Protective effect of Pumpkin seed extract on sperm characteristics,biochemical parameters and epididymal histology in adult male rats treated with Cyclophosphamide

Cancer treatment with cyclophosphamide (CP) may result in reproductive toxicity as one of its side effects. The pumpkin seed is a rich natural source of antioxidant. We have assessed the possible protective efficacy of pumpkin seed extract on sperm characteristics, biochemical parameters and epididymal histology of CP‐treated rats. Male adult Wistar rats were categorised into four groups. Group 1 served as control and received intraperitoneal (IP) injection of isotonic saline solution. Group 2 rats were treated with CP by IP injection in a single dose of 100 mg/kg body weight, only once. Group 3 and 4 received CP plus 300 and 600 mg/kg pumpkin seed extract respectively. Six weeks after treatment, sperm characteristics, biochemical parameters and histopathological changes were examined. Results showed that, sperm characteristics in CP‐treated rats were significantly decreased. Biochemical analysis results showed that the co‐administration of 300 mg pumpkin seed extract could increase the total antioxidant capacity (TAC) level significantly. In CP‐treated rats, histopathological changes such as vacuolisation, disorganisation and separation of epididymal epithelium were observed as well. Interestingly, pumpkin seed extract could improve the above‐mentioned parameters remarkably in CP‐treated rats. Our findings indicated that pumpkin seed extract might be used as protective agent against CP‐induced reproductive toxicity.     

Efficacy and safety of rituximab therapy in patients with systemic sclerosis disease (SSc): systematic review and meta-analysis

Clinical Rheumatology - The clinical benefits of rituximab in systemic sclerosis (SSc) are still contentious. The present meta-analysis aimed to systematically assess rituximab’s safety and...     

Homogeneous liquid–liquid microextraction based on liquid nitrogen-induced phase separation followed by GFAAS for sensitive extraction and determination of lead in lead-adulterated opium and refined opium

Herein, we developed a novel homogeneous liquid–liquid microextraction based on liquid nitrogen-induced phase separation (HLLME-LNPS) for the extraction and determination of lead (Pb) in Pb-adulterated opium and refined opium by GFAAS analysis. In this procedure, first, 400 μl of acetonitrile (extractant) containing 7.0 μl of diethyl dithiophosphoric acid (DDTP) is injected into a sample solution and a homogeneous solution is formed. Subsequently, the homogeneous mixture is cooled using liquid nitrogen for 16 seconds. By this process, due to the difference in the freezing points of the organic and aqueous phases, the homogeneous state is broken and the Pb-DDTP species are extracted into the liquid organic phase collected on top of the frozen aqueous phase. The introduced method exhibited a good linearity with a coefficient of determination (r²) of 0.9988 and an acceptable linear range of 0.6–100 μg l⁻¹. Accordingly, the detection limit was 0.2 μg l⁻¹ (S/N = 3) for Pb ions, and a high enrichment factor was obtained. The proposed method was successfully utilized to determine trace levels of Pb in opium samples. The results of the sample analysis showed that 65% of the opium samples and 85% of the refined opium samples had much higher than expected levels of contaminating Pb, and this contamination poses a serious threat to drug users.

Herein, we developed a novel homogeneous liquid–liquid microextraction based on liquid nitrogen-induced phase separation (HLLME-LNPS) for the extraction and determination of lead (Pb) in Pb-adulterated opium and refined opium by GFAAS analysis.     

Traumatic brain injury and adrenal insufficiency: morning cortisol and cosyntropin stimulation tests

Introduction

Adrenal insufficiency (AI) has a great impact on the prognosis of patients with traumatic brain injury. There is a lack of consensus regarding the diagnostic criteria of AI. In these patients with acute stress we compared fasting cortisol, low and high dose cosyntropin stimulation tests to assess adrenal function in patients with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury.

Material and methods

This multicenter, cross-sectional study recruited 50 consecutive patients (aged between 15 and 70 years old) with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury who survived more than 5 days after the event. The patients’ adrenal function was assessed using the fasting cortisol, 1 and 250-µg ACTH stimulation tests.

