Studies on the association between vitamin D receptor (VDR) polymorphism and bone mineral density (BMD) in different populations have produced conflicting results probably due to ethnic differences in the populations studied. The Brazilian population is characterized by a very broad genetic background and a high degree of miscegenation. Of an initial group of 164, we studied 127 women from the ...

Animal-vegetal (AV) polarity of most vertebrate eggs is established during early oogenesis through the formation and disassembly of the Balbiani Body (Bb). The Bb is a structure conserved from insects to humans that appears as a large granule, similar to a mRNP granule composed of mRNA and proteins, that in addition contains mitochondria, ER and Golgi. The components of the Bb, which have amylo...

The process of B cell growth and differentiation into plasma cells is highly regulated and may be influenced by a large number of inflammatory mediators, including complement components. We have studied the regulatory influence of Bb, a 60-kD peptide created during the cleavage of complement Factor B by Factor D and C3b. Purified Bb alone had no effect on proliferation and differentiation of hu...

Background and Objectives: Curcumin and exercise training are suggested to improve hepatic disorders. The aim of this study was to investigate effects of two weeks of swimming training and curcumin supplementation on platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF-BB) and transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-β1) gene expressions following ethanol consumption in Wistar male rats. Materials and Methods: ...

Allium Jesdianum (AJ) is the native plant mostly grown in Middle East region that has the excellent pharmacological properties. In this study, we evaluated the hepatoprotective effect of hydroalcoholic extract of AJ on liver injury induced by Bromobenzene (BB) in male mice. Animals were randomly divided into five groups, control group received normal saline plus olive oil, groups 2-4 received(5...

A total of 125 Russian Red Pied cows were genotyped for the prolactim-related gene. The PRL-RsaI genotypes were analysed using the Polymerase chain reaction -restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method. In this breed, the frequencies of alleles were as follows;  A= 0.794 and B= 0.206. The frequencies of AA, AB and BB genotypes were 0.598, 0.392 and 0.01; respectively. Results sho...