Maternal aerobic running during mid or late gestation improves the quality of oogenesis and folliculogenesis in the ovary of neonatal rats: An experimental study

Background: Regular maternal exercise in pregnancy enhances the physiological, metabolic, and psychological health of mother and fetus. Objective: To determine the effect of maternal aerobic running during mid or late gestation on plasma levels of estrogen and progesterone and the histological alterations in the ovary of neonatal rats. Materials and Methods: Twenty-one female Wistar rats were randomly divided into experimental groups to exercises during the 2nd or 3rd wk of pregnancy (n = 14) and a control group (n = 7). After birth, the neonate’s blood was obtained and the estrogen and progesterone levels were evaluated. The ovaries were then removed and used for histological investigations and apoptic assessment. Results: Higher concentrations of estrogen and progesterone were found in the neonates of the experimental groups (p = 0.001) compared to the control group. The experimental groups had a large ovarian diameter (2nd wk: p = 0.044; 3rd wk: p = 0.005) and angiogenesis (2nd wk: p = 0.003; 3rd wk: p = 0.001). In addition, significant enhancements were seen in the the experimental groups in terms of the number (2nd wk: p = 0.017; p = 0.035) and diameter (2nd wk: p = 0.046; 3rd wk: p = 0.004) of primordial follicles, as well as in the diameter of primary oocytes (2nd wk: p = 0.073; 3rd wk: p = 0.019) compared to the control group. Moreover, rats that exercised had a lower number of apoptotic primordial follicles than the control group (2nd wk: p = 0.001; 3rd wk: p = 0.001). Conclusion: It was shown that maternal aerobic running can lead to increased plasma levels of estrogen and progesterone, also improved histological characteristics of the ovary in neonatal rats. Key words: Apoptosis, Exercise, Neonatal, Oogenesis, Ovary, Rat

The effects of propolis extract on ovarian tissue and oxidative stress in rats with maternal separation stress

Abstract Background: Stress in infancy has dramatic effects on different systems, including the nervous system, endocrine, immune, reproductive and etc. Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of extract of Iranian propolis (EIP) on ovarian tissue and oxidative stress in rats with maternal separation stress. Materials and Methods: 48 immature female rats were divided randomly into six groups. 1) Control group, 2) Control group+saline, 3) Stress group, includes infants that were separated from their mothers 6 hr/day, the 4th, 5th and 6th groups consisted of infants who in addition to daily stress received 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg of EIP, respectively. Then serum corticosterone, 17-beta-estradiol, malondialdehyde, total superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase and ferric reducing antioxidant power levels were measured. The ovarian sections were stained by H&E, PAS, and TUNEL methods and were studied with optical microscopy. Results: Stress increased the blood serum corticosterone levels and 17-beta-estradiol reduced significantly (p<0.001) and EIP prevented from this changes (p<0.01). EIP significantly increased the number of ovarian follicles, oocytes and oocytes diameter in neonatal rat following stress (p<0.01). EIP also significantly decreased the number of atretic follicles, TUNEL+granulosa cells, malondialdehyde levels and increased ferric reducing antioxidant power, total superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase serum levels in neonatal rats following stress. The dose of 200 mg/kg EIP was more effective. Conclusion: This Study showed that the Iranian Propolis significantly could prevent oxidative stress and histopathological changes in the ovary of the neonatal rat the following stress

Neurosphere-Free Transdifferentiation of Rat Bone Marrow Stromal Stem Cells Into Retinal Cells and Retinal Pigment Epithelium

Introduction: Neurosphere-free transdifferentiation of bone marrow stem cells into Retinal Pigment Epithelium (RPE) and Retinal Cells (RCs) in vitro could offer an exceptional opportunity to study cell replacement in degenerative eye diseases. Thus, a simple and efficient protocol for retinal cells production from transdifferentiation of rat BMSCs in the neurosphere-free state is reported.  Methods: Extracted BMSCs from hooded pigment rats were exposed to a single-step protocol, including neurosphere-free, containing a cocktail medium that induced transdifferentiation into Retinal Pigment Epithelium (RPE) and retinal cells.  Results: The results showed morphological differentiation changes in vitro. Also, the expressed retinal pigment epithelium and retinal cell markers, such as retinal orthodenticle homeobox 2 (23.45%), retinal pigment epithelium protein 65 (91.54%), cellular retinaldehyde-binding protein (91.21%), vascular endothelial growth factor (94.79%), rhodopsin (57.19%), glial fibrillary acidic protein (28.33%), and neurofilament 200 (24.55%).  Conclusion: Overall, these findings showed that a protocol without using basic fibroblast growth factor, epidermal growth factor, and B-27 supplements could generate RPE and retinal cells in vitro

