LKB1: An emerging therapeutic target for cardiovascular diseases.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are currently the most common cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Experimental studies suggest that liver kinase B1 (LKB1) plays an important role in the heart. Several studies have shown that cardiomyocyte-specific LKB1 deletion leads to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, left ventricular contractile dysfunction, and an increased risk of atrial fibrillation.

Combined use of platelet-rich plasma and adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells shows a synergistic effect in experimental spinal cord injury.

Spinal cord injury (SCI) as a crippling disability causes tissue degeneration via neuron loss and fiber disruption. Some researchers have tried to reverse or minimize these changes. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is a biological product derived from peripheral blood containing a variety of growth factors.

Genus as a new candidate for neurodegenerative disorders.

Neurodegenerative diseases, characterized by progressive loss of neurons, share common mechanisms such as apoptotic cell death, mitochondrial dysfunction, inflammation, and oxidative stress. Genus is a genus in the Burseraceae family. It comprises several species traditionally used for treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases, cerebral edema, chronic pain syndrome, gastrointestinal diseases, tumors, as well as enhancing intelligence.

Rheum turkestanicum reduces glutamate toxicity in PC12 and N2a cell lines.

Glutamate is considered to be responsible for the pathogenesis of many neurodegenerative diseases. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) production is considered to be involved in the glutamate-induced apoptosis process. In this study, we investigated the neuroprotective effects of Rheum turkestanicum in the glutamate-induced rat pheochromocytoma (PC12 cells) and mouse neuroblastoma (N2a) cell lines.

Beneficial Effects of Selective Orexin-A Receptor Antagonist in 4-aminopyridine-induced Seizures in Male Rats.

Background: Orexins are excitatory neuropeptides which stimulate the central regulatory pathways. Orexins increase the penicillin-induced epileptic activity in rats. Orexin-A increases in different types of seizures and its elevated level is the characteristic feature in the epileptic children during polysomnography.

Neuropsychological function in relation to dysmenorrhea in adolescents.

Objective: Hormonal variations during the menstrual cycle may affect emotional regulation. We aimed to investigate the association between dysmenorrhea (the severe abdominal pain and cramps associated with menstruation) and cognitive abilities, emotional function and sleep patterns in adolescent girls. Moreover, we evaluated the frequency of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) in our population and then divided them into 4 groups: subjects with only PMS; subjects with only dysmenorrhea; individuals with both PMS and dysmenorrhea and normal subjects.

Thymoquinone ameliorates renal damage in unilateral ureteral obstruction in rats.

Background: It is well established that renin-angiotensin system (RAS) play a central role in pathophysiology of renal damage following unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO). The present study investigated the effects of thymoquinone and RAS blockade on renal tissue damage and renal expression of angiotensin II after UUO in rats.

Methods: Forty male rats were divided to five groups: Sham-operated group, UUO group and rats with UUO treated with losartan, captopril and thymoquinone.

Effect of Salvia leriifolia Benth. root extracts on ischemia-reperfusion in rat skeletal muscle.

Background: Salvia leriifolia have been shown to decrease ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury in brain tissues. In this study, the effects of S. leriifolia aqueous and ethanolic extracts were evaluated on an animal model of I/R injury in the rat hind limb.