Allantoin improves histopathological evaluations in a rat model of gastritis

Purpose Gastritis is found to be one of the most common gastrointestinal diseases worldwide. However, current therapeutic agents cause side effects, interaction, and recurrence. Allantoin has anti-inflammatory and wound healing properties. In this study, the therapeutic effect of allantoin has been assessed on the histopathological indices and gastric mucosal barrier of male rats. Methods Male rats were equally divided into control, ethanol-induced gastritis, and allantoin groups. The therapeutic groups consisted of gastritis plus 12.5 mg/kg allantoin, gastritis plus 25 mg/kg allantoin, and gastritis plus 50 mg/kg allantoin groups. After 5 days of allantoin administration, the rats were sacrificed and a part of their gastric tissue was maintained at −70 °C for prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and non-protein sulfhydryl (NP-SH) measurements. Another part was stained with hematoxylin and eosin and Masson’s trichrome. Results We found that Allantoin increased parietal and mucosal cell counts and mucosal thickness after gastritis induction. In addition, the number of leukocytes and vessels decreased in both of the mucosal and the submucosal layers. Allatoin improved gastric ulcer in all treatment groups. Gastric levels of PGE2 and NP-SH increased after allantoin treatment. Conclusion This study indicated that allantoin had a considerable effect on gastritis treatment, which seems to result from the reinforcement of gastric mucosal barrier

A web server for inferring the human N-acetyltransferase-2 (NAT2) enzymatic phenotype from NAT2 genotype

Summary:N-acetyltransferase-2 (NAT2) is an important enzyme that catalyzes the acetylation of aromatic and heterocyclic amine carcinogens. Individuals in human populations are divided into three NAT2 acetylator phenotypes: slow, rapid and intermediate. NAT2PRED is a web server that implements a supervised pattern recognition method to infer NAT2 phenotype from SNPs found in NAT2 gene positions 282, 341, 481, 590, 803 and 857. The web server can be used for a fast determination of NAT2 phenotypes in genetic screens

Effect of tocotrienols enriched canola oil on glycemic control and oxidative status in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: A randomized double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial

Background: Tocotrienols have been shown to improve glycemic control and redox balance in an animal study, but their effects on patients with diabetes are unknown. The study aimed to investigate whether tocotrienols improves glycemic control, insulin sensitivity, and oxidative stress in individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Materials and Methods: This study was a double-blinded, placebo-controlled, randomized trial. A total of 50 patients, aged 35-60 years, with T2DM treated by noninsulin hypoglycemic drugs were randomly assigned to receive either 15 mL/day tocotrienols (200 mg) enriched canola oil (n = 25) or pure canola oil (n = 25) for 8 weeks. Fasting blood sugar (FBS), fasting insulin, total antioxidant capacity (TAC), malondialdehyde (MDA), and homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) were determined before and after the intervention. The data were compared between and within groups, before and after the intervention. Results: Baseline characteristics of participants including age, sex, physical activity, disease duration, and type of drug consumption were not significantly different between the two groups. In tocotrienol enriched canola oil, FBS (mean percent change: �15.4 vs. 3.9; P = 0.006) and MDA (median percent change: �35.6 vs. 16.3; P = 0.003) were significantly reduced while TAC was significantly increased (median percent change: 21.4 vs. 2.3; P = 0.001) compared to pure canola oil. At the end of the study, patients who treated with tocotrienols had lower FBS (P = 0.023) and MDA (P = 0.044) compared to the pure canola oil group. However, tocotrienols had no effect on insulin concentrations and HOMA-IR. Conclusion: Tocotrienols can improve FBS concentrations and modifies redox balance in T2DM patients with poor glycemic control and can be considered in combination with hypoglycemic drugs to better control of T2DM. © 2015 Journal of Research in Medical Sciences

Fiber Optic Temperature Sensor Insert for High Temperature Environments

A thermal protection system (TPS) test plug has optical fibers with FBGs embedded in the optical fiber arranged in a helix, an axial fiber, and a combination of the two. Optionally, one of the optical fibers is a sapphire FBG for measurement of the highest temperatures in the TPS plug. The test plug may include an ablating surface and a non-ablating surface, with an engagement surface with threads formed, the threads having a groove for placement of the optical fiber. The test plug may also include an optical connector positioned at the non-ablating surface for protection of the optical fiber during insertion and removal

A genome-wide linkage scan for body mass index on Framingham Heart Study families

