ABSTRACT

          Background and Objective: Multipotent placental amniotic membrane mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are capable of differentiating into specialized tissues under different conditions. The aim of this study was to induce differentiation of placental amniotic membrane MSCs from NMRI mouse into hepatocytes using liver extract.

         Methods: Placental amniotic membrane MSCs from a 14-day pregnant female mouse was used in this study. The cells were incubated with trypsin solution, followed by pipetting. The resulting suspension was cultured in 12-well plates. After confirming their mesenchymal nature, differentiation of the aforementioned cells was induced via exposure to 6, 18, 30 and 60 μg/ml of liver extract. On the 16^th day of treatment, immunocytochemical reaction for albumin and periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) test were performed for detection of hepatocyte-like cells.

          Results: Change was observed in the shape of differentiating cells from spindle-like shape to polygonal shape. The immunocytochemical reaction of the differentiated cells was positive. PAS staining also confirmed the accumulation of glycogen particles in the aforementioned cells. Concentration of 6 μg/ml liver extract was found as the effective dose for induction of differentiation.

           Conclusion: The findings of this study show that the placental amniotic membrane-derived MSCs of mouse can differentiate in vitro from spindle-like cells to polygonal hepatocyte-like cells with large nuclei and under the influence of the liver.

Keywords: Placental Amniotic Membrane Mesenchymal Stem Cells, Hepatocyte, In Vitro.

ABSTRACT

        Background and Objective: In this study, we compared the susceptibility of Salmonella typhimurium phoP mutant and its parent to stress conditions that the pathogen may encounter in a host.

        Methods: For this purpose, we used the phoP deletion mutant constructed in our previous study. In order to test the in vitro susceptibility of the mutant to stress factors, the effect of acidic pH, heat, bile salts and polymyxin on growth of the mutant was examined. Then, minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum bactericidal concentration of bile salts and polymyxin were determined. Salmonella typhimurium 14028 was used as the parent strain.

         Results: The mutant was highly susceptible to bile salts and polymyxin in comparison with the parent strain, but no difference was observed in their susceptibility to acid and heat.

          Conclusion: This study confirms the role of the phoP in resistance of Salmonella to polymyxin and bile salts. Mutation in the phoP leads to susceptibility of the mutant to bile and cationic antimicrobial peptides.

         Keywords: In vitro, Mutant, Salmonella typhimurium, Disease Susceptibility.

ABSTRACT
          Background and Objectives: Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) is the embryonic hormone and one of the most important factors for implantation. The present study aimed to evaluate effect of intra-uterine injection of hCG before embryo transfer on the pregnancy outcome in IVF.
         Methods: In this study, 180 infertile patients were randomly allocated into an experiment and a control group. In the experiment group, before embryo transfer, 500 IU hCG were injected into the endometrium cavity in puncture stage. Equal amount of phosphate buffer (placebo) was injected to the subjects in the control group. Pregnancy test was done two weeks after the intervention. In case of positive results, ultrasound scan was done for detecting the gestational sac and numbers of sacs. 
         Results: Mean age of the patients was 30±3.41 years and 31±4.12 years in the experimental and control group, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference in the duration of infertility between the two groups (4.77±3.67 years vs. 4.87±3.74 years). Based on the hCG level, the pregnancy rate was 35.5% in both groups. However, based on ultrasound findings, the pregnancy rate was 35.5% and 28.8% in the experiment group and the control group, respectively (P=0.33). In addition, there was no significant difference in the pregnancy rates between different age groups.
         Conclusion: Our results indicate that the intra-uterine injection of β-hCG has no significant effect on the pregnancy rate in IVF.   
        Keywords: Fertilization in Vitro, Chorionic Gonadotropin, Injections.

Background and objectives: Intestinal parasitic infections are a major public health problem worldwide, especially in developing countries. It is estimated that around 3.5 billion people are infected with intestinal parasites. Human intestinal parasites (HIP) are clinically important due to broad epidemiological distribution, reinfection and drug resistance. In the last decades, bioactive compounds from herbs were used against a wide variety of microorganisms including parasites. We aimed to perform a systematic review on studies on the effects of medicinal herbs on HIPs in Iran.
 
      Methods: Relevant scientific publications until April, 2015 were extracted from five English databases (PubMed, Google Scholar, Ebsco, Science Direct and Scopus) and four Persian databases (Magiran, Irandoc, IranMedex and the Scientific Information Database).
 
      Results: A total of 18 papers and two dissertations met the inclusion criteria. Overall, 22 different plant extracts were used against Giardia lamblia, Entamoeba histolytica, Cryptosporidium and Hymenolepis nana. Based on the results, the extracts could exert time- and dose-dependent inhibitory effects against the tested HIPs. Five plants types including Allium, Chenopodium botrys, Carum copticum, F. asafoetida and Artemisia annua were able to completely inhibit the tested parasites, while Thymus vulgaris and A. paradoxum showed the lowest inhibitory effect (7%).
 
      Conclusions: Given the findings, it is recommended to conduct in vivo studies on medicinal herbs with favorable in vitro effects against HIPs.