The role of BK potassium channels in analgesia produced by alpha-2 adrenergic receptors

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Millions of people suffer from pain worldwide, and annually, great economic costs are imposed on societies for pain relief. Analgesics such as alpha-2 adrenergic receptor agonists, which have low risk of complications, can be effective in assuaging pain and reducing costs. According to former studies, potassium channels play an important role in the analgesic mechanism of these receptors. This study aimed to determine the role of BK potassium channels in analgesia induced by alpha-2 adrenergic receptors. METHODS: This study was performed on 56 male Wistar rats weighing 250-300 g that were divided into seven groups of eight rats. We administered 0. 7 mg/kg intraperitoneal (IP) injection of clonidine, 1 mg/kg IP injection of yohimbine, and 5 mg/kg intracerebroventricular (ICV) injection of yohimbine. Iberiotoxin at a dose of 100 nm was also injected ICV. Normal saline and DMSO were applied as solvents. Pain severity was evaluated using formalin test at a concentration of 2%. FINDINGS: The chronic pain induced by formalin injection was relieved by IP injection of 0. 7 mg/kg clonidine. Moreover, 5 μg/kg and 1 μg/kg ICV administration of yohimbine with mean chronic pain scores of 2. 29±0. 13 and 2. 09±0. 07, respectively, could significantly inhibit analgesic effect of clonidine with mean chronic pain score of 1. 55±0. 14 (p<0. 001). ICV injection of iberiotoxin with mean chronic pain score of 2. 33±0. 16 at a dose of 100 nm significantly diminished analgesic effects of clonidine. CONCLUSION: Alpha-2 adrenergic receptor agonists could induce analgesia in the animals, and the antagonist of this receptor inhibited the analgesic effect of agonists of these receptors. BK channel inhibition prevented analgesic effect of adrenergic receptor agonists, as well. © 2016, Babol University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved

Editorial Preface. Transit-Oriented Development in Iran: Challenges and Solutions

Editorial

A Longitudinal Analysis of Densities within the Pedestrian Sheds around Metro Stations. The Case of Tehran

Evaluation of spatial accessibility to public transportation has a weak background in many emerging countries, including Iran. Transit-Oriented Development is of great interest among Iranian planners and academics, but little is known about transit orientation provided by major public transport systems exemplified by the Tehran Metro. Statistical difference tests and polynomial regression done in this study show how residential densities within walking distances of metro stations established at different times after 1998 are significantly different. Both population and employment densities have decreased in more recent stations compared to those opened between 2005 and 2010. Moreover, one-way T-Tests comparing the population and densities of older lines with those of newer lines reveal that, in most cases, densities within walking distances of stations of older lines are higher. The paper concludes that lack of proper site selection and failing to locate new stations near job centers and highly populated areas threatens the transit-friendliness that emerged in the early years after establishing the first metro station in 1998

Longitudinal correlations of car ownership with socio-economics, urban form, and transport infrastructure in Latin America: Example from Ensenada, Mexico

Car-orientated modal splits represent problems for the city in economic, environmental and social terms. The implementation of policies and other measures can fail if the causes are not well recognized. Mid-sized cities in Mexico are not well-represented in studies where only the capital and other bigger cities are studied. This research aims to recognize those causes focusing on northern mid-sized cities in Mexico. The approach involves numerical work (linear regression) complemented with a descriptive analysis of the city. The analysis takes on such areas of consideration as socio-economic factors, land-use variables and the street network of the city. Of the 16 variables, almost all presented a relationship with car ownership levels, but not all behaved as expected. The final part of the research is a reaction to the previous studies and recommendations to change the city from car-orientated to one with a sustainable modal split

An Analysis of Car Ownership in Latin American Cities: a Perspective for Future Research

Car dependence must be avoided to achieve sustainable transportation; the diversity of studies available give a better perspective of the situation and how to tackle it. The reasons behind the increasing car use are still unknown in some regions such as Latin America. The gaps in the current literature are not just for location; some topics and methods are also unnecessarily predominant in the related studies. This research does a review of current literature for mobility in Latin America region with a special focus on car dependence. The aim is to detect gaps on the knowledge to further give recommendations on what should be studied. The results show the lack of numerical approaches to solidly taken case studies, especially in some countries of the region such as Central America and some of the states of South America. Disaggregate car ownership models are highly necessary for clarification of the region’s behavioral aspects of car ownership such as personal and household preferences and lifestyles

Earthquake risk in urban street network : an example from region 6 of Tehran, Iran

