Detection and Localization of HCA2 Receptors in Urinary System of Male Rats with Immunohistochemical Method

Background and aims: HCA2 receptors have attracted much interest due to their role as the target of important hypolipidemic agent, niacin. In this study, the presence of HCA2 receptors as well as cell types that express them has been evaluated in different parts of male rats' urinary system including kidney, ureter, urinary bladder and urethra (in penis). Methods: In this experimental study, six adult male Wistar rats were used. Histological slides were made from above mentioned parts and were evaluated by immunohistochemical method. Results: In kidney, capillary epithelium showed a high reactivity while proximal epithelial cells were stained moderately. The epithelial cells of loop of Henle, distal and collective tubules as well as glomerular cells showed weak staining. In urinary bladder, transitional epithelium and capillary endothelium showed weak staining, while smooth muscle had no reactivity. In penile tissue, urethral epithelium and smooth muscle cells were weakly positive while capillary endothelial cells showed moderate reactivity. Conclusion: This study shows that HCA2 receptors are present in different parts of male rats' urinary tract. Distribution of these receptors is dependent to cell type and location in the urinary tract. The findings pave the road for future studies on possible role of these receptors in urinary system

LSMR Iterative Method for General Coupled Matrix Equations

By extending the idea of LSMR method, we present an iterative method to solve the general coupled matrix equations ∑k=1qAikXkBik=Ci, i=1,2,…,p, (including the generalized (coupled) Lyapunov and Sylvester matrix equations as special cases) over some constrained matrix groups (X1,X2,…,Xq), such as symmetric, generalized bisymmetric, and (R,S)-symmetric matrix groups. By this iterative method, for any initial matrix group (X1(0),X2(0),…,Xq(0)), a solution group (X1*,X2*,…,Xq*) can be obtained within finite iteration steps in absence of round-off errors, and the minimum Frobenius norm solution or the minimum Frobenius norm least-squares solution group can be derived when an appropriate initial iterative matrix group is chosen. In addition, the optimal approximation solution group to a given matrix group (X¯1,X¯2,…,X¯q) in the Frobenius norm can be obtained by finding the least Frobenius norm solution group of new general coupled matrix equations. Finally, numerical examples are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the presented method

Evaluation of antioxidant and cytoprotective activities of Artemisia ciniformis extracts on PC12 cells

Objective(s): In the current study antioxidant capacities of five different extracts of Artemisia ciniformis aerial parts were evaluated by cell-free methods. Then seven fractions of the potent extract were selected and their antioxidant capacity was assayed by cell free and cell based methods. Materials andMethods: Antioxidant ability was measured using the: 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging test, β-carotene bleaching (BCB) method and ferrous ion chelating (FIC) assay. Total phenolic contents (TPC) of all the samples also were determined. The cytoprotective effect of fractions was evaluated by measuring the viability of cells after exposure to doxorubicin (DOX). The mechanism of action was studied by investigating caspase-3, mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), the level of super-oxide dismutase (SOD) and intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS). Results: Hydroethanolic extract exhibited a notably higher antioxidant activity and phenolic content. Among the fractions (A to G) of hydroethanolic extract, the highest antioxidant capacity was observed in the Fraction E. Moreover, 24 hr pretreatment of PC12 cells with fractions B, C and D decreased DOX-induced cytotoxicity. In addition, pre-treatment of cells with fraction B resulted in significant decrease in generation of the reactive oxygen species (ROS) and increase in the activity of SOD. We were able to demonstrate remarkable reduction in the activity of caspase-3 and increase in MMP in PC12 cells following pretreatment with fraction B. Conclusion: Our observations indicated that the fraction B of A. ciniformis hydroetanolic extract possessed protective effect on oxidative stress and apoptosis induced by DOX in PC12 cells

The Effects of Obesity on Outcomes in Trauma Injury: Overview of the Current Literature

Obesity has reached epidemic proportions and is now considered a chronic disease by the National Institute of Health (NIH) in the West. Its impact on trauma outcomes is of particular interest with several studies presenting conflicting information. The present overview suggests a strong association between obesity and injury severity, hospital length of stay (LOS), intensive care unit (ICU) admission, pattern of injury, rate of complications and mortality. The nature of the observations may relate to an underlying physiological state of the obese patient and its associated comorbidities with a constant heightened inflammatory state aggravated by the second hit on an injury

The Effects of Obesity on Outcomes in Trauma Injury: Overview of the Current Literature

