Sharif Digital Repository

Mechanical ventilation (MV) can result in long-term brain impairments that are resistant to treatment. The mechanisms underlying MV-induced brain function impairment remain unclear. Since nasal airflow modulates brain activity, here we evaluated whether reinstating airflow during MV could influence the memory performance of rats after recovery. Rats were allocated into two study groups: one group received rhythmic air-puff into the nasal cavity during MV and a control group that underwent ventilation without air-puff. During MV, air-puffs induced time-locked event potentials in OB, mPFC and vHPC and significantly increased the oscillatory activity at the air-puff frequency. Furthermore, in... 

Allergic rhinitis (AR) is a chronic inflammatory disease frequently associated with a deficit in learning and memory. Working memory is an important system for decision making and guidance, which depends on interactions between the ventral hippocampus (vHipp) and the prelimbic prefrontal cortex (plPFC). It is still unclear whether AR influences the activity and coupling of these brain areas, which consequently may impair working memory. The current study aimed to examine alterations of the vHipp-plPFC circuit in a rat model of AR. Our results show decreased working memory performance in AR animals, accompanied by a reduction of theta and gamma oscillations in plPFC. Also, AR reduces... 

In this study, physically cross-linked hydrogels were developed by freezing-thawing method while different concentrations of honey were included into the hydrogels for accelerated wound healing. The hydrogel was composed of chitosan, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), and gelatin with the ratio of 2:1:1 (v/v), respectively. Further, the effect of honey concentrations on antibacterial properties, and cell behavior was investigated. In vivo studies, including wound healing mechanism using rat model and histological analysis of section tissue samples were performed. The results illustrated that the incorporation of honey in hydrogels increased the ultimate strain of hydrogels approximately two times,... 

Background: Numerous studies have described the neuroprotective effect of lithium in spinal cord injury in addition to its ameliorative impact on pain sensation. In the present study, we aim to examine the efficacy of 85 mg/kg as well as 50 mg/kg dosage of the lithium chloride (LiCl) through oral consumption in spinal cord injured rats and their effect on gene expression of three candidate genes, corresponding to the hyper-sensitization. Methods: Adult Wistar (male) rats were divided into four experimental groups: control; oral administration of LiCl with 85 mg/kg and 50 mg/kg dosage; and 10 % sucrose receiver as the vehicle. BBB and heat plantar tests were performed weekly throughout four... 

Herein, the graphene oxide (GO)/cobalt ferrite nanoparticles were used to apply the heat treatment on the breast cancer cell line of MCF7. The synthesized nanoparticles were evaluated before in vitro and in vivo studies, using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), thermal property and relaxivity measurement. The nanoparticles showed a diameter of 5 nm with the ferrimagnetic property. Also, the nanoparticles were well distributed on the GO nanosheets. The related peaks of cobalt ferrite nanoparticles were approved by using XRD and XPS assays. During the in vitro investigations, IC50 with... 

Simvastatin, a well-known antihyperlipidemic drug, has antibacterial activity against a broad range of bacteria, especially Staphylococcus aureus. In present study, a nanoemulsion gel-based formulation containing Simvastatin was developed for infected wound therapy. Therefore, different formulations of Simvastatin nanoemulsion were prepared. Based on droplet size, polydispersity index and zeta potential, the best nanoemulsion formulation containing Simvastatin was selected for development of nanoemulsion gel formulation of drug using carbomer 934 as gelling agent. Thermodynamic stability of Simvastatin nanoemulsion was assessed at different conditions. The in vitro antibacterial activity... 

Scar tissue size following myocardial infarction is an independent predictor of cardiovascular outcomes, yet little is known about factors regulating scar size. We demonstrate that collagen V, a minor constituent of heart scars, regulates the size of heart scars after ischemic injury. Depletion of collagen V led to a paradoxical increase in post-infarction scar size with worsening of heart function. A systems genetics approach across 100 in-bred strains of mice demonstrated that collagen V is a critical driver of postinjury heart function. We show that collagen V deficiency alters the mechanical properties of scar tissue, and altered reciprocal feedback between matrix and cells induces... 

