Tissue engineering is a new biotechnological field that has emerged recently, providing an alternative to the treatment of damages and defects of human tissues. Amongst the most researched tissues is cartilage. In this study, the general characteristics of chondrocytes derived from three different sources in the body: articular, auricular and nasal septum cartilage, were investigated, looking both at cellular and tissue construct levels. With the approval of Research and Ethical Committee of Medical Faculty, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, redundant cartilages from human articular, auricular and nasal septum were obtained from several patients during surgical procedures. Samples were digested and chondrocytes obtained were cultured in a mixture of Ham's F12: DMEM medium. All three chondrocyte sources were found to behave quite similarly in terms of cell morphology, gene expressions and histological analysis. No significant difference of the growth rates was shown by the three chondrocyte sources. Histological analysis via H and E and Safranin O stainings of the tissue-engineered cartilages demonstrate resemblance to the native cartilage. Gene expression results showed that collagen type II expression reduces after every passage, and collagen type I gene is expressed as early as P0, however, there were re-expressions of Collagen Type II gene in the in vivo construct. We have successfully engineered cartilage tissues which are similar to the native cartilage, using sources from articular, auricular and nasal septum chondrocytes.

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This study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of sub-tenon block (preemptive analgesia) after general anesthesia and before beginning the repair of retinal detachment (RD) surgery by using scleral buckle and cryopexy.
Sixty eight patients scheduled for RD surgical repair with "American Society of Anesthesiologists" (ASA) I or II were included in this clinical trial study. The patients were randomly and blindly divided into two equal groups. The surgery was done under general anesthesia in both groups, but in the case group, sub-tenon block was given as preemptive analgesia after the induction of general anesthesia with similar methods and before the start of surgery.
The incidences of intra and postoperative (up to 24 hours) oculocardiac reflex (OCR), ischemic heart disease (IHD) changes, nausea and vomiting (PONV), delirium, total analgesic drug consumption and ocular severity of pain were significantly lower in the case group compared with the control group (p<0.05). Mean blood pressure, heart rate,
time of discharge from the hospital, frequency of requirement to analgesic drug, intra and postoperatively were significantly lower in the case group compared with the control group (p<0.05).
According to this research, the use of sub-tenon block in RD surgery effectively reduces PONV, postoperative pain, analgesic drug requirements, delirium, discharge time from the hospital, IHD, hemodynamic changes and OCR, therefore it is recommended for daily routine ophthalmologic surgeries.

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The purpose of the study was to determine whether maternal serum levels of androgen and progesterone, are higher in patient with preeclampsia than in matched control subjects.
Serum progesterone, total testosterone, free testosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone levels were measured in 19 subjects in third trimester of pregnancy with documented preeclampsia and 17 healthy normotensive women with similar maternal and gestational ages. All subjects were primigravida women with singleton pregnancy who were visited in Kosar Medical center in Uromiyeh.
There were no significant differences between two groups in maternal age, gestational age and body mass index. Progesterone and free testosterone levels were significantly lower (p=0.01) in patients with preeclampsia (75.1 ± 8.6 ng/dL and 2.27 ± 1.71 pg/dL, respectively) than in control group (111.6±9.71 ng/dL and 3.73±1.31 pg/dL, respectively). There were no significant differences in total testosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone levels between cases (1.02 ± 0.10 ng/dL and 0.99 ± 0.13 g/dL, respectively) and controls (1.37 ±.019 ng/dL and 0.98 ± 5.15 g/dL, respectively).
Accentuated sex hormone binding globulin increase in preeclampsia is the cause of significant decreased free testosterone of preeclamptic cases. Levels of progesterone were pathologically and significantly lower in preeclamptic cases than control women with similar age, gestational age and body mass index. This difference raises the possibility for a role of progesterone in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia.

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This study was designed to evaluate the changes of lipoproteins, triglycerides and plasma glucose levels of mice under treatment of ACTH. In these experiments sixty mice between 6-8 weeks of age weighing about 30 g were used. They were divided into three groups [control, Group I (short-term) and Group II (long-term)], each containing 20 animals. Control mice were treated with 0.9%NaCl solution twice a day for 3.5 days during experiment. Mice in Group I were treated with ACTH (500 g/kg) once a day, 4 hours before the sacrification, and mice in Group II treated with ACTH twice a day for 3.5 days at dose of 500 g/kg per day. Blood samples were obtained under deep anesthesia before they were sacrificed. The results revealed increased levels of plasma cholesterol, LDL, HDL, non-HDL cholesterols and VLDL in the experimental group treated with ACTH. However, ACTH injection did not produce any alterations in plasma glucose, and triglyceride levels in the same group. Our data show that prolonged ACTH treatment increased plasma cholesterol, LDL, HDL, non-HDL cholesterol and VLDL levels.

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The post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD) is defined in large part by their occurrence following organ transplantation and by their histopathological appearance. The vast majority is associated with Epstein -Barr virus (EBV) infection. Their recognition is important because underdiagnosis as a not otherwise specified reactive process may lead to continued immunosuppression and progression of disease and overdiagnosis as a conventional lymphoma may lead to inappropriate and potentially fatal chemotherapy. In this article pathogenesis, clinical cause, and therapy of PTLD have been presented and the role of EBV described.

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The number of reports on the effects of diabetes is still increasing because the diabetes is one of the major disease of industrialized and non-industrialized societies. Because at least 30 million people throughout the world suffer from diabetes, there is currently great interest in the potential contribution of increased oxidative stress to the pathogenesis of diabetes as well as its complications. Thus, the goal of this review was to explain the behaviors of the free radicals and antioxidant enzymes against diabetes. Hyperglycemia is a widely known cause of enhanced free radical concentrations and decreased antioxidant defense system, this mechanism may occur via at least four different routes: increased glycolysis; intercellular activation of sorbitol (polyol) pathway; auto-oxidation of glucose and non-enzymatic protein glycation. In addition, this overview not only to investigate the genesis of free radicals in hyper/hypo-insulinemia, but also to elucidate the inverse relationship between insulin action and free radicals. Increased free radicals in diabetes may be caused the pathogenesis of atherogenesis, atherosclerosis and the degeneration in the biological macromolecules; proteins and lipoproteins, and other degenerative disorders. Furthermore, this overview was extended to show the effect of streptozotocin on diabetes, antioxidant enzymes and oxidative stress. In general, the hypothesis was that, the imbalance of generation and scavenging of free radicals play an important role in determining tissue damage associated with diabetes. However, this argument is still ambiguous because of the difficulties of the direct observation of the active oxygen species in biological systems due to their short life time.

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