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Background and Objective: Sodium Arsenite is an environmental pollutant which can generate free radicals causing tissue damage. This study was done to evaluate the effect of Green Tea (GTE), as a strong antioxidant, on kidney tissue in mice treated with Sodium Arsenite. Methods: In this experimental study 24 adult male NMRI mice were randomly allocated into four groups including: control, GTE (100mg/kg/day), Sodium Arsenite (5mg/kg/day) and Sodium Arsenite + GTE, for 34 days, orally. Animals were scarified and left kidney was taken out, fixed, sectioned, processed and stained using Heidenhain'azan method. Using stereological technique the total volume of kidney, volume of cortex, medulla, proximal and distal tubule, renal corpuscle, gelomerelus, tuft and capillary, membrane and space of Bowman's capsule and length of proximal and distal tubule were determined. Creatinine, BUN and MDA serum samples were measured. Results: The mean of total volume of cortex, proximal tubule, distal tubule, renal corpuscle and gelomerolus, taft, Bowman's capsule space, size of epithelium and lumen of proximal and distal tubule were significantly reduced in Sodium Arsenite group compared to control (P<0.05). These parameters were significantly increased in the Sodium Arsenite + GTE group in comparison with Sodium Arsenite group (P<0.05). The creatinine, Blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and MDA were significantly increased in the Sodium Arsenite group in compared to the control group (P<0.05). These parameters were significantly reduced in the Sodium Arsenite + GTE group in comparison with Sodium Arsenite group (P<0.05). Conclusion: Green tea has a protective role in Sodium Arsenite induced nephrotoxicity.

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Background and Objective: Neonatal mortality rate is one of the most important health criteria, worldwide. Understanding the major neonatal mortality causes will help to plan for better pregnancy, prenatal and neonatal care systems. This study was conducted to determine the neonatal mortality risk factors in Maraveh Tapeh County in Golestan province, north of Iran. Methods: In this case-control study, according to either death or live in 28th day after birth, 52 neonates were considered as case group and 201 neonates were considered as control group. Data collection questionnair were adjusted and completed for each neonate. Results: Neonatal mortality rate was 11.76, 13.36 and 6.46 per 1000 live birth in 2011, 2012 and 2013, respectively. Five main causes of death were prematurity, events, birth defect, respiratory distress syndrome and sepsis, respectively. There was a significant relation between death and prematurity, birth weight and gender (P<0.05). There was relationship between birth weight and neonatal mortality (Odds Ratio=29.6). Conclusion: Prematurity and low birth weight were the most important causes of neonatal mortality in Maraveh Tapeh county in Golestan province, north of Iran.

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Background and Objective: Wound infection treatment, particularly in chronic and bacterial poly cases, is difficult and entails heavy costs. This study was done to determine the prevalence of poly bacterial infection and antimicrobial susceptibility of wound samples from different wards. Methods: In this descriptive study, wound sampling was prepared from 336 patients admitted to different wards of Baqiatallah Hospital in Tehran, Iran. Identification was performed based on biochemical tests including oxidase test, TSI, IMVIC, lysine decarboxylase, phenylalanine deaminase, urea, motility, catalase, coagulase, mannitol fermentation, optochin sensitivity, susceptibility to bacitracin and sulfamethoxazole, growth in Bile esculin and DNase production. Antibiotic resistance pattern of isolates was determined using disk diffusion method for 14 important antibiotics. Results: 294 samples were positive for bacterial culture, from which 364 isolates including 11 different isolates were obtained. Out of 294 positive samples, 245 samples were mono bacterial and 54 were poly bacterial including two-bacterial (45 samples), three-bacterial (7 samples), and four-bacteral (2 samples). S. aureus (29.7%), Enterococci (15.6%), and E. coli (15.6%) were the most prevalent isolates. S. aureus-Enterococci pattern was the most common two-bacterial pattern (33%), and majority of polybacterial patterns belonging to gram negative bacteria was in surgery ward (32.5%). Antibiogram results showed high levels of antibiotic resistance in the isolates. Imipenem and amikacin were the most effective antibiotics against Gram negative isolates, and vancomycin for Gram positive isolates. Also, 71% of S. aureus isolates were resistant to oxacillin. Conclusion: Variation of bacterial isolates was similar to other studies. Most of poly-bacterial wound infections were due to common nosocomial pathogens and their high rates of antibiotic resistance are extremely alarming.

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Background and Objective: Bisphenol A (BPA) is an endocrine disruptor chemical and as an environmental pollutant is able to generate free radicals causing tissue damage. This study was done to investigate the effect of Nigella sativa oil against BPA induced toxicity on the tissue of male NMRI mice kidney by stereological method.

Methods: In this experimental study 24 adult male NMRI mice (32±3 g) were randomly allocated into control, BPA (200 mg/kg/day), BPA (200 mg/kg/day) plus Nigella sativa oil (5 ml/kg/day) and Nigella sativa oil (5 ml/kg/day) groups and treated for 5 weeks, orally. At the end, animals were sacrificed, their left kidneys were removed, fixed, sectioned, processed and stained with Heidenhain' azan staining method. Then, the kidney tissue sections were evaluated using stereological method and serum malondialdehyde (MDA) level was also measured.

Results: The total weight and volume of kidney, volume of cortex, volume of proximal and distal tubules and volume of their lumen, volume of interstitial tissue, volume of glomeruli, tuft, as well as serum MDA level significantly increased in BPA treated group compared to the controls (P<0.05). These parameters were significantly reduced in BPA plus Nigella sativa oil group compared to BPA ones (P<0.05).

