The effects of Momordica charantia on the liver in streptozotocin-induced diabetes in neonatal rats

The aim of this study is to determine the effects of Momordica charantia (MC) fruit aqueous extract on the liver histopathological changes in neonatal rats streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetes mellitus type II. Diabetes mellitus was induced in one day old neonatal Sprague-Dawley rats with STZ (85 mg/kg) and monitored for 12 weeks thereafter. The diabetic rats were separated into three groups as follows: the diabetic control group (nSTZ), the MC treated diabetic group (nSTZ/M), and the glibenclamide treated diabetic group (nSTZ/G). At the end of the treatment, blood glucose, serum insulin, alanine amino transferases (ALT) and aspartate amino transferases (AST) level was measured. Malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration was measured in the plasma and liver. The liver samples were processed for light microscopy examination. The results showed a reduction of blood glucose, ALT and AST, and increment of insulin level in the nSTZ/M and nSTZ/G rats. Administration of MC reduced the MDA concentration in plasma and liver of the nSTZ/M rats. Glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity was improved in the nSTZ/M and nSTZ/G groups. The degenerative changes in liver were alleviated in the nSTZ/M and nSTZ/G groups. These results suggested that MC fruit aqueous extract may have a significant role in alleviating liver damage in the nSTZ-diabetic rats.Key words: Diabetes, Momordica charantia, liver, neonatal rat

Determination of antioxidant activity in methanolic and chloroformic extracts of Momordica charantia

The aim of this study was to determine and compare the antioxidant activity of methanolic and chloroformic extracts of Momordica charantia (MC) fruit. In this study, the total antioxidant and free radical scavenging activities in methanolic and chloroformic were measured by ferric thiocyanate (FTC), thiobarbituric acid (TBA) and 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) methods. Total phenol and flavonoid contents of the MC extracts were also evaluated. The total antioxidant activity results indicated that, the inhibition percent of methanolic extract was significantly higher than the inhibition percent of chloroformic extract in the FTC and TBA methods. A higher IC50 value for free radical scavenging was found for methanolic extract when compared with chloroformic extract. Methanolic extract contained a significantly higher concentration of total phenols and flavonoids when compared with chloroformic extract. Methanolic extract contained more potent antioxidant and high polyphenol compounds when compared with chloroformic extract. The present study, confirmed that, the type of solvent has an important role in detecting plant compounds. The natural plant antioxidants and phenolics compounds in MC have the capability of being used in food systems to preserve food quality.Key words: Momordica charantia, antioxidant activity, polyphenol compounds, phenolics, flavonoids

Reviewing and examining the effective factors impacting on the accessibility of Shahid Beheshti university’s courseware

Background and Objectives:Universities play an important role in society. They are centers of innovation, attract and nurture talent, create and share new knowledge, and are of great value in the national and regional economies. Thus, declining government budgets and increasing global competition for qualified staff and students have led universities to provide better conditions for providing education in a variety of ways. On the other hand, communication technologies have paved the way for distance learning by offering new methods of education. Therefore, with the development of the Internet and multimedia technologies and their use in educational programs, a kind of educational model called e-learning has been created. In e-learning, due to the existence of the World Wide Web, all stages of education have benefited from what the Internet has provided. In the web space, a variety of features such as online class notes and lecture materials, dynamic online Q & A systems, classroom preparation for exams, games and real-life simulations for educators and learners are provided. In order to present and manage activities in the e-learning environment, a software program called Learning Management System (LMS) is used, which provides facilities for sharing educational materials, sending notifications related to each lesson, presenting and performing assignments, providing users with online communication with each other, conducting evaluations, and evaluating results. Accessibility is one of the important indicators in obtaining students' and teachers' interest in a courseware. Therefore, the present study aimed to identify the effective factors impacting on the accessibility of Shahid Beheshti University’s courseware. Method and Materials: Accordingly, a qualitative phenomenology research has been implemented. The population of this study is undergraduate students of the Faculty of Education and Psychology of Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran who had an experience of working with the courseware. 15 Participants were selected using purposeful sampling method. Semi-structured interviews were conducted for data gathering until the theoretical saturation was achieved. The findings were analyzed using Strauss and Corbin coding method at two open and axial coding levels. Findings: According to the findings from 15 interviews, six categories including: the weakness of quick access to the content of discussions, the lack of off-line access to the discussions, not suitable access to the content on multiple platforms, lack of ability to display online users, the weakness in access to discussions of the previous groups; and lack of student access to their performance results, were identified. Conclusion: The main result of this research is to highlight the importance of the "availability" indicator for learning management tools and systems and also to determine the factors affecting this important indicator. If the designers and implementers of learning management systems in schools and universities are interested in improving the management function of their curriculum, it is necessary to pay proper attention to these six factors. Processes and components in courseware need to be changed so that they can be "more accessible" to their stakeholders by considering the above six factors. These factors could help e-learning administrators and designers to provide a better and more qualified experience for their students and faculties

