Assessment of trace elements in serum of acute lymphoblastic and myeloid leukemia patients.

AIM: Trace elements play a key role in human metabolism. The aim of the present study was to measure essential trace elements in the serum of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). MATERIALS AND METHODS: 32 patients with ALL and 16 patients with AML were studied. The control group consisted of 36 subjects. Serum levels of the trace elements selenium, copper and zinc were measured by spectrophotometry. RESULTS: The mean of copper concentrations in the groups of patients with AML and ALL was significantly higher than in the control group (p < 0.0001), whereas serum levels of selenium and zinc were significantly lower in AML patients (p < 0.0001). Also in ALL patients the levels of selenium and zinc were significantly decreased compared with the control group (p < 0.0001; p = 0.0003). CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that the levels of zinc and selenium are significantly decreased and copper levels are significantly increased in the serum of patients with acute leukemia (AML, ALL).

Physico-chemical analysis of drinking groundwater of around Tehran by seasonal variation.

This study was a cross-sectional descriptive study and done in four seasons during April 2011 to March 2012.The objective of the present study was to examine Physico-chemical properties of groundwater around Tehran. The results are also compared with the guideline values of Iranian legislation. A total of 160 drinking water samples were collected from different drinking groundwater around the Tehran. Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), conductivity and pH, were measured by using standard methods and the concentration of ions Cl-, F-, NO3-, NO2-, Br-, SO4(2-), PO4(3-), Ca2+, K+, Na+ and NH4+ in groundwater was performed using Ion chromatography (Metrohm Company, USA) with standard method. This study showed that most of the parameters in groundwater were below the Iranian permissible limit except total dissolved solids (N = 2), conductivity (N = 2), nitrate as NO3- (N = 22), chloride (N = 3), sulphate (N = 2), fluoride (N = 3) and ammonia (N = 8). There were significant differences (p < 0.05) between physico-chemical parameters such as pH, nitrite (NO2-), sodium, potassium, sulphate, ammonia, bromide and phosphate in different seasons. These results are important, not only for the many people who drink groundwater but also for the health supervisory agencies such as Ministry of Health and Institute of Standards and Industrial of Iran (ISIRI) to have more effective control on groundwater.

Evaluation of serum levels of essential trace elements in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis before and after treatment by age and gender.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the levels of Zinc, Copper, Iron and Copper/Zinc ratio in the serum of adult patients with pulmonary tuberculosis in Iran. Serum levels of Zinc and Copper were determined by flame atomic absorption spectrophotometer and scrum iron concentration was measured by using an Auto Analyzer. The study group consisted of 50 pulmonary tuberculosis patients before treatment and after 6 months of anti-tubercular therapy. Levels of scrum Zn (p < 0.001) and Fe (p < 0.001) in TB patients were significantly increased after 6 months of anti-tubercular therapy. However, serum Cu concentration (p < 0.01) and Cu/Zn ratio (p < 0.05) were decreased after 6 months of anti-tubercular therapy. Some studies indicated a strong association of Zn, Cu, Fe and the Cu/Zn ratio with TB. In this study, we found remarkable change in Cu/Zn ratio. Some researchers mentioned that serum Cu/Zn ratio could be used as an important laboratory marker for diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis. They also mentioned that trace element levels must be closely monitored during the process of disease.

Fabrication of nano-structured electrospun collagen scaffold intended for nerve tissue engineering.

Nerve tissue engineering is one of the most promising methods in nerve tissue regeneration. The development of blended collagen and glycosaminoglycan scaffolds can potentially be used in many soft tissue engineering applications. In this study an attempt was made to develop two types of random and aligned electrospun, nanofibrous scaffold using collagen and a common type of glycosaminoglycan. Ion chromatography test, MTT and attachment assays were conducted respectively to trace the release of glycosaminoglycan, and to investigate the biocompatibility of the scaffold. Cell cultural tests showed that the scaffold acted as a positive factor to support connective tissue cell outgrowth. The positive effect of fiber orientation on cell outgrowth organization was traced through SEM images. Porosity percentage calculation and tensile strength measurement of the webs specified analogous properties to the native neural matrix tissue. These results suggested that nanostructured porous collagen-glycosaminoglycan scaffold is a potential cell carrier in nerve tissue engineering.

