Biomedical Research and Therapy

The use of nootropics in Alzheimer’s disease: is there light at the end of the tunnel?

2019-01-23T08:01:11+00:00

Background: The nootropic or simply known as smart drug is a common term given to any compound that is responsible for enhancing mental capability or performance. Alzheimer's disease is characterized clinically by lose of cognitive abilities and pathologically by two hallmark lesions, neurofibrillary tangles and senile plaques. It is unfortunate that AD has no cure yet. In this review attempt has been made to elucidate the general views on AD pathogenic hypotheses and common nootropics being used in AD research.

Methods: Articles from credible scientific data bases such as Sciencdirect, Scopus Pubmed, and Google scholar were searched and retrieved using keywords nootropics', Alzheimer's disease', amyloid beta hypotheses', tau hypotheses', cholinergic hypotheses', oxidative stress' and cognitive impairments'.

Results: The nootropics act as Ca-channel blockers, AChE inhibitors, glysine antagonists, antioxidants, serotonergic, dopaminergic and glutamic acid receptors antagonists.

Conclusion: Based on the available literature searched, there is no doubts the nootropics are attenuating cognitive deficits in both preclinical and clinical studies on AD.

Effects of porcine granulocyte-macrophage-colony-stimulating factor on porcine cumulus-oocyte complex maturation in vitro

2019-01-23T08:01:06+00:00

Introduction: The in vitro maturation (IVM) of oocytes is an essential step in the in vitro embryo production. This study aimed to improve the efficacy of IVM by supplementing with granulocytemacrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) in the culture medium.

Methods: The combinatorial effects of GM-CSF and porcine follicular fluid (pFF) were also investigated in porcine cumulusoocyte complex (COC) models. COCs were obtained by aspirating follicles with an 18 G needles. Small and medium follicles were used in this study. COCs from two kinds of follicles were divided into 13 groups to investigate the maturation of COCs at different concentrations of pFF (0, 10%) and GM-CSF (0, 2, 10, 20 ng/mL). The maturation of COCs was evaluated by different variables including cumulus expansion, the appearance of the first polar body, lipid droplet localization, mitochondrial distribution, and cortical granule distribution.

Results: The results showed that GM-CSF improves the cumulus expansion, and stimulate the mitochondrial and cortical granule movement. However, GM-CSF did not increase nuclear maturation or lipid droplet localization rates in the porcine oocyte.

Conclusion: In conclusion, porcine GM-CSF had some positive effects on the porcine oocyte maturation.

Efficacy of topical cinnamon gel for the treatment of facial acne vulgaris: A preliminary study

2019-01-23T08:08:47+00:00

Background: Acne vulgaris is a common chronic disorder of the pilosebaceous unit. Topical therapy is the mainstay of treatment for mild-to-moderate acne. Two main problems with conventional anti-acne treatments are antibiotic resistance and local side effects. In this regard, medicinal herbs could be an alternative choice for developing new products with fewer side effects. Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a topical formulation of cinnamon in patients with facial acne.

Method: In this open-label, assessor-blind, and uncontrolled clinical trial, 20 patients (18F/2M) with mild-to-moderate facial acne were treated with topical cinnamon gel twice-daily for eight weeks. The outcomes of acne lesion count, red fluorescence parameters and skin biophysical profile were evaluated at baseline, 4th and 8th week. For safety assessment, any adverse drug reaction was recorded during the study.

Results: Two months after using cinnamon gel, there was a significant reduction in the total (47%, p=0.000), inflammatory (42%, p=0.026), and non-inflammatory (48%, p=0.002) lesion count. Also, the size of red fluorescence spots was significantly reduced (p<=0.05). In skin biophysical measurement, there was a significant decrease in erythema (61.31+/-68.25), sebum (31.05+/-36.15), and hydration (10.05+/-10.16), as well as a significant increase in pH (0.63+/-0.75). Some patients experienced mild, transient erythema and burning immediately after applying the gel, but no serious side effects were reported.

Conclusion: Our results suggest that topicalcinnamongel is efficient and safe for the treatment of mild-to-moderate facial acne.

IRCT registration code: IRCT2016031126938N3