Effect of Morphine on the Number of Adenohypophysis Acidophil Cells in Male Rat

Abstract: Introduction: The influence of morphine on pituitary secretion through µmu receptors has been nearly known. It is also reported that morphine has an effect on cell proliferation. In the present study we investigated the effect of morphine on the proliferation of acidophil cells of adenohypophysis in male rat. Method: This study has been carried out on 14 adult male Wistar rats divided into two groups of morphine dependent and control. The animals in morphine-dependent group were addicted through consumption of morphine for 21 days. After controlling withdrawal syndrome signs, serum prolactin level was determined by Elisa method. In the next step after anesthetizing animals and performing cardiac perfusion, the hypophysis was removed and fixed at 10% formalin. After processing, staining was done by routine immuno-histochemistry method and the number of mammotropes and somatotropes in morphine-dependent and control groups were compared. Results: Mean prolactin production in dependent group as compared with control group showed significant increase. There was a significant increase in the ratio of mammotropes to acidophil cells and a significant decrease in the ratio of somototrops to acidophil cells in morphine-dependent group compared to the control group (P<0.05). Conclusion: Morphine dependency may lead to increase in the percentage of prolactin secreting cells and serum prolactin level and decrease of growth hormone secreting cells. Keywords: Morphine dependence, Adenohypophysis, Acidophil cells, Ra

Effects of Momordica charantia on pancreatic histopathological changes associated with streptozotocin-induced diabetes in neonatal rats

The aim of this research was to determine the effects of Momordica charantia (MC) fruit aqueous extract on pancreatic histopathological changes in neonatal STZ-induced type-II diabetic rats. Diabetes mellitus was induced in one day Sprague-Dawley neonatal rats using a single intrapretoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ) (85 mg/kg body weight) and monitored for 12 weeks thereafter. The diabetic rats were separated into three groups, as follows: the diabetic control group (i.e. nSTZ), the diabetic group (i.e. nSTZ/M) - which was orally given 20 mg/kg of MC fruit extract, and the diabetic group (i.e. nSTZ/G) - that was treated with glibenclamide, 0.1 mg/kg for a period of four weeks. At the end of treatment, the animals were sacrificed and blood samples were collected from the saphenous vein to measure the blood glucose and serum insulin level. The pancreatic specimens were removed and processed for light microscopy, electron microscopy examination and immunohistochemical study. The results of this study showed that MC fruit aqueous extract reduced the blood glucose level as well as glibenclamide and increased the serum insulin level in the treated diabetic rats (P<0.05). The fruit extract of MC alleviated pancreatic damage and increased the number of ß-cells in the diabetic treated rats (P<0.05). Our results suggest that oral feeding of MC fruit extract may have a significant role in the renewal of pancreatic ß-cells in the nSTZ rats

