Effect of intravenous Deferoxamine concomitant use with blood transfusion on serum ferritin in thalassemia major patients

Background: Subcutaneous Deferoxamineis often not tolerated by patients and its rejection leads to iron overload with its complications. So, other methods with better toleration and reduction of Deferoxamine consumption are necessary. The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of intravenous Deferoxamine infusion during blood transfusion on serum ferritin (SF) in thalassemia major patients.Methods: In a retrospective cross-sectional study, thirty four patients with β-thalassemia major treated with monthly blood transfusion at Bu-Ali hospital in Ardabil city from April 2013 to April 2014, were selected and followed for six months. The mean SF rate and the needed subcutaneous Deferoxamine rates before intervention were considered as baseline. All patients received intravenous Deferoxamine concomitant with their routine monthly blood transfusion for six months. After six months mean values for ferritin, subcutaneous Deferoxamine were compared with baseline values. Collected data were analyzed using t-test and paired t-test by SPSS, version 18.P<0.05 was considered as significant.Results: Compared with baseline, the subcutaneous Deferoxamine rate and ferritin level have been decreased significantly after intervention.Conclusions: Intravenous Deferoxamine concomitant use with routine monthly blood transfusion in thalassemia major patients can lead to decreasing of ferritin level. With this method, patient care could be improved, health care costs and complications of treatment effectively reduced

Quality of life among Ardabil patients with beta-thalassemia major

Background: Thalassemia as the most common genetic disorder worldwide is regarded as a serious problem in public health issues in the Mediterranean region. Patients with beta-thalassemia major experience physical, psychological and social problems that lead to decreased quality of life. The aim of this study was to assess health-related quality of life and its determinants among patients with major beta-thalassemia.Methods: This was a population-based cross-sectional survey of quality of life. Population with thalassemia major (aged ≥ 2 years) of both genders who had records in Thalassemia Clinic of Bu-Ali Hospital, and those who regularly refer for blood transfusion or follow-up visits. Data were collected from December 2013 to May 2014.The self-administered short form-36 (SF-36) questionnaire was used to measure quality of life in patients with thalassemia. Data were analysed using descriptive statistical tests (mean, SD, and frequency), and inferential statistical test (t-test) in SPSS.17 software.Results: Our samples were 20 men and 23 women. The median age was 20 years (2-42). After reviewing the patients' quality of life, it was observed that the mean score for physical function was 79.8, role limitations due to physical reasons 78.8, bodily pain 74.4, general health 59.1, fatigue or vitality 63.3, social function 70.21, role limitations due to psychological reasons (emotional) 77.3 and mental health 65.4. On two scales, role physical (P = 0.33) and role emotional (P = 0.13), the men showed significantly lower scores than the women.Conclusions: After reviewing the patients' quality of life, the highest quality in physical function and lowest quality in general health of patients were observed. In the quality of care data all scales were in very good level except general health.

SPR signals enhancement by gold nanorods for cell surface marker detection

Introduction: The detection of micrometer-sized particles like cells is limited by surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensors because of having a depth of evanescent wave &lt;500 nm. In this study, for the first time, we exhibited the use of streptavidin-functionalized gold nanorods (GNRs) as intensification labels for detection of cell surface markers in SPR-based biosensors. Methods: The GNRs (ʎ max: 735 nm) were modified with streptavidin using EDC/NHS coupling method and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were selected as the cell model for detecting VE-cadherin on cell surface using real-time SPR device in the 785 nm wavelength of the laser source. Results: The investigations revealed that the plasmonic field extension produced from the gold layer and GNRs resulted in multiple enhancement of SPR signals when the wavelength of laser source in SPR instrument was matched with the wavelength of maximum absorbance in GNRs. Moreover, the results showed that the growth of ∆RU value in specific and non-specific bindings for various cell number injections were produced with increasing the cell number. Conclusion: The results displayed that cell detection can be performed in real- time form without any need to a time-consuming process used in conventional methods like immunocytochemistry, flow cytometry, and western blotting

Research barriers from the viewpoint of faculty members and students of Ardabil University of Medical Sciences, Iran, 2014

Background: Due to its role in identifying educational, research, health problems and providing a solution to prevail upon the problems related to public health, the research in the Medical Sciences University has a special importance. The present research aims to determine the restraining factors of doing research from the viewpoint of professors and students of the Medical Sciences University of Ardabil; it was conducted in 2014.Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 250 individuals from between the professors (50 individuals) and students (200 individuals) of the various academic disciplines of medical sciences were selected by way of completely random sampling. The data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire containing 3 parts: demographic information, individual barriers (10 questions) and organizational and environmental barriers (25 questions) based on the binary scale (Yes or No). By using the descriptive statistics and student t-test, data were analyzed with the significance level of 0.05, in the software SPSS19.Results: In the area of organizational factors, the most important restraining factor of the research activities of students was the lack of access to information sources (73.2%) and in the area of individual factors the main obstacle was lack of domination in English (68.6%). Also, the administrative restrictive regulations (73.3%) as the most important organizational restraining factor and lack of time due to job preoccupation (68.9%) as the main individual barrier were recognized for doing research in view of professors. There is not any statistical significant difference between the view of students under study in all the influential individual barriers other than the being unimportant of research from my view and having the negative attitude towards the research works in the view of professors. Also, there is a significant difference between students’ view in all effective organizational barriers other than lack of research in the chapter heading of courses of most of fields and the professors’ view. In total the score of organizational barriers was more than that of the individual barriers.Conclusions: Organizational barriers and personal barriers have an important role in doing the research in the Medical Sciences University of Ardabil; these barriers can be passed through. The availability of consulting forces and sufficient and necessary counseling, teaching know-how and attitude correction, compensating the lack of facilities and equipment, creating the motivation by the authorities and educating and empowering as executive working procedures are recommended for overcoming the research barriers in the universities

