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Background: AnbarNesa smoke is used to treat skin ulcers and many inflammatory conditions in Iranian traditional medicine. Avicenna used it to treat vaginitis and uteritis and named it Anbar (smoke) Nesa (women). Objectives: The current study aimed at applying the smoke in modern medicine; since it was not soluble in water or in alcohol, it was solved in propylene glycol and the new product called ANNAS. Then the wound healing activity of ANNAS was examined on the incisional wounds created on the dorsum of male Wistar rats. Methods: By means of biopsy punch, two full-thickness incisions were made on different sides of the rats’ vertebral column and treated daily by one drop of ANNAS or propylene glycol randomly. The wounds were excised on days 14 and 21; then stained with anti-SMA antigen for myofibroblast cell detection. The myofibroblasts were counted at the surface and deep layers of the dermis as indicators of wound scar by optical microscopy. Results: The obtained results showed that the number of myofibroblasts was significantly lower in surfaces and deep layers of the dermis and, consequently, in the entire dermis of lesions treated with ANNAS compared to the ones treated with propylene glycol on days 14 (P < 0.002) and 21 (P < 0.0001). Conclusions: It seems that AnbarNesa decreases keloid formation and prevents scar creation. Besides, hair follicles, dermal appendages, and sebaceous glands were also observed on day 21 in lesions treated with ANNAS, which was a novel finding reported for the first time and could be a proof for the acceleration of wound healing by the invented drug, ANNAS.

Herpes simplex virus (HSV) is a human pathogen that causes different pathologic manifestations. Rapid and feasible detection and discrimination methods for HSV genotyping is a challenge in clinical laboratories, especially in children suffering from herpetic encephalitis. A quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based genotyping assay using SYBR Green I was established. We designed only 1 pair of primer for HSV 1 and 2, targeting thymidine kinase gene conserved region. HSV genotypes were determined by PCR using melting curve analysis with LightCycler. Different HSV genotypes were successfully detected in all clinical samples. The melting temperature for HSV 1 and 2 was 85.5±0.78°C and 89±0.53°C, respectively. These 2 genotypes were completely distinguished by means of the accurate melting assay. Importantly, detection was reliably performed within only 1 hour. The assay had no cross-reactivity across species, an excellent dynamic range from 10 to 10 copies per reaction, a good intra-assay and interassay reproducibility, and a detection limit of a single copy per reaction. Our homebrew designed and validated quantitative real-time PCR followed by a melting curve analysis provided a rapid and convenient screening test for differential identification of HSV genotypes 1 and 2. We recommend the large-scale application of this method for HSV 1 and 2 detection.

Objective: Controlled Ovarian Stimulation (COS) for In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) or Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) is considered as an assisted reproduction technology. There are established structural and biological differences between both ovaries which may affect their responsiveness to COS. Whether the right or the left ovary responds superior to COS is a question which is unresolved in the literature. Study design: The present study was conducted as a prospective observational to make a comparison between right and left ovaries’ oocytes based on oocyte quality and follicular fluid estradiol level. A total of 100 infertile women who had referred to Infertility and Reproductive Health Research center at Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, were investigated. Results: The total number of very good and good oocytes were 63.01% vs. 50.3%, and immature and interstitial oocytes were 36.99% vs. 49.6% in the right and the left ovaries, respectively. There were no significant differences between oocyte rates between the two ovaries (P > 0.05). Conclusion: Good and very good quality oocytes and fertilization rate (P

Background Ovarian cancer as the most lethal gynecologic malignancy in women is poorly detected during early stages of carcinogenesis. Therefore, there is an emergent need to look for specific and sensitive biomarkers for early diagnosis of ovarian cancer. Materials and Methods In this study, we performed real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to evaluate the expression of six proapoptotic genes, CASP8, BAK, APAF1, BAX, BID, and BAD, which contain CpG islands in their promoter regions. Afterward, the significantly downregulated genes were investigated by HpaII-PCR and methylation-specific PCR (MSP) to determine the methylation status between tumoral and adjacent normal tissues. Results The real-time PCR results in 24 tumoral and 9 normal adjacent tissues showed decreased expression of CASP8 and BAD genes in tumoral relative to normal samples. Furthermore, the methylation analysis showed no significant methylation between tumoral and normal samples. Conclusion Taken together, this could be concluded that downregulation of CASP8 and BAD genes in ovarian cancer may be as important causes for ovarian cancer carcinogenesis via inducing resistance to apoptosis; however, the downregulations are not due to promoter hypermethylation.

Many reports have indicated deregulation of a variety of microRNAs (miRNAs) in human cancers. In this study, we appraised miR-9 correlation with NOTCH1 involved in Notch signaling in metastatic breast cancer. The Notch signaling pathway has been approved to be associated with the development and progression of many human cancers, including breast cancer, but the precise mechanism has remained unknown. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that introduces miR-9 and NOTCH1 correlation as an effective factor in breast cancer. We found that miR-9 expression was decreased in MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells compared with MCF-10A normal breast cell line. However, NOTCH1 was upregulated in the metastatic breast cancer cells. Furthermore, luciferase assay revealed a significant inverse correlation between miR-9 and NOTCH1. Overexpression of Notch signaling via Notch1 intracellular domain in MDA-MB-231 cell line was suppressed by lentiviruses expressing miR-9. Taken together, the results obtained by MTT, flow cytometry, migration, and wound healing assays showed that it is possible to inhibit metastasis and induce pro-apoptotic state by induction of miR-9 expression in MDA-MB-231 cells but with no effect on cell proliferation. These results shows that miR-9, by direct targeting of NOTCH1, can reveal a suppressor-like activity in metastatic breast cancer cells.