Validation of a Persian version of an English language ecologically-valid assessment of executive functions through childhood and adolescence.

Childhood and adolescence are pivotal periods for cognitive development. Executive functions are crucial for efficient cognitive functioning, so accurate assessment is important. One ecologically-valid virtual reality test is the Jansari assessment of Executive Functions for Children (JEF-C©). In a cross-sectional study, we aimed at translating, adapting and validating JEF-C into Persian, and at investigating whether this Persian version (JEF-C (P)) can identify stages of development of executive functions in children aged from 8 to 16. Children and adolescents (N = 146) falling into three age groups participated: 8-10, 11-13 and 14-16 years old. They completed JEF-C (P) and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). There were acceptable Cronbach's alpha coefficients for JEF-C(P) total score (α = .72) and all constructs, except action-based prospective memory, had a positive impact on total internal consistency. There was an effect of age group on overall JEF-C (P) performance and of age on four constructs. There was also a correlation between the number of categories on WCST and the prioritization construct of JEF-C (P). It seems that JEF-C (P) is an ecologically valid executive function assessment sensitive to age and could be useful for both researchers and clinicians working with children.

Effects of Interval Jump Rope Exercise Combined with Dark Chocolate Supplementation on Inflammatory Adipokine, Cytokine Concentrations, and Body Composition in Obese Adolescent Boys.

We examined the effects of six weeks of dark chocolate supplementation combined with interval jump rope exercise (JRE) on inflammatory cytokines, adipokines, and body composition in obese adolescent boys. Forty-eight obese adolescent boys (age = 15.4 ± 1.1 years and body mass index = 32.2 ± 2.4 kg/m2) were randomly assigned into one of four groups: JRE + white chocolate (JW; n = 13), JRE + dark chocolate supplementation (JD; n = 13), dark chocolate supplementation (DS; n = 12), or control (C; n = 12). Participants in JW and JD groups performed JRE for three times per week for six weeks. Participants in the DS and JD groups consumed 30 g of dark chocolate containing 83% of cocoa. Body composition, pro-inflammatory cytokines ((hs-CRP, TNF-α, IL-6), adipokines (leptin, resistin, RBP-4, chemerin, MCP-1), and anti-inflammatory adipokines (irisin, adiponectin)) were evaluated prior to and after the intervention trials. All three intervention trials significantly (p < 0.05) decreased body mass, waist-hip ratio, fat mass, hs-CRP, TNF-α, IL-6, leptin, resistin, RBP-4, and MCP-1, and increased irisin and adiponectin concentrations. The improvements in these parameters were greater in the JD group, and additionally, chemerin concentrations decreased only in the JD group. JD enhanced adiponectin concentrations and decreased IL-6 concentrations compared to C. Moreover, JD significantly reduced chemerin concentrations, an effect not observed in any of the other interventions. We demonstrated that dark chocolate supplementation potentiated JRE-induced decreases in body mass, WHR, FM, hs-CRP, TNF-α, IL-6, leptin, resistin, RBP-4, and MCP-1, chemerin as well as increases irisin and adiponectin concentrations in obese adolescent boys. Therefore, JRE combined with dark chocolate supplementation could be a beneficial in reducing obesity-induced inflammation in adolescent boys.

Study of toxoplasmosis and toxocariasis in patients suffering from ophthalmic disorders using serological and molecular methods.

INTRODUCTION: Toxoplasma gondii is an intracellular protozoan parasite that can cause ocular toxoplasmosis with most complications such as retinal detachment. Toxocara parasite, round worm, found in dogs and cats appears as larva migrans in humans can cause serious ocular complications such as debilitating vision loss.In Khuzestan province, southwest of Iran, T. gondii infection has been reported to be significant but toxocariasis was rare. However, the frequency of ocular toxoplasmosis and toxocariasis has not been studied in this area. The aim of this study was to evaluate the ocular toxoplasmosis and ocular toxocariasis using serological and molecular methods. METHOD: In this case control study, 310 patients were identified by ophthalmologist as ocular toxoplasmosis and then 5 cc of venous blood samples were taken from each of them. Serum samples and buffy coat were prepared and ELISA was used to detect IgG and IgM anti-Toxoplasma antibodies and the molecular PCR was used to detect Toxoplasma DNA parasite in buffy coats. ELISA test was used to detect of IgG anti-Toxocara antibodies. RESULTS: Totally, for ocular toxoplasmosis, 130 (41.93%) of 310 patients were positive by ELISA, of them 121 (39%) IgG positive and nine (2.9%) IgM positive were diagnosed. Of 121 cases with IgG+, 119 (98.35%) were diagnosed with high IgG avidity indicating chronic phase of the infection. For ocular toxocariasis evaluation, antibodies against Toxocara were not detected in any of the samples. By PCR molecular method, 11 out of 310 patients (3.54%) had T. gondii DNA in the blood. In control, in total, 21 cases were detected positive by serology method, which showed a significant difference with the results of the case group(P < 0.05).By PCR method, only three cases showed positive which also indicated significant difference with result of case group (3 vs 9) (P < 0.05). In the control group, also no anti-toxocara antibodies were found. CONCLUSION: It can be concluded that T. gondii in Khuzestan province as the etiologic agent of ocular toxoplasmosis and physicians should consider diagnostic methods for identifying the infection when they visit the patients.

Negative thoughts in depression: A study in Iran.

The cognitive theory of depression proposes significant relations between negative thoughts and depression. Evidence for the model has been widely observed in Western countries. However, despite the high prevalence of depression in the Middle East (ME), there has been limited research that has evaluated the cognitive profiles of people living in this region, and especially in non-Arab countries like Iran. The current research examined these relationships in Iran. Convenience sampling was used to recruit 80 depressed and 80 non-depressed individuals via advertising in clinics and public areas, respectively. Depression status was checked with a structured interview, the Major Depressive Disorder subscale of the Psychiatric Diagnostic Screening Questionnaire, and the Beck Depression Inventory-II. All participants completed the Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire-Negative to examine the frequency of negative automatic thoughts. Unlike other results from Arab countries, depressed participants indicated significantly more negative thoughts towards self and future compared with the non-depressed group. The results of the present study are consistent with the negativity hypothesis of the cognitive theory of depression. Further research is needed in the in ME, to investigate other hypotheses of this theory in this region. Strengths and limitations of the present study are discussed.

An in vitro study of antileishmanial effect of Portulaca oleracea extract.

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: Leishmaniasis is caused by protozoa of Leishmania genus and is considered as a zoonotic disease. It is a major public health problem worldwide, with high endemicity in developing countries like Iran. Various chemical drugs are used for leishmaniasis treatment, but their side-effects and the emergence of drug resistance have led to look for new effective compounds. The aim of this study was to introduce purslane (Portulaca oleracea) as a traditional and medicinal herb which might act as a valuable source for designing new pharmaceutical drug/lead against Leishmania sp. METHODS: This study was conducted in the laboratory of Seddigheh Tahereh Infectious Disease Research Center, Isfahan, Iran during the spring of 2015. The essence from the purslane plant was prepared through water distillation and the alcoholic extract was prepared through maceration method. The essence was dried, and diluted with DMSO (5%). Leishmania major promastigotes were cultured in 25 ΁ 2΀C temperature in the stationary phase of RPMI-1640 medium, enriched with 10% fetal calf serum and penicillin-streptomycin to yield higher quantity. The biological activity of herb essence was evaluated on L. major promastigotes and compared to glucantime reference drug using methylthiazole tetrazolium (MTT) colorometric assay. The optical density absorbance was measured with Eliza reader set, and the IC50 value was calculated at different time intervals. All tests were repeated thrice. Results were analyzed by using Tukey test and t-test. RESULTS: The IC50 values after 48 h, for glucantime against standard parasite promastigotes and clinical strains were equal to 12 and 19 mg/ml, respectively, whereas for purslane herb leaves and stems essence; it was equal to 360 and 680 mg/ml, respectively. Although, the glucantime pharmaceutical drug was more efficient compared to the investigated herb essence, the essense had significant effect on L. major promastigotes with increasing density (p <0.05). The ingredients of the herb leaves and stem essence were-Phytol, squalene, palmitic acid, ethyl- linoleate, ferulic acid, linolenic acid, scopoletin, linoleic acid, rhein, apigenin, and bergapten. INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSION: The study showed that essence of purslane has considerable antileishmanial effects and can stop the growth of parasites in the laboratory compared to glucantime. More experiments are necessary to investigate its effect on Leishmania parasite in animal model.