A Preliminary Study of the Correlations of Serum Concentrations of Electrolytes and Trace Elements with Clinical Signs in Diarrheic Dairy Calves

To study the correlations of clinical signs with serum electrolytes and trace elements, 50 diarrheic dairy calves in a dairy herd were examined. The diarrheic calves, before any treatment, were clinically examined, and fecal consistency score, age, and days between disease onset and sampling were recorded per calf. The serum concentrations of calcium, magnesium, copper, zinc, manganese and iron were measured. Serum copper concentration had a significant correlation with PCV (r=-0.56, P<0.001) and had marginally significant correlations with calves age (r=-0.32, P=0.06) and disease length (r=-0.31, P=0.07), and serum calcium concentration had significant correlations with body temperature (r=0.41, P<0.01) and calves age (r=-0.41, P<0.01). Fecal consistency score or diarrhea severity had a significant effect on none of the measured serum factors. Our results showed the importance of diarrhea length and calves age vs. fecal score in estimation of changes in serum parameters in diarrheic calves

Evaluating the Perception and Awareness of Patients Regarding Ovarian Cysts in Peshawar, Pakistan

Purpose: To evaluate patients’ perception regarding ovarian cyst as well as their awareness of the symptoms and health management of the disease.Methods: A quantitative research approach was used to conduct this study. Patients were selected from the Gynecology wards, Hayatabad Medical Complex, Peshawar and a questionnaire was designed to evaluate the patients’ knowledge and awareness.Results: When women were asked if they had prior knowledge about the ovarian cyst, 37 (58.7 %) responded that they were first told by the  physician during their visit to the clinic or hospital while the patients  responded, “Still don’t know” are 22 (34.9 %). With respect to educational level of the patients, they seemed to be less aware of the disease. Their perception regarding the disease is that they had a “water filled” balloon or tumor.Conclusion: Prior to discharge of an ovarian cyst patient from the hospital, she should be counseled on the disease and successful treatment outcomes. Counseling of the patients may result in compliance with therapy, good quality of life and lower economic burden.Keywords: Ovarian cyst, Menstrual cycle, Awareness, Perception, Treatment outcome

Immunomodulatory effects of human amniotic epithelial cells on naive CD4+ T cells from women with unexplained recurrent spontaneous abortion

Abstract Introduction Immune imbalance at the maternal-fetal interface plays a fundamental role in the pathogenesis of unexplained recurrent spontaneous abortion (URSA). Human amniotic epithelial cells (hAECs) possess pregnancy-friendly immunomodulatory effects. Here, we investigated how function of naive CD4+ T cells from URSA patients is affected by hAECs. Methods Phenotypic characteristics of hAECs were determined by flow cytometry and their effect on proliferation of allogeneic peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) was evaluated by a BrdU cell proliferation assay. Naive CD4+ T cells were isolated from 25 URSA patients and 5 healthy women and co-cultured with hAECs. Immunomodulatory effects of hAECs on cytokines profile, proliferation of stimulated CD4+ T cells and induction of regulatory T cells (Tregs) were assessed by ELISA and flow cytometry, respectively. Functional competency of Tregs was evaluated in an allogeneic mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR) system. Results hAECs did not elicit allogeneic proliferative responses of PBMCs, inhibited proliferation of naive CD4+ T cells, induced production of Th2 and suppressed production of Th1 and Th17 cytokines. hAECs showed the ability to induce differentiation of Tregs and production of transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-β1) and interleukin-10 (IL-10). This ability was found to be superior in control subjects compared to URSA patients. Indeed, Tregs generated in the presence of hAECs expressed higher levels of CTLA-4 compared to Tregs generated in their absence and restrained the proliferation of autologus PBMCs in MLR system. Conclusion Based on these findings, hAECs can be considered as one potential candidate in immunotherapy of patients with URSA. Keywords Immunomodulatory effects Amniotic epithelial cells Naive T cells Unexplained recurrent spontaneous abortio

A Study of Correlation of Serum Leptin with Trace Elements in Water Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis)

The present study was designed to evaluate the correlations of the serum leptin with trace elements in water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis). The serum concentration of leptin and its correlations with serum concentrations of copper, zinc, selenium, iron and manganese were measured in 80 clinically healthy water buffaloes. The serum concentration of leptin had no significant correlation with the measured trace elements (P>0.05). Separate evaluation of the age groups also showed no significant difference between age groups and no significant correlation between serum leptin and the measured trace elements. In male buffaloes, the serum concentration of leptin had a significant correlation with the zinc/copper ratio (r= 0.53, P=0.014). These relationships were not measured in water buffalo previously and were partially different from those of other species

Detection of hepatitis B virus covalently closed circular DNA in the plasma of Iranian HBeAg-negative patients with chronic hepatitis B

