Medical Sector

Gastrointestinal toxicity is one of the most serious side effects in the methotrexate (MTX) treatment. This study was designed to investigate whether ellagic acid (EA) and/or pumpkin seed oil (PSO) had a protective effect on MTX-induced small intestine damage. Forty albino rats were randomized into five groups of 8 rats each. Group I served as a normal control group. In Group II, MTX was administered as a single dose (20

Objective: Coronary artery diseases including myocardial ischemia (MI) remain one of the leading causes of death worldwide. This study was designed to compare the protective effect of L-arginine versus aspirin from the biochemical changes associated with MI injury.

Aim: The aim of this study was to compare combined spinal epidural (CSE), epidural (E) and IV pethidine analgesia and their effects on the fetus, newborn and the labor course.

Objective: The complex mechanisms responsible for diabetic nephropathy (DN) are not fully understood. There is emerging evidence that it may be caused by apoptosis, involving the death receptors. The present study sought to investigate the contribution of the death receptor Fas (also known as CD95) and Fas ligand (Fas/Fas FasL) system in addition to caspase 3 in experimental DN. The effects of renoprotective therapy with blockade of the renin-angiotensin (RAS) system were also examined. Methods: Type 2 diabetes was induced by feeding rats with high fat diet for 4 weeks followed by intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ) in a dose of 45 mg/kg. Three days later, perindopril (angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor) in a dose of 6mg/kg or valsartan (angiotensin II receptor blockers) in a dose of 25mg/kg were administered orally for 4 weeks. Results: Kidney of diabetic rats showed highly increased Fas/ FasL and caspase 3 gene expressions. Treatment of diabetic rats with either perindopril or valsartan reduced the apoptosis and this is associated with reduction in Fas, FasL and caspase-3 genes expressions. Conclusion: These results confirm the role of apoptosis and apoptotic factors including Fas, Fas L and caspase-3 in the development of DN and point to the possible treatment mechanisms being responsible for the renoprotective action of RAS blockade.

In the present study, the effects of SCH58261, a selective adenosine A2A receptor antagonist that crosses the blood brain barrier (BBB) and 8-(4-sulfophenyl) theophylline (8-SPT), a non-selective adenosine receptor antagonist that acts peripherally, were investigated on cerebral ischemia reperfusion injury (IR). Male Wistar rats (200 - 250 g) were divided into four groups: (1) sham-operated (SO), IR pretreated with either (2) vehicle (DMSO); (3) SCH58261(0.01 mg/kg); (4) 8-SPT (2.5 mg/kg).

Background and objectives: Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is a multi-systemic disorder that involves primarily CNS, skin, kidney and heart. The aim of this study is to determine whether seizures type, interictal EEGs and tubers burden in MRI are correlated to seizure and intellectual outcome, and to identify the clinical risk factors for mental retardation and developing autism in these patients.

The global rising incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), which parallels the increase of hepatitis C virus (HCV) prevalence, has sparked a renewed interest in discovering additional HCC serum markers. In this study, we investigated the clinical use of serum E-cadherin, ICAM, MMP-2, VEGF, OPN and ?-catenin as potential diagnostic makers for HCV/genotype 4-associated HCC. Twenty cases of healthy subjects, 11 cases with asymptomatic HCV/genotype 4 carriers (ASC), 28 chronic hepatitis (CH) cases and 32 patients with HCC were enrolled in this study. Serum levels of proteins were measured by a sandwich-enzyme-linked (ELISA) assay. The diagnostic accuracy of each candidate marker was evaluated using receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, reporting the area under the curve (AUC) and its 95%

Three methods are presented for the simultaneous determination of Diloxanide furoate (DLX) and Metronidazole (MTR), used for their anti-protozoal and anti-amoebic effect, in presence of DLX alkaline degradates and in pharmaceutical formulations without previous separation.

Telomerase is an attractive molecular target for cancer therapy because it is present in most malignant cells but is undetectable in most normal somatic cells. Human telomerase consists of two subunits, an RNA component (hTR) and a human telomerase reverse transcriptase component (hTERT). Small interfering RNA (siRNA), one kind of RNA interferences, has been demonstrated to be an effective method to inhibit target gene expression in human cells. We investigated the effects of siRNA targeting both hTERT mRNA and protein expression on the inhibition of proliferation and growth of human breast carcinoma cells (MCF-7) and liver carcinoma cells (HEPG-2). Here we used two siRNAs sequences (siRNA#1 and siRNA#2) that differentially target hTERT. Our results revealed that treatment of MCF7 and HepG2 cells with either of hTERT siRNAs resulted in significant decrease in both mRNA (p<0.05) and hTERT protein expression (p<0.05). Summary, our results clearly demonstrate that siRNA mediated knockdown of telomerase has efficiently suppressed proliferation rate of MCF7andHepG2cells. From these findings, we propose that targeting telomerase using siRNA might be a rational approach in cancer therapy.