Effect of green tea consumption in treatment of mild to moderate depression in Iranian patients living with HIV: A double-blind randomized clinical trial / 中草药·英文版

Objective: Depression affects people living with HIV (PLWH) compliance leading to poor control infection. Previous observational studies showed an anti-depression effect of green tea extract (GTE). The therapeutic effect of GTE on depression were investigated in PLWH receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART). Methods: Fifty PLWH on ART with diagnose of mild to moderate of depression, participated in a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial and underwent 12 weeks of treatment with either 400 mg GTE capsules or placebo twice daily. The Hamilton depression scale of patients was measured before, 6 weeks and 12 weeks after treatment in two groups. The primary outcome measure was performed to evaluate the efficacy of GTE in improving depressive symptoms. Results: The mean of Hamilton score showed a significant difference between the two groups after 12 weeks (P = 0.035). Repeated measures ANOVA test showed a significant effect for time × treatment interaction on the Hamilton mean score between the two groups (P = 0.000). Conclusion: It seems the use of GTE capsules in PLWH on ART is safe and could lead to greater and more rapid improvement in depressive symptoms than placebo. Thus it can be considered as an alternative therapy for mild to moderate depression. Further studies with higher sample size and longer follow-up and comparisons with other antidepressive drugs are warranted.

The effect of melatonin on in vitro maturation fertilization and early embryo development of mouse oocytes and expression of HMGB1 gene in blastocysts

Antioxidants are commonly used for maturation, fertilization and early development of embryos. Melatonin as an antioxidant have been recently proven to be useful for the assisted reproductive technology. In the present study, we evaluated the roles of melatonin in the in vitro maturation, fertilization, development and also the gene expression of high mobility group box-1 (HMGB1) in the blastocysts. The immature oocytes of BDF1 mice were transferred to the media containing different doses of melatonin (10-6, 10-9, 10-12 M). The blastocysts that developed under in vitro fertilization from each group were stained to determine the cell number of embryos and analyzed to determine the expression level of HMGB1 by real-time PCR. The most effective doses of melatonin for maturation of oocytes were 10-6 and 10-12M (P<0.05). Fertilization rate, early development and the cell number of blastocysts were significantly higher in the group that treated with 10-12 M of melatonin comparing to the other groups. The HMGB1 expression decreased in groups that treated with 10-6M and 10-9M of melatonin and increased in the group that treated with 10-12 M of melatonin, but did not show a significant difference (p˃0.05). From the results, it may be concluded that the melatonin could be effective when the embryos undergo maturation, fertilization and early developmental processes. The HMGB1 expression, as a marker of early development in mice embryos, increased in the groups that treated with low doses of melatonin

Effects of osmotic shock on production of β-carotene and glycerol in a naturally isolated strain of Dunaliella salina.

In the present study, the effects of hypo-osmotic and hyper-osmotic shock on β-carotene and glycerol production by a native strain of Dunaliella salina isolated from Maharlu Salt Lake, Fars province, Iran, were investigated. The amount of β-carotene and glycerol at 1 h, 2 h, 8 h and 24 h after initiating hypo-osmotic (1 M NaCl) and hyper-osmotic shocks (3 M NaCl); and at normal condition (2 M NaCl) were measured. At hyper-osmotic medium, β-carotene concentration reached to maximum amount after 2 h and remained constant up to 24 h. Even so, increasing of glycerol concentration was initiated after 2 h and reached the highest value at 24 h after salinity stress induction. At hypo-osmotic shock, β-carotene and glycerol concentrations were decreased. There are lots of lakes and salt marshes in Iran, which can be suitable environments for growing D. salina. So it seems that the isolated D. salina is potentially useful for planting in small locations to promote the commercial production of β-carotene and glycerol.

Antimicrobial Susceptibility Pattern and ESBL Production among Uropathogenic Escherichia coli Isolated from UTI Children in Pediatric Unit of a Hospital in Kerman, Iran.

Aims: Emergence of antibiotic resistance and extended spectrum β- lactamase (ESBL) among uropathogens in the pediatric unit of hospitals created serious health care concern. This study deals with antimicrobial susceptibility and ESBL analysis of uropathogenic Escherichia coli isolated from children hospitalized in pediatric unit of a university hospital in Kerman, Iran. Methodology: Fifty-five uropathogens positive samples were recovered from one hundred thirty five samples collected from urine of the children hospitalized with sign of UTI in pediatric unit of a hospital, in Kerman, Iran from April 2011 to November 2012. Preliminary antimicrobial susceptibility testing was carried out using agar disk-diffusion breakpoint assay and minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of different antibiotics were determined by agar dilution method. ESBL production was detected by a double disk synergy test and confirmed by a phenotypic confirmatory test. Results: Of fifty-five positive samples isolated, Escherichia coli (69%) was the leading uropathogen followed by Klebsiella spp. (18.8%), Proteus (7.27%), Staphylococcus aureus (3.63%), Citrobacter (1.8%), Enterobacter spp. (1.81%) and Enterococcus (1.8%). Antimicrobial susceptibility tests revealed that almost all uropathogenic E. coli were sensitive to carbapenems (100%) and amikacin (94.4%), while, 100% of the strains were resistant to ampicillin (MIC range ±32 μg/mL), 63.8% were resistant to amoxicillin/clavulanic acid (MIC range ±32μg/mL), 33% were resistant to trimethoprim- sulfamethoxazole (MIC range ±64.2μg/mL) and 61.1% of the strains were resistant to third generation of cephalosporins (MIC range ±8.0μg/mL) (P=0.05). The ESBL confirmatory test for uropathogenic E. coli isolates resistant to third generation of cephalosporins revealed that only 20% were produced detectable ESBL enzymes. Conclusion: From above results it can be concluded that E. coli was the most common nosocomial pathogen associated with UTI among hospitalized children in our hospital and amikacin, carbapenems were very effective drugs for treatment of UTI in these age group, while, care must be taken when third generation of cephalosporins and trimethoprimsulfamethoxazole are administered.

Assessment of bone age in Kurdish children in Iran

To investigate whether or not the Greulich- Pyle method is sufficient for Kurdish children for determination of the skeletal age. The study group consisted of 228 children [126 girls, 102 boys], with a mean age of 10 years. These radiographs were analyzed by two radiologists who were unaware of the age of the children. Mean bone ages were delayed by 2 to 21.6 months when compared to the mean chronological ages in boys aged 7 to 14 years. Mean bone ages were delayed by 6.6 to 11.9 months when compared to the mean chronological ages in girls aged 7 to 9 years and advanced by 2 to 12.2 months in girls aged 10 to 14 years. The results suggest that Kurdish children may have a different pattern of skeletal maturation from that of American children from which the Greulich-Pyle standards is derived