Human infertility is a multifactorial disease that affects 8%–12% of reproductive-aged couples worldwide. However, the genetic causes of human infertility are still poorly understood. Synaptonemal complex (SC) is a conserved tripartite structure that holds homologous chromosomes together and plays an indispensable role in the meiotic progression. Here, we identified three homozygous mutations in the SC coding gene C14orf39/SIX6OS1 in infertile individuals from different ethnic populations by whole-exome sequencing (WES). These mutations include a frameshift mutation (c.204_205del [p.His68Glnfs∗2]) from a consanguineous Pakistani family with two males suffering from non-obstructive... 

Background: Newcastle disease virus (NDV) has shown noticeable oncolytic properties, especially against cervical cancer. However, in order to improve the spread rate and oncotoxicity of the virus, employment of other therapeutic reagents would be helpful. It has been shown that some viral fusogenic membrane glycoproteins (FMGs) could facilitate viral propagation and increase the infection rate of tumor cells by oncolytic viruses. Additionally, immune checkpoint blockade has widely been investigated for its anti-tumor effects against several types of cancers. Here, we investigated for the first time whether the incorporation of influenza hemagglutinin-2 (HA2) FMG could improve the oncolytic... 

Background: Melittin, a peptide component of honey bee venom, is an appealing candidate for cancer therapy. In the current study, melittin, melittin-loaded niosome, and empty niosome had been optimized and the anticancer effect assessed in vitro on 4T1 and SKBR3 breast cell lines and in vivo on BALB/C inbred mice. "Thin-layer hydration method" was used for preparing the niosomes; different niosomal formulations of melittin were prepared and characterized in terms of morphology, size, polydispersity index, encapsulation efficiency, release kinetics, and stability. A niosome was formulated and loaded with melittin as a promising drug carrier system for chemotherapy of the breast cancer cells.... 

Therapeutic fragmented antibodies show a poor pharmacokinetic profile that leads to frequent high-dose administration. In the current study, for the first time, a novel proline, alanine, serine (PAS) repeat sequence called PAS#208 was designed to extend the plasma half-life of a nanosized anti-vascular endothelial growth factor-A single-domain antibody. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, circular dichroism, dynamic light scattering, and electrophoretic light scattering were used to assess the physicochemical properties of the newly designed PAS sequence. The effect of PAS#208 on the biologic activity of a single-domain antibody was studied using an in vitro proliferation assay. The... 

The oxidation-reduction (redox)–responsive micelle system is based on a diselenide-containing triblock copolymer, poly(ε-caprolactone)-bis(diselenide-methoxy poly(ethylene glycol)/poly(ethylene glycol)-folate) [PCL-(SeSe-mPEG/PEG-FA)2]. This has helped in the development of tumor-targeted delivery for hydrophobic anticancer drugs. The diselenide bond, as a redox-sensitive linkage, was designed in such a manner that it is located at the hydrophilic–hydrophobic hinge to allow complete collapse of the micelle and thus efficient drug release in redox environments. The amphiphilic block copolymers self-assembled into micelles at concentrations higher than the critical micelle concentration (CMC)... 

Cervical cancer is the second-most-common cause of malignancies in women worldwide, and the oncogenic activity of the human papilloma virus types (HPV) E7 protein has a crucial role in anogenital tumors. In this study, we have designed a therapeutic vaccine based on chitosan nanodelivery systems to deliver HPV-16 E7 DNA vaccine, considered as a tumor specific antigen for immunotherapy of HPV-associated cervical cancer. We have developed a Nano-chitosan (NCS) as a carrier system for intramuscular administration using a recombinant DNA vaccine expressing HPV-16 E7 (NCS-DNA E7 vaccine). NCS were characterized in vitro for their gene transfection ability. Results: The transfection of CS-pEGFP... 

