FOXO1 targeting by capsaicin reduces tissue damage after testicular torsion.

Testicular torsion-related oxidative stress causes a sequential chain of DNA damage, lipid peroxidation and cell death that leads to the derangement in the sperm functions and infertility. Capsaicin that has been applied for pain relief and cancer prevention possesses antioxidant properties which can be exploited to confer cell survival under ischaemic testis damage. Wistar male rats weighing 150-200 g were randomly divided into four groups: (i) sham group (all procedures except torsion of testis), (ii) ischaemia group (TT group), (iii) three TT groups treated with different dose of capsaicin (TT + different doses of Cap) and (iv) three control groups treated with different doses of capsaicin (100, 500 and 1000 ug/ml). Capsaicin administration significantly decreased the expression of pro-apoptotic factors and increased the expression of anti-apoptotic factors. Likewise, the expression of FOXO1 is significantly increased by higher doses of the capsaicin. Histological assessment by H&E and TUNEL method also exhibited an improved testicular morphology and decreased apoptosis in testes. These results suggested clinical potential for capsaicin in treatment of testicular torsion by targeting FOXO1 and apoptotic pathways.

Bioactive chemical compounds in Eremurus persicus (Joub. & Spach) Boiss. essential oil and their health implications.

The genus Eremurus is native to Eastern Europe and temperate Asia. Particularly, Eremurus persicus (Joub. & Spach) Boiss. is highly valued in traditional foods and medicine. Scientific knowledge about E. persicus chemical composition and bioactivity is required. Therefore, the present study is aimed to determine the volatile composition of E. persicus essential oil (EO) by means of gas chromatography coupled to flame ionization/mass spectrometry detection. Moreover, the antioxidant, antimicrobial, anticancer, and acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activities of the EO were tested. Interestingly, the anti-dermatophyte potency was close to that of the drug griseofulvin, with minimum fungicidal concentration ranging between 0.7 and 4.5% depending on the fungi strain. The EO was also effective against hepatocellular carcinoma (Hep-G2) and breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7) human cancer cell lines in a concentration (200-1500 ng/mL)-dependent manner, with a decrease of the cell viability up to 65% and 52%, respectively. The E. persicus EO was rich in terpenes and oxygenated terpene derivatives. Individually, limonene (16.25%), geranylgeraniol (15.23%), n-nonanal (9.48%), geranyl acetone (9.12%), benzene acetaldehyde (8.51%), linalool (7.93%), α-pinene (6.89%), and 1,8-cineol (5.22%) were the most abundant volatile compounds and could be chosen as analytical markers of this essential oil. In conclusion, our results suggested that this EO possesses a wide range of bioactive properties that could be useful in nutraceutical, functional foods and cosmeceutical formulations.

Susceptibility of herpes simplex virus type 1 to monoterpenes thymol, carvacrol, p-cymene and essential oils of Sinapis arvensis L., Lallemantia royleana Benth. and Pulicaria vulgaris Gaertn.

In recent years, with increased the prevalence of viral infections and having no specific for  their treatment  and also the continuous appearance of resistant viral strains, the finding of novel antiviral agents is necessary. In this study, monoterpenes of thymol, carvacrol, p-cymene and essential oils from Sinapis arvensis L., Lallemantia royleana Benth. and Pulicaria vulgaris Gaertn. were screened for their inhibitory effect against herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) in vitro on Vero cell line CCL-81-ATCC using a plaque reduction assay. The antiviral activity of three monoterpenes (thymol, carvacrol and p-cymene) and three essential oils were evaluated by cytotoxicity assay, direct plaque test. In addition, the modes of antiviral action of these compounds were investigated during the viral infection cycle. Results showed that the inhibitory concentrations (IC50) were determined at 0.002%, 0.037%, >0.1%, 0.035%, 0.018% and 0.001% for thymol, carvacrol, p-cymene, S. arvensis oil, L. royleana oil and P. vulgaris oil, respectively. A manifestly dose-dependent virucidal activity against HSV-1 could be exhibited for compounds tested. In order to determine the mode of the inhibitory effect, compounds were added at different stages during the viral infection cycle. At maximum noncytotoxic concentrations of the compounds, plaque formation was significantly reduced by more than 80% when HSV-1 was preincubated with p-cymene. However, no inhibitory effect could be observed when the compounds were added to the cells prior to infection with HSV-1 or after the adsorption period. CONCLUSION: These results indicate that compounds affected HSV-1 mostly before adsorption and might interact with the viral envelope. Thymol exhibited a high selectivity index and seems to be a promising candidate for topical therapeutic application as antiviral agent for treatment of herpetic infections.