Conclusion: This study revealed that Nigella sativa oil can reduce the oxidative stress toxicity induced by BPA in the mice renal tissue.

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Adjuvants are an essential component of modern vaccines. An adjuvant is an entity added to a vaccine formulation to ensure that robust immunity to the antigen is inoculcated. The adjuvant is typically vital for the efficacy of vaccines using subunit (pepdids, proteins and virus like particles) and DNA antigens. Furthermore, these components are used to reach the current new goals of preventing and/ or treating chronic infectious diseases and cancers. This review focuses on formulation aspects of adjuvants, safety considerations, progress in understanding their mechanisms of action and also their side effects with using 97 articles are acceceble in pubmed central and google scholar indexing which published during 1980-2016. Adjuvants can be broadly divided into two classes, based on their principal mechanisms of action; the first class are vaccine delivery systems that generally particulate and mainly function to target associated antigens into antigen presenting cells. The others are immunostimulatory adjuvants that predominantly derived from pathogens and often represent pathogen associated molecular patterns which activate cells of the innate immune system. Adjuvants induce cellular and humoral responses, in particular neutralizing antibodies that able to inhibit the binding of pathogens to their cellular receptors. Efficient Th1-immunity-inducing adjuvants are highly in demand. The adjuvants promote good cell-mediated immunity against subunit vaccines that have low immunogenicity themselves. However, attempts to develop a new generation of adjuvants, which are essential for new vaccines, is important, but their use is limited because, little is known about their mechanisms of action and health risks.

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Background and Objective: Breast cancer is one of the most common types of cancer among women. HER-2 molecule as the receptor of tyrosine kinase from the family of epithermal growth factor is a major cause of cancer. The Herceptin protein molecule, which is an anti-HER-2 antibody, can play an important role in the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. This study was done to subcloning of Herceptin gene, expression in the prokaryotic system (E.coli) and produce Herceptin recombinant protein for use in the treatment of breast cancer.

Methods: In this descriptive – laboratory study, Herceptin gene from synthesized construct was isolated by enzyme digestion, and then subcloned to the expression vector pET28a. Subcloning of the gene was confirmed using PCR and enzyme digestion. After transferring the vector into E.coli BL21 DE3, expression of the recombinant Herceptin gene was induced by IPTG. The recombinant protein was evaluated by SDS-PAGE and purified with Ni-NTA column chromatography and finally verified by western blotting using anti-histidine antibody. The survival of cells adjacent to recombinant Hercaptin by MTT was investigated.

Results: Following the subcloning of the Herceptin gene, PCR and enzyme digestion, the 741 fragment of the Herceptin gene was confirmed. Confirmation of Herceptin's recombinant protein and its evaluation on SDS-PAGE gel about 27 kDa was done. The recombinant protein was also confirmed with anti-histidine tag. The purified protein adjacent to the SKBR3 cell line was able to block the growth of cancer cells.

Conclusion: Regarding the expersion of HER2 antigen on surface of breast cancer cells, Herceptin can act as antibody blocker and it arrests the growth of breast cancer cells.

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Background and Objective: Hemoptysis is defined as the expectoration of blood from the lower respiratory tract. Bronchiolitis, bronchogenic carcinoma, and bronchiectasis are the most common causes of hemoptysis in developed countries, while infections caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis are the most common cause in endemic countries. This study was conducted to determine the frequency of causes of hemoptysis and some related factors.
Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was done on 68 patients (37 men and 31 women, average age 56.85±17.27 years) who were referred to the Shahid Sayyad Shirazi Hospital in Gorgan, north of Iran during 2014-16 with the complaint of hemoptysis. Demographic information, cause of hemoptysis and history of illness or drug abuse were extracted from the patients’ records.
Results: Based on the results, 42.6%, 45.6%, and 17.6% of the patients had a history of smoking, drug abuse, and diabetes, respectively. The most frequent causes of hemoptysis were bronchiectasis (25%), pneumonia (20.6%), tuberculosis, and lung cancer (16.4%). Gender was determined as an independent risk factor for hemoptysis (P<0.05). The most common causes of hemoptysis were bronchiectasis, lung cancer and pneumonia in men, and tuberculosis and bronchiectasis in women. Age, drug abuse, smoking, and diabetes had no significant association with the occurrence of hemoptysis.
Conclusion: Bronchiectasis, tuberculosis, and lung cancer are the main causes of hemoptysis, and gender is an independent risk factor for hemoptysis in the study area.
 

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Background and Objective: Gait is a fundamental movement pattern influenced by various structures. This study aimed to determine the effect of sand-based training on ground reaction force frequency spectrum in individuals with anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction and pronated feet during gait.
Methods: This clinical trial was conducted on 28 male students with pronated feet and ACL injuries aged 22-25 years at Mohaghegh Ardabili University. Participants were randomly assigned to two groups of 14: A control group and a sand-based training group. The ground reaction force variables were measured using a force plate in the pre-test and post-test.
Results: The number of necessary harmonics in the free moment component decreased by 15.95% in the post-test (16.48±4.14) compared to the pre-test (19.11±2.15) of the control group (P<0.05). The number of necessary harmonics in the mediolateral direction of the ground reaction force decreased by 23.34% in the post-test (15.59±3.92) compared to the pre-test (19.23±2.66) of the training group (P<0.05). Additionally, the number of necessary harmonics in the anteroposterior direction of the ground reaction force increased by 33.04% in the post-test (21.61±2.55) compared to the pre-test (14.47±4.11) of the training group (P<0.05).
Conclusion: Sand-based training was able to improve the gait mechanics of individuals with ACL reconstruction and pronated feet.