Resveratrol as modulator of PSA-NCAM expression in the hippocampus of diazinon-injured rat fetuses.

Polysialylated neural cell adhesion molecule (PSA-NCAM) is expressed in the developing central nervous system (CNS) and plays an important role in neurogenesis. Organophosphorus (OP) toxins, including diazinon (DZN), cause oxidative stress (OS) and damage the CNS. Resveratrol (RV), with its antioxidant effect, leads to the reduction of OS. Therefore, this research was conducted with the aim of the effect of RVon the expression of PSA-NCAM in the hippocampus (HPC) of rat fetuses treated with DZN. In this study, 24 female Wistar rats were divided into 4 groups (n = 6): Control, DZN (40 mg/kg), RV(10 mg/kg), and DZN + RV(40 mg/kg + 10 mg/kg) after confirming they were pregnant. On the 21st day of pregnancy, the mother mice were anesthetized with ketamine and xylazine, and the fetuses were removed; after anesthesia, their brains were removed for immunohistochemistry and western blot (WB) technique. The results of the study showed that in the group receiving DZN, the level of PSA-NCAM protein expression decreased significantly compared to the control group, and the group receiving RV with its antioxidant property increased the expression of PSA-NCAM protein compared to the DZN group. All in all, the exposure of pregnant mice to DZN causes disorders in the CNS, especially the level of PSA-NCAM protein expression in the HPC of fetuses, and the use of RV as an antioxidant by pregnant mothers neutralizes the effects of DZN in the HPC of their fetuses.

The protective effect of methanolic extract of Verbascum cheiranthifolium and Biebersteinia multifida DC on hippocampus damage induced by diazinon in male Wistar rats: An experimental study.

Diazinon (DZN) an organophosphate (OP), with the most important mechanism of action of DZN being induction of oxidative stress (OS) and inhibition of the enzyme acetylcholinesterase (AChE). Verbascum cheiranthifolium (VER) and Biebersteinia multifida (BM) belong to the Scrophulariaceae and Biebersteiniaceae family respectively. These plants are widely used in Iranian traditional medicine due to their beneficial effects. Thus, this research aimed to appraise the protective effects of the methanolic extract of the VER and BM on changes in the level of expression of α7 and α4 subunits of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) in hippocampus (HPC) of DZN-treated rats. In this research, 36 male Wistar rats were used and randomly divided into six groups: Control, DZN (40 mg/kg), VER (1 g/kg), DZN+VER (40 mg/kg+1 g/kg), BM (150 mg/kg), and DZN+BM (40 mg/kg+150 mg/kg). At the end of treatment periods, the animals of all groups underwent the Morris water maze (MWM) test. The rats were anesthetized, and blood sampling was performed. Eventually, the brain was removed for histological study and evaluation of OS parameters. The results indicated that DZN increased the extent of expression of nAChRs in the HPC and significantly inhibited cholinesterase (ChEs) activity plus OS parameters. Also, in MWM, the time to find the platform was significantly longer in the DZN group, while the time and the distance in the probe test were lower than in the control groups. VER and BM extract in the treatment groups simultaneously improved the extent of expression of nAChRs, ChEs activity, as well as the parameters of OS and spatial memory significantly. In conclusion, our results support the neuroprotective properties of VER and BM extract versus DZN in rats. Accordingly, the extracts of VER and BM may be useful as an approach for the treatment of learning disorders and memory enhancement.

Monosodium Glutamate Effect on The Expression of ɑ7nACHR and ɑ4nACHR Subunits in The Testicular Tissue.

BACKGROUND: Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is a popular food flavor enhancer, and a glutamate subset that induces different toxicities such as hepatotoxicity, neurotoxicity, reproductive toxicity, and nephrotoxicity. This study was conducted to assess the effects of MSG on the α7 and α4 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nACHR) protein subunits expression of adult rat testis and the safety role of vitamin C. MATERIALS AND METHODS: For this experimental research, 24 rats were haphazardly grouped into four equal groups (n=6) and orally gavaged for 30 days as follows: control group (distilled water gavage), MSG group (3 g/kg/b.w/ day), vitamin C group (150 mg/kg/b.w/day), and MSG+vitamin C group (3 g/kg/b.w/day+150 mg/kg/b.w/day, respectively) that rats of all groups on the 30th day were anesthetized, and the left testes were used for of α4 and α7 nACHR protein subunit evaluation by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Statistical computations were performed using Graph Pad Prism software. RESULTS: The present study revealed a significant reduction in the expression and optical density (OD) of α7 nACHR and α4 nACHR in the seminiferous tubules and intertubular connective tissue in the MSG group compared to the control group. In the MSG+vitamin C group, the expression and OD of α7 nACHR and α4 nACHR increased in the seminiferous tubules and intertubular connective tissue but this improvement was not significant compared to the MSG group. CONCLUSION: MSG decreased the expression level of nACHR protein subunits, α7 and α4, in the seminiferous tubules and interstitial testicular tissue. Vitamin C in the MSG+vitamin C group could not significantly improve the expression of α7 and α4 nACHR subunits in testicular tissue. Probably, MSG toxicity can be compensated with higher doses of vitamin C.

