Long-Term Exposure of Lead Acetate on Rabbit Renal Tissue.

Background: Lead has been widely used in different industries for ages. It is one of the heavy metals, highly poisonous even at low doses, and has biochemical, physiological and behavioral side effects on human and animals. It has been shown that lead has toxic effects on different tissues such as neural and genitourinary tissues, cardiovascular systems and blood.

Efficacy of Compound Therapy by Ginseng and Ciprofloxacin on Bacterial Prostatitis.

Objective: Genitourinary tract infections play a significant role in male infertility. Infections of reproductive sex glands, such as the prostate, impair function and indirectly affect male fertility. The general aim of this study is to investigate the protective effect of Korean red ginseng (KRG) on prostatitis in male rats treated with ciprofloxacin (CIPX).

Rosiglitazone, but not epigallocatechin-3-gallate, attenuates the decrease in PGC-1α protein levels in palmitate-induced insulin-resistant C2C12 cells.

Alteration of lipid metabolism is an important mechanism for the treatment of insulin resistance. PGC-1α, a key regulator of mitochondrial biogenesis and function, plays an important role in the improvement of insulin sensitivity by increasing fatty acids β-oxidation. In the present study, the effects of epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), an anti-obesity agent and enhancer of lipid catabolism, on PGC-1α protein expression was examined and compared with anti-diabetic drug rosiglitazone (RGZ).

Tissue engineered scaffolds in regenerative medicine.

Stem cells are self-renewing cells that can be differentiated into other cell types. Conventional in vitro models for studying stem cells differentiation are usually preformed in two-dimensional (2D) cultures. The design of three-dimensional (3D) in vitro models which ideally are supposed to mimic the in vivo stem cells microenvironment is potentially useful for inducing stem cell derived tissue formation.

Curcumin prevents the structural changes induced in the rats' deep cerebellar nuclei by sodium metabisulfite, a preservative agent.

Objective: To evaluate the the possible neurotoxic effects of sulfite and the protective potential of curcumin on the deep cerebellar nuclei using stereological methods.

Methods: The rats were randomly divided into five experimental groups (n=6): Group I: distilled water, Group II: Olive oil, Group III: Curcumin (100 mg/kg/day), Group IV: Sodium metabisulfite (25 mg/kg/day), and Group V: Sodium metabisulfite+curcumin. At the end of 56 d, the right cerebellar hemispheres were removed and assigned to stereological studies.

Increased expression of transforming growth factor-β and receptors in primary human airway fibroblasts from chemical inhalation patients.

The widespread use of sulfur mustard (SM) as a chemical warfare agent in the past century has proved its long-lasting toxic effects. Despite a lot of research over the past decades on Iranian veterans, there are still major gaps in the SM literature. Transforming growth factor (TGF-β), a cytokine that affects many different cell processes, has an important role in the lungs of patients with some of chronic airway diseases, especially with respect to airway remodeling in mustard lung.

siRNA therapeutics in the treatment of diseases.

siRNAs are a class of dsRNAs, 21-23 nucleotides in length, which are able to silence their target genes through enzymatic cleavage of target mRNA. The sequence-specific gene-silencing by siRNA can be used as a new therapeutic approach for treatment of a variety of diseases that are incurable by conventional drugs. Many efforts have been made to overcome the problems related to delivery, stability, off-target gene silencing and immunostimulatory effects of siRNA.

Evaluation of rabbit antibody response against 8 and 16 kDa recombinant subunits of antigen B from Echinococcus granulosus.

Objective: To immunize rabbits with 12 and 16 kDa recombinant subunits of antigen B from Echinococcus granulosus (E. granulosus) and measuring polyclonal antibody and humoral immune response using ELISA and gel diffusion.

Methods: Two mentioned antigens were cloned and expressed in expression vector and purified by affinity chromatography.

Nuclear factor κB1/RelA mediates the inflammation and/or survival of human airway exposed to sulfur mustard.

Context: Sulfur mustard (SM) is known as an effective chemical agent and was used in the 1980s during the Iran-Iraq war against Iranians. At the present time, there are more than 40,000 people suffering from pulmonary lesions due to mustard gas in Iran. Though much is known about the gross pathology of SM damage, the molecular and cellular basis for this pathology is not well understood.

Maternal Nicotine Induces Collagen Type IV Changes in the Mice Lung Parenchyma and its Vessels.

Background: One of the undesirable effects of maternal nicotine exposure during pregnancy is pulmonary hypertension. Since nicotine binds to its receptors on pulmonary vessels the hypothesis of this research was the possible structural changes that nicotine may cause on newborn vessels.

Materials And Methods: Twenty-four female BALB/c mice were mated and finding vaginal plug was assumed as day zero of pregnancy.

Effects of Maternal Nicotine Exposure on Expression of Collagen Type IV and its Roles on Pulmonary Bronchogenesis and Alveolarization in Newborn Mice.

Unlabelled: Nicotine is one the chemical substance with high level of toxically. It crosses the placenta and accumulates in the developing organs of fetus. Our previous investigations indicated that collagen type IV plays a key role in basement membrane of various embryonic organs.

Inductive role of collagen type IV during nephrogenesis in mice.

Introduction: During nephrogenesis, transition of mesenchyme to the epithelium of tubules and glomeruli occurs via the interaction of ureteral bud and metanephric mesenchyme. The distribution pattern of collagen type IV suggests that a regulated balance of activities is required to facilitate migration of the ureteral bud branches into the mesenchyme and to control early extracellular matrix changes during tubulogenesis. We used a specific antibody for tracing collagen type IV basement membrane during renal tubules morphogenesis.

A time course analysis of systemic administration of aqueous licorice extract on spatial memory retention in rats.

In the present study, the time course of the effects of Glycyrrhiza glabra L. (Leguminosae) aqueous extract (GE), administered systemically to rats, on the spatial memory retention in the Morris water maze was investigated. The dose of glycyrrhizin (GL), i.

Protective effects of chronic lithium treatment against spatial memory retention deficits induced by the protein kinase AII inhibitor H-89 in rats.

We have previously shown that infusion of the PKAII inhibitor H-89 in the CA1 area of the hippocampus impaired spatial memory retention. There is some evidence suggesting the neuroprotective effects of chronic lithium administration including its ability to attenuate a deleterious effect of chronic stress on spatial memory in rats. In the present study, we investigated whether chronic administration of lithium can improve memory as well as influence the inhibitory effect of H-89 on spatial memory retention.