Search

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a significant contributor to global mortality and disability, and there is still no specific drug available to treat cognitive deficits in survivors. Vanillic acid (VA), a bioactive phenolic compound, has shown protective effects in various models of neurodegeneration; however, its impact on TBI outcomes remains elusive. Therefore, this study aimed to elucidate the possible role of VA in ameliorating TBI-induced cognitive decline and to reveal the mechanisms involved. TBI was induced using the Marmarou impact acceleration model to deliver an impact force of 300 g, and treatment with VA (50 mg/kg; P.O.) was initiated 30 minutes post-TBI. The cognitive performance, hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP), oxidative stress markers, neurological function, cerebral edema, and morphological changes were assessed at scheduled points in time. TBI resulted in cognitive decline in the passive avoidance task, impaired LTP in the perforant path-dentate gyrus (PP-DG) pathway, increased hippocampal oxidative stress, cerebral edema, neurological deficits, and neuronal loss in the rat hippocampus. In contrast, acute VA administration mitigated all the aforementioned TBI outcomes. The data suggest that reducing synaptic plasticity impairment, regulating oxidative and antioxidant defense, alleviating cerebral edema, and preventing neuronal loss by VA can be at least partially attributed to its protection against TBI-induced cognitive decline.

Elafibranor is a dual peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)α and β/δ agonist that has reached a phase III clinical trial for the treatment of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). Here, we examined the effects of elafibranor in mice fed a choline-deficient high-fat diet (CD-HFD), a model of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) that presents obesity and insulin resistance. Our findings revealed that elafibranor treatment ameliorated steatosis, inflammation, and fibrogenesis in the livers of CD-HFD-fed mice. Unexpectedly, elafibranor also increased the levels of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-promoting protein S100A4 via PPARβ/δ activation. The increase in S100A4 protein levels caused by elafibranor was accompanied by changes in the levels of markers associated with the EMT program. The S100A4 induction caused by elafibranor was confirmed in the BRL-3A rat liver cells and a mouse primary hepatocyte culture. Furthermore, elafibranor reduced the levels of ASB2, a protein that promotes S100A4 degradation, while ASB2 overexpression prevented the stimulating effect of elafibranor on S100A4. Collectively, these findings reveal an unexpected hepatic effect of elafibranor on increasing S100A4 and promoting the EMT program.

ABSTRACT: Background: One of the applicable tools introduced as a specific tool for assessing claudication in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis is the Zurich Claudication Questionnaire (ZCQ). This questionnaire has been validated in different populations of patients. The present study aimed to determine the validation status of the Persian version of ZCQ. Methods: After professional translation of the ZCQ by native English translators, it was executed twice before surgery with 1 day interval on 45 Iranian patients with spinal stenosis. The reliability was assessed by determining the Chronbach's Alpha coefficient as well as intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). To assess the concurrent validity, the correlation across the 3 domains of the questionnaire was calculated by the Pearson's correlation test and the content validity was determined using a panel of experts. Results: To assess test-retest reliability, the ICC for ZCQ for symptom severity, functional disability, and satisfaction domains were 0.80, 0.82, and 0.78, indicating acceptable reliability. Regarding internal consistency, Cronbach's alpha coefficients for the Persian version of ZCQ for the 3 above domains were shown to be 0.96, 0.92, and 0.90 respectively. On the subject of content validity, the 3 questionnaire's domains were marked as relevant with the content validity indices of 0.88, 0.82, and 0.80 respectively. Concerning concurrent validity, all 3 domains of the Persian ZCQ correlated strongly with 1 another. Conclusions: The ZCQ questionnaire with the same original structure is completely functional and reliable in the Iranian patient community.

Aims: This study was designed to investigate the effects of resistance training (RT) and hawthorn extract (Ha) on Glypican-4 (GPC-4) and Insulin-regulated glycosylphosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase D (GPLD1) serum levels in T2DM and to examine the relationship of these variables with glycemic indexes. Method: 40 male Wistar rats were divided into five equal groups: Healthy Control (H-C), Diabetes Control (D-C), Diabetes Resistance training (D-RT), Diabetes Hawthorn (D-Ha), and Diabetes Resistance training Hawthorn (D-RT-Ha). T2DM was induced with a 4-week high-fat diet (HFD) and one dose of STZ intraperitoneal injection (35 mg/kg). 1-week after the injection, RT (with a range of 50%–100%1RM/3 day/week) and gavage of Ha extract (100 mg/kg/day) was performed for 12 weeks. Results: The glycemic indices improvement (reducing blood glucose and increasing serum insulin level) caused by RT and/or Ha increased GPC-4 and decreased GPLD1 in the T2DM rats, but these positive changes were more effective in the combination of RT + Ha. A strong correlation was also observed between GPC-4 and GPLD1 with blood glucose and insulin. Conclusion: The increase in serum GPC-4 levels was probably due to the direct effect of RT + Ha, and the improvement of glycemic indexes after RT and Ha. The double effect of RT + Ha can be a regulatory mechanism for GPC-4 and its related factors in controlling T2DM complications.

