The effects of concurrent treatment of silymarin and lactulose on memory changes in cirrhotic male rats

Introduction: Chronic liver disease frequently accompanied by hepatic encephalopathy (HE). Changes in the permeability of the blood-brain barrier in HE, make an easier entrance of ammonia among other substances to the brain, which leads to neurotransmitter disturbances. Lactulose (LAC), causes better defecation and makes ammonia outreach of blood. Silymarin (SM) is a known standard drug for liver illnesses. The purpose of this research was to determine the results of LAC and SM combined treatment, on the changes in memory of cirrhotic male rats. Methods: The cirrhotic model established by treatment with thioacetamide (TAA) for 18 weeks. Cirrhotic rats randomized to four groups (n = 7): TAA group (received drinking water), LAC group (2 g/kg/d LAC in drinking water), SM group (50 mg/kg/d SM by food), SM+ LAC group (similar combined doses of both compounds) for 8 weeks. The control group received drinking water. The behavior examined by wire hanging (WH), passive avoidance (PA), and open field (OF) tests. Results: Our findings showed that treatment with SM+LAC effectively increased PA latency, compared with the control group. The results showed that the administration of LAC and SM+LAC affected the number of lines crossed, the total distance moved and velocity in the OF tests. Conclusion: SM and LAC have anti-inflammatory effects that are memory changing. It may be due to their useful effects. These results indicated that SM+LAC restored memory disturbance and irritated mood in the cirrhotic rats. Comparable neuroprotection was never previously informed. Such outcomes are extremely promising and indicate the further study of SM+LAC

Regulatory NK cells in autoimmune disease

NK cells are defined as the major components of the immunological network which exerts defense against tumors and viral infections as well as regulation of innate and adaptive immunity, shaped through interaction with other cells like T cells. According to the surface markers, NK cells can be divided into CD56dim NK and CD56bright NK subsets. CD56bright NK cells usually are known as regulatory NK cells. Once the immune system loses its self-tolerance, autoimmune diseases develop. NK cells and their subsets can be altered during autoimmune diseases, indicative of their prominent regulatory roles and even pathological and protective functions in autoimmune disorders. In this regard, activation of CD56bright NK cells can suppress activated autologous CD4+ T cells and subsequently prevent the initiation of autoimmunity. In this review article, we summarize the roles of regulatory NK cells in autoimmune disease occurrence which needs more research to uncover their exact related mechanism. It seems that targeting NK cells can be a promising therapeutic platform against autoimmune diseases

Effect of Elettaria cardamomum L. on hormonal changes and spermatogenesis in the propylthiouracil‐induced hypothyroidism male BALB/c mice

Abstract Introduction Spermatogenesis is significantly influenced by the thyroid gland. Thyroid disorders can be caused by a variety of factors. Traditionally, Ellettaria cardamomum has been used to treat a variety of ailments. The effects of E. cardamomum extract (ECE) on spermatogenesis in hypothyroid mice were investigated in this study. Methods In this study 42 male mice, weighing (25–35 g) were randomly divided in six groups: control group (taking normal saline, 0.5 mL/day, by oral gavage [P.O.]), hypothyroid group (taking 0.1% propylthiouracil in drinking water for 2 weeks), hypothyroid groups treated by levothyroxine (15 mg/kg/day, P.O.) and hypothyroid groups treated by ECE (100, 200 and 400 mg/kg/day, P.O.). After the end of experiments the mice were anaesthetised and blood samples were collected for hormonal analysis. Results The sperm count and microscopic studies of testes were done also. Our results showed that the T3, T4, testosterone levels and spermatogenesis in hypothyroid animals decreased and thyroid‐stimulating hormone, follicle‐stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone increased compared with control group. Treatment by ECE reverse these effects in comparison with hypothyroid group. Conclusions According to our findings, the ECE may stimulates thyroid gland function and increases testosterone and spermatogenesis

Effects of lactulose and silymarin on liver enzymes in cirrhotic rats

Silymarin (SM), a mixture of anti-hepatotoxic flavonolignans is being used for liver diseases and lactulose (LAC), a non-absorbable synthetic disaccharide were used in this study to analyze their probable synergic effects on hepatic cirrhotic rat model to see whether they cause improvement of this illness or vice versa. Upon thioacetamide (TAA) withdrawal and treatment administration. The curative effects of SM and LAC were confirmed by significant decrease of liver enzymes and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels. In SM+LAC group, the liver enzymes and malondialdehyde levels were decreased significantly compared with TAA group. All treatments were able to regenerate and trigger an enhanced regeneration. Silymarin and lactulose alone or in combination had potent curative effects and reduced thioacetamide effects induced liver damage.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author

Sharif CESR Small Size Robocup Team

Introduction Robotic soccer is a challenD88 research area, which in volves multi leagen ts that ntp to collaboratein an adversarial en viron8] t to achieve s ecific objectives. Here we describe the Sharif CESR small robot team, which was artici ated in Robocu 2001 small size league in Seattle, USA. This a er ex lain s the overall architecture of our robotic soccer system. Figure 1 shows a icture of our soccer robots. Fig. 1. Two robots of Sharif CESR small size robocu team. 2 Mechanics The Sharif CESR team con sists of four iden tical field layersan d a goalkee er. Each robot uses two DC Faulhaber DC motors with a 3.71:1 reduction gear box an twoinW:L+p tal en' ders with resolution of 512 ulses er revolution of motor axis. The algorithm to estimate the velocity from theen# der out ut is A. Birk, S. Coradeschi, and S. Tadokoro (Eds.): RoboCup 2001, LNAI 2377, pp. 595--598, 2002. c # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2002 596 Mohammad Taghi Manzuri et al. implemen ted on the robot