Protective effects of vitamin E on cyclosporineA-induced toxicity in rat testis

Introduction: Cyclosporine A (CsA) as an immunosuppressive drug which widely used in organ transplantation and autoimmune diseases. This drug is caused many injuries and cell cytotoxic of the body organs such as reproductive organs. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible protective effects of vitamin E (Vit E) against CsA-induced damages in rat testis. Material and Methods: 40 adult male wistar rats were divided into 5 groups: control (without any intervention), placebo (received only pure olive oil), test 1 (CsA+olive oil, 30 mg/kg), test 2 (Vit E, 100 mg/kg) and test 3 (CsA+Vit E, with the same dose). All animal received drugs for three weeks daily by oral gavages. Following, the testis were fixed and sections stained with Haematoxylin & Eosin and Trichrome Masson. Then with using a microscope equipped with a scaled ocular micrometer and image analysis software were histomorphometry. Results: This study showed that CsA caused severe degenerative changes in testicular tissue include decreased seminiferous tubules diameter, seminiferous epithelium thickness. Also, the number of spermatogonia, primary spermatocyte, spermatozoa, and sertoli and leydig cells significantly decreased throughout the experiment. These changes are lead to turbulence and atrophy seminiferous epithelium and delay in spermatogenesis. Treatment with vitamin E minimized the adverse effects of CsA on testis structure and spermatogenesis. Conclusion: These results suggest that vitamin E has a protective effect against CsA-induced testicular toxicity in male rat

G-CSF for mobilizing transplanted bone marrow stem cells in rat model of Parkinson's disease

Objective(s): Granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) is used in clinical practice for the treatment of neutropenia and to stimulate generation of hematopoietic stem cells in bone marrow donors. In the present study, the ability of G-CSF in mobilizing exogenous bone marrow stem cells (BMSCs) from peripheral blood into the brain was tested. We for the first time injected a small amount of BMSCs through the tail vein. Materials and Methods: We choose 25 male Wistar rats (200–250 g) were lesioned by 6-OHDA injected into the left substantia nigra, pars compacta (SNpc). G-CSF (70 µg/kg/day) was given from the 7th day after lesion for five days. The BMSCs (2×105) were injected through the dorsal tail vein on the 7th day after lesion. Results:The number of rotations was significantly lower in the stem cell therapy group than in the control group. In the third test in the received G-CSF and G-CSF+stem cells groups, animals displayed significant behavioral recovery compared with the control group (

Interactive Effects of Exercise, Sex Hormones, and Transient Congenital Hypothyroidism on Long-Term Potentiation in Hippocampal Slices of Rat Offspring

Introduction: The long-term adverse effects of transient thyroid function abnormalities at birth on intellectual development are proven. The effect of exercise increases in the presence of sex hormones. The current study aimed at investigating the possibility that a combination of sex hormones and exercise has synergistic effects on neural plasticity in Transient Congenital Hypothyroidism (TCH) rats.  Methods: To induce hypothyroidism in the mothers, Propylthiouracil (PTU) was added to drinking water (100 mg/L) on the 6th day of gestation and continued until the 21st Postnatal Day. From Postnatal Day (PND) 28 to 47, the female and male pups received 17β-estradiol and testosterone, respectively. The mild treadmill exercise began 30 minutes after the sex hormones or vehicle administration. On PND 48, electrophysiological experiments were performed on brain slices.  Results: Increase of Long-Term Potentiation (LTP) was observed in sedentary-non-hormone female rats of TCH group, compared with that of the control. The exercise enhanced LTP in control rats, but the hormones showed no significant effect. The effect of exercise and sex hormone was not significant in the TCH group. The combination of exercise and testosterone enhanced LTP in TCH male rats, while the combination of exercise and estradiol or each of them individually did not produce such an effect on LTP in TCH female rats.  Conclusion: The study findings showed an increase in excitatory transmission despite the returning of thyroid hormone levels to normal range in TCH female rats. Also a combination treatment including exercise and testosterone enhanced LTP in male rats of TCH group, which was a gender-specific event