Maternal aerobic running during mid or late gestation improves the quality of oogenesis and folliculogenesis in the ovary of neonatal rats: An experimental study.

BACKGROUND: Regular maternal exercise in pregnancy enhances the physiological, metabolic, and psychological health of mother and fetus. OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of maternal aerobic running during mid or late gestation on plasma levels of estrogen and progesterone and the histological alterations in the ovary of neonatal rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-one female Wistar rats were randomly divided into experimental groups to exercises during the 2 nd or 3 rd wk of pregnancy (n = 14) and a control group (n = 7). After birth, the neonate's blood was obtained and the estrogen and progesterone levels were evaluated. The ovaries were then removed and used for histological investigations and apoptic assessment. RESULTS: Higher concentrations of estrogen and progesterone were found in the neonates of the experimental groups (p = 0.001) compared to the control group. The experimental groups had a large ovarian diameter (2 nd wk: p = 0.044; 3 rd wk: p = 0.005) and angiogenesis (2 nd wk: p = 0.003; 3 rd wk: p = 0.001). In addition, significant enhancements were seen in the the experimental groups in terms of the number (2 nd wk: p = 0.017; p = 0.035) and diameter (2 nd wk: p = 0.046; 3 rd wk: p = 0.004) of primordial follicles, as well as in the diameter of primary oocytes (2 nd wk: p = 0.073; 3 rd wk: p = 0.019) compared to the control group. Moreover, rats that exercised had a lower number of apoptotic primordial follicles than the control group (2 nd wk: p = 0.001; 3 rd wk: p = 0.001). CONCLUSION: It was shown that maternal aerobic running can lead to increased plasma levels of estrogen and progesterone, also improved histological characteristics of the ovary in neonatal rats.

Hippocampal asymmetry and regional dispersal of nAChRs alpha4 and alpha7 subtypes in the adult rat.

To better comprehend the relationship between left/right (L/R) differences and hippocampus functions is necessary knowledge of lateral asymmetry and regional distribution. This research was design to examine hippocampal L/R asymmetry and regional distribution profile of the alpha7 and alpha4 subtypes of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) in the adult rat. 10-12-week-old twenty-four male wistar rats were randomly selected. After removing the brains, immunohistochemistry, real-time PCR, and western blot methods were applied to distinguish the presence of the receptors in the hippocampus. Outcomes stated that the mentioned receptors expression profile was spatial-dependent. As, the hippocampal dispersal of alpha7 and alpha4 subtypes in the left hippocampus (LH) was remarkably maximum compare with the right hippocampus (RH) (p = 0.001, p = 0.005 respectively). Furthermore, the alpha7 optical density (OD) was not significantly different in the diverse regions in hippocampus of adult rat (p = 0.057), while the maximum OD of the alpha4 was detected in the hippocampal dentate gyrus and CA3 regions of LH (p = 0.007, p = 0.009 respectively) and the minimum OD was in the CA1 of the RH (p = 0.019). In real time PCR evaluation, there is a significantly higher expression of alpha7 and alpha4 in LH compared to RH (p = 0.043, p = 0.049 respectively), also, for western blot (p = 0.042, p = 0.030 respectively). According to present data, the alpha7 and alpha4 nAChR subtypes expression profile demonstrated lateral asymmetry, the uniform regional dispersal for alpha7 and different regional dispersal for alpha4 in the adult rat hippocampus.

Developmental regulation and lateralisation of the α7 and α4 subunits of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in developing rat hippocampus.

The purpose of this study was to describe the distinct regional distribution patterns of expression of the α7 and α4 subunits of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) and their left-right lateralisation in the rat hippocampus during the first 2 weeks of postnatal (P) development. Eighteen male pups were randomly divided into three groups: P0, P7, and P14. After removing the newborn brains, real-time polymerase chain reaction, western blot, and immunohistochemistry techniques were used to evaluate expression of the receptors. Results indicated that the expression profile of these receptors were time- and spatially dependent. A significant increase was observed in the distribution of α7 and α4 nAChR subunits in the developing rat hippocampus from P0 to P7 (p < .001); however, there was a significant decrease from P7 to P14 (p < .05). As a spatial effect, the highest optical density (OD) was observed in the CA3 and CA2 regions of the hippocampus, while the lowest OD was in the dentate gyrus. Moreover, the distribution of α7 and α4 nAChR subunits in the left hippocampus was significantly higher than their counterparts in the right (p < .05). From these data, the expression patterns of α7 and α4 nAChR subunits exhibited left-right asymmetry in the developing rat hippocampus.

