The aim of this study was to investigate the significance of multiple-mutations in the katG gene, predominant nucleotide changes and its correlation with high level of resistance to isoniazid in Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates that were randomly collected from sputa of 42 patients with primary and secondary active pulmonary tuberculosis from different geographic regions of Iran. Drug suscep...

Insulin resistance (IR) is a common feature of Type II diabetes, metabolic disorders, hypertension and other vascular diseases. Recent studies showed that obesity-induced inflammation may be critical for IR. To investigate the anti-inflammatory effect of sodium butyrate (NaB) on obesity-induced inflammation, the db/db mice were intraperitoneally injected with NaB for 6 weeks. Glucose control wa...

Neutrophils detect bacterial constituents, including bacterial DNA (CpG DNA), which elicits innate immunity and prolongs the functional life span of neutrophils through suppression of apoptosis. Both the anti-apoptotic protein Mcl-1 and activation of NF-κB have been implicated in neutrophil survival, but there is no evidence that these are linked in neutrophils. We hypothesized that CpG DNA cou...

To study the effect of cyclosporin A (CsA) on glucose metabolism in peripheral insulin target cells, we studied the intraperitoneal glucose tolerance test (i.p. GTT), insulin binding, glucose transport and lipogenesis in isolated adipocytes of CsA-treated male Wistar rats. The rats were treated for 7 days with an intramuscular injection of vehicle (control group), or 5 (group I) or 50 mg/kg bod...

PURPOSE To determine the frequency of peripherin/RDS (retinal degeneration slow) gene mutations in Japanese patients with retinal dystrophies. METHODS We analyzed the peripherin/RDS gene in 54 unrelated Japanese patients with retinal dystrophies. Genomic DNA was amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and the PCR products were sequenced. We also examined 100 healthy subjects, seeking mut...

Results Mice fed the HFD displayed a 73% increase (P<0.01) in whole-body fat mass, an 80% elevation (P<0.01) in muscle and liver triglyceride levels and a substantial impairment in glucose tolerance compared to animals fed the LFD (area under curve during GTT: 1166 ± 76 vs. 506 ± 47 mM.min, P<0.001). The switch to a LFD resulted in a transient decrease in total caloric intake, but only a small ...

BACKGROUND/AIMS Visfatin is a known adipokine which may improve insulin resistance in obesity and have an anti-diabetic effect via the insulin receptor. We studied the effects of visfatin on diabetic nephropathy in type 2 diabetic mice. METHODS Diabetic male db/db mice were treated with intraperitoneal injections of visfatin. Basal parameters were measured in all mice and glucose tolerance te...

Nickel is a toxic, mutagenic, and carcinogenic metal of significant occupational and environmental concern. Although several cellular targets of nickel have been identified, considerable evidence suggests that it can act indirectly upon DNA by inducing the formation of oxidized purines or pyrimidines that constitute promutagenic lesions. In this study, we examined nickel subsulfide (Ni3S2)- or ...

Objective To compare the prevalence and pregnancy outcomes of GDM between those screened by the "one-step" (75 gm GTT) and "two-step" (100 gm GTT) methods. Methods A prospective study was conducted on singleton pregnancies at low or average risk of GDM. All were screened between 24 and 28 weeks, using the one-step or two-step method based on patients' preference. The primary outcome was preva...