Association of Paraoxonase-1 Genotype and Phenotype with Angiogram Positive Coronary Artery Disease.

Background: It has been shown that increased serum PON1 levels are protective against several disorders. Several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the PON1 gene have been reported to be associated with serum enzyme protein levels and activity.

Objective: To investigate the association of SNPs of PON1 and serum paraoxonase activity with coronary artery disease (CAD).

Effects of hydroalcoholic extract on the lipid and antioxidant profile in high fat diet-induced hepatic steatosis in rats.

Oxidative stress is related to increased fat deposition in the liver, known as hepatic steatosis. The present study is an evaluation of the anti-oxidative and antihyperlipidemic effects of the hydroalcoholic extract of (HARE) in rats on a high-fat diet (HFD). Twenty male Wistar rats were divided into four groups: control, HFD, HFD + HARE 50 mg/kg/day, and HFD + HARE 250 mg/kg/day for 12 weeks.

Association between Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII®) and depression and anxiety in the Mashhad Stroke and Heart Atherosclerotic Disorder (MASHAD) Study population.

Background: Systemic inflammation is emerging as an important factor in the etiology of psychiatric disorders such as depression and anxiety. Therefore, the inflammatory potential of the diet may also be an etiological factor for these conditions, and this may be estimated by calculating the dietary inflammatory index (DII®) score. We aimed to investigate the association between DII score and incidence of depression and anxiety among a representative sample in northeastern Iran.

Dyslipidemia and cardiovascular disease risk among the MASHAD study population.

Introduction: Dyslipidemia may be defined as increased levels of serum total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), triglycerides (TG), or a decreased serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) concentration. Dyslipidemia is an established risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD). We aimed to investigate the association of dyslipidemia and CVD events among a population sample from Mashhad, in northeastern Iran.

Novelty in limbal stem cell culture and cell senescence.

Limbal stem cell deficiency is a pathological state. Recently, limbal stem cell (LSC) transplantation has attracted great interest as a therapeutic method which mainly involves in-vitro expansion of LSCs. It is believed that ex-vivo cultivation conditions could affect the outcome of surgery and the rate of successful transplantation.

Evaluation of the two polymorphisms rs1801133 in MTHFR and rs10811661 in CDKN2A/B in breast cancer.

The 5,10-Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) was the rate-limiting enzyme in the methyl cycle, which was encoded by the MTHFR gene. MTHFR played a key role in homocysteine plasma level and was associated with the risk of breast cancer. The cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) inhibitor (CDKN2A/B) was the tumor suppressor in the cell cycle regulation.

Determining Pro-Oxidant Antioxidant Balance (PAB) and Total Antioxidant Capacity (TAC) in Patients with Schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia is a disease with unknown etiology. There is evidence suggesting that oxidative damage occurs in schizophrenia. Oxidative damage may arouse from imbalance between oxidant and anti-oxidant factors in cellular and tissue environment.

Crocin synergistically enhances the antiproliferative activity of 5-flurouracil through Wnt/PI3K pathway in a mouse model of colitis-associated colorectal cancer.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cause of cancer-related death, and hence there is a need for the identification of novel-agents to improve the efficacy of existing therapies. There is growing evidence for the antitumor activity of crocin, although its activity and molecular mechanisms in CRC remains to be elucidated. Here we explored the therapeutic application of crocin or its combination with 5-flurouracil in a mouse model of colitis-associated colon cancer.

Hookah smoking is strongly associated with diabetes mellitus, metabolic syndrome and obesity: a population-based study.

Objectives: The adverse effects of cigarette smoking have been widely studied before, whilst the effects of hookah smoking has received less attention, although it is a common habit in the Middle East. Here we have investigated the effects of cigarette and hookah smoking on biochemical characteristics in a representative population sample derived from the Mashhad stroke and heart atherosclerotic disorder (MASHAD) cohort study, from Northeastern Iran.

Study Design: A total of 9840 subjects from the MASHAD population study were allocated to five groups; non-smokers (6742), ex-smokers (976), cigarette smokers (864), hookah smokers (1067), concomitant cigarette and hookah smokers (41).