Mutual trust in infant care: the nurses and mothers experiences

The relationship between healthcare providers and parents of infants in neonatal intensive care unit is based on trust and constitutes a core measure of family-centred care and health. The aim of the present qualitative study was to explore mothers and nurses experiences of trust in one another around the caregiving of the hospitalised infant in intensive neonatal care unit. Focused ethnographic research study conducted through observations and in-depth interviews with 20 mothers and 16 nurses in NICU of Tabriz (Iran) in 2017. Two main themes of ‘gradual and fragile trust of mother-to-nurse’ (subthemes: Primary trust-mistrust, mother's trust to responsible nurse, mother trust Increase with skilful nurse performance, and vulnerability to trust) and ‘gradual and fragile trust of nurse-to-mother’ (subthemes: Nurse's initial assessment of trust to mother's readiness to participate, Development of trust to mother, and vulnerability of nurse's trust to mother) were obtained. The present study revealed that mutual trust between the nurse and the mother in the care of the infant was a gradual and progressive process that was achieved over time. Complexities around the care of a hospitalised infant influenced how fragile or vulnerable the trust became between nurse and mother. Findings from this research can be used in supporting increased maternal participation in infant care and improvement of family-centred care in the neonatal intensive care unit.     

A SERS quenching method for the sensitive determination of insulin

In this work, we utilise the disulphide bond structure of insulin and a new benzothiazole Raman probe for the detection of human insulin using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). The disulphide bond structure of the insulin was reduced to generate free sulfhydryl terminal groups. When reacted with benzothiazole-functionalised gold nanoparticles, the reduced protein desorbs the Raman probe and causes its Raman signal intensity to quench. Using this approach, insulin was quantified in the concentration range of 1 × 10⁻¹⁴–1 × 10⁻⁸ M by SERS quenching. The limit of quantification of insulin by the SERS quenching method was found to be 1 × 10⁻¹⁴ M (0.01 pM or 58 pg/L), which satisfies the requirements for monitoring its blood concentration in patients. Because many proteins and peptides have disulphide bonds in their molecular structures, the new SERS quenching method has a strong potential for the rapid determination of ultralow concentrations of proteins in formulations and biological fluids.     

The evaluation of radio-sensitivity of mung bean proteins aqueous extract on MCF-7, hela and fibroblast cell line

Purpose: Breast cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors in women all over the world. Many of these women resist the common treatments. Therefore, it is important to find new products to increase the efficacy of the treatment process. Legume beans, with their various pharmacological properties, can be regarded as a sensitizer when they are combined with radiation. The present study strove to survey the radio-sensitivity effect of proteins isolated from mung bean aqueous extract on the human breast adenocarcinoma cell line (MCF-7), human cervical cancer cells (Hela) and the human dermal fibroblast cell line.

Materials and methods: The mung bean aqueous extract was partially purified by ammonium sulfate. At first, various concentrations of the extracts were used to evaluate the inhibitory activity by MTT cell proliferation assay.

Results: The results showed that MCF-7 cells and Hela cells were inhibited by an IC₅₀ value of less than 250 and 411?µg/ml, respectively, but it proved to have a proliferation effect on the fibroblast cells. Then, the cells were incubated with 250?µg/ml extract and exposed to 2, 4, and 6?Gy of X-ray radiation. The percentage of the cell survival was investigated through MTT and the clonogenic assay. Apoptosis was measured using acridine orange/ethidium bromide staining. The results demonstrated that the treated MCF-7 cells and Hela cells had significant radio-sensitivity compared with the results of the control group in radiation dose manner in all MTT, clonogenic, and apoptosis assays. In contrast, the treated fibroblast showed a protective effect against radiation.

Conclusion: The results suggest that mung bean proteins have the capacity to be regarded as a radio-sensitizer for breast cancer. Our results also indicated that it could be worth to investigate on mung bean proteins further and they should be tested in animal models for being treated in radiotherapy.     

Inhibitory Effects of Arsenic Trioxide and Thalidomide on Angiogenesis and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Expression in Leukemia Cells

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a blood disorder characterized by uncontrolled proliferation of myeloidprogenitors and decrease in the apoptosis rate. The vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) promotes blood vesselregeneration which might play important roles in development and progression of neoplasia. Our previous studiesfocused on cytotoxicity and anticancer effects of arsenic trioxide (ATO) and thalidomide (THAL) as an anti-VEGFcompound in the AML cell model. ATO also affects regulatory genes involved in cell proliferation and apoptosis. Theaim of present study was to examine the effects of ATO and THAL alone and in combination on U937 and KG-1 cells, with attention to mRNA expression for VEGF isoforms. Growth inhibitory effects was assessed by MTT assay andapoptosis induction was determined by Annexin/PI staining. mRNA expression levels were evaluated by real-timePCR. Our data indicated that ATO (1.618μM and 1μM in KG-1 and U937 cell lines respectively), THAL (80μM and60μM) and their combination inhibited proliferation and induced apoptosis in our cell lines. mRNA expression ofVEGF (A, B) decreased while C and D isoforms did not show any significant changes. Taken together, according tothe obtained results, the VEGF autocrine loop could be a target as a therapeutic strategy for cases of AML.     