Purpose: Tests on animals of different species with large differences in intervertebral disc size are commonly used to investigate the therapeutic efficacy of intravenously injected solutes in the disc. We hypothesize that disc size markedly affects outcome. Methods: Here, using a small non-metabolized molecule, glucosamine (GL) as a model solute, we calculate the influence of disc size on transport of GL into rat, rabbit, dog and human discs for 10 h post intravenous-injection. We used transient finite element models and considered an identical GL supply for all animals. Results: Huge effects of disc size on GL concentration profiles were found. Post-injection GL concentration in the rat... 

Hepcidin is a peptide hormone that plays an important role in iron metabolism. We have produced a recombinant mouse hepcidin-1 by using baculovirus expression system. Its expression yield was 25 μg/ml when cell culture media were supplemented with a protease inhibitor cocktail. The recombinant mouse hepcidin-1 and synthetic human hepcidin-25 had similar effects on reducing ferroportin expression in J774A cell line and in peritoneal macrophages. However, synthetic human hepcidin-25 was more efficient than recombinant mouse hepcidin-1 in reducing iron concentration in blood circulation (p < 0.01)  

Objective: Epileptic seizure detection is a key step for epilepsy assessment. In this work, using the pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) model, seizures were induced in rats, and ECoG signals in interictal, preictal, ictal, and postictal periods were recorded. The recorded ECoG signals were then analyzed to detect epileptic seizures in the epileptic rats. Methods: Two different approaches were considered in this work: thresholding and classification. In the thresholding approach, a feature is calculated in consecutive windows, and the resulted index is tracked over time and compared with a threshold. The moment the index crosses the threshold is considered as the moment of seizure onset. In the... 

Objective: Epileptic seizures are defined as manifest of excessive and hyper-synchronous activity of neurons in the cerebral cortex that cause frequent malfunction of the human central nervous system. Therefore, finding precursors and predictors of epileptic seizure is of utmost clinical relevance to reduce the epileptic seizure induced nervous system malfunction consequences. Researchers for this purpose may even guide us to a deep understanding of the seizure generating mechanisms. The goal of this paper is to predict epileptic seizures in epileptic rats. Methods: Seizures were induced in rats using pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) model. EEG signals in interictal, preictal, ictal and postictal... 

Context: Elevated expression of the folate receptor (FR) occurs in many human malignancies. Thus, folate targeting is widely utilized in drug delivery purposes specially using nano-radioactive agents. Aims: In this work, we report production and biological evaluation of gallium-67 labeled superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles, embedded by folic acid (67 Ga-SPION-folate) complex especially in tumor-bearing mice for tumor imaging studies. Settings and Design: The structure of SPION-folate was confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and foureir transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) analyses. The radiolabeled SPION-folate formation was confirmed by... 

Introduction: Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is the most common and drug resistant epilepsy in adults. Due to behavioral, morphologic and electrographic similarities, pilocarpine model of epilepsy best resembles TLE. This study was aimed at determination of the changes in electroencephalogram (EEG) sub-bands amplitude during focal seizures in the pilocarpine model of epilepsy. Analysis of these changes might help detection of a pre-seizure state before an oncoming seizure. Methods: Rats were treated by scopolamine (1mg/kg, s.c) to prevent cholinergic effects. After 30 min, pilocarpine (380 mg/kg, i.p) was administered to induce status epilepticus (SE) and 2 hours after SE, diazepam (20 mg/kg,... 

Vaccines require a period of at least three months for clinical trials, hence a method that can identify elicitation of immune response a few days after the first dose is a necessity. Evolutionary variable selections are modeling approaches for proper manipulation of available data which were used to set up an animal model for classification of time dependent 'HNMR metabolomic profiles and pattern recognition of fluctuations of metabolites in two groups of male rabbits. One group of rabbits was immunized with human red blood cells and the other used as control. Blood was obtained every 48 h from each rabbit for a period of six weeks and the serum monitored for antibodies and metabolites by...