Résumé
Background and Aim: Methamphetamine causes damage in different body organs. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of methamphetamine on morphometric changes and biochemical parameters in kidney of adult mice
Material and Methods: In this experimental study, 56 mice were randomly divided into 7 groups: control and 6 experimental groups. Experimental groups 1, 2 and 3 received methamphetamine 5, 10 and 20 mg/kg respectively for 10 days. Experimental groups 4, 5 and 6 received methamphetamine [5, 10 and 20 mg/kg] respectively for 40 days. After 10 and 40 days, kidneys of the mice of the experimental groups were removed and after tissue processing and imaging, volume of kidney and glomerulus were measured by using cavalieri's principle. In addition blood urea and creatinine levels were measured. Using SPSS software, data were analyzed by means of ANOVA
Results: Histopatological study showed that methamphetamine increased renal damage in a dose dependent manner. High doses of methamphetamine caused a moderate lobulation, glomerulosclerosis and kidney congestion. There was also a significant difference between the experimental [groups 3 to 6] and control groups in regard to the volumes of kidney and glomerulus [P=0.000]. Significant differences were found in the level of urea in group 6 and creatinine levels in all experimental groups compared to those of control group [P=0.000]
Conclusion: Use of 10 mg/kg of methamphetamine for 40 days led to destructive effects on kidney tissue. Also, it increased serum levels of urea and creatinine
Résumé
Introduction: Growth, proliferation, survival, and differentiation are the prominent characteristics of cells, which are affected by cancer. Epidermal growth factor receptor [EGFR] plays a pivotal role in the effective control of these features. Given the significance of EGFR signaling pathway in non-small cell lung cancer [NSCLC], EGFR expression is influential on these cell characteristics. In this paper, we studied EGFR expression and its association with demographic factors, clinicopathological features, and prognosis of NSCLC patients
Materials and Methods: In this retrospective cohort study which was done during 2009-12 at Ghaem Hospital, Mashhad, Iran. EGFR expression was evaluated in 96 patients with formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded NSCLC tissues [43 adenocarcinomas, 48 squamous-cell carcinomas, and 5 large-cell carcinomas] using immunohistochemistry [IHC]. Data analysis was performed by SPSS version 20.0
Results: Out of 96 specimens, approximately 53% were classified as positive for EGFR expression. The study group consisted of 68% [N=65] male and 32% [N=31] female subjects, with the mean age of 61.1 +/- 9.03 years. There was no difference between EGFR-positive and EGFR-negative patients in terms of the overall survival rate [P=0.49]. In addition, no association was observed between tumor histology and EGFR expression [P=0.08], while EGFR-positive adenocarcinoma [N=28, 29%] was more prevalent compared to other subtypes of NSCLC. Moreover, there were no differences between tumor subtypes and the overall survival rate of the patients [P=0.21], and no association was found between EGFR expression and the patients' demographic factors [e.g. age and gender]
Conclusion: The results of this study indicated that EGFR expression could not be a prognostic marker in NSCLC patients; however, it seems that using standardized IHC scoring is likely to yield more reliable data in this regard
Résumé
Objective: Worldwide, Leishmania major is one of the major causes of cutaneous leishmaniasis, including Iran. In the present study we investigate the effect of a direct electricity current in combination with silver nanoparticle on the killing of Leishmania major in vitro
Methods: We evaluated the effects of different concentrations of silver nanoparticles against Leishmania major promastigotes in vitro, then the half maximal inhibitory concentration [IC50] of the nanoparticles was determined. In the second step, the killing effect of silver nanoparticles alone or in combination with 3mA of direct electric current was assessed in promastigote cultures for 10 minutes. Next, we evaluated the survival rate of treated promastigotes with the MTT assay
Results: The parasite count showed that the various concentrations of silver nanoparticles significantly decreased the numbers of live promastigotes over time compared with the control group after 24, 48 and 72 hours of culture. The IC50 of the nanoparticles was 39.8 microg/ml after 48 hours of cultivation. Promastigote mortality occurred in 33.5% with the use of silver nanoparticles alone at concentrations of 160 microg/ml and 100% when combined with 3 mA direct current electricity after 10 minutes
Conclusion: Silver nanoparticles alone did not completely kill Leishmania major promastigotes. However, the combined use of both direct current electricity and silver nanoparticles had a significant synergistic effect on promastigote mortality