No abstract

No abstract

Among the progressive neurodegenerative disorders, Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common. Different factors have critical role in pathophysiology of PD such as apoptosis pathways, inflammatory cytokines, oxidative stress, and neurotransmitters and its receptors abnormalities. Acupuncture and electroacupuncture were considered as nondrug therapies for PD. Although numerous studies has been conducted for assessing the mechanism underlying electroacupuncture and acupuncture, various principal aspects of these treatment procedures remain not well-known. There have also been few investigations on the molecular mechanism of acupuncture and electroacupuncture therapy effects in PD. This review evaluates the effects of electroacupuncture and acupuncture on the molecular mechanism in PD.

No abstract

Background: It has been reported that ginger is involved in serotonergic system. It seems that ginger effect could be attributed to its active compound or gingerol. The present study was conducted to evaluate the effects of gingerol on antidepressant-like effects by investigation of serotonergic system in mice model. Materials and Methods: Following pilot study and selection of doses, mice were divided into 4 groups. Receptor antagonists were injected, gingerol was administrated and a trial suspension test was conducted. Results: Administration of gingerol could induce antidepressant-like effect (P<0.001), without induction of changes in spontaneous locomotor activity in the open-field test. Pretreatment of mice with pCPA (preventor of serotonin synthesis), WAY100135 (receptor antagonist), ketanserin (5HT2A receptor antagonist), and cyproheptadine (5HT2 receptor antagonist) prevented the antidepressant-like effect induced by the gingerol (P<0.05). Conclusion: It could be stated that gingerol is involved in antidepressant-like effects through serotonergic system in mice model. It could be recommended to use the gingerol in commercial preparations for prescription as an antidepressant agent.

Objectives. With increasing evidence regarding the metabolic basis of osteoarthritis (OA), we studied the relationship between adipose tissue and OA.Methods. This study is part of an OA registry in the eastern part of Fars Province, Iran. Overall, 150 patients with OA and 300 sex matched individuals were selected as a control group. They were compared regarding adipokine concentration (leptin, adiponectin, resistin and visfatin), anthropo-metric indices, the Western Ontario and McMaster universities arthritis index score (WOMAC).Results. All adipokine levels were higher among OA patients (p<0.001). After adjusting for age, sex, and body mass index (BMI), adipokines showed a significant and positive association with OA (B: 14.12, B: 9.92, B: 24.71 and B: 12.29 for leptin, adiponectin, visfatin, and resistin, respectively; p<0.001). Except the adiponectin that had a negative relationship with BMI in the OA group (r=–0.570, p<0.001), other adipokines had positive relationships with BMI (r=0.781, p<0.001; r=0.530, p<0.001; r=0.549, p<0.001 for leptin, visfatin, and resistin, respectively). Only leptin and adiponectin levels were correlated with pain (B: 0.045, –0.079 and p<0.05).Conclusion. The present study shows that aside to the well-known role of mechanical stress in OA pathogenesis (weight load), leptin, adiponectin, visfatin, and resistin, which represent the adi-pose tissue independent on the weight, may play a chemical role in OA pathogenesis. In addition, leptin and adiponectin may be involved in the pain levels among patients with OA.

A travertine fissure ridge and travertine mound are situated ~800m from each other at the western margin of the active tectono-volcanic Sanandaj-Sirjan zone (western Iran). Despite their close proximity, the two geobodies show a difference in morphology, lithofacies, lithotypes, diagenesis and geochemistry. Petrographic analysis of the fissure ridge carbonates revealed homogeneous sparitic fabrics with dendritic structures reflecting precipitation under fast-flowing conditions from calcite supersaturated spring water. The mound carbonates are much more heterogeneous and display dominantly micritic fabrics with (mainly volcanic) clasts reflecting a lower energy flow regime and lower calcite saturation. In contrast to the limited diagenetic overprint of the fissure ridge carbonates, the more porous mound carbonates are affected by dissolution, cementation, and formation of Mn/Feoxide/hydroxides, attesting of a strong control on porosity by early diagenetic processes. The widespread bright luminescent calcite phases especially in sparitic fabrics within both geobodies display high Mn concentrations in calcite indicating suboxic precipitation conditions. 2The overlapping 87 Sr/ 86 Sr signatures and δ 13 C signatures point to a mixture of CO2 that dominantly originated from dissolution of the marine carbonate Qom Formation (Oligo-Miocene). The different δ 18 O signatures, indicate different upwelling systems caused by different substrate settings. The fissure ridge formed on a hard and brittle limestone substrate with precipitation from dominantly subsurfacesourced fluids. The mound travertine formed on top of fairly unconsolidated and fractured volcanic strata. The depleted δ 18 O signatures and impure micrite-dominated fabrics of the mound travertine reflect precipitation from thermal water that mixed with surrounding groundwater. This difference is also reflected in a different calculated precipitation temperature, that varies between 4-21°C for the mound versus 25-50°C for the fissure ridge.Our findings show that subsurface geology exerts a major control on precipitation processes resulting in differences in travertine morphology, sedimentology, diagenesis, and geochemistry, despite that the travertine bodies occur adjacent to each other.

No abstract