Veterinary nanomedicine: Pros and cons.

In recent years, nanotechnology has improved life with continuous growth in different fields. Nanoparticles can be employed in industry, imaging, engineering, and various biomedical filed because of their special physicochemical properties like rapid, effective, highly specific solutions, higher stability, biodegradability, biocompatibility, and cost. In this line, veterinary medicine has been influenced by nanotechnology in prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases, cancer therapy, immunization, vaccine production, drug delivery, and health besides to related issues of animal production, maintenance, and welfare. The other important point is the interwoven linkage between animals and humans whether as a food source or as a companionship. Inorganic nanoparticles, polymeric, solid lipid, liposomal, nanocrystal, nanotubes, nanoemulsions, micelles, mesoporous silica nanoparticles, and dendrimers are kinds of nanoparticles that can be used widely. In this review, the impacts of nanotechnology on veterinary medicine have been summarized, criticized, and acknowledged as "veterinary nanomedicine" discipline.

A high-fat diet induced NMRI mouse model of metabolic syndrome: focus on brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF).

The association of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) as a member of neurotrophin family and metabolic syndrome (MetS) has been proposed, however basic evidence necessary to prove (or disprove) this association in non-genetic animal model is rare. Therefore, we investigated the alteration of encephalic BDNF gene expression in a mouse model of high-fat diet (HFD) induced MetS. To translate MetS, male NMRI mice (9 weeks old; N = 13) fed on a HFD including suet powder (37.50%) and granulated sugar (19.85%) while control mice were fed a diet contained suet powder (6.25%) and granulated sugar (49.09%). We monitored the development of MetS by measuring fasting blood sugar (FBS) and lipid (total cholesterol (TC) and triacylglycerol (TGs)) and lipoprotein (high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), very low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-C)) profiles, atherogenic index (AI), and somatic indices after 1 and 3 months of dietary interventions. The HFD intake led to increased body weight, liver weight, FBS, TC, and decreased HDL-C as compared to chow diet in mice after first month of dietary intervention. The increased FBS, body weight, abdominal fat mass, TGs, TC, and VLDL-C and decreased HDL-C were observed in HFD-fed mice as compared to those of chow-fed mice at 3th month. The statistical comparison of two HFD groups in two time intervals of 1st and 3th month confirmed that our HFD-induced MetS model was reliable because FBS, TGs and VLDL-C, TC, and AI have been increased significantly during selected time intervals. The AI increased significantly in HFD-fed mice compared to chow-fed mice after 3 months. The AI in HFD-fed mice treated with HFD for 3 months was increased significantly as compared to mice fed HFD for 1 month. Our diet-induced model more closely mimics the changes observed in human MetS and showed that encephalic BDNF gene in mice fed HFD was under-expressed by 0.30 fold with respect to chow-fed mice after 3 months of dietary intervention.

An effort toward molecular neuroeconomics of food deprivation induced food hoarding in mice: focus on xanthine oxidoreductase gene expression and xanthine oxidase activity.

The crucial role of xanthine oxidoreductase (XOR) gene and its active isoform, xanthine oxidase (XO), in purine metabolism and cellular oxidative status led us to investigative their fluctuations in food deprivation induced food hoarding in mice. After, 10 h food deprivation, mice that hoarded lesser than 5 g were considered as 'low-hoarders' while mice that hoarded higher than 20 g were considered as 'high-hoarders'. Mice who hoarded between 5 to 20 g of food were excluded from study. An increase (1.133-fold) in encephalic XOR expression has been found in high-hoarders compared with low-hoarders without sex consideration. An increase (~ 50-fold) in encephalic XOR in female high-hoarders vs. female low-hoarders while a decrease (0.026-fold) in encephalic XOR in male high-hoarders vs. male low-hoarders demonstrated that food deprivation is associated with sex-dependent alteration in XOR expression. The encephalic and hepatic XO activities were not different in male high-hoarders vs. male low-hoarders while encephalic XO activity has been also increased significantly in female high-hoarders (~ 4 times) compared to female low-hoarders. The plasma and hepatic XO activities tended to be increased in female high-hoarders as compared to female low-hoarders, however the uric acid levels in plasma, liver and brain tissues were not altered in female high-hoarders as compared to female low-hoarders. In sum, this study generally proposed that different gene expression space is behind of hoarding behavior in a food-deprived mouse model. Specifically, this is the first study that examined the levels of encephalic XO activity and XOR expression in hoarding behavior, although additional studies are requested.

