Investigation of crocin's protective effect on cyclophosphamide-induced hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis defects in adult female rats.

Cyclophosphamide is a drug used in chemotherapy. However, it has side effects, including changes in reproductive system functioning. Some herbal compounds can reduce the harmful effects of cyclophosphamide. This study aims to investigate the protective role of crocin against changes caused by Cyclophosphamide in ovarian tissue through changes in the expression of genes involved in the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis. This experimental study was performed on 24 adult female Wistar rats. Mice were divided into four groups (normal saline, 30 mg/kg cyclophosphamide, 100 mg/kg crocin and 30 mg/kg cyclophosphamide, and 200 mg/kg crocin and 30 mg/kg cyclophosphamide). At the end of the treatment period, the hypothalamus and ovaries were also removed to evaluate ob-Rb, ob-Ra, and NPY genes expression using real-time PCR and histological changes in the ovaries. Data were analyzed by SPSS statistical software. The expression of genes, number of follicles, and follicle diameter significantly decreased in the cyclophosphamide-treated groups compared with the control group. In the crocin and cyclophosphamide-treated groups, drug-induced reproductive complications were mitigated. The current findings indicate that by increasing the expression of genes ob-Rb, ob-Ra, and NPY, crocin could modulate the harmful effects of cyclophosphamide.

Association of Sunlight Exposure with Sleep Hours in Iranian Children and Adolescents: The CASPIAN-V Study.

We aimed to assess the association of sunlight exposure with sleep duration and sleep onset time in children. Data were obtained from the fifth survey of a national school-based surveillance program in Iran. Sunlight exposure time, sleep duration, sleep onset time, physical activity time, mental health status and frequency of consuming coffee and tea were recorded. Overall, 14 274 students aged 7-18 years were recruited. Sleep duration was associated positively with sex, age, body mass index and physical activity, as well as with sunlight exposure and negatively with the consumption of coffee and tea. Higher physical activity, exposure to sunlight and mental status score in children exposed to sunlight via their face, hands, arms and feet, reduced the likelihood of sleep onset time after midnight (odds ratio (OR) = 0.909, 0.741 and 0.554 respectively). Daily exposure to sunlight may increase sleep duration and advance the sleep onset time in children and adolescents.

Protective effect of selenium and vitamin C on the fertility of male rats given penconazole.

OBJECTIVE: Penconazole is used in agriculture and human and veterinary medicine applications. It has been included in the acute toxicity hazard category by the WHO. This study examines the protective effect of selenium and vitamin C on the fertility of male rats given penconazole. METHODS: Nine groups of rats were given penconazole at concentrations of 50 and 75 mg/ml and selenium and vitamin C at concentrations of 0.5 and 100 mg/ml, respectively. Serum levels of LH and FSH were measured with ELISA kits; ß-actin, GPX4, AQP7, PRM2, and BAX gene expression was evaluated with real-time PCR performed on the left testis of each rat. RESULTS: LH, FSH, and testosterone levels were lower in the groups given penconazole (50 and 75 mg/kg). Histopathology showed that the groups given penconazole had the lowest number of spermatogonia and primary spermatocytes; these numbers were greater in the groups receiving penconazole together with selenium or vitamin C; and the highest counts were observed in separate groups given Se and vitamin C. GPX4, AQP7, PRM2 and BAX gene expression in the groups receiving penconazole was different from controls and was modulated by treatment with selenium or vitamin C. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that antioxidant compounds have a strengthening effect on the reproductive system and can mitigate the destructive effects of chemical fungicides.

Quercetin nano phytosome: as a novel anti-leishmania and anti-malarial natural product.

Leishmaniasis is a vector-borne disease that affects several populations worldwide with the clinical manifestations in skin, mucous membranes, and internal organs and there are not any effective and available vaccines and conventional treatments are highly toxic. Quercetin is a kind of flavonoid with different biological effects including free radical scavenging and anti-microbial activity and this study is aimed to assess the anti-leishmania and anti-malarial effects of quercetin loaded phytosome and quercetin alone. In this experimental study, the in vitro activity of above drugs were measured using microscopically examinations and for evaluation the anti-leishmanial efficacy, the size of lesions were measured. Moreover the cytotoxicity of the treatments was evaluated on WI38 and J774 cell lines. Our results indicated that quercetin loaded phytosome and quercetin alone have acceptable anti-parasitic activity mostly at concentration of 400 µg/ml on both P. falciparium and L. major. The results of cytotoxicity revealed that the mentioned drugs have no effects on human cell lines and also have no hemolytic activity. The drug of choice for the treatment of leishmaniasis, in addition to killing the parasite, should not have a toxic effect on human cells and our results indicated that quercetin can be a valuable candidate for treatment of different kinds of leishmaniasis.

DNMT3B-579G>T (rs1569686G>T) polymorphism and the risk of multiple sclerosis in a subset of Iranian population.

Background: Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) methyltransferase 3 beta (DNMT3B) gene encodes an MT enzyme involving in de novo methylation of DNA. The present investigation aimed to explore the association of DNMT3B-579G>T (rs1569686) polymorphism with multiple sclerosis (MS). Methods: 130 Iranian patients with MS and 130 controls were genotyped for the DNMT3B-579G>T using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method. Results: There was no statistically significant association between DNMT3B-579G>T and susceptibility to MS. The alleles and genotypes of DNMT3B-579G>T did not have different risks of MS development under various models [T vs. G (P = 0.86); GTvs. GG (P = 0.48); TT vs. GG (P > 0.99); GT+TT vs. GG (P = 0.60), and TT vs. GG+GT (P = 0.87)]. Also, there was no statistically significant association between genotypes and clinical and demographic characteristics of patients (P > 0.05). Conclusion: The current findings suggest that DNMT3B-579G>T is probably not a crucial potential risk marker in molecular diagnostics of MS among Iranian. However, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first genetic association study about the DNMT3B polymorphisms and MS. Therefore, further surveys should be included to estimate the exact relevance of DNMT3B gene to the development of autoimmune disorders like MS.