Search

Background: Alzheimer is a neurodegenerative disease wich caused memory impairment, reduced cognitive functions, intellectual ability and behavior changes. In this study, the effect of Nacetyl- cysteine (NAC) as a strong antioxidant on memory deficiency and number of CA1 pyramidal neurons in Streptozotocine (STZ) - induced Alzheimeric rats were studied. Materials and Methods: 32 Male Wistar rats were divided into four groups: sham group, streptozotocin group, treated group with streptozotocin plus N-acetyl-cysteine, and treated group with Nacetyl- cysteine alone. Intracerebroventricular (ICV) administration of STZ was done in the first and the third day of surgery and i.p injection of N-acetyl-cysteine was done in the fourth of surgery. After the memory test, the animals were killed and their brains were fixed and density of intact neurons in the CA1 area of the hippocampus was investigated. Statistical analysis was performed with software SPSS, ANOVA and Prisme software. The level of statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. Results: The ICV injections of STZ significantly reduced memory retention and intact pyramidal cells compared to the sham group (p<0.001). Administration of N-acetyl-cysteine improved STZ-induced effects on memory retrieval and increased intact neurons in hippocampal CA1 area compared to the STZ group (p<0.001). N-acetyl-cysteine alone doesn't have any significant effect on memory retrieval and the number of intact neurons in hippocampal CA1 area compared to the sham group (p>0.05). Conclusion: N-acetyl-cysteine improved memory retrieval and hippocampal CA1 area intact neurons in streptozotocin-induced Alzheimeric male rats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The vascular parameters changes from the morphological aspects resulted in changes in the rate of the embryo implantation. This event depend on the ovarian hormones. In this study, the quantiative changes of the endometrium was assessed after ovarian stimulation followed by progesterone (p4) treatment. Methods: Adult female mice were used in this study. Animals were divided in three groups. pseudopregnancy were induced in the control group. Then in the experimental group1 (ovarian induction group)and experimental group 2(p4 treated after ovarian induction), ovarian stimulation was done. P4 treatment was done daily in the experimental group 2 after pseudopregnancy. Finally, blood and tissue samples were taken for assessment of the ovarian hormone levels and histogical studies, respectively. Then statistical analysis was done. Results: The results indicated the significant increase in the progesterone level, vascular sections, internal area of vessels, and the diagonal of the glandular lumen in two experimental groups (1&2) compared to the control group (P≤0.05). Also, P4 treatment after ovarian induction resulted in the significant increase in the P4 level and vascular section number in the experimental group 2 compared to the experimental group1 (P≤0.05). Conclusion: P4 treatment after ovarian induction improve the morphological condition of the endomertium compared to the ovarian induction group. Therefore, it may result in an increased rate of successful implantation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Aluminum, as an environmental pollutant, has destructive effects by inducing oxidative stress on male reproductive system and sperm. Silymarin, an effective substance extracted from Silybum marianum, is a potent antioxidant which inhibits oxidative stress. Because of toxic effects of aluminum and the antioxidant role of silymarin, this study was performed to investigate if silymarin can prevent the adverse effects of aluminum chloride on plasma membrane integrity and acrosome integrity in ram sperm. Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, epididymal spermatozoa from Farahani's ram are divided into five groups: sperm at 0 hour, sperm at 180 minutes (control), sperm treated with aluminum chloride (0.5mM) for 180 minutes, sperm treated with silymarin (0.5μM) + aluminum chloride (0.5μM) for 180 minutes and sperm treated with silymarin (0.5μM) for 180 minutes. To evaluate sperm plasma membrane integrity and sperm acrosome integrity, propidium iodide-Hoechst and comassie brilliant blue staining were used, respectively. The results were analyzed using one-way ANOVA and p<0.05 was considered as significant level. Results: The percentage of sperm plasma membrane integrity and acrosome integrity were significantly decreased in aluminum chloride group compared to the control. The simultaneous use of silymarin+aluminum chloride could significantly compensate the adverse effects of aluminum chloride on the sperm plasma membrane integrity and acrosome integrity compared to aluminum chloride. Conclusion: Aluminum chloride induces toxic effect on ram sperm plasma membrane integrity and acrosome integrity and silymarin is able to compensate the adverse effect this pollutant on these parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]