The interrelationship of metabolic syndrome and neurodegenerative diseases with focus on brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF): Kill two birds with one stone.

The brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is involved in metabolic syndrome (MetS) and neurodegenerative diseases (NDD) like Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease, Parkinson's disease and depression. If one factor plays an essential role in the pathogenesis of two diseases, it can be concluded that there might be a common root in these two diseases, as well. This review was aimed to highlight the crucial roles of BDNF in the pathogenesis of MetS and NDD and to introduce sole prophylactic or therapeutic applications, BDNF gene therapy and BDFN administration, in controlling MetS and NDD.

Stability Improvement of Immobilized α-amylase using Nano Pore Zeolite.

BACKGROUND: Enzyme engineering by immobilization techniques has proven to be well compatible with the other chemical or biological approaches aiming to improve enzyme's functions and stability. Zeolites are porous alumino-silicates with a wide range of porosity and particle size along with the other remarkable properties such as high surface area, high stability against a wide range temperatures, pHs, as well as organic solvents. OBJECTIVES: Nano-zeolites are a class of advanced materials that have special properties that has made them ideal candidate for a wide range of applications. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study, a nano-zeolite which has been synthesized and characterized in our previous work, was used to immobilize α-amylase and activated with glutaraldehyde as a bi-functional agent to improve enzyme properties. RESULTS: Studies have shown an increased stability of the immobilized enzyme compared to the free enzyme against a range of temperature change and pHs as well. Also the stability of the immobilized enzyme was increased with respect to storage. The calculated binding efficiency shows that the immobilized α-amylase conserved 58.44 % of its native activity. CONCLUSIONS: Using nano pore zeolite for covalent attachment of the α-amylase resulted in an increased resistance of this enzyme against denaturation. The immobilized enzyme demonstrated higher stability compared to the free enzyme at higher temperatures and pH variations. Immobilization also caused an increase in the enzyme stability during storage.

Immobilization of the Alkaline Phosphatase on Collagen Surface via Cross-Linking Method.

BACKGROUND: Collagen, the most abundant protein in the human body, and as an extracellular matrix protein, has an important role in the fiber formation. This feature of the collagen renders establishment of the structural skeleton in tissues. Regarding specific features associated with the collagen, such as, formation of the porous structure, permeability and hydrophilicity, it can also be used as a biocompatible matrix in the enzyme engineering. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the present study was to investigate the application of the type I collagen as a matrix for alkaline phosphatase immobilization using cross-linking method. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The Alkaline phosphatase was covalently immobilized on collagen matrix by using 1-ethyl-3- (dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide hydrochloride (EDC). The source of the alkaline phosphatase was from the bovine intestinal mucous. After that, the activity of the immobilized enzyme was assayed under different experimental conditions. RESULTS: The optimum pH was similar to that of the free enzyme, whereas the optimum temperature and thermal stability were shown some increments. The surface topography of the collagen matrix containing immobilized enzyme and ALP (Alkaline phosphatase) deficient was investigated by Atomic-force microscopy (AFM). Images that have been obtained applying AFM show significant differences between uncovered and immobilized enzyme- matrix surface topography. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that type I collagen can be utilized as a matrix for alkaline phosphatase immobilization via cross-linking method.

Association between mismatch repair gene MSH3 codons 1036 and 222 polymorphisms and sporadic prostate cancer in the Iranian population.

The mismatch repair system (MMR) is a post-replicative DNA repair mechanism whose defects can lead to cancer. The MSH3 protein is an essential component of the system. We postulated that MSH3 gene polymorphisms might therefore be associated with prostate cancer (PC). We studied MSH3 codon 222 and MSH3 codon 1036 polymorphisms in a group of Iranian sporadic PC patients. A total of 60 controls and 18 patients were assessed using the polymerase chain reaction and single strand conformational polymorphism. For comparing the genotype frequencies of patients and controls the chi-square test was applied. The obtained result indicated that there was significantly association between G/A genotype of MSH3 codon 222 and G/G genotype of MSH3 codon 1036 with an increased PC risk (P=0.012 and P=0.02 respectively). Our results demonstrated that MSH3 codon 222 and MSH3 codon 1036 polymorphisms may be risk factors for sporadic prostate cancer in the Iranian population.