle (GV) oocytes were took from NMRI femalemice, aged 4-6 weeks, 48 hours before injection of 5 IU pregnant mare serum gonadotropin (PMSG). 120 GV oocyteswithout cumulus cells were cultured in each of the groups. 120 GV were cultured in HESCM as test groups and also120 GV cultured in human embryonic stem cells medium (HESM) as control groups. After evaluating the metaphase II(MII) oocyte maturation rate at 8, 16 and 24 hours, the MII oocytes subsequently were fertilized in vitro and the two-cellembryo development rate was recorded at days 1, 2, and 3. Statistical analysis was performed by using the generalizedestimating equations (GEE) method that calculated their rate ratio.Results: Our data indicated there are significant differences between the maturation rates in HESCM and HESM(P=0.004), also the two-cell embryo development was significant between two culture media (P=0.00).Conclusion: Similar to some other studies, the secretome of the HESCM showed a significant impact on the IVMoutcomes in mice

Application of Hybrid Meta-Heuristic Approach to Solve Flow-Shop Scheduling Problem 1

Abstract: Flow-shop scheduling problem categorized as NP hard problem and it means development of heuristic and meta-heuristic approaches to solve it is well justified. In this paper we address a permutation flow shop scheduling problem considering the minimization of the make-span. Following that we develop a hybrid meta-heuristic algorithm for the presented problem. The proposed algorithm applied a new method for the initialization and some strong neighborhood searches. The efficiency of the algorithm is tested by numerical experiments on a large number of randomly generated problems. Comparison study demonstrates the superiority of the presented algorithm against one the recent developed method

WNT7A (rs104893832) polymorphism increases the risk of recurrent spontaneous abortion in Iranian women

BACKGROUND Recurrent spontaneous abortion is defined as the occurrence of three or more clinical miscarriages in one woman. Several factors, including genetics and environmental factors, are involved in this kind of infertility, in which WNT7A (rs104893832) polymorphism plays a major role. The aim of the present study was to determine the association between a common polymorphism of WNT7A (rs104893832) with recurrent spontaneous abortion in females. METHODS In the present case-control study, the WNT7A (rs104893832) polymorphism was investigated in 70 women with recurrent spontaneous abortion as cases and 100 women with at least one child and no history of infertility or abortion as controls. Polymerase chain reaction- restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) was used to investigate the WNT7A (rs104893832) polymorphism in both case and control groups. The data were subsequently analyzed using the chi-square and logistic regression tests by SPSS software (version 18.0). RESULTS A significant association was found between the WNT7A (rs104893832) polymorphism and recurrent spontaneous abortion (OR=25.00, 95% CI=5.52-157.09; p<0.0001). Our finding showed that G allele frequency in women with recurrent spontaneous abortion was significantly different compared to the control group. (OR=6.42, 95% CI=2.82-15.16; p<0.0001).Therefore, genetic variation in WNT7A (rs104893832) polymorphism may play a role in recurrent spontaneous abortion. Conclusion This study revealed that WNT7A (rs104893832) polymorphism increased the risk of recurrent spontaneous abortion. Knowledge of these mutations and polymorphisms can provide an insight into the prognosis for individual patients. Therefore, further studies are necessary to establish the association of WNT7A (rs104893832) polymorphism with recurrent spontaneous abortion in a larger population

Germline mutation of exon 19 of RET proto-oncogene in an Iranian population with Medullary thyroid cancer

Background: Medullary thyroid cancer (MTC), includes 5-10% of all the thyroid cancers. RET proto-oncogene mutations have been found in association with MTC development. Therefore, identification of the mutations in RET can allow early diagnosis of the families who are at the risk of the disease. The goal of this study was to investigate existence and association between mutations in exon 19 of the RET proto-oncogene in an Iranian population medullary thyroid cancer patients and their family members. Methods: This study was run in the research laboratory of Research Institute for Endocrine Research Center Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences from May, 2013 to May, 2014. In this study, 110 patients with confirmed medullary thyroid carcinoma were selected and examined. At first, the genomic DNA content of the peripheral white blood cells (WBC) of the samples were extracted using a saturated salting out and proteinase K standard method. Exon 19 of the RET proto-oncogene using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method was amplified. Then the desired PCR products formation was confirmed by electrophoresis technique for true amplification, and finally the amplified samples were used for direct sequenced for finding and assessing any possible mutations Results: In this study, two nucleotide changes at position rs2075912 (Y: T/C) and position rs2075913 (W: T/A) exon 19 RET proto-oncogene were found in the patients with medullary thyroid cancer. The frequency of both nucleotide changes were higher in men than women with medullary thyroid cancer. The frequency of the rs2075912 and rs2075913 were 11.2 and 6.3% higher in men than women. But in statistical analysis, there was no association between age, sex and the founded two mutations. Conclusion: In addition to mutations in other exons of proto-RET, mutations in exon 19 can also be used for early detection and confirmation of medullary thyroid carcinomas

The Effect of Zinc Supplementation on Expressed Levels of Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor Gamma and Glucose Transporter Type 1 Genes in Newborns of Women with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus

The current study was designed to determine the beneficial effects of zinc supplementation on expressed levels of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPAR-γ) and glucose transporter type 1 (GLUT1) genes in newborns of women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial was performed among 40 women with GDM. Patients were randomly allocated to intake either 233 mg zinc gluconate (containing 30 mg zinc) (n = 20) or a placebo (n = 20) for 6 weeks. PPAR-γ and GLUT1 mRNA levels were quantified in umbilical cord blood of newborns of women with GDM. After 6 weeks of intervention, the change in serum zinc levels was greater in women consuming zinc than in the placebo group (+11.1 ± 13.4 vs. −4.8 ± 17.3 mg/dL, P = 0.002). Quantitative results of RT-PCR demonstrated that compared with the placebo, zinc supplementation resulted in a significant increase of expressed levels of PPAR-γ mRNA (P < 0.001) and GLUT1 mRNA (P < 0.001) in umbilical cord blood of newborns of women with GDM. Taken together, the current study demonstrated that zinc supplementation for 6 weeks among GDM women increased the mRNA levels of PPAR-γ and GLUT1 in their newborns compared with the placebo group