Colon Cancer Disease Diagnosis Based on Convolutional Neural Network and Fishier Mantis Optimizer

Colon cancer is a prevalent and potentially fatal disease that demands early and accurate diagnosis for effective treatment. Traditional diagnostic approaches for colon cancer often face limitations in accuracy and efficiency, leading to challenges in early detection and treatment. In response to these challenges, this paper introduces an innovative method that leverages artificial intelligence, specifically convolutional neural network (CNN) and Fishier Mantis Optimizer, for the automated detection of colon cancer. The utilization of deep learning techniques, specifically CNN, enables the extraction of intricate features from medical imaging data, providing a robust and efficient diagnostic model. Additionally, the Fishier Mantis Optimizer, a bio-inspired optimization algorithm inspired by the hunting behavior of the mantis shrimp, is employed to fine-tune the parameters of the CNN, enhancing its convergence speed and performance. This hybrid approach aims to address the limitations of traditional diagnostic methods by leveraging the strengths of both deep learning and nature-inspired optimization to enhance the accuracy and effectiveness of colon cancer diagnosis. The proposed method was evaluated on a comprehensive dataset comprising colon cancer images, and the results demonstrate its superiority over traditional diagnostic approaches. The CNN–Fishier Mantis Optimizer model exhibited high sensitivity, specificity, and overall accuracy in distinguishing between cancer and non-cancer colon tissues. The integration of bio-inspired optimization algorithms with deep learning techniques not only contributes to the advancement of computer-aided diagnostic tools for colon cancer but also holds promise for enhancing the early detection and diagnosis of this disease, thereby facilitating timely intervention and improved patient prognosis. Various CNN designs, such as GoogLeNet and ResNet-50, were employed to capture features associated with colon diseases. However, inaccuracies were introduced in both feature extraction and data classification due to the abundance of features. To address this issue, feature reduction techniques were implemented using Fishier Mantis Optimizer algorithms, outperforming alternative methods such as Genetic Algorithms and simulated annealing. Encouraging results were obtained in the evaluation of diverse metrics, including sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and F1-Score, which were found to be 94.87%, 96.19%, 97.65%, and 96.76%, respectively

The effect of the combination of Malva sylvestris L. and Althaea digitata Boiss. on prevention of acute radiation proctitis in patients with prostate cancer

The effect of a combination of Malva sylvestris and Althaea digitata flower powder in prevention of acute radiation proctitis was assessed in patients undergoing radiation therapy (RT) for prostate cancer. This double-blind randomized controlled study was conducted at three centers in Iran. Before starting RT, patients (N = 65) received a 4 g packet of flower powder or placebo to use 3 times a day as an infusion from the first day of RT and for five consecutive weeks including the three weeks of RT. They were visited by a physician 3 times during this period. Acute morbidity was classified according to the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) criteria. Severity of proctitis symptoms was assessed by Visual Analog Scale (VAS) with 10 points. Non-statistical significant differences were observed between the groups in relation to RTOG grade criteria (grade 0: drug 22.8 (N = 8), placebo 10 (N = 3), difference 12.8; grade 1: drug 65.8, placebo 64.4, difference 1.4; grade 2: drug 11.4 (N = 8), placebo 26.6 (N = 4), difference 15.2. (P =.059)) According to VAS, the most common complaint was anal burning and diarrhea in the flower powder group showing a significant decrease in these symptoms at the end of the study as compared to the placebo; flower powder (1.56 ± 1.07) vs placebo (3.82 ± 1.67) for burning (P <.05) and flower powder (1.06 ± 0.58) vs placebo (1.95 ± 0.79) for diarrhea (P =.046). The flower powder prevented anal discomfort and diarrhea induced by prostate radiotherapy, although there were no significant differences between the two groups in RTOG. No serious side effects were reported, so the combination could be suggested for patients who cannot tolerate symptoms of proctitis after further studies. © 2018 Elsevier Gmb