Status of neurocognitive and oxidative stress conditions in iron-steel workers.

The aim of this study was to determine oxidative stress status as well as ferrous (Fe) and Copper (Cu) levels in blood, neurocognitive impairment, and clinical markers in iron-steel workers. A comparative cross-sectional analysis was performed in 50 iron-steel workers who have been in contact with Fe and Cu in comparison with a control group containing 50 healthy subjects in the same age group and sex. Blood levels of lipid peroxidation, total antioxidant capacity, Fe, and Cu along with neurocognitive impairment were measured in workers and controls. Clinical examination was accomplished to record any abnormal sign or symptoms. Comparing with controls, the workers showed higher blood levels of lipid peroxidation and Cu and also a lower total antioxidant capacity. There was a positive correlation between work history and interstitial lung disease that strengths the presumption to progress to chronic obstructive lung disease in future. The results indicate that exposure to a combination of Fe and Cu in iron-steel workers induces oxidative stress. Especially, in the present case, toxic effect of Cu has been more than positive effects of Fe, but the combined exposure resulted in no such critical toxicity.

Evidence against protective role of sex hormone estrogen in Cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity in ovarectomized rat model.

BACKGROUND: Cisplatin (CP) is an effective drug in cancer therapy to treat the solid tumors, but it is accompanied with nephrotoxicity. The protective effect of estrogen in cardiovascular diseases is well-documented; but its nephron-protective effect against CP-induced nephrotoxicity is not completely understood. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty ovarectomized Wistar rats were divided in to five groups. Groups 1-3 received different doses of estradiol valerate (0.5, 2.5 and 10 mg/kg/week) in sesame oil for 4 weeks, and at the end of week 3, a single dose of CP (7 mg/kg, intraperitoneal [IP]) was administrated. Group 4 (positive control) received the same regimen as group 1-3 without estradiol without vehicle. The negative control group (Group 5) received sesame oil during the study. The animals were sacrificed 1 week after CP injection for histopathological studies. RESULTS: The serum level of blood urea nitrogen and creatinine, kidney tissue damage score (KTDS), kidney weight and percentage of body weight change in CP-treated groups significantly increased (P < 0.05), however, there were no significant differences detected between the estrogen-treated groups (Groups 1-3) and the positive control group (Group 4). Although, estradiol administration enhanced the serum level of nitrite, it was not affected by CP. Finally, significant correlation between KTDS and kidney weight was detected (r (2) = 0.63, P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Estrogen is not nephron-protective against CP-induced nephrotoxicity. Moreover, it seems that the mechanism may be related to estrogen-induced oxidative stress in the kidney, which may promote the nephrotoxicity.

Predator and restraint stress during gestation facilitates pilocarpine-induced seizures in prepubertal rats.

Stress during gestation can result in early and long-term developmental aberrations. This study aimed to assess the impact of prenatal restraint or predator stress on pilocarpine-induced epileptic behavior. Pregnant rats were exposed to stressors on gestational days 15, 16, and 17. Restraint stress consisted of daily restraint of the dam. During predator stress, caged rats were exposed to a cat in a cage. On postnatal day 25, male pups were injected with pilocarpine and the behavior of each rat was observed. Prenatal stress led to low birth weight and increased blood corticosterone levels. Both stressors significantly potentiated pilocarpine-induced seizures. Predator-stressed pups exhibited significantly severe tonic-clonic seizures compared with restraint-stressed animals. These data emphasize the impact of prenatal stress on fetal growth, and neural and endocrine function. The results also suggest that psychosocial stressors have a greater impact on neural and endocrine function than physical stressors do.

Association between troponin I level and cardiovascular risk factors in asymptomatic hemodialysis patients.

OBJECTIVE: Patients on hemodialysis (HD) have a high risk for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Cardiac troponins are biomarkers for diagnosing acute myocardial injury or infarction. There is considerable controversy that exists in the frequency and significance of cardiac troponins in predicting cardiac injury and ischemia in HD patients. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, all HD patients more than 18-year-old, who were at least 3 months under HD, and had no sign and symptom of active cardiovascular disease (CVD), in two HD centers were enrolled. One hundred and one patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Blood sample for cardiac troponin I (cTnI) was drown before the initiation of HD session during their routine monthly blood testing from patients' vascular access arterial line. cTnI levels were measured by a high-sensitivity assay, VIDAS troponin I Ultra kit, and correlated with patients' demographic, clinical, and laboratory results. FINDINGS: The patients' different demographic and clinical characteristics had no statistically significant correlation with troponin levels except for marginal trend for past medical history of diabetes and hyperlipidemia with corresponding P values of 0.072 and 0.055. Twenty-six patients had cTnI level more than 0.01 ΅g/L and only two patients had cTnI level more than 0.11 ΅g/L. For laboratory results, only fasting blood sugar had statistically significant correlation with patients' cTnI level (r = 0.357, P = 0.0001). CONCLUSION: Frequency of significant elevation of cTnI level in our asymptomatic HD patients was very low and if such elevation is found in this population, it may be considered as a sign of active CVD.