Anti-bacterial effect of essential oil from Xanthium strumarium against shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli.

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) serotype O157:H7 is one of the most important human pathogenic microorganisms, which can cause life-threatening infections. Xanthium strumarium L. is a plant with anti-bacterial activity against gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria. This study aims to demonstrate in vitro efficacy of the essential oil (EO) extracted from Xanthium strumarium L. against E. coli O157:H7. Using the agar test diffusion, the effect of Xanthium strumarium L. EO (5, 10, 15, 30, 60, and 120 mg/mL) was verified at each of the four different growth phases of E. coli O157:H7. Cell counts of viable cells and colony forming unit (CFU) were determined at regular time points using Breed's method and colony counting method, respectively. No viable cell was detectable after the 1 hour-exposure to X. strumarium EO at 30, 60, and 120 mg/mL concentrations. No bacterial colony was formed after 1 h until the end of the incubation period at 24 h. At lower concentrations, the number of bacteria cells decreased and colonies could be observed only after incubation. At the exponential phase, the EO at 15 mg/mL was only bacteriostatic, while from 30 mg/mL started to be bactericidal. X. strumarium EO antibacterial activity against Shiga toxin-producing E. coli O157:H7 is dependent on EO concentration and physiological state of the microorganisms tested. The best inhibitory activity was achieved during the late exponential and the stationary phases.

Antibacterial activities of essential oils from Iranian medicinal plants on extended-spectrum ß-lactamase-producing Escherichia coli.

The extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) -producing Escherichia coli strains can lead to various infections particularly urinary tract infections. The main objective of this investigation was to evaluate the antibacterial activities of essential oils (EOs) from different Iranian medicinal plants against TEM gene positive ESBL-producing E. coli strains isolated from urine samples of patients with urinary tract infections. EOs were extracted using hydrodistillation method. E. coli strains were isolated by different specific Medias. ESBL-producing E. coli strains were isolated from urine samples of patients with urinary tract infections in Shiraz hospital, Iran. Then, ESBL- producing strains were identified using double disk synergy test, phenotypic disc confirmatory test and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for TEM gene detection. The antibacterial activity of the EOs from different plants (Achillea wilhelmsii C. Koch, Echinophora platyloba DC., Lallemantia royleana, Nepeta persica Boiss., Pulicaria vulgaris Gaertn., Salvia nemorosa, and Satureja intermedia C.A.Mey) and antibiotics against ESBL-producing strains was studied using the microdilution method for the evaluation of the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). The 103 out of 295 E. coli strains with 97 (90.65%) TEM gene distributions were identified as ESBL-producing strains. All of the EOs derived from different plants displayed high inhibitory effects against ESBL-producing E. coli strains. The results of our investigations may propose a good treatment option against resistant infectious bacteria.

Immunosuppressive activity of buxidin and E-buxenone from Buxus hyrcana.

