Major depressive disorder is a neuropsychiatric condition associated with neurochemical changes that alter levels of neurotrophins. We aimed to measure serum levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and nerve growth factor (NGF) in patients experiencing their first episode of major depression and to examine those levels in relation to the severity and duration of the depressive episode.We recruited 85 participants: 44 drug-free patients with major depression (35 women, 9 men) and 41 healthy controls (32 women, 9 men). We used the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression to assess the severity of the patients' depression. We assessed the controls' mental health according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th ed, criteria. To assess all participants' stress levels, we used the Holmes and Rahe stress scale. We measured all participants' serum BDNF and NGF levels via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.The mean stress score was significantly higher in the patients than the controls (P=0.03). The patients had higher serum BDNF than the controls (P=0.001), but similar NGF levels. BDNF levels correlated negatively with symptom severity (r=-0.33, P=0.03) and duration (r=-0.2, P=0.06). NGF levels did not correlate with stress or with severity or duration of depressive episode.These findings suggest that an elevated serum BDNF level may contribute to the pathophysiology of major depressive disorder. The findings also indicate a possible role for BDNF in altering the clinical course of the condition.
This study sought to determine whether oral tolerance to ovalbumin (OVA), responsible for food allergy, is affected by different amounts of protein intake. For this, 6-wk-old BALB/c mice were fed with low protein (5%, LP), normal protein (20%, NP) and high protein (40%, HP) diets, orally given either OVA (OVA-fed) or water (Water-fed) for 4 d, and then immunized intraperitoneally twice at a 3-wk interval with alum-precipitated OVA. After the last immunization, sera were collected to measure total and OVA-specific IgE by enzyme assay (ELISA). Splenocytes were cultured and stimulated with concanavalin A (Con A), lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or OVA and assayed for 3H-thymidine incorporation. The culture supernatants from their splenocytes stimulated with OVA were analyzed for interleukin (IL)-4, interferon (IFN)-γ, and IL-12. Total IgE was significantly higher in OVA-fed HP groups as compared to NP and LP groups (p<0.05). The highest and the lowest OVA-specific IgE were observed in HP and LP diet groups, respectively (p<0.05). OVA-fed mice receiving the LP diet demonstrated significantly lower IL-4 as compared to the other two groups (p<0.05), while IFN-γ was significantly higher in the LP compared to the HP group (p<0.05). Levels of IL-12 did not differ among the OVA-fed groups. Splenocytes of OVA-fed mice kept on the LP and HP diet showed significant impairment of proliferation to OVA as compared to the NP group (p<0.01). Proliferation against Con A was impaired in the LP group compared to the NP group (p<0.05) but not in Water-fed groups. However, it was higher against LPS in the HP than the LP group (p<0.05) both in Water-fed and OVA-fed animals. All these findings indicate that established oral tolerance to OVA is clearly affected by the amount of protein diet. They support the suggestion that dietary protein plays an important role(s) in IgE-mediated food allergies.
The present research studies the effect of value added tax on the size of current government and construction government. Research hypotheses tested by studying the relationship between value added tax and the size of current government (in the form of current cost to gross domestic product (GDP)) and the size of construction government (in the form of construction cost to GDP). In this regard, seasonal time-series statistic within the period of 2008-2014 applied through using ARDL model. Research results show that there is a positive, significant relationship between value added tax and the size of current and construction governments. This tax more influences the size of construction government than the size of current one. Indeed, contrary to developed countries, collecting value added tax mostly influences the ratio of construction expenditures to GDP rather than influencing reduced poverty through increasing welfare expenditure, which increase government current expenditures.
Ambient air pollution (AAP) has become an important health problem globally. Besides, several pieces of evidence indicate that air pollutants such as sulfur dioxide (SO2) and ozone (O3) are major contributors to a wide range of non-communicable diseases. The present study investigated the effects of AAP, sulfur dioxide, and ozone on oxidative stress, histopathology, and some apoptosis-related genes expressions of lung tissue in a rat model.Thirty-two Wistar rats were randomly divided into the control, AAP, sulfur dioxide (10 ppm), and ozone (0.6 ppm) groups. After five consecutive weeks' exposure to the selected pollutants (3 h/day), lung tissues were harvested and immediately fixed with formalin. The samples were routinely processed, sectioned, stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E), and finally assessed for presence of pathological changes. Expression changes of BAX, p-53, EGFR, caspase-3, caspase-8 and caspase-9 were assayed using the RT-qPCR method. One hundred milligrams of lung tissues were extracted and the supernatants were used for assaying malondialdehyde (MDA), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPX), and catalase activities.GPx activity was increased in the ozone (P = 0.05) and AAP (P < 0.001) groups and also MDA level in sulfur dioxide group (P = 0.008). Pathological lesions were mild, moderate, and severe in the sulfur dioxide, ozone, and AAP groups, respectively, as compared to control group (P ˂ 0.05). Exposure to AAP and sulfur dioxide enhanced BAX (P = 0.002) and caspase-8 (P < 0.001) mRNA expression, respectively. Caspases-3 and -8 mRNA expressions were elevated in ozone group (P < 0.001).The results indicated induction of oxidative stress. Our results suggest the apoptosis stimuli effect of AAP and also the extrinsic apoptotic pathway trigger effect of sulfur dioxide and ozone in the lung tissue in the concentrations used in the present study. The histopathological and the genes expression changes may be a result of the induced oxidative stress in the lung tissues.
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