Oxidative stress in radiology staff.

UNLABELLED: Excessive production of reactive oxygen species has been observed following acute and chronic exposure to radiation in animal models which can lead to several detrimental and irreversible outcomes in vital organs. Aim of this study was to determine the oxidative stress status in radiology unit workers which are exposed to persistent low-dose radiation. METHODS: : A group of 32 radiology unit employees along with 32 sex- and age-matched hospital workers, not exposed to low-dose radiation were recruited from two separate hospitals for the study. Exposed subjects showed higher levels of lipid peroxidation (P=0.009), total antioxidant capacity (P=0.0006) and thiol groups (P=0.03). It is concluded that occupationally exposed individuals are oxidatively stressed and precautions such as antioxidant therapy seems reasonable.

An ultrastructural and histochemical study of the flexor tibialis muscle fiber types in male and female stick insects (Eurycantha calcarata, L).

In this study the ultrastructural and histochemical characteristics of the flexor tibialis muscle fibers of the specialized metathoracic legs in the male and those of homologous and unspecialized ones in the female stick insects, Eurycantha calcarata, L, were examined. For the ultrastructural analysis, the muscle was divided longitudinally and vertically to produce a total of 12 sample parts e.g., anterior-dorsal-distal (ADD), posterior-ventral-medial (PVM) and so on. Light and electron microscopes were used to observe the muscle tissue. The methods for myosin adenosine triphosphatase (mATPase) and nicotine adenine dinucleotide- tetrazolium (NADH-TR) staining were modified from the methods of (Stokes et al., '79; Anttila et al., 2009; Anttila and Manttari, 2009). Sections with thickness of 22 µm, were cut from the anterior and the posterior surfaces of the muscle, using a cryostat. The histochemical and ultrastructural results showed that the muscles of both the male and the female were mixtures of physiological fiber types, with predominantly fast fibers. The muscles were composed of fibers with different staining properties for both mATPase and NADH-TR activities. The population of fibers within the muscles was heterogeneous. The differences between the population of the male and that of the female were significant. The means of most criteria e.g., mitochondrial amount and sarcoplasmic reticulum area predicted that the muscle of the male contained more fast fibers than the female. The histochemical examination also showed that the muscle of the male contained more fibers stained darkly for mATPase and lightly for NADH-TR.

Protective role of recombinant human erythropoietin in kidney and lung injury following renal bilateral ischemia-reperfusion in rat model.

BACKGROUND: Acute kidney injury (AKI) has been recognized as one of the most complex clinical complications in modern medicine, and ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury is well-known as a main reason of AKI. In addition, AKI leads to important systemic consequences such as acute lung injury. This study was designed to investigate the role of erythropoietin (EPO) on kidney function makers and tissue damage; and lung endothelial permeability and lung water content (LWC) in bilateral renal I/R injury model in rats. METHODS: Male Wistar rats were randomly divided into three groups of sham, I/R, and I/R treated with EPO (I/R + EPO) groups. The I/R and I/R + EPO groups were subjected to bilateral renal I/R injury; however, only the I/R + EPO group received EPO (500 IU/kg, i.p.) 2 h before ischemia surgery, and the same dose was continued once a day for 3 days after ischemia. The sham group underwent a surgical procedure without ischemia process. RESULTS: The blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and serum creatinine (Cr) levels, kidney tissue damage score (KTDS), and kidney weight (KW) per 100 g body weight significantly increased in I/R group (P < 0.05). EPO administration decreased levels of BUN and Cr significantly (P < 0.05), and KTDS and KW insignificantly (P = 0.1). No significant differences in kidney and serum levels of malondialdehyde, and lung vascular permeability and LWC were observed between the groups. The serum and kidney levels of nitrite were not significantly different between I/R and sham groups; however, administration of EPO increased the renal level of nitrite (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: EPO protected the kidney against I/R injury; however, it may not protect the lung tissue from the damage induced by renal I/R injury in rats.