Buxidin (1) and E-Buxenone (2), steroidal alkaloids from Buxus hyrcana, are found to possess potent immunosuppressive properties. The activity was tested in vitro on oxidative burst, chemotaxis, T-cell proliferation, and cytokine production. Both compounds showed a significant immunomodulatory activity with clear suppressive effect on oxidative burst and chemotaxis in a dose-dependent manner. They also exhibited suppressive effect on the phytohemagglutinin-stimulated T-cell proliferation. The immunomodulatory activity was further confirmed by the suppression of IL-2 and IL-4 production. Furthermore, molecular docking studies were performed to investigate the binding mode of Buxidin (1) and E-Buxenone (2) with IL-2. Despite the structural differences between Buxidin (1) and E-Buxenone (2), docking results revealed that they adopt a similar binding pattern at the active site of the IL-2. A good agreement between practical and theoretic results indicates that the current docking study could provide an alternate tool for the structural optimization of recently identified ligand as more potent IL-2 inhibitors.

Sociodemographic factors and age at natural menopause in Shiraz, Islamic Republic of Iran.

With increasing life expectancy, menopause is an increasingly important aspect of women's health. We recorded the age at natural menopause among women in a population-based cross-sectional study in Shiraz, Islamic Republic of Iran, in summer 2000. Interviews with 948 randomly selected menopausal women showed the mean (standard deviation) age at menopause was 48.3 (5.3) years (95% CI: 48.0-48.6), median 49 years. The sociodemographic and health behaviour factors that were significantly related to early mean age of menopause were: never married (44.7 years), low income level (47.4 years), low social class (45.8 years), tobacco use (47.9 years) and non-consanguineous husband (48.1 years).

Sociodemographic factors and age at natural menopause in Shiraz, Islamic Republic of Iran

With increasing life expectancy, menopause is an increasingly important aspect of women's health. We recorded the age at natural menopause among women in a population-based cross-sectional study in Shiraz, Islamic Republic of Iran, in summer 2000. Interviews with 948 randomly selected menopausal women showed the mean [st and ard deviation] age at menopause was 48.3 [5.3] years [95% CI: 48.0-48.6], median 49 years. The sociodemographic and health behaviour factors that were significantly related to early mean age of menopause were: never married [44.7 years], low income level [47.4 years], low social class [45.8 years], tobacco use [47.9 years] and non-consanguineous husb and [48.1 years]

Age at menarche in Iran.

BACKGROUND: Age at menarche and its potential associated factors are reported for 1862 Shiraz (Southern Iran) secondary school girls taking part in a cross-sectional survey selected from the four educational districts of the city. METHODS: Probit analysis was used to estimate age at menarche, principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to analyse socio-economic status (SES). Body mass index (BMI) was used as an indicator of nutrition. RESULTS: Mean +/- SD age at menarche was 12.91 +/- 1.23 years (95% CI: 12.84-12.97). Of all subjects, 33.7% first menstruated in summer. The highest mean age at menarche was 13.01 years in winter. Stress, anxiety and discomfort was seen among 70.3% of subjects at menarche indicating total or partial ignorance of the menstruation phenomenon. Age at menarche decreased as SES improved. Menarcheal age was delayed for underweight subjects. CONCLUSIONS: It is concluded that BMI and SES had the most significant effects on variation of menarcheal age in a unified statistical model. However, their interaction was found to be not statistically significant.

Prevalences of migraine and tension-type headache in adolescent girls of Shiraz (southern Iran).

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalences of migraine and tension-type headache in teenaged girls attending schools in Shiraz (southern Iran). BACKGROUND: Studies of headache prevalence are numerous, and findings have varied according to the specific population and region involved. No data are available regarding headache prevalence among Iranian teenagers. METHODS: A random sample of 1868 teenaged girls (aged 11 to 18 years) was evaluated, and 507 subjects reported headache. The headache disorders were classified on the basis of a clinical interview, general physical and neurologic examinations, and the diagnostic criteria of the International Headache Society. Logistic regression was used for data analysis. RESULTS: Overall prevalence rate for migraine was 6.1% (95% CI, 5.0 to 7.2) and for tension-type headache, 12.1% (95% CI, 10.6 to 13.6). Migraine and tension-type headache were significantly associated. CONCLUSIONS: It is concluded that exposition of subjects to sunlight, type of food, and a family history of headache had most significant effects on occurrence of migraine and tension-type headaches.