Kinetic and thermodynamic study of beta-Boswellic acid interaction with Tau protein investigated by surface plasmon resonance and molecular modeling methods

Introduction: Beta-Boswellic acid (BBA) is a pentacyclic terpene which has been obtained from frankincense and its beneficial effects on neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD) have been addressed. Methods: In the present study, thermodynamic and kinetic aspects of BBA interaction with Tau protein as one of the important proteins involved in AD in the absence and presence of glucose has been investigated using surface plasmon resonance (SPR) method. Tau protein was immobilized onto the carboxy methyl dextran chip and its binding interactions with BBA were studied at physiological pH at various temperatures. Glucose interference with these interactions was also investigated. Results: Results showed that BBA forms a stable complex with Tau (KD=8.45×10-7 M) at 298 K. Molecular modeling analysis showed a hydrophobic interaction between BBA and HVPGGG segment of R2 and R4 repeated domains of Tau. Conclusion: The binding affinity increased by temperature enhancement, while it decreased significantly in the presence of glucose. Both association and dissociation of the BBA-Tau complex were accompanied with an entropic activation barrier; however, positive enthalpy and entropy changes revealed that hydrophobic bonding is the main force involved in the interaction

Resveratrol reduced the detrimental effects of malondialdehyde on human endothelial cells

Introduction: According to the statistics, vascular injury occurs during the onset of diabetic changes after the production of several byproducts. Many authorities have focused to find an alternative therapy for diabetic patients. In this study, we investigated the therapeutic effects of natural polyphenol like resveratrol on human endothelial cells exposed to malondialdehyde for 48 hours. Methods: Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells were randomly classified into four groups;control, malondialdehyde (2.5 mM), resveratrol (100 μM), and cells received the combined regime for 48 hours. Cell viability was determined by 3-(4, 5-dimethyl thiazol-2-yl) 2, 5-diphenyl-tetrazoliumbromide (MTT) assay. Griess reaction was performed to measure the content of Nitric oxide (NO).Apoptosis was studied by using real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and western blotting assays. Levels of receptor tyrosine kinases like VEGFR-1, -2, Tie-1, and -2 were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA). The affinity of resveratrol and malondialdehyde to serum albumin was measured by Surface Plasmon Resonance Assay. Any changes in chromatin remodeling were detected by PCR array analysis. Results: Resveratrol reduced cytotoxicity and NO content inside cells induced by malondialdehyde(MDA) (P &lt; 0.05). Endothelial cell apoptosis was decreased by the reduction of pro-apoptotic factor Bax and increase of Bcl-2 following the incubation with resveratrol (P &lt; 0.05). MDA-induced receptor tyrosine kinases increase was inhibited by resveratrol and reached near-to-normal levels (P &lt; 0.05).Surface Plasmon Resonance revealed a higher affinity of resveratrol to albumin compared to the malondialdehyde-albumin complex. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) array revealed the potency of resveratrol in chromatin remodeling following the treatment with malondialdehyde (P &lt; 0.05). Conclusion: Based on our findings, resveratrol has the potential to decrease diabetic vascular injury induced by lipid byproducts such as MDA

Immuno-biosensor for Detection of CD20-Positive Cells Using Surface Plasmon Resonance

Purpose: Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensing confers a real-time assessment of molecular interactions between biomolecules and their ligands. This approach is highly sensitive and reproducible and could be employed to confirm the successful binding of drugs to cell surface targets. The specific affinity of monoclonal antibodies (MAb) for their target antigens is being utilized for development of immuno-sensors and therapeutic agents. CD20 is a surface protein of B lymphocytes which has been widely employed for immuno-targeting of B-cell related disorders. In the present study, binding ability of an anti-CD20 MAb to surface antigens of intact target cells was investigated by SPR technique. Methods: Two distinct strategies were used for immobilization of the anti-CD20 MAb onto gold (Au) chips. MUA (11-mercaptoundecanoic acid) and Staphylococcus aureus protein A (SpA) were the two systems used for this purpose. A suspension of CD20-positive Raji cells was injected in the analyte phase and the resulting interactions were analyzed and compared to those of MOLT-4 cell line as CD20-negative control. Results: Efficient binding of anti-CD20 MAb to the surface antigens of Raji cell line was confirmed by both immobilizing methods, whereas this MAb had not a noticeable affinity to the MOLT-4 cells. Conclusion: According to the outcomes, the investigated MAb had acceptable affinity and specificity to the target antigens on the cell surface and could be utilized for immuno-detection of CD20-positive intact cells by SPR method