In this study, glycidyl methacrylate (GMA)-ciprofloxacin and GMA-ampicillin were successfully synthesized as antibacterial dental monomers. The antibacterial activity of resin composites containing 0–5 wt% GMA-ciprofloxacin and GMA-ampicillin was evaluated by using direct contact tests (DCTs) on the cured resins against Streptococcus mutans. After 72 h, the 5 wt% GMA-ciprofloxacin monomer with resin composite showed the highest lethality against Streptococcus mutans. The cytotoxic activity of the synthesized monomers in the concentration range of 5–100 μL mL−1 was investigated against human dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs), and the physical properties of the prepared monomers, such as water sorption, were subsequently assessed. The structure and morphology of the synthesized monomers were characterized using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra and field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) techniques. The results revealed that the GMA-ciprofloxacin and GMA-ampicillin monomers were biocompatible at low dosage. The goal of this study was to synthesize new antibacterial monomers and examine their antibacterial properties and cytotoxic activity in dental resin composites.

Three novel peptide sequences YGIKVGYAIP, GGIF, and GIFE from papain-generated protein hydrolysate of palm kernel cake proteins were used for stability study against ACE, ACE-inhibition kinetics, and molecular docking studies. Results showed that peptide YGIKVGYAIP was degraded, and its ACE-inhibitory activity decreased after 3 h pre-incubation with ACE, while peptides GGIF and GIFE were resistant. However, although the ACE-inhibitory activity of GIFE increased during this time, the ACE inhibitory activity of GGIF decreased after pre-incubation with ACE, indicating that peptide. YGIKVGYAIP and GGIF are substrate-type, whereas GIFE is a true-inhibitor type. Peptide YGIKVGYAIP showed the lowest Ki (0.054 mM) in the inhibition kinetics study compared to GGIF and GIFE, with Ki of 1.27 m M and 18 mM, respectively. In addition, YGIKVGYAIP revealed the lowest Km and Vmax and higher CE in different peptide concentrations, implying that the enzyme catalysis decreased, and peptides had some binding affinity to the enzyme in lower concentrations, which led to reduced catalytic ability. Furthermore, YGIKVGYAIP showed the lowest docking score of −14.733 and 21 interactions with tACE, while GGIF revealed the higher docking score of −8.006 with 15 interactions with tACE.

Complex pelvic ring injuries in childhood can be difficult to treat, and literature mentions several techniques for fixing SIJ fracture-dislocations. In accordance with the CAse REport (CARE) guidelines, this study describes a five-year-old boy with a complex pelvic ring fracture caused by a car accident: vertically unstable pelvic fracture consists of bilateral superior rami fractures and type I of Denis sacral fracture. Fixation was achieved by inserting a 6.5 mm major diameter cannulated screw with a 60 mm length and 16 thread into the SIJ at the level of S1. The pelvic inlet view corrected the anterior-posterior position, and the pelvic outlet view adjusted the superior-inferior position to determine a suitable sacral level. After three months, the SI joint has shown an anatomically fracture consolidation, and he could ambulate with full weight-bearing and full ROM with no pain. A 3-year follow-up showed promising results in radiological and functional terms.We conclude that percutaneous SI screw fixation using a cannulated screw is a suitable technique for pediatrics because it provides anatomic reductions and is minimally invasive. Children as young as five can be treated safely with SI screws for sacral fractures and SIJ injuries.

Shear thickening fluids (STFs) exhibit a unique potential for use in widespread range of applications from mechanical platforms and smart structures to effective protective fabrics. The STFs have gained a considerable attention in protective applications to improve the resistance behavior of textile materials against the impacts and penetrations. Also, STFs have been used as motion sensors and electrolytes in lithium batteries to enhance the resistance and performance of electric-mechanical platforms. To understand the potentials of STFs in various fields, we review here advances in materials development alongside a review of the directions in novel fields of STFs. This review describes mechanism of action and recent developments in the application of STFs in science and industry. Further, the current state of STF applications is reviewed, emphasizing the period of 2013–2020.

