Comparison of Maternal and Umbilical Cord Blood Selenium Levels in Low and Normal Birth Weight Neonates

Objective:To compare the maternal and umbilical cord serum selenium concentrations in Low and normal birth weight neonates. Materials and methods:A case-control study was carried out in Vali-Asr and Akbarabadi Hospitals (Jan. to Dec. 2013). Two groups; case group; 91 mothers who delivered a low birth weight (LBW) neonate and control group; 86 subjects who delivered a normal birth weight neonate were selected. Immediately after birth, 5 ml of maternal blood and umbilical cord blood were collected, and sent to laboratory to assay Se concentrations. To compare both groups' blood Se concentration, data were analyzed in SPSS 16.0. Results:Eighty six (48.6%) mothers with normal birth weight neonates and 91 (51.4%) mothers with low birth weight infants entered the study. Mean maternal mothers' age and mean maternal blood Se were 28.55+5.90 years and 79.3756+26.46915. A significant association was seen between maternal blood and cord blood Se level in control and case group (P value<0.0001, r = 0.69) and (P value<0.001, r = 0.79). On the other hand no differences were seen between 2 groups' maternal blood Se level (P Value = 0.65). Umbilical Cord blood Se concentration was not also different between case and control group (P value = 0.46). Conclusion:We found that maternal and umbilical cord blood Se concentrations were not different in low and adequate birth weight infants, however; umbilical cord Se concentrations were positively correlated with maternal blood Se concentrations

Investigating the protective effects of aqueous extract of the wormwood plant (Artemisia absinthium) on alumina nanoparticle-induced pulmonary toxicity in male Wistar rats

Introduction: Although aluminum oxide nanoparticles (Al2O3-NPs) are the most widely used nanomaterials, limited studies have been reported on their toxicology. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the potential toxicity of aluminum oxide (alumina) nanoparticles and the protective role of aqueous extract of wormwood plant on nanomaterial-induced disorders in the lung of rats. Material and Methods: Here, 36 male Wistar rats were randomly divided into six groups. Next, the rats were first exposed to 200 mg/kg of the aqueous extract of wormwood plant (by gavage) for 15 days and then received a dose of 30 mg/kg of aluminum oxide nanoparticles as an intraperitoneal injection for 14 days. Furthermore, various features of clinical signs, body weight, biochemical parameters, gene expression changes, lung weight ratio, histopathological observations, and metal content in lung tissue were evaluated during the experiment. Eventually, the ANOVA (Analysis of Variance) and Tukey’s range test were employed to analyze and compare the mean of the data. Results: The results revealed that aluminum oxide nanoparticles at a concentration of 30 mg/kg body weight led to changes in antioxidant enzyme activities, e.g., T-SOD, CAT, GPx, and TAC, lipid peroxidation, and iNOS for exposed rats. Also, the above biochemical disorders were associated with altered expression of oxidative stress-related genes (HO-1, MT-1) and histological changes in the lung tissue. On the other hand, simultaneous intake of aqueous extract of wormwood plant and aluminum oxide nanoparticles in rats significantly improved the studied parameters (p <0.05). Conclusion: Our findings showed that the γ-Al2O3 NPs were more toxic than α-Al2O3 NPs, which can be attributed to changes related to their size and shape characteristics. Also, it was observed that the wormwood plant could play a protective role against aluminum oxide nanoparticles-induced pulmonary toxicity in rats