Dopaminergic system in CA1 modulates MK-801 induced anxiolytic-like responses

Rationale

Today, there is relatively no debate on the notion that NMDA receptor antagonist agents in the hippocampus induce anxiolytic-like effects through distinct mechanisms. There is also a bulk of studies showing the involvement of the dopaminergic system in NMDA induced behaviors. Thus, on the basis of the involvement of dopaminergic system in anxiety-related behaviors, the present study aimed to investigate the involvement of the dorsal hippocampal (CA1) dopaminergic system in anxiolytic-like responses induced by MK801 (NMDA receptor antagonist) in male Wistar rats.

Methods

We used the elevated plus maze to test anxiety. This apparatus has widely been employed to test parameters of anxiety-related behaviors including the open arm time percentage (%OAT), open arm entries percentage (%OAE), locomotor activity, grooming (the rat rubs its face), rearing (the rat maintains an erect posture) and defecation (the number of boli defection).

Results

The data showed that, intra-CA1 injection of MK801 (2 μg/rat) increases %OAT and %OAE but not other exploratory behaviors, indicating an anxiolytic-like effect. Moreover, sole intra-CA1 injection of SCH23390, dopamine D1 receptor antagonist, (0.25, 0.5 and 1 μg/rat) and sulpiride, dopamine D2 receptor antagonist, (0.25, 0.5 and 0.75 μg/rat) did not alter anxiety-like behaviors. Co-administration of subthreshold doses of SCH23390 (0.5 μg/rat) and MK801 (0.5 g/rat), induced anxiolytic-like behaviors. Furthermore, intra-CA1 administration of different doses of sulpiride (0.12, 0.5 and 0.75 μg/rat), 5 min before the injection of an effective dose of MK801 (2 μg/rat), decreased %OAT and %OAE, however did not alter other exploratory behaviors induced by MK801.

Conclusion

Our results suggested a modulatory effect of the CA1 dopaminergic system on the anxiolytic-like effects induced by MK801.     

BAK, BAX, and NBK/BIK Proapoptotic Gene Alterations in Iranian Patients with Ataxia Telangiectasia

Introduction

Ataxia telangiectasia (AT) is an autosomal recessive multisystem disorder characterized by variable immunodeficiency, progressive neurodegeneration, occulocutaneous telangiectasia, and an increased susceptibility to malignancies. This study was designed to study the role of proapoptotic BAK, BAX, and NBK/BIK genes in a group of patients with AT to elucidate the possible role of these genes in progression of malignancies in this disease.

Materials and Methods

Fifty Iranian patients with AT were investigated in this study. The entire coding regions of the BAK gene (exons 2–6), NBK/BIK gene (exons 2–5), and BAX gene (exons 1–7) were amplified using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The PCR products were separated by 2% agarose gel electrophoresis, and all positive samples were verified by direct sequencing of PCR products using the same primers used for PCR amplification, BigDye chemistry, and Avent 3100 Genetic Analyzer following the manufacturer’s instructions (Applied Biosystems).

Results

Eight of fifty Iranian AT patients (16%) exhibited a C?>?T transition in exon 2 (c342C?>?T) of the BAK gene, while none of the healthy controls had such alteration (P?=?0.0001). Higher frequency of another nucleotide substitution in the noncoding region of exon 7 in BAX gene (6855G?>?A) was also identified in 68% of the patient group versus 24% in the controls (P?<?0.0001). Sequence alteration in intronic region of the NBK/BIK gene IVS4-12delTC was observed in 52% of AT patients, which was significantly higher than 20% in the control group (P?=?0.0023). Another variant IVS1146C?>?T in the intronic region of the BAX gene was found in 78% of patients, which was significantly higher than 10% in the controls (P?<?0.0001). Frequency of alteration in intronic region of exon 3 of the BAX gene (IVS3?+?14A?>?G) was also significantly higher in the AT patients (P?<?0.0001).

Discussion

Several alterations in the proapoptotic genes BAK, NBK/BIK, and BAX were found in our study, which could elucidate involvement of the mitochondrial pathway mediated apoptosis in accelerating and developing of cancers and in immunopathogenesis of AT. Such altered apoptosis in AT could play some roles in developing cancers in this group of patients.