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Copyright of Sultan Qaboos University Medical Journal is the property of Sultan Qaboos University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In recent years, nanotechnology has improved life with continuous growth in different fields. Nanoparticles can be employed in industry, imaging, engineering, and various biomedical filed because of their special physicochemical properties like rapid, effective, highly specific solutions, higher stability, biodegradability, biocompatibility, and cost. In this line, veterinary medicine has been influenced by nanotechnology in prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases, cancer therapy, immunization, vaccine production, drug delivery, and health besides to related issues of animal production, maintenance, and welfare. The other important point is the interwoven linkage between animals and humans whether as a food source or as a companionship. Inorganic nanoparticles, polymeric, solid lipid, liposomal, nanocrystal, nanotubes, nanoemulsions, micelles, mesoporous silica nanoparticles, and dendrimers are kinds of nanoparticles that can be used widely. In this review, the impacts of nanotechnology on veterinary medicine have been summarized, criticized, and acknowledged as "veterinary nanomedicine" discipline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The crucial role of xanthine oxidoreductase ( XOR) gene and its active isoform, xanthine oxidase (XO), in purine metabolism and cellular oxidative status led us to investigative their fluctuations in food deprivation induced food hoarding in mice. After, 10 h food deprivation, mice that hoarded lesser than 5 g were considered as 'low-hoarders' while mice that hoarded higher than 20 g were considered as 'high-hoarders'. Mice who hoarded between 5 to 20 g of food were excluded from study. An increase (1.133-fold) in encephalic XOR expression has been found in high-hoarders compared with low-hoarders without sex consideration. An increase (~ 50-fold) in encephalic XOR in female high-hoarders vs. female low-hoarders while a decrease (0.026-fold) in encephalic XOR in male high-hoarders vs. male low-hoarders demonstrated that food deprivation is associated with sex-dependent alteration in XOR expression. The encephalic and hepatic XO activities were not different in male high-hoarders vs. male low-hoarders while encephalic XO activity has been also increased significantly in female high-hoarders (~ 4 times) compared to female low-hoarders. The plasma and hepatic XO activities tended to be increased in female high-hoarders as compared to female low-hoarders, however the uric acid levels in plasma, liver and brain tissues were not altered in female high-hoarders as compared to female low-hoarders. In sum, this study generally proposed that different gene expression space is behind of hoarding behavior in a food-deprived mouse model. Specifically, this is the first study that examined the levels of encephalic XO activity and XOR expression in hoarding behavior, although additional studies are requested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The P53 gene inactivation leads to oncogenesis and cancer progression. Three different levels of coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) were treated for p53 gene expression evaluation on 36 adult male mice. Mice were assigned to normal control group (NC) receiving normal chow diet, normal mice (C125) receiving 125 mg/kg/day of CoQ10, bilateral orchidectomized (BOX) group receiving normal chow diet, and three other orchidectomized groups, namely BOX 125, BOX 250 and BOX 500 groups receiving 125, 250 and 500 mg/kg/day of CoQ10 mixed with normal chow diet, respectively. After 96 days, blood samples were collected and p53 mRNA transcripts were evaluated using qPCR. CoQ10 supplementation significantly decreased p53 gene expression in C125 group compared to that of NC group. Testosterone levels decreased non-significantly in BOX groups in compared to NC group while estrogen increased non-significantly in BOX groups compared to the NC group. Although orchidectomy and testosterone ablation caused a decrease in p53 mRNA transcripts in mouse peripheral blood leukocytes, relative p53 gene expression was increased in CoQ10 supplemented orchidectomized groups, which reached to a significant level in the BOX 500 group. Thus CoQ10 could have beneficial effect on decreasing the immunosenescence incidence in aging males. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate neurobehavioral toxicity of single-walled (SWNTs) and multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) in mice. Methods: Male NMRI mice were randomized into 5 groups (n = 10 each): Normal control (NC) group was injected intraperitoneally (i.p.) with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) solution (pH 7.8; ca. 1 mL), MW80 and MW800 groups were injected with either i.p. 80 or 800 mg kg−1 MWNTs suspended in 1 mL of PBS and SW80 and SW800 groups were injected with either i.p. 80 or 800 mg kg−1 SWNTs suspended in 1 mL of PBS. After 2 weeks, five mice from each group were evaluated for brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) messenger RNA expression and protein content of brain tissues. Locomotion, anxiety, learning and memory, and depression were measured by open field test (OFT), elevated plus-maze (EPM), object recognition test (ORT), and forced swimming test (FST), respectively. Results: Ambulation time and center arena time in the OFT did not change among groups. In the EPM paradigm, SWNTs (800 mg kg−1) and MWNTs (80 and 800 mg kg−1) showed an anxiogenic effect. In ORT, MWNTs (80 mg kg−1) increased the discrimination ratio while in FST, MWNTs showed a depressant effect as compared to vehicle. The BDNF gene expression in mice treated with 80 and 800 mg kg−1 SWNTs or 80 mg kg−1 MWNTs decreased as compared to NC mice although BDNF gene expression increased in mice that were treated with 800 mg kg−1 MWNTs. The whole brain BDNF protein content did not change among groups. Conclusion: Our study showed that i.p. exposure to carbon nanotubes (CNTs) may result in behavioral toxicity linked with expression of depression or anxiety that depends on the type of CNTs. In addition, exposure to CNTs changed BDNF gene expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]