BACKGROUND: Genome-wide scan data from a community-based sample was used to identify the genetic factors that affect body mass index (BMI). BMI was defined as weight (kg) over the square of height (m), where weight and height were obtained from the first measurement available between the ages of 40 and 50 years. RESULTS: Significant familial correlations were observed in mother:father (spouse) relative pairs and in all relative pairs examined except parent:daughter pairs. Single-point sib-pair regression analysis provided nominal evidence for linkage (p < 0.05) of loci to BMI at 23 markers. Multi-point sib-pair regression analysis provided nominal evidence for linkage to BMI at 42 loci on 12 chromosomes. Empirical p-values showed results consistent with the multi-point results; all but three of the loci identified by multi-point analysis were also significant. CONCLUSION: The largest regions of nominally significant linkage were found on chromosomes 2, 3, and 11. The most significant evidence for linkage was obtained with markers D2S1788, D2S1356, D2S1352, D3S1744, and D11S912 from multi-point sib-pair single-trait regression analysis. Our results are in agreement with some of the recently published reports on BMI using various data sets including the Framingham Heart Study data

AWG Filter for Wavelength Interrogator

A wavelength interrogator is coupled to a circulator which couples optical energy from a broadband source to an optical fiber having a plurality of sensors, each sensor reflecting optical energy at a unique wavelength and directing the reflected optical energy to an AWG. The AWG has a detector coupled to each output, and the reflected optical energy from each grating is coupled to the skirt edge response of the AWG such that the adjacent channel responses form a complementary pair response. The complementary pair response is used to convert an AWG skirt response to a wavelength

Quantum Black Hole in the Generalized Uncertainty Principle Framework

In this paper we study the effects of the Generalized Uncertainty Principle (GUP) on canonical quantum gravity of black holes. Through the use of modified partition function that involves the effects of the GUP, we obtain the thermodynamical properties of the Schwarzschild black hole. We also calculate the Hawking temperature and entropy for the modification of the Schwarzschild black hole in the presence of the GUP.Comment: 11 pages, no figures, to appear in Physical Review

The association between empirical dietary inflammatory pattern and metabolic phenotypes in overweight/obese adults

Objectives: The study aimed to investigate whether diet-induced inflammation assessed by Empirical DietaryInflammatory Pattern (EDIP) is associated with odds of unhealthy metabolic phenotype and components of metabolic syndrome (MetS). Methods: This cross-sectional study included 403 overweight/obese individuals recruited from employees of two pharmaceutical companies in Iran. The weighted intake of 15 food groups was summed to construct EDIP and metabolic phenotypes were defined based on MetS criteria. Results: After adjusting for age, sex, BMI, and marital status, the odds of unhealthy phenotype increased significantly from quartile 1 to quartile 4 (P-trend = 0.013). However, the association became non-significant after adjusting for energy intake. Compared to those in the lowest quartile, individuals with higher EDIP scores had higher odds of high fasting blood sugar (FBS) (P-trend = 0.031) and low HDL-C (P-trend = 0.036) after adjusting for all covariates. By adding energy intake into the model, an inverse association was observed between EDIP, waist circumference (WC), and odds of high WC. Conclusions: A higher pro-inflammatory diet was associated with higher odds of unhealthy phenotype, high FBS, and low-HDL-C in overweight/obese individuals. However, the association with unhealthy phenotype seems to be dependent on the energy intake. © 2018, International Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism

The association between empirical dietary inflammatory pattern and metabolic phenotypes in overweight/obese adults

Objectives: The study aimed to investigate whether diet-induced inflammation assessed by Empirical DietaryInflammatory Pattern (EDIP) is associated with odds of unhealthy metabolic phenotype and components of metabolic syndrome (MetS). Methods: This cross-sectional study included 403 overweight/obese individuals recruited from employees of two pharmaceutical companies in Iran. The weighted intake of 15 food groups was summed to construct EDIP and metabolic phenotypes were defined based on MetS criteria. Results: After adjusting for age, sex, BMI, and marital status, the odds of unhealthy phenotype increased significantly from quartile 1 to quartile 4 (P-trend = 0.013). However, the association became non-significant after adjusting for energy intake. Compared to those in the lowest quartile, individuals with higher EDIP scores had higher odds of high fasting blood sugar (FBS) (P-trend = 0.031) and low HDL-C (P-trend = 0.036) after adjusting for all covariates. By adding energy intake into the model, an inverse association was observed between EDIP, waist circumference (WC), and odds of high WC. Conclusions: A higher pro-inflammatory diet was associated with higher odds of unhealthy phenotype, high FBS, and low-HDL-C in overweight/obese individuals. However, the association with unhealthy phenotype seems to be dependent on the energy intake. © 2018, International Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism