Search

Background: The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused stress and anxiety for various parts of society all over the world. This concern and stress are not limited to being affected by COVID-19 because this condition has also caused changes in people's lifestyles. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to design and evaluate the validity and reliability of the COVID-19-related stressors questionnaire and determine the contribution of each of the stressors to the prediction of mental health in the Iranian population. Methods: This descriptive-analytical and correlational study was performed on 301 volunteers living in Tehran, Iran. Due to the prevalence of COVID-19, questionnaires were distributed by convenience samplingmethodand online conduction. The instruments used in the present study were the researcher-made questionnaire on Iranians' COVID-19-related stressors (ICRS) and the mental health questionnaire general health questionnaire (GHQ-12). Content validity (qualitative and quantitative), face validity, structural validity (exploratory factor analysis), Cronbach's alpha, and logistic regression were used to analyze the data. Statistical analysis was performed by SPSS version 24 and AMOS24 software. Results: In exploratory factor analysis, the final 25 items were obtained in seven factors with an explanation of 66.25% variance. The results of logistic regression analysis showed that worrying about changing economic status, getting COVID-19 and change in lifestyle increased the chance of developing mental health disorder up to 1.29 (OR = 1.29), 1.28 (OR = 1.28), and 1.18 times (OR = 1.18), respectively. The variable of changing family interactions reduces the chance of developing a mental health disorder by 0.85 times (OR = 0.85). Conclusions: The COVID-19-related stressors questionnaire is valid and can be used in future research. Identifying the most important stressors associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and determining each contribution to mental health prediction will help health policymakers to make better decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Diabetic neuropathy is a common complication of diabetes mellitus. It is associated with nerve damage due to oxidative stress and high levels of pro-inflammatory mediators. In the present study, we examined the anti-nociceptive effects of Fullerene nanoparticle, as a potent anti-oxidant, during diabetic neuropathy. Methods: Diabetes mellitus induced through injection of streptozotocin (STZ) (40 mg/kg). Four groups were used in the study as follows: the control, control+fullerene, diabetes, and diabetes +fullerene groups. All four groups received sesame oil. Treatment rats received fullerene C60 (1mg/kg/day) for 9 weeks by intra-gastric gavage. Then, cold allodynia, histology, and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF- α) protein expression of the hippocampus were measured 9 weeks after injection of STZ. Results: Our data revealed that STZ induces cold allodynia in both hind paws and increases the TNF- α protein expression in the hippocampus. Furthermore, STZ induces neural degeneration in the hippocampus. Additionally, fullerene C60 significantly attenuated cold allodynia and TNF- α protein expression. Also, fullerene C60 has neuro-protective effects on hippocampal neurons. However, fullerene C60 did not significantly reduce serum glucose levels in diabetic animals. Conclusion: Our data suggest that fullerene C60 likely suppressed pain, and neural loss by inhibitory effects on TNF- α protein expression in the hippocampus during diabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Studying the predictors of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) during the Covid-19 pandemic is a new research field. The current study was conducted in order to evaluate the predictors of PTSD based on mental health, Covid-19 anxiety and sleep quality in the students of the Lorestan province, Iran. Method: In order to carry out this study, 200 students (143 females and 57 males) were selected by convince sampling and participated in this study. The participants completed the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Covid-19 Anxiety Scale, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist, General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) and demographic information questionnaire. The data was analyzed by independent t-student and stepwise regression using SPSS 24. Results: Findings revealed that there is a significant positive relationship between Covid-19 anxiety, general sleep quality and mental health with PTSD symptoms (p<0.05). Also, stepwise regression analysis showed that sleep quality and mental health were predictors of PTSD and mental health is the best predictor of PTSD and could determine 0.27 of PTSD variance. Finally, the 46.5 % prevalence of PTSD symptoms in students was an important finding of this study. Conclusion: Necessity to pay attention to dimensions of mental health as an influential factor in the spread of other psychological disorders is recommended. Due to the high prevalence of PTSD symptoms, the inclusion of health-oriented programs becomes more important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Oxidative stress in diabetic mellitus is a consequence of oxidative stress, which plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of diabetic tissue damage. Receptors for advanced glycation end products and for oxidized low-density lipoproteins (LDL) have critical contribution in oxidative tissue damage. The present study investigated whether anti-diabetic effects of Crocin via modulation of mRNA expression of RAGE and LOX-1 receptors in diabetic rats. Methods: In the current study, high-fat cholesterol (HFC) and streptozotocin (40 mg/kg) used to induce type II diabetes. Experimental groups as follows: (Group 1: control); (Group 2: control treatment [Crocin]); (Group 3: DM [STZ]); (Group 4: DM treatment [STZ + Crocin]); (Group 5; DM + HFC [STZ + HFC]); (Group 6; DM + HFC treatment [STZ + HFC + Crocin]). Crocin (20 mg/kg/day, i.p.) administered in treatment groups for 60 days. Serum glucose and cholesterol levels evaluated on days 5, 30 and 60 after induction of DM. Pancreatic tissue from all group removed on day 60 for histological and RT-PCR analysis. Results: Application of Crocin significantly decreased serum cholesterol levels on day 60 after induction of DM in diabetic + HFC rats. Moreover, Crocin significantly decreased serum glucose levels on days 30 and 60 both in diabetic and diabetic + HFC rats. Crocin partially prevented the atrophic effects of STZ on both exocrine and endocrine parts of pancreas. Additionally, Crocin significantly decreased LOX-1 and RAGE mRNA expression OF pancreas in diabetic rats. Conclusion: The current study suggested that Crocin suppressed atrophic change of the pancreas by decrease of LOX-1 and RAGE mRNA expression in diabetic rats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inhibitory GABAergic and excitatory glutamatergic neurons from multiple brain areas, send fibers to the hippocampal CA1 region. NMDA receptors have been identified as important compoents of the brain system underlying memory formation, which that through an increase in glutamate-mediated neurotransmission. Ketamine and other NMDA receptor antagonists produce deficits in cognitive tasks, including both spatial and non-spatial memory. In the current study, we tested whether the activation or inhibition of GABAA receptors in CA1 hippocampal of mice has an impact on ketamine (NMDA antagonist) induced spatial and non-spatial novelty detection deficits. Adult male mice weighing between 25–30 g were used. The open-field method was used to evaluate spatial and non-spatial memory information. Data obtained from the present study revealed that an intra-CA1 injection with a sub-threshold dose the GABAA receptor antagonist bicuculline (0.0625 µg mouse) disrupted spatial memory but restored non-spatial memory induced by lower and higher doses of ketamine (0.05 and 0.01 mg/kg) respectively. Meanwhile, the co-administration of the intra-CA1 injection with a sub-threshold dose of muscimol (GABAA receptor agonist at 0.25 µg/mouse) and a lower dose of ketamine could only impair the ability of non-spatial change detection but could not alter spatial novelty. In conclusion, ketamine (which contributes to the impairment of memory trace stored in the hippocampus) may be generated from GABAA receptors of CA1 neurons and their blockade could prevent these effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on a study conducted to examine non-pharmacologic treatments for fear of flying. It si noted that treatment programs for fear of flying, including combined treatment, Hypnotherapy, EMDR, Relaxation and cognitive behavioral treatment are offered by a growing number of treatment facilities.