Objective: The very low-density lipoprotein receptor (VLDLR) plays an important role in the development of hepatic steatosis. In this study, we investigated the role of Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor (PPAR)β/δ and fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) in hepatic VLDLR regulation. Methods: Studies were conducted in wild-type and Pparβ/δ-null mice, primary mouse hepatocytes, human Huh-7 hepatocytes, and liver biopsies from control subjects and patients with moderate and severe hepatic steatosis. Results: Increased VLDLR levels were observed in liver of Pparβ/δ-null mice and in Pparβ/δ-knocked down mouse primary hepatocytes through mechanisms involving the heme-regulated eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2α (eIF2α) kinase (HRI), activating transcription factor (ATF) 4 and the oxidative stress-induced nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 (Nrf2) pathways. Moreover, by using a neutralizing antibody against FGF21, Fgf21-null mice and by treating mice with recombinant FGF21, we show that FGF21 may protect against hepatic steatosis by attenuating endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-induced VLDLR upregulation. Finally, in liver biopsies from patients with moderate and severe hepatic steatosis, we observed an increase in VLDLR levels that was accompanied by a reduction in PPARβ/δ mRNA abundance and DNA-binding activity compared with control subjects. Conclusions: Overall, these findings provide new mechanisms by which PPARβ/δ and FGF21 regulate VLDLR levels and influence hepatic steatosis development. Keywords: VLDLR, PPAR, FGF21, ATF4, ER stress

Stichopus horrens is the most popular species of sea cucumber due to strong beliefs of its numerous medicinal properties. In this study, ACE-inhibitory peptides of S. horrens generated through enzymatic hydrolysis using Alcalase were isolated. Three peptides EVSQGRP, CRQNTLGHNTQTSIAQ and VSRHFASYAN were found to exhibit high inhibition potency with IC50 values of 0.05, 0.08 and 0.21 mM, respectively. It was found that the EVSQGRP, VSRHFASYAN and SAAVGSP exhibiting mixed inhibition patterns were susceptible to degradation by ACE as well, suggesting that the mixed-mode inhibition could be a result of new generated peptide fragments while CRQNTLGHNTQTSIAQ inhibited ACE in a non-competitive manner. In-vivo ACE inhibition studies showed that 400 mg/kg of Alcalase-generated proteolysate stabilized the blood pressure in normotensive rats. These results suggest that the hydrolysed protein components of S. horrens possess bioactive peptides that can be exploited as functional food ingredients against hypertension.

It is necessary to adopt measures to make optimal use of rich sources of solar energy, considering the limit resources of fossil fuels and increasing demand for energy. Using solar collectors is one of the methods to collect solar energy. The aim of this study was an investigation and prediction of the effect of the collector's slope angle and plate type on the collector performance using artificial neural network (ANN) approaches. Two different ANN models, multi-layer perceptron (MLP) and radial basis function (RBF), were applied to predict the performance parameters of solar collectors. The results indicated that the ANN-MLP and ANN-RBF models were acceptable, but the ANN-RBF model with structure of 2-16-5 had higher acceptability for prediction of output parameters at various input variables. The highest R and lowest root mean square error (RMSE) values in training set of ANN-RBF for air speed (AS) were obtained as 0.984 and 0.015, respectively. The results showed that increasing the slope angle from 0 to 60 caused to increase in the amount of received radiation by the collector, and so leading to an increase in the air temperature inside the collector. On the other hand, the maximum value of thermal power (TP) and collector efficiency (CE) for the porous plate were more than the simple plate by 28.2 % and 41.5 %, respectively.

Characteristics of thin layer microwave drying of apple were evaluated in a laboratory scale microwave dryer at 2450 MHz. The drying experiments were carried out at 200, 400 and 600 W. The experimental data were fitted to nine drying models. The models were compared using the coefficient of determination (R2), root mean square error (RMSE) and reduced chi-square (χ2). The Midilli et al. model best described the drying curve of apple slices. The effective moisture diffusivity was determined by using Fick’s second law and was observed to lie between 3.93 × 10−7 and 2.27 × 10−6 m2/s for the apple samples. The microwave power dependence of the effective diffusivity coefficient followed an Arrhenius-type relationship. The activation energy for the moisture diffusion was determined to be 12.15 W/g. The highest energy efficiency was recorded for the samples dried at 600 W as 54.34% and lowest at 200 W as 17.42%.