N-acetylcysteine Prevents Kidney and Lung Disturbances in Renal Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury in Rat.

BACKGROUND: One of the most common causes of acute kidney injury (AKI) is kidney ischemia/reperfusion injury (IRI). The distant organ injury such as acute lung injury is one of the side effects of AKI or kidney IRI. In this study, we performed bilateral renal IRI in rats and the protective role of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) in kidney and lung was investigated. METHODS: Rats (n = 30) were randomly assigned to four experiment groups. The group 1 was assigned as sham-operated group. Before kidney IRI performance, the others groups were treated with saline (group 2), 150 mg/kg (group 3) or 500 mg/kg (group 4) of NAC, and the treatment were continued daily after IRI for next 3 days. At day 3, the all groups' animals were subjected for the measurements. RESULTS: The serum level of blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and creatinine (Cr) in the control group increased significantly (P < 0.05), and administration of NAC (150 mg/kg) decreased the serum levels of Cr and BUN. However, only the serum level of Cr decreased significantly (P < 0.05). NAC did not improve kidney weight and damage; however, its low dose (150 mg/kg) attenuated the lung injury score (P < 0.05) when compared with the control group. No significant differences were observed in lung water content and endothelial permeability, serum levels of malondialdehyde and nitrite between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: Low dose of NAC as a protectant agent may protect the kidney function and lung tissue damage after kidney IRI.

Effect of Royal Jelly on spatial learning and memory in rat model of streptozotocin-induced sporadic Alzheimer's disease.

BACKGROUND: It has been recently demonstrated that Royal jelly (RJ) has a beneficial role on neural functions. Alzheimer's disease (AD) is associated with impairments of learning and memory. Therefore, the present study was designed to examine the effect of RJ on spatial learning and memory in rats after intracerebroventricular injection of streptozotocin (icv-STZ). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Rats were infused bilaterally with an icv injection of STZ, while sham rats received vehicle only. The rats were feed with RJ-contained food (3% w/w) (lyophilized RJ mixed with powdered regular food) or regular food for 10 days. Then spatial learning and memory was tested in the rats by Morris water maze test. RESULTS: Results showed that in icv-STZ group latency and path length were increased as compared to sham group, also icv-STZ rats less remembered the target quadrant that previously the platform was located; however, these were protected significantly in STZ group that received RJ-containing food. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings support the potential neuroprotective role of RJ and its helpful effects in AD.

The effect of red grape juice on Alzheimer's disease in rats.

BACKGROUND: Alzheimer's disease is a neurodegenerative disease appearing as a result of free radicals and oxidative stress. Antioxidants agents boost memory and control Alzheimer's disease. Since red grape juice contains antioxidant agents, its effects on speed of learning and improvement of memory was studied in Alzheimer's rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Alzheimer's model was induced by bilateral infusion of streptozocine into lateral ventricles of brain of male rats. Rats drank 10% red grape juice for 21 days. Passive avoidance learning test was used for measuring memory and learning in rats. RESULTS: Our results showed that learning and memory in STZ-group decreased significantly compared to Sham group. However, intake of red grape juice increased speed of learning and improvement of memory in Alzheimer's rats. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that there are active ingredients in red grape juice, which probably have therapeutic and preventive effects on cognitive impairments in Alzheimer's disease.

Folic Acid and coenzyme q10 ameliorate cognitive dysfunction in the rats with intracerebroventricular injection of streptozotocin.

OBJECTIVES: The present study aimed to investigate the effects of a fat soluble antioxidant, coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) and folic acid on learning and memory in the rats with intracerebroventricular injection of streptozotocin (ICV-STZ), an animal model of sporadic type of Alzheimer's disease. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The lesion groups were injected bilaterally with ICV-STZ (1.5 mg/kg b.wt., in normal saline). In the treated groups, rats received folic acid (4 mg/kg; i.p.) or CoQ10 (10 mg/kg; i.p.), either alone or together, for 21 days. Passive avoidance learning test was used for evaluation of learning and memory. RESULTS: The results showed that learning and memory performance was significantly impaired in the rats with ICV-STZ (P< 0.001), however CoQ10 and folic acid, either alone or together, prevented impairments significantly (P< 0.001), as there was not any significant difference between these treated lesion groups and control group. CONCLUSION: The present results suggest that CoQ10 and folic acid have therapeutic and preventive effects on cognitive impairments in Alzheimer's disease.