Obesity has reached epidemic proportions and is now considered a chronic disease by the National Institute of Health (NIH) in the West. Its impact on trauma outcomes is of particular interest with several studies presenting conflicting information. The present overview suggests a strong association between obesity and injury severity, hospital length of stay (LOS), intensive care unit (ICU) admission, pattern of injury, rate of complications and mortality. The nature of the observations may relate to an underlying physiological state of the obese patient and its associated comorbidities with a constant heightened inflammatory state aggravated by the second hit on an injury

The first inherited retinal disease registry in Iran: Research protocol and results of a pilot study

Background: To describe the protocol for developing a national inherited retinal disease (IRD) registry in Iran and present its initial report. Methods: This community-based participatory research was approved by the Ministry of Health and Medical Education of Iran in 2016. To provide the minimum data set (MDS), several focus group meetings were held. The final MDS was handed over to an engineering team to develop a web-based software. In the pilot phase, the software was set up in two referral centers in Iran. Final IRD diagnosis was made based on clinical manifestations and genetic findings. Ultimately, patient registration was done based on all clinical and non-clinical manifestations. Results: Initially, a total of 151 data elements were approved with Delphi technique. The registry software went live at www.IRDReg.org based on DHIS2 open source license agreement since February 2016. So far, a total of 1001 patients have been registered with a mean age of 32.41±15.60 years (range, 3 months to 74 years). The majority of the registered patients had retinitis pigmentosa (42, 95 CI: 38.9 to 45). Genetic testing was done for approximately 20 of the registered individuals. Conclusion: Our study shows successful web-based software design and data collection as a proof of concept for the first IRD registry in Iran. Multicenter integration of the IRD registry in medical centers throughout the country is well underway as planned. These data will assist researchers to rapidly access information about the distribution and genetic patterns of this disease. © 2020 The Author(s). This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons. org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

Evaluation of antioxidant activity and identification of main compounds of various extracts of Artemisia turanica aerial parts

Background and objectives: Artemisia turanica Krash. grows wildly in north-eastern Iran. The aim of the present work was to undertake an investigation of the antioxidant activity as well as identification of main compound of different extracts and fractions of A. turanica. Methods: Total phenolic contents (TPC) and antioxidant activity of five different extracts (petroleum ether, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate, ethanol and ethanol-water) and seven fraction of hydroethanolic extract was investigated by Folin-Ciocalteu assay and three different methods: β-catotene bleaching (BCB) test, 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging method and ferrous ion chelating (FIC) assays, respectively. Purification of the major constituents of the most active fraction was done by preparative and semi preparative HPLC. Structure elucidation of isolated compounds was achieved using spectroscopic techniques including ESIMS, 1D and 2D NMR experiments. Results: Among the extracts analyzed, the hydroethanolic extract exhibited the highest phenolic content. Fraction D (40% MeOH in water) showed the highest total phenolics content and free radical scavenging activity but the only statistically significant correlation between TPC and EC50 values was observed for BCB. There were no significant differences (

Evaluation of antioxidant activity and phenolic contents and identification of main compounds of various extracts from Artemisia aucheri aerial parts

Background and objectives: Artemisia aucheri Boiss. is regarded as one of 34 Artemisia species growing in Iran. The aim of this study was to undertake an investigation of the antioxidant activity as well as identification of main compound of different extracts and fractions of A. aucheri. Methods: Antioxidant activity and total phenolics content of five different extracts (petroleum ether, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate, ethanol and ethanol-water) and five fraction of ethanol extract was investigated by three different methods (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging method, ferrous ion chelating assay and β-catotene bleaching test) and Folin-Ciocalteu method, respectively. Purification of major constituents of the most active fraction was done by preparative and semi preparative HPLC. For one of the isolated compounds, structure elucidation was achieved using spectroscopic techniques (ESIMS, 1D NMR, 2D NMR) experiments. Results: Hydroethanolic extract exhibited the strongest inhibitory activity in BCB assay in comparison with other extracts. The ethanol extract was the most active one in DPPH assay while none of the extracts showed notable ferrous ion chelating activity. Fraction 40% MeOH in water showed both the highest total phenolics content and the most potent DPPH radical scavenging activity. Statistical analysis did not show any significant difference between the two aforementioned assays in screening the samples for the antioxidant ability. One known caffeic acid derivative, ethyl caffeate, was isolated from the most active fraction of ethanolic extract. Conclusion: The findings of present study suggested that A. aucheri may be regarded as a potential source of natural antioxidants