Background: Covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) of hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a marker of HBV replication in the liver of patients infected with HBV. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the association between the presence of cccDNA in the plasma samples of Iranian treatment-naive patients with chronic hepatitis B infection and HBV viral load and HBsAg levels. Patients and Methods: From April 2012 to May 2015, 106 treatment-naive patients with chronic hepatitis B infection were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. The HBsAg titer was measured by the Roche HBsAg II assay on the Cobas e411 system, and HBV DNA quantitation was performed using the COBAS TaqMan 48 kit. Real-time polymerase chain reaction was performed for the detection of HBV cccDNA. Results: The mean (SD) age of the patients was 41.1 ± 12.4 years (range, 20 - 62 years). From a total of 106 study participants, 67 (63.2) were males. The HBV cccDNA was detected in plasma specimens in 19 (17.9) out of the total 106 patients, and a significant relationship was found between the presence of cccDNA in plasma sample of males (23.9) and females (7.7) (P = 0.039). Also, a significant correlation was found between the presence of cccDNA in plasma sample of the patients and HBV viral load level (P < 0.0001) and HBsAg titer (P = 0.0043). Conclusions: This study showed that cccDNA can be detected in the plasma specimen of 17.9 of Iranian treatment-naive patients with chronic hepatitis B infection. Therefore, designing prospective studies focusing on the detection of cccDNA in these patients would provide more information. © 2015, Kowsar Corp

Conjugated linoleic acid stimulates apoptosis in RH and tehran strains of Toxoplasma gondii, in vitro

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) on apoptosis of tachyzoites of T. gondii, RH strain (type I) and the cyst-forming Tehran strain (type II) in vitro. Methods: Toxoplasma strains were injected into the peritoneal cavity of BALB/c mice. The Tehran strain forms cysts in the brain of mice. Bradyzoites within the cysts are reactivated to proliferative tachyzoites, by dexamethasone. Tachyzoites were aspirated from the peritoneum of infected mice, and the percentage of viable parasites was estimated with trypan blue staining. Tachyzoites were inoculated into HeLa cells cultivated in DMEM medium. Different concentrations of CLA were evaluated on T. gondii in HeLa cells by the tetrazolium (MTT) colorimetric assay. Differentiation between apoptosis and cell death was determined by flow cytometry using Annexin V and propidium iodide (PI) double staining. The statistical analysis performed by GraphPad Prism version 6.00. Results: CLA induces apoptosis in virulent (RH) and avirulent (Tehran) strains of T. gondii. The results of MTT indicated that CLA could decrease the proliferation of tachyzoites of both strains in HeLa cells. Conclusion: Conjugated linoleic acid has anti-toxoplasmacidal activity on tachyzoites of T. gondii. Therefore, we recommended further studies on this component in order to achieve a new drug against the parasite. © 2015, Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS). All rights reserved

A serial evaluation of electrocardiographic indices and cardiac arrhythmias during pregnancy, lactation and dry periods in Saanen goats

Aim of this study was to investigate the effects of lactation, pregnancy and dry period on electrocar-diographic (ECG) parameters and cardiac arrhythmias in the Saanen goat. A total of twenty female adult clinically healthy Saanen goats 3 years of age with a body condition score of 3.5 and average weight of 30.2±2.20 kg were randomly selected. The whole duration of the study (8 months) was divided into four periods including dry and non-pregnant (P1), 2 months pregnant (P2), 4 months pregnant (P3), and lactating (P4) periods. In late pregnancy and lactation periods, the amplitudes of P, QRS and T waves were significantly higher compared to other periods (P<0.01). P-R, Q-T and R-R intervals in late pregnancy were significantly shorter and heart rate was significantly higher than those in other periods. Sinus arrhythmias were the only irregularity observed on the ECG traces and were diagnosed in 30%, 15%, 20% and 35.25% of the goats in P1, P2, P3 and P4, respectively. There were no significant difference in configuration of ECG waves and cardiac arrhythmias among different periods. Based on the results of the present study, it was concluded that although no cardiac morpho-logical changes have been reported in goats during the lactation, late pregnancy and dry periods, sig-nificant changes in ECG parameters were observed in base-apex lead in Saanen goats during late pregnancy and lactation periods. The physiological cardiac arrhythmias and variations in ECG pa-rameters observed during different periods in the current study can be used as a base to achieve more accurate diagnoses of heart diseases using ECG

Intravascular ultrasound imaging: In vitro validation and pathologic correlation

AbstractIntravascuiar ultrasound imaging is a new method in which high resolution images of the arterial wall are obtained with use of a catheter placed within an artery. An in vitro Plexiglas well model was used to validate measurements of the luminal area, and an excellent correlation was obtained. One hundred thirty segments of fresh peripheral arteries underwent ultrasound imaging and the findings were compared with the corresponding histopathologic sections. luminal areas determined with ultrasound imaging correlated well with those calculated from microscopic slides (r = 0.98).Three patterns were identified on the ultrasound images: 1) distinct interface between media and adventitia, 2) indistinct interface between media and adventitia but different echo density layers, and 3) diffuse homogeneous appearance. The types of patterns depended on the relative composition of the and adventitia. Calcification of intimal plaque obscured underlying structures. Atherosclerotic plaque was readily visualized but could not always be differentiated from the underlying media