Results

More cases of AI were detected by the 1-µg ACTH stimulation test compared to those detected by the basal serum cortisol level and 250-µg ACTH stimulation test. The κ test showed no agreement between these tests. The incidence of AI in the first 10 days after traumatic brain injury varied from 34% to 82% according to the various definitions of AI. The incidence of hypotension and need for vasopressors was higher in the patients diagnosed by the 250-µg ACTH stimulation test (p < 0.0001).

Conclusions

The incidence of secondary AI in moderate to severe traumatic brain injury seems to be high. A combination of stimulation test (either 250 or 1 µg) and basal cortisol level may improve diagnostic ability compared to either test alone. Hence performing both tests for the assessment of adrenal function in patients with traumatic brain injury is recommended.     

The impact of hemodialysis on retinal and choroidal thickness in patients with chronic renal failure

International Ophthalmology - Patients with chronic renal failure are commonly cared using a blood filtration mechanism like hemodialysis. Little information is available regarding ocular changes...     

The rs594445 in MOCOS gene is associated with risk of autism spectrum disorder

Metabolic Brain Disease - Molybdenum cofactor sulfurase (MOCOS) gene encodes an enzyme which is involved in purine metabolism. Recent experiments have shown down-regulation of MOCOS in adult nasal...     

Preparation of NiFe2O4@MIL-101(Fe)/GO as a novel nanocarrier and investigation of its antimicrobial properties

In this research, we have investigated a novel magnetic nanocomposite including NiFe₂O₄@MIL-101(Fe)/GO for the delivery of the antibiotic tetracycline (TC). Moreover, the antibacterial activity of NiFe₂O₄@MIL-101(Fe)/GO, NiFe₂O₄@MIL-101(Fe)/GO/TC and pure TC was evaluated by agar well diffusion and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) methods on both Gram-negative (Escherichia coli) and Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus) bacteria. In addition, the cytotoxicity of NiFe₂O₄@MIL-101(Fe)/GO/TC on HeLa cells was determined by an MTT assay which showed good results. The structure of the prepared nanocarrier was investigated by various spectroscopic techniques such as Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET), and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). The results of this study showed that 98% of the TC was loaded on the synthesized nanocomposite. Drug release occurred at pH: 7.4 (phosphate buffer saline) and pH: 5.0 (acetate buffer) within 3 days, resulting in 77% and 85% release of the drug, respectively.

A schematic exhibition of the synthetic procedure of NiFe₂O₄@MIL-101(Fe)/GO as TC carrier and antibacterial activities.     

Circumscribed scalp hair loss following multiple hair-cutter ant invasion

A 32-year-old woman presented with an abrupt, localized loss of scalp hair that occurred on the previous day. Her nails, skin, and mucosae were normal. On the vertex of the scalp, there was a circular patch of alopecia; the hairs were broken at approximately equal lengths above the skin surface. Several erythematous macules were seen in the affected area, but scale, twisted hair, and exclamation-mark hairs were not present. Further examination revealed the presence of ants on the scalp. This patient is one of several referred to our department presenting with hair loss associated with hair-cutter ant invasion.     

Applying a new bilateral mammographic density segmentation method to improve accuracy of breast cancer risk prediction

Purpose

How to optimally detect bilateral mammographic asymmetry and improve risk prediction accuracy remains a difficult and unsolved issue. Our aim was to find an effective mammographic density segmentation method to improve accuracy of breast cancer risk prediction.

Methods

A dataset including 168 negative mammography screening cases was used. We applied a mutual threshold to bilateral mammograms of left and right breasts to segment the dense breast regions. The mutual threshold was determined by the median grayscale value of all pixels in both left and right breast regions. For each case, we then computed three types of image features representing asymmetry, mean and the maximum of the image features, respectively. A two-stage classification scheme was developed to fuse the three types of features. The risk prediction performance was tested using a leave-one-case-out cross-validation method.

Results

By using the new density segmentation method, the computed area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.830 ± 0.033 and overall prediction accuracy was 81.0%, significantly higher than those of 0.633 ± 0.043 and 57.1% achieved by using the previous density segmentation method (\(p<0.01\), t-test).

Conclusions

A new mammographic density segmentation method based on a bilateral mutual threshold can be used to more effectively detect bilateral mammographic density asymmetry and help significantly improve accuracy of near-term breast cancer risk prediction.