Evaluation of serum levels of zinc, copper, iron, and zinc/copper ratio in cutaneous leishmaniasis.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the levels of zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), iron (Fe) and zinc/ copper ratio in the serum of patients with cutaneous leishmaniasis in Qom Province, center of Iran. METHODS: Serum levels of zinc and copper were determined by flame atomic absorption spectrophotometer and serum iron concentration was measured by using an Auto Analyzer. The study group consisted of 60 patients with cutaneous leishmaniasis and the control group of 100 healthy volunteers from the same area who were not exposed to cutaneous leishmaniasis. RESULT: There were no statistically significant differences in age and body mass index between the two groups. Serum Zn (P< 0.001) and Fe (P< 0.05) levels were lower in patients with cutaneous leishmaniasis than the control group. We also found serum Cu concentration (P< 0.05) in the patient group was significantly higher than that of the control group. However, zinc/ copper ratio (P< 0.001) was lower in patients with cutaneous leishmaniasis than in the control group. CONCLUSION: Our data indicated that Zn/Cu ratio was significantly lower in patients with CL as compared to the controls. Earlier reports suggest that, this ratio imbalance could be a useful marker for immune dysfunction in leishmaniasis. There was also strong association of Zn, Cu and Fe with CL. It suggests the use of blood zinc, copper, iron concentration and the copper/zinc ratio (Zn/Cu), as a means for estimating the prognosis of CL.

A DFT study of the 67Zn, 14N and 2H electric field gradient tensors in Zinc(II)-4-MeIm complexes and extrapolation to superoxide dismutase.

A computational investigation was carried out to characterize the (14)N and (2)H electric field gradient, EFG, in four protonated forms of 4-methyl imidazole (4-MeIm) and Histidine. In an attempt to establish metal binding effect in biological systems, we have considered the various forms of zinc (II) complexes of 4-MeIm. The computations were performed at the B3LYP and PW91P86 levels with 6-311++G(d,P) standard basis set. Calculated EFG tensors were used to determine (14)N and (2)H nuclear quadrupole coupling constant, chi and asymmetry parameter, eta. The results show that Zn(2+) has a strong effect on the NQR parameters (chi, eta) of proximal nitrogen in contrast with the remote nitrogen. In addition, EFG tensors at the Zn nuclear site were calculated for Zn-4-MeIm complexes and estimated the chi and eta values of (67)Zn. The influence of the bulk solvent was investigated at the B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p) level using the polarizable continuum model. Finally, we predicted (chi=1.95 MHz, eta=0.84) for proximal nitrogen, (chi=2.38 MHz, eta=0.07) for remote nitrogen and (chi=1.28 MHz, eta=0.22) for Zn in superoxide dismutase.

Investigation of interaction parameters in mixed micelle using pulsed field gradient NMR spectroscopy.

Pulsed field gradient NMR spectroscopy was used to determine the partitioning of surfactant between monomeric and micellar forms in a mixed CTAB (hexadecyltetramethylammonium bromide) and Triton X-100 [p-(1,1,3-tetramethylbutyl)polyoxyethylene] system. In addition, potentiometric and surface tension measurements were used to determine the free concentration of ionic surfactant and the critical micelle concentration (CMC) of mixtures of n-alkyltrimethylammonium bromide (C(n)TAB, n=12, 14, 16, 18) and Triton X-100. Regular solution theory cannot describe the behavior of the activity coefficient and the excess Gibbs free energy of mixtures of ionic and nonionic surfactants. To overcome these shortcomings, we developed a new model that combines Van Laar expressions and the theory of nonrandom mixing in mixed micelles. The Van Laar expressions contain an additional parameter, rho, which reflects differences in the size of the components of the mixture. Nonrandom mixing theory was introduced to describe nonrandom mixing in mixed micelles. This effect was modeled by a packing parameter, P*. The proposed model provided a good description of the behavior of binary surfactant mixtures. The results indicated that head group size and packing constraints are important contributors to nonideal surfactant behavior. In addition, the results showed that as the chain length of the C(n)TAB molecule in C(n)TAB/Triton X-100 mixtures was increased, the head group size parameter remained constant, but the interaction and packing parameters increased. Increase of the temperature caused an increase in the interaction parameter beta and a decrease in the packing parameter (P*).

Thermodynamic studies of mixed ionic/nonionic surfactant systems.

Mixtures of alkyltrimethylammonium bromide (CnTAB, n=12, 14, 16, 18) and Triton X-100 were studied at a range of mole fractions of ionic surfactant per nonionic surfactant. For each mixture, the cmc obtained from surface tension measurements differed from that obtained using potentiometry. The behavior of these mixed-surfactant systems showed three different regions with increasing total surfactant concentration. From the surface tension and potentiometry data, we obtained the free monomer concentration of ionic surfactant (mi), the micellar mole fraction of surfactant (xi), and the degree of dissociation (alpha) of ionic surfactant. We also obtained the free monomer concentration of Triton X-100 (m2) using PFG-NMR technique. A new equation was introduced to evaluate the activity coefficient in the micellar phase. The excess free energy (GE) and the synergetic parameters of mixtures were determined at various mole fractions of CnTAB/Triton X-100. Finally, the complexity of the synergism parameters was investigated.