Pentoxifylline besides naltrexone recovers morphine-induced inflammation in male reproductive system of rats by regulating Toll-like receptor pathway.

This study aimed to investigate the effect of pentoxifylline on complications of prolonged usage of morphine upon the testis and sperm parameters of rats. In this study, forty male Wistar rats were divided into five groups (n = 8) and treated for 56 days to only saline, only morphine, only pentoxifylline, pentoxifylline + morphine and naltrexone + morphine. The diameters of seminiferous tubules, the maturity of germ line epithelium and sperm parameters were evaluated. The expression of inflammatory-related factors in testis tissues were also investigated at gene and protein levels. The data were calculated by one-way ANOVA test followed by Tukey's post hoc test using SPSS software for windows (version 20). Seminiferous tubule diameter, the maturity of spermatogonia and sperm parameters were significantly decreased in morphine group in comparison with control, pentoxifylline and pentoxifylline + morphine groups (p < .001). The expression of anti-inflammatory markers, at both gene and protein levels, was significantly increased in testis of morphine-treated rats in comparison with other groups (p < .001). Chronic morphine administration induces destructive effects on male reproductive system by regulating inflammatory responses. Pentoxifylline recovers the destructive effects of morphine on male reproductive system by inhibiting TLR (Toll-like receptor) activity, as an anti-inflammatory response.

Appetite responses to high-fat meals or diets of varying fatty acid composition: a comprehensive review.

Dietary fatty acids (FA) act as signaling molecules with diverse effects on physiologic function. The aim of this article is to review and summarize the clinical human studies in the literature on how dietary FA composition in meals and diets affects hunger and satiety signaling in the body. Studies examining FA saturation (monounsaturated (MUFA), saturated or polyunsaturated (PUFA) FAs) or FA chain length from high-fat meals/diets were included. Measures of appetite included visual analog scale (VAS) questionnaires, appetite hormones (Cholecystokinin (CCK), glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), peptide YY (PYY), gastric insulinotropic polypeptide gastric inhibitory peptide (GIP), ghrelin, leptin, insulin) and/or energy intake (EI) data. VAS measures in 9 out of 13 studies were not influenced by FA saturation. PUFAs, followed by MUFAs, tended to induce the greatest stimulatory effect on GLP-1, GIP and PYY, which was found in 6 out of 11 studies measuring appetite-related hormones. Regarding FA chain length, five of six studies show either no difference or less hunger (VAS) and greater satiety hormone levels (two of six studies) for FAs with longer chain lengths. EI does not seem to be affected by the saturation of FAs while EI was inconclusive for studies comparing FA chain length. Possibly due to the inconsistencies in study design, little agreement is observed between the studies on the impact of FA composition on hormonal and subjective measures of appetite as well as EI. Therefore, more research on the long-term impact of dietary FA composition on appetite control may provide clearer outcomes.

Mir-55 inhibition can reduce cell proliferation and induce apoptosis in Jurkat (Acute T cell Leukemia) cell line.

BACKGROUND: MicroRNAs are small and non-coding RNA molecules with approximately 22 nt in length that cause inhibition of translation or degradation of mRNA. MiR-155 is a kind of molecule with different functions, such as its role in proliferation, apoptosis, inflammation, differentiation, and immunity. One of its best known functions is apoptosis that affects on caspase-3 activity. The main aim of this study was evaluation of miR-155 inhibition effect on cell proliferation and apoptosis induction in Jurkat cells. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In this study, Jurkat cells along with MTT assay were used for evaluation of sensitivity to varied concentrations of miR-155 inhibitor (25, 50 and 75 nmol). MiR-155 expression level was analyzed using the quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (QRT-PCR). Caspase-3 activity was measured by caspase-3 colorimetric activity assay kit. Unpaired t-test was applied for the analysis of MTT and apoptosis results. Probability of 5% was assumed as statistically significant. RESULTS: According to our results, the use of miR-155 inhibitor increased the activity of caspase-3 by 2 fold in 75 nmol concentration. In this research, we found that the proper increase of miR-155 inhibitor concentration can inhibit miR-155 and consequently increase caspase-3 activity and induce apoptosis in the Jurkat cells leading to cell death ultimately. CONCLUSIONS: Apoptosis induction by miRNAs activation or inhibition is probably one of the best and low risk ways of cell death induction in malignancies. Due to role of miR-155 in several cancer cells, it may be used as a therapeutic target in future.

Bypassing the maturation arrest in myeloid cell line U937 by over-expression of microRNA-424.

Micro RNAs are a class of small non-coding RNAs which has been recently shown to play a crucial role in major cellular processes such as development and differentiation through post-transcriptional regulation. The role of these epigenetic elements has also been demonstrated in hematopoietic lineage differentiation and there is a large body of evidence that miR-424 is responsible for monocyte differentiation. Our goal was to examine the effect of miR-424 over-expression on defeating the maturation blockage in monoblastic cell line U937. The permanent over-expression of miR-424 was established using a retroviral vector construct containing the precursor of miR-424 sequence. Induction of differentiation process was monitored by assaying changes in cell morphology, and expression of cell surface markers using light microscopy, quantitative RT-PCR, and flow cytometry for monocyte markers such as CD11b and CD14. The cells showed monocytic characteristics 14 days after transduction, and CD11b and CD14 expression were significantly increased, confirmed by flow cytometry QRT-PCR and RT-PCR results. In conclusion, miR-424 over-expression is an effective factor in maturation of the monoblastic U937 cells and it has the ability of directing them into cells, expressing monocyte/macrophage characteristics.

7-N-(2-([2-(gamma-L-glutamylamino)-ethyl]-dithio)-ethyl)-mitomycin C (KW-2149) is more active than mitomycin C on chemonaive and drug-resistant urothelial carcinoma cells.

This in vitro study aimed to investigate the cytotoxic activity of 7-N-(2-([2-(gamma-L-glutamylamino)ethyl]dithio)ethyl)-mitomycin C (KW-2149) versus mitomycin C (MMC) against cell lines from human transitional cell carcinoma (TCC). Direct cytotoxicity of the two drugs was measured employing a colorimetric cytotoxicity assay on chemonaive and chemoresistant cancer cell populations. The results revealed that all cell lines (n = 19) were significantly more inhibited by treatment (2 h, 96 h) with KW-2149 than by MMC (P < 0.03-0.001). pH 6.0 decreased the stronger activity of KW-2149 (P < 0.013-0.004). Creatinine > or =10 mmol/l and nitrosourea > or =100 mg/l also inhibited the activity of KW-2149 significantly. Tumor cells with relative drug-resistance against MMC (RT112-MMC: 55-fold) exerted minor cross-resistance to KW-2149 (fourfold). In conclusion, the present in vitro data suggest KW-2149 to be a superior drug for intravesical therapy of patients with primary or recurrent superficial bladder carcinoma. Since pH and concentrations of creatinine and nitrosourea influence the activity of KW-2149, patients are supposed to profit from neutralizing the urinary pH and enhanced diureses.