A letter to the editor in response to the article "Clinical and Biochemical Parameters of Hemodialysis Patients Before and During Islamic Month of Ramadan," by S. Imtiaz and colleagues, is presented.

Patients with chronic pain exhibit anxiety and deficits in memory. Additionally, α 2 -adrenoceptors that are wildly expressed in the brain have an important role in modulating both pain and memory formation. In the present study, we investigated the interaction effects of crocin with central α 2 -adrenoceptors on pain comorbidity and hippocampal synaptic plasticity changes following chronic constriction injury (CCI) of the sciatic nerve in rats. All the drugs (crocin, an antagonist (yohimbine) and agonist (clonidine) of α 2 -adrenergic receptors) were injected (via intracerebroventricular injection) from the day of CCI operation (day 0) and continued daily (once per day) until the 14th day post-CCI. The effects of drugs on the cold allodynia (using acetone test) and anxiety-like behaviors (using elevated plus maze, EPM and open field tests) were assessed. Spatial memory (using Barnes maze) was assessed on day 14 post-CCI operation. Hippocampal synaptic plasticity (using in-vivo extracellular field potential recording) was performed on day 14 post-CCI operation. We observed that crocin induced analgesic, anxiolytic and memory enhancer action following CCI surgery. Furthermore, crocin significantly increased long-term potentiation (LTP) (increased fEPSP slope and population spike amplitude). Furthermore, the co-injection of yohimbine effectively decreased analgesic, anxiolytic and enhancer action of crocin on the LTP parameters (fEPSP slope and population spike amplitude). Our study provided information that protective effects of crocin on pain/anxiety responses and synaptic plasticity were possibly mediated by central α 2 -adrenoceptor in the rats with chronic pain., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)