[Relationship between night work and nurses' anthropometric indices]

Night work could cause various disturbances in physiological, social and familial function because of changes in biological rhythms. Obesity which is associated with the increased risk of some disorders is considered as a possible adverse effect of night work in some studies. This study aims to determine the relationship between night work and anthropometric indices among nurses. This descriptive, cross- sectional study was conducted on 325 female nurses working in selected hospitals affiliated with Shiraz University of Medical Sciences with mean age of 27.78 +/- 4.92 who were recruited using simple random sampling method. The instruments were standard measuring tape, standard weighing scale and a researcher made questionnaire. Anthropometric indices included Body Mass Index [BMI] and Waist to Hip Ratio [WHR]. Night work was defined as the number of night shifts during last month and the number of years of night working. Statistical analysis was done using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation coefficient and partial correlation using SPSS-PC [v. 11.0]. The findings revealed that 70.7% of subjects had BMI of 18.5-24.99 and 51.4% had WHR of 7.5-8.49. There was no statistical significant association between anthropometric indices and shift work duration or the number of night shifts per month, after omitting the effect of age. The results would not provide enough evidence for the relationship between night work and obesity or overweight. Longitudinal studies with comparison groups, studies on different night work schedules and on male nurses are also recommended

[ effects of antifungal azoles on inflammatory cytokine production in human keratinocytes]

Azoles drugs are being used successfully in treatment of fungal infections. Recently, immunosuppressive effects of some of these agents have been reported. Keratinocytes as the major cells of the skin, have an important role in innate immunity against pathogenic agents. Considering the scanty of information about the effects of azoles on immune responces, this study was conducted to assess the expression and secretion of inflammatory cytokines in keratinocytes following treatment with azole drugs. This is an exprimental study conducted in molecular biology division in Tehran University of Medical Sciences and Immunodermatology Department in Vienna Medical University. Primery keratinocytes were cultured and treated with different concentrations of fluconazole, itraconazole, ketoconazole and griseofulvin. Secreted IL1, IL6 and TNF-alpha by keratinocytes in culture supernatant were measured by quantitative enzyme immunoassay technique. Moreover, expression of the genes encoding IL1 and IL8 was evaluated by Real Time-PCR. Treatment of keratinocytes with different concentrations of fluconazole and low concentration of ketoconazole resulted in decrease in IL1 secretion, but itraconazole and griseofulvin did not show such an effect at the same concentrations. In addition, none of the examined drugs had an effect on secretion level of IL6 and TNF-alpha. Quantitative analysis of IL1 and IL8 encoding genes revealed that transcription on these genes might be suppressed following treatment with fluconazole or ketoconazole. Fluconazole and ketoconazole might modulate the expression and secretion of IL1 and IL8 and affect the direction of immune responses induced by keratinocytes

[ effects of azoles antifungal derivatives on inflammatory cytokine production in human keratinocyte]

Introduction: Antifungal drugs have been successfully used in treatment of fungal infections. Recently, immunomodulatory effects of some of these agents have been reported. Base on immune system role in the treatment of various infection, alteration in cytokine pattern would be influenced the immune responsiveness

Objective: Study the expression and secretion of the inflammatory cytokines in human keratinocyte

Materials and Methods: In this invitro study,cultured keratinocytes were treated with different concentrations of Fluconazole, Ketoconazole and Griseofulvin. The level of IL-1 and TNF-alpha by keratinocytes in cultured supernatant were measured by Quantitative Enzyme Immunoassay technique and their expression were evaluated by using real time PCR. Data was analysed with one way ANOVA test [Varyance]

Results: Treatment of keratinocytes with different concentrations of Fluconazole [3.3, 10, 30 micro/ml] and low concentration of ketoconazole caused to decrease of IL-1 secretion [P<0.001], but Griseofulvin did not show this effect at the same concentrations. In addition, the examined drugs had no effect on TNF-alpha secretion. Quantitative analysis of IL-1 encoding genes revealed that transcription on these genes might be suppressed following treatment with Fluconazole or ketoconazole

Conclusion: Antifungal azoles might be modulated cytokines expression and secretion as well as affect the direction of immune response induced by keratinocytes

Arsenic trioxide compound modulates multiple myeloma phenotypes: Assessment on cell line models

