Selegiline acts as neuroprotective agent against methamphetamine-prompted mood and cognitive related behavior and neurotoxicity in rats: Involvement of CREB/BDNF and Akt/GSK3 signal pathways

Objective(s): Present study investigated the neuroprotective effects of selegiline and the molecular mechanisms involved in methamphetamine-induced neurotoxicity. Materials and Methods: Male wistar rats were randomly divided into six groups (10 rats in each group). Group 1 and group 2 received normal saline and methamphetamine (10 mg/kg), respectively. Groups 3, 4, 5 and 6 were treated simultaneously with methamphetamine and selegiline. From day 22 to day 28, forced swim test, elevated plus maze, and open field test were conducted to assess mood (anxiety and depression) levels, and from day 17 to day 21, Morris Water Maze was conducted for cognition assessment. On day 29, hippocampus of the animals were isolated and evaluated by ELISA method for oxidative, antioxidant, and inflammatory factors and expression levels of active (total) and inactive (phosphorylated) forms of cyclic AMP response element binding protein (CREB), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), Akt (Protein Kinase B) and glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK3) proteins. Results: Selegiline reduced behavioral impacts caused by methamphetamine in all doses. Methamphetamine administration may improve malondialdehyde, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-1 beta and GSK3 (both forms). Moreover, methamphetamine reduced the activity of superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase, amount of BDNF, CREB and Akt (both forms). Conclusion: Current research showed that selegiline can protect the brain from methamphetamine-prompted neurodegeneration, and this could be intervened by CREB-BDNF or Akt-GSK3 signaling pathways. © 2020 Mashhad University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved

Entleerungsdruecke in Massenfluss-Silos - Einfluesse der Geometrie und Randbedingungen

Available from TIB Hannover: RO 6928(37) / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEDEGerman

Anti-Müllerian hormone as a predictor of IVF treatment

Background: Anti-Müllerian Hormone (AMH) is secreted from granulosa cells of growing follicles and is a useful marker of ovarian reserve. Fertility in women is determined by the quality and quantity of follicle pool and ovarian follicular reserve positively correlates with AMH. In this study we aimed to determine if AMH can predict ovarian response in IVF treatments.Methods: In this retrospective observational study undertaken in Mehr Institute during 2010 to 2011, we studied the medical records of 101 patients and recorded the concentrations of AMH, day two or three FSH, LH, basal estradiol (E2), E2 on day of HCG administration and the number of metaphase II oocytes. Having undergone ovarian hyperstimulation, the women were divided into three groups: poor responders (retrieved oocytes ?3), normal responders (retrieved oocytes 4 to 15) and high responders (retrieved oocytes ?16).Results: Overall, 20% of patients were defined as poor responders, 71% as average responders and 10% as high responders. There were significant differences in the concentration of AMH, E2 on day of HCG administration, FSH, the number of metaphase II oocytes and age between the three groups. MII oocyte count correlated positively with AMH (r=0.487), basal E2 (r=0.275) and LH (r=0.07) but it did negatively with FSH (r=-0.26) and age (r=-0.04). The areas under curve for AMH, FSH, LH, E2 and age were 0.799, 0.32, 0.429, 0.558 and 0.304, respectively. We determined the 0.85 ng/ml AMH concentration as the cut-off point with 71% specificity and 79% sensitivity for the prediction of poor responders.  Conclusion: anti-müllerian hormone is an appropriate predicator of ovarian response following induction of ovulation

The Effect of Seasonality on Reproductive Outcome of Patients Undergoing Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study

Background: There is conflicting evidence regarding the impact of season on the assisted reproductive technology outcome. Objective: To retrospectively compare three year outcome of women undergoing their first intracytoplasmic sperm injection cycle, across seasons. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 3,670 women who underwent their first intracytoplasmic sperm injection cycle in Mehr Medical Institute, Rasht, Iran between April 2010 and May 2014 were studied. Women were divided into four groups according to the day of oocyte retrival as: spring (n = 808), summer (n = 994), autumn (n = 1066), and winter (n = 802). Basal and stimulation charecteristics were compared among groups. Results: While sperm concentration and motility were significantly lower during summer, the total number of retrieved and metaphase II oocytes were significantly higher (p = 0.0001, p = 0.0001, p = 0.004, p = 0.02, respectively). Fertilization rate were significantly higher during autumn (p = 0.0001). Also, the number of high- quality transferred embryos were significantly higher during summer and winter (p = 0.03). A similar pattern was observed in implantation rate and pregnancy over the four seasons Conclusion: Despite the fact that intracytoplasmic sperm injection minimize the seasonal effect on pregnancy outcome, changes in pregnancy rate still occur among different seasons without particular pattern. It seems that performing assisted reproductive technology procedures in a particular season should be considered as an effective factor. Key words: Intracytoplasmic sperm injection, Seasons, Pregnancy outcome