ABSTRACT
Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome [PCOS] is a common form of the endocrine disease which is associated with metabolic dysfunction. PCOS and type 2 diabetes mellitus are related in multiple aspects and are similar in many pathological features. Anti-diabetic effects of Nigella sativa and protective effects of it on reproductive system have been suggested in some reports
Objective: The aim of current study was to evaluate the effects of thymoquinone, the main components of Nigella sativa, on PCOS model of rats
Materials and Methods: Intraperitoneal injection of estradiol valerate for 25 days was used to induce PCOS in Wistar rats, followed by intraperitoneal administration of 8 and 16 mg/kg thymoquinone for 30 days. Rats were divided into 5 groups; control, sham or PCOS, experiment-1 [PCOS and 8 mg/kg thymoquinone], experiment-2 [PCOS and 16 mg/kg thymoquinone], and metformin [PCOS and metformin administration, 100 mg/kg] groups. All of the animals were subjected to serum biochemical analysis of blood and histopathological study of ovaries
Results: Estradiol valerate induced PCOS while administration of thymoquinone recovered it. The body weight, ovarian morphology, and ovulation had been improved and the serum biochemical parameters including glucose, triglyceride, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein, high-density lipoprotein, luteinizing hormone, and follicle stimulating hormone were reversed after thymoquinone intervention
Conclusion: Our data suggest that thymoquinone has improvement effects on an ovarian function and ovulation in the PCOS rat model. Therefore, thymoquinone and Nagilla sativa could be used as a protective agent and as an adjunct treatment in PCOS patients
ABSTRACT
Bone marrow stromal cells [BMSC] have been successfully employed for movement deficit recovery in spinal cord injury [SCI] rat models. One of the unsettled problems in cell transplantation is the relative high proportion of cell death, specifically after neural differentiation. According to our previous studies, p75 receptor, known as the death receptor, is only expressed in BMSC in a time window of 6-12 hours following neural induction. Moreover, we have recently reported a decreased level of apoptosis in p75-suppressed BMSC in vitro. Therefore, our objective in this research was to explore the functional effects of transplanting p75:siRNA expressing BMSC in SCI rats. Laminectomy was performed at L1 vertebra level to expose spinal cord for contusion using weight-drop method. PBS-treated SCI rats [group one] were used as negative controls, in which cavitations were observed 10 weeks after SCI. pRNA-U6.1/Hygro- [group two, as a mock] and pRNA-U6.1/Hygro-p75 shRNA- [group three] transfected BMSC were labeled with a fluorescent dye, CM-DiI, and grafted into the lesion site 7 days after surgery. The Basso-Beattie-Bresnehan locomotor rating scale was performed weekly for 10 weeks. There was a significant difference [P
Subject(s)
Female , Animals, Laboratory , Mesenchymal Stem Cells , Spinal Cord Injuries , Rats, Sprague-Dawley , ApoptosisABSTRACT
Because of the necessity of more effective treatments for the nervous system injuries and considering the role of survivin in cellular proliferation and apoptotic cell death, we have monitored survivin gene expression changes during the course of regeneration in injured sciatic nerves and also L4-L6 segments of spinal cord. We used adult male NMRI mice as a model. After anesthetizing the animals, the right sciatic nerve was transected and at the indicated times [3, 6, 12, 24, 48, 96 and 144 hours] the animals were sacrificed and both distal and proximal segments of the transected sciatic nerve, intact left sciatic nerve and L4-L6 segments of spinal cord were dissected. The total RNA was extracted from each sampled and semi-quantitative RT-PCR with specific primers for survivin and also beta2-microglobulin genes, as an internal control, was performed. To determine cellular distribution of survivin protein, 6 days [144 hours] after the axotomy, survivin protein expression was evaluated using immunohistochemistry technique. Our results demonstrated the expression of both survivin140 and survivin40 in distal and proximal segments of sciatic nerve with different intensity, where the expression of survivin140 was higher than survivin40. In spinal cord segments, only survivin140 expression was detected. In immunohistochemistry analysis of spinal cord segments, both the nuclear and cytoplasmic distribution of survivin protein was observed. In contrast, survivin protein has not been detected in either distal or proximal segments of sciatic nerve. Our data suggest that survivin is differentially expressed and spliced during the course of regeneration in damaged nerve and spinal cord. It seems that manipulation of expression and/or splicing of survivin could potentially affect the process of regeneration in nerve and/or spinal cord injuries