The influence of uric acid treatments on liver glutathione system prevent oxidative damages in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis mice

Recently we reported that antioxidant system in brain and spinal cord in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) mice is mainly affected at early stages of the disease [M. Zargari, A. Allameh, M.H. Sanati, T. Tiraihi, S.H. Lavasani, O. Emadyan, Relationship between the clinical scoring and demyelination in central nervous system with total antioxidant capacity of plasma during experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis development in mice, Neurosci. Lett. 412 (2007), 24–28]. The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of uric acid (UA) on antioxidant system in liver and plasma of EAE mice. EAE was induced in C57/BL6 mice (n = 60), followed by i.p. administration of UA (10 mg/kg BW) in 30 mice at three distinct clinical stages (A: prior to onset, B: after onset, C: after development of EAE). Livers were removed and processed for measurement of lipid peroxidation products, reduced glutathione (GSH), and glutathione S-transferase (GST) and total antioxidant capacity of plasma (FRAP). The results showed that lipid peroxidation products in liver of EAE mice was increased significantly (∼85%) as compared to normal. UA administration to EAE mice caused a significant suppression of liver lipid peroxidation products (∼45%) at early stages (A and B). There was an inverse relationship between lipid peroxidation and cellular GSH in liver. GSH was significantly depleted in mice liver during the EAE progression, but it was recovered (∼29%) when UA was injected before the onset of the disease (groups A and B). Plasma total antioxidant capacity was significantly decreased during the development of EAE, however it was subsided in mice treated with UA as compared to the corresponding controls (21%) in groups A and B. Elevated liver GST as a result of EAE induction was reversed in mice treated with UA particularly in groups A and B. These results indicate that hepatic glutathione system, particularly GST plays a major role in modulation of oxidative damages to central nervous system (CNS) during EAE induction. The positive response of antioxidant system to UA administration in EAE mice was corroborated with improvement of clinical manifestation of the animals.     

The Investigation of Drug Resistance Substitutions in NS3 Protease Sequence of Hepatitis C Virus from Non-Responder Patients

Background: Even with the fantastic successes of direct-acting antivirals (DAA) in the treatment of Hepatitis CVirus (HCV) infection, natural drug resistance remains a challenging obstacle for their impacts. The data regardingprotease inhibitors (PIs) resistance in Iran population are limited. The aim of this study was to investigate the variationsin NS3 protease of HCV from non-responder patients. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 14 HCV infected patientswith genotype 1(N=5) and 3(N=9) who have not responded to Interferon-related regime were enrolled from LiverClinic, Shiraz. The NS3 protease region was amplified by Nested-PCR followed by product gel extraction. Besides,some amplified protease regions were cloned into a cloning vector to improve the sensitivity of mutation detection.Both crude and cloned sequences were then introduced into sequencing. The obtained sequences were compared withthe NS3 reference sequences and analyzed by Geno2pheno available software to find possible substitutions. In theend, the phylogenetic tree was constructed. Results: Among variations responsible for PIs resistance, only one out of14 (7%) sample who was infected with genotype 1a, harbored R117C+N174S double mutation, which causes reducedsusceptibility to Telaprevir. Any another resistance mutation was not found among the studied population. The mostfrequent substitutions were determined as I52M(N=9), S102A(N=9), S166A(8) and V170I(8) for genotype 3a, andF147S/A(4) for genotype 1. However, some uncharacterized substitutions on scored position, including I132L(N=1),I170V(N=3) and N174S(N=2) were also determined among sequences. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that theprotease region has enough power to correctly classify enrolled samples into relevant clusters on the tree. There were 2,3 and 9 cases of sub-genotypes 1a, 1b, and 3a, respectively. Conclusion: A low frequency of PIs resistance mutationsin our HCV infected population is a hopeful point of starting these drugs in HCV infected patients.     

Successful treatment of severe conjunctivitis and blepharitis caused by Escherichia coli in an ostrich (Struthio camelus)

The aim of the present report was to describe the clinical features and antibiotic susceptibility of severe conjunctivitis and blepharitis caused by Escherichia coli in an ostrich. A 2-month-old ostrich chick was presented with a 5-day history of left periocular swellings and severe conjunctivitis and blepharitis. There were no other abnormalities. The bacteria cultured from the pus aspirated from the periocular swellings were identified to be E. coli. Sensitivities were determined by a modified disc diffusion method, and isolates were fully susceptible to ciprofloxacin, co-trimoxazole, gentamicin, amikacin and chloramphenicol. The ostrich was treated by intramuscular ceftriaxone (10 mg/kg) BID for 1 week. The eye was treated with topical 0.3% ciprofloxacin HCl ophthalmic solution for 2 weeks.     

Evaluating the factors associated with pregnancy loss in pregnant women undergoing assisted reproductive techniques

Introduction

Whenever assisted reproductive techniques (ART) leading to successful pregnancy (with live birth), they can be considered useful .This study is aimed at assessing the effect of risk factors associated with the pregnancy loss on pregnancy outcomes in pregnant women undergoing ART.

Successful management of refractory psychomotor seizures with gabapentin and phenobarbital in a Doberman pinscher dog

Gabapentin is a new antiepileptic drug which is used in humans with complex partial epilepsy. Recently, two published studies described the efficacy of gabapentin in dogs with refractory epilepsy. However, clinical application of gabapentin in dogs with refractory psychomotor seizure has not been documented. The present report describes a 2-year-old male Doberman pinscher dog with a history of recurrent bizarre behaviors such as aggression, circling, and flank-biting. Initial oral administration of phenobarbital resulted in resolution of psychomotor seizures, but 3 months after the initial presentation, the dog became refractory to the selected treatment. The treatment was changed to a combination therapy with phenobarbital and gabapentin. Two days after starting the combination therapy, the dog became seizure-free, and there were no detectable signs of previous abnormal behaviors during the 14-month follow-up period.     

Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis and influence of age and gender on histopathologic findings

AIM:To characterize the histopathologic specifications of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis(NASH)according to age and gender.METHODS:An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted in two private gastroenterology clinics on biopsy proven patients suffering from NASH.Biopsy histopathologic findings as well as demographic and laboratory data of the patients at the time of biopsy were gathered retrospectively from clinical records.The grading and staging of histopathologic findings were performed according to th...     

Recruiting and Retaining Indigenous Farmworker Participants

There is limited information on the specific practices used to successfully recruit and retain indigenous and Latino farmworkers in research studies. This article describes the strategies used in a community-based participatory research project with indigenous agricultural workers. Participants were recruited through consulting with indigenous relatives and friends, identifying and meeting with indigenous leaders from hometown associations in countries of origin, and asking current participants to recruit fellow farmworkers. Adjustments were initiated to the second year protocol to enhance recruitment and retention. The difference in attrition rates between years one and two was statistically significant, a difference partially attributed to modifications to recruitment and retention protocol. Findings confirmed that active recruitment techniques and word-of-mouth recruitment were more effective than passive methods. Trust among academic, organization, and community partners, and shared language and culture between those doing the recruitment and the participants, contributed to sustained farmworker participation.