Dieser Beitrag ist mit Zustimmung des Rechteinhabers aufgrund einer (DFG geförderten) Allianz- bzw. Nationallizenz frei zugänglich.This publication is with permission of the rights owner freely accessible due to an Alliance licence and a national licence (funded by the DFG, German Research Foundation) respectively.Purpose – Zone 6 of Tehran, with a populations of 220,000 people (3.6 per cent of the city population) and 20 km2 area (3 per cent of the city area), is one of the main municipal zones of Tehran. Major land-uses, like ministries, embassies, universities, general hospitals and medical centers, big financial firms, and so on, manifest the high importance of this region on a local and national scale. Thus, it is necessary to pay close attention to issues concerning crisis management in this area. Design/methodology/approach – In this paper, by using indexes such as access to medical centers, street inclusion, building and population density, land-use, peak ground acceleration and building quality, vulnerability degree of street networks in zone 6 against the earthquake is calculated through overlaying maps and data in combination with inversion hierarchical weight process method and geographic information systems. Findings – This article concludes that buildings alongside the streets with high population and building density, low building quality, far to rescue centers and high level of inclusion represent high rate of vulnerability, compared with other buildings. Also, by moving from north to south of the zone, the vulnerability increases. Likewise, highways and streets with substantial width and low building and population density hold little values of vulnerability. Thus, streets with high level of inclusion, building and population density present further vulnerability. Originality/value – It is expected that the results of this paper be used by the urban decision-makers. Due to high vulnerability of most parts of the urban textures of Tehran, similar researches will have importance for preparation for the future possible earthquakes

Socio-demographic and built environment determinants of car use among older adults in Iran

Internationally, an age-friendly built environment, including safe, affordable, and convenient transportation, has been identified as crucial in enhancing the quality of life for increasingly large numbers of elderly people. This study presents data on the urban travel and mobility patterns of older adults in Shiraz, Iran – a country where the population is ageing faster than the average of western societies. The relationship between car use and socio-demographic and built environment variables is investigated through Ordinary Least Squares and Geographically Weighted Regression models. These models show that the main determinants of car use among older adults are: employment status; household size; car ownership rate; trip purpose; property prices; and mixed land-uses. Also, the study reveals that car dependency is significant and more pronounced among wealthier individuals, who tend to be clustered in the northern section of the city. The population density and road network design characteristics do not affect car use among older adults, while a mix of land-uses tends to attenuate car dependency. Gender gaps in car use are much wider than in the West, and some level of spatial mismatch between travel needs and car access is observed in the southern section of the city. Clearly, Iranian cities must move away from the current car-centric development model

Multimodal accessibility to primary health services for the elderly : a case study of Naples, Italy

Abstract: Please refer to full text to view abstract

Clinical and Molecular Study of NPC in Iran: Report of 5 Novel Mutations

How to Cite This Article: Tonekaboni SH, Aryani O, Karimzadeh P, Zaman T, Ashrafi M, Salehpour Sh, Dehghan Manshadi M, Khalili E, Houshmand M. Clinical and Molecular Study of NPC in Iran: Report of 5 Novel Mutations. Ir an J Child Neurol. 2015 Autumn;9:4(Suppl.1): 8-9.Pls see pdf

Efficient and simple production of insulin-producing cells from embryonal carcinoma stem cells using mouse neonate pancreas extract, as a natural inducer

An attractive approach to replace the destroyed insulin-producing cells (IPCs) is the generation of functional β cells from stem cells. Embryonal carcinoma (EC) stem cells are pluripotent cells which can differentiate into all cell types. The present study was carried out to establish a simple nonselective inductive culture system for generation of IPCs from P19 EC cells by 1–2 weeks old mouse pancreas extract (MPE). Since, mouse pancreatic islets undergo further remodeling and maturation for 2–3 weeks after birth, we hypothesized that the mouse neonatal MPE contains essential factors to induce in vitro differentiation of pancreatic lineages. Pluripotency of P19 cells were first confirmed by expression analysis of stem cell markers, Oct3/4, Sox-2 and Nanog. In order to induce differentiation, the cells were cultured in a medium supplemented by different concentrations of MPE (50, 100, 200 and 300 µg/ml). The results showed that P19 cells could differentiate into IPCs and form dithizone-positive cell clusters. The generated P19-derived IPCs were immunoreactive to proinsulin, insulin and insulin receptor beta. The expression of pancreatic β cell genes including, PDX-1, INS1 and INS2 were also confirmed. The peak response at the 100 µg/ml MPE used for investigation of EP300 and CREB1 gene expression. When stimulated with glucose, these cells synthesized and secreted insulin. Network analysis of the key transcription factors (PDX-1, EP300, CREB1) during the generation of IPCs resulted in introduction of novel regulatory candidates such as MIR17, and VEZF1 transcription factors, as well as MORN1, DKFZp761P0212, and WAC proteins. Altogether, we demonstrated the possibility of generating IPCs from undifferentiated EC cells, with the characteristics of pancreatic β cells. The derivation of pancreatic cells from EC cells which are ES cell siblings would provide a valuable experimental tool in study of pancreatic development and function as well as rapid production of IPCs for transplantation.Marzieh Ebrahimie, Fariba Esmaeili, Somayeh Cheraghi, Fariba Houshmand, Leila Shabani, Esmaeil Ebrahimi