Recent evidences suggest that multiple myeloma phenotypes [MMPs] are involved in the infiltration of multiple myeloma-affected marrow foci. In this study, the effects of arsenic trioxide on the invasive and angiogenic phenotypes of multiple myeloma [MM] cell line were assessed on a dose-response and time-course basis. Multiple myeloma cell line, Karpas 707, was treated with step-wise elevated concentrations of arsenic trioxide compound at 24, 48, and 72 h intervals. Cytotoxicity was assessed with a colorimetric assay. Potential antiinvasive phenotype was analyzed with MMP-2 zymography. To verify directly the anti angiogenic effect, F1 endothelial cell line was also treated with arsenic and the dose-dependent cytotoxicity was assessed with a colorimetric assay. Apoptotic properties of arsenic trioxide compound were investigated using TUNEL assay. The significant dose-dependent inhibitory effects of arsenic trioxide on MMP-2 were seen at given concentrations. Cytotoxicity analysis revealed much higher cell death than untreated cells [P< 0.01], both in Karpas 707 and F1 endothelial cell lines. Colectively, this study showed that arsenic trioxide might potentially elicit anti-invasive anti-angiogenesis properties in the treatment of myeloma dissemination process. In addition, the concurrent inhibition of MMPs activity and endothelial cell proliferation could compose the scenario of neoangiogenesis inhibition in the marrow-infiltrated foci

Molecular detection of prostate specific antigen in patients with prostate cancer or benign prostae hyperplasia the first investigation from Iran

Prostate cancer is the second common form of cancer in men. Detection of circulating Prostate Specific Antigen [PSA] transcripts has effectively been used for early diagnosis of prostate cancer cells. This investigation employed a reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction [RT-PCR] technique to distinguish the patients with either localized or metastatic prostate cancer [CaP] vs. Benign Prostate Hyperplasia [BPH] and control subjects, as compared with clinical and pathological records. With reservation of ethical issues, blood samples were collected from 60 cases. Based on pathological and clinical findings, 25 patients [20 with localized cancer, 5 with metastatic], 22 with BPH, and 13 healthy [including 3 females] subjects as negative controls, were selected from Shariati, Mehrad, Sina,, Khatam and Atie Hospitals in Tehran, Iran. RT-PCR for a 260 bp PSA transcript was then performed. Clinical and pathological records were used for the assessment and comparison of PSA RT-PCR results. None of the control subjects and BPH [with 7 exceptions] were found positive by RT-PCR [Relative specificity= 72.7%]. In patients with prostate cancer, 21 out of 25 were found PSA positive [Relative sensitivity=83.4%] and the remaining 3 have been shown to be PSA negative [Positive predictive value= 83.4%]. All of 5 metastatic patients [100%] revealed PSA positive results. Our data reflects the clinical relevance and significance of RT-PCR results as assessed with clinical and pathological examinations. PSA RT-PCR might be used as a powerful means for diagnosis, even when either pathological or clinical findings are negative, and could be employed for further molecular epidemiology surveys

Effect of tindurin on immunopathogenesis mechanism of collagen-induced arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory disease characterized by the sequestration of various leukocyte subpopulations within both the developing pannus and synovial space. This study was undertaken to examine the therapeutic potency of tindurin in experimental rheumatoid arthritis. Collagen-induced arthritis [CIA] was induced by intradermally immunization of Lewis rats at the base of the tail. The paws and knees were then removed for histopathology and radiography analysis. Using fibrosarcoma cell line the apoptosis process was measured by Terminal deoxyribonucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling [TUNEL] method. Our data showed that the i.p. injection of tindurin to arthritic rats induced a significant reduction in paw edema. Histopathological assessment showed reduced inflammatory cells infiltrate, tissue edema and bone erosion in joints of treated rats. Moreover, our results in radiography were in line with histological findings as well as tindurin was found to induce apoptosis of treated cells in comparison with positive, negative and non-treated ones. Our findings revealed the therapeutic effect of tindurin in experimental model of rheumatoid arthritis in comparison with methotrexate as a choice drug

Toxicological and inhibitory effect of Piroxicam on matrix Metalloproteinase expression in comparison with Diclofenac and Dexamethasone

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory [NSAIDs] are used widely for musculoskeletal and other inflammatory conditions. In this study, the efficacy and toxic effects of Piroxicam was compared with Diclofenac and Dexamethasone in an in vitro fibrosarcoma cell culture [Wehi 964] model using cytotoxicity analysis and zymography assay. The concentration all the drugs ranged between 10 to 200 micro g/ml per ml of cell culture [20/000/well] and incubated overnight. The results showed that these drugs produced inhibitory effects on the expression of matrix Metalloproteinase [MMPs], in which Diclofenac was the most cytotoxic. The LD50 for Diclofenac was approximately 20 micro M compared to 80 micro M for Piroxicam and Dexamethasone, which had LD50 of 80 micro M. In addition, Diclofenac produced caused greater inhibitory effects on cell proliferation and cell death at higher concentration. These effects were found to be correlated with its inhibitory effect on MMPs expression. The above findings indicated that Piroxicam excess an inhibitory effect on expression of MMPs. Thus, this drug can be used in inflammatory conditions