Effects of monosodium glutamate on apoptosis of germ cells in testicular tissue of adult rat: An experimental study.

BACKGROUND: Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is used as a flavoring and food seasoning. Some studies have reported the oxidative effects of using this substance on various tissues. OBJECTIVE: This study has investigated the effects of MSG and the protective effect of vitamin C (vit C) on apoptosis of testicular germ cells and biochemical factors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this experimental study, 24 adult male Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups: control (received distilled water), vit C group (150 mg/kg), experimental group 1 (MSG 3 gr/kg), experimental group 2 (MSG 3 gr/kg + vit C 150 mg/kg). The rats were gavaged for 30 days, and then were sacrificed, the right testis was isolated for biochemical examinations for the glutathione, malondialdehyde, and left testis used in histological experiments. Tunnel staining was used to determine the number of apoptotic cells. RESULTS: The results showed that apoptotic cells in the MSG group had a significant increase compared to the control group (P = 0.001), but the number of these cells in the MSG co-administered with vit C and vit C groups were significantly lower than the MSG group. Germinal epithelial thickness also decreased in MSG group compared to the control group. CONCLUSION: MSG can lead to increase apoptotic changes in the germinal epithelial of the testicle, and vit C as an antioxidant can modify the pathological and biochemical changes induced by MSG.

An optimal strategy for prediction of sudden cardiac death through a pioneering feature-selection approach from HRV signal.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Taking into consideration the critical importance of Sudden cardiac death (SCD), as it could be the first and the last heart condition to be diagnosed in a person while continuing to claim millions of lives around the world, prediction of sudden cardiac death has increasingly been regarded as a matter of substantive significance. This study does not seek to once again define features to predict and detect SCD, as there already has been adequate discussion addressing feature extraction in our previous works and other recent studies. What seems to be lacking attention is the need for an appropriate strategy to manage the extracted features to such an extent that the best classification is presented. To this end, deploying a suitable tactic to select extracted features could bring about outstanding results compared to other works in the literature. METHODS: This research has accordingly applied a novel and automated approach to Local Feature Subset Selection through the most rigorous methodologies, which have formerly been developed in previous works of this team, for extracting features from nonlinear, time-frequency and classical processes. We are therefore enabled to select features that differ from one another in each minute before the incident through the agency of optimal feature selection in each one-minute interval of the signal. RESULTS: Using the proposed algorithm, SCD can be predicted 13 min before the onset, thus, better results are achieved compared to other techniques proposed in this field. Additionally, through defining a Utility Function and employing statistical analysis the alarm threshold has been effectively determined as 84% for the prediction accuracy. Having selected the best combination of features, based on their ability to generate the highest classification accuracy, the two classes are classified by means of the Multilayer Perceptron (MLP), K- Nearest Neighbor (KNN) the Support Vector Machine (SVM), and the Mixture of Expert (ME) classifier. The Mixture of Experts classification yielded more precise class discrimination than other well-known classifiers. The performance of the proposed method was evaluated using the MIT-BIH database which led to sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of 84.24%, 85.71%, and 82.85%, respectively for thirteen one-minute. CONCLUSIONS: The outcome of the obtained prediction would be analyzed and compared to other results. The most applicable and effective features would subsequently be presented according to the number of times they have been chosen. Finally, principal features in each time interval are discussed and the importance of each type of processing will be drawn into focus. The results indicate the significant capacity of the proposed method for predicting SCD from Electrocardoigram (ECG) signals as well as selecting the appropriate processing method at any time before the incident.

Adsorption and in vitro release study of curcumin form polyethyleneglycol functionalized multi walled carbon nanotube: kinetic and isotherm study.

Polyethylene glycol functionalized with oxygenated multi-walled carbon nanotubes (O-PEG-MWCNTs) as an efficient nanomaterial for the in vitro adsorption/release of curcumin (CUR) anticancer agent. The synthesized material was morphologically characterized using scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. In addition, the CUR adsorption process was assessed with kinetic and isotherm models fitting well with pseudo-second order and Langmuir isotherms. The results showed that the proposed O-PEG-MWCNTs has a high adsorption capacity for CUR (2.0 × 103 mg/g) based on the Langmuir model. The in vitro release of CUR from O-PEG-MWCNTs was studied in simulating human body fluids with different pHs (ABS pH 5, intestinal fluid pH 6.6 and body fluid pH 7.4). Lastly, to confirm the success compliance of the O-PEG-MWCNT nanocomposite as a drug delivery system, the parameters affecting the CUR release such as temperature and PEG content were investigated. As a result, the proposed nanocomposite could be used as an efficient carrier for CUR delivery with an enhanced prolonged release property. Graphical Abstract ᅟ.