From dentistry students’ points of view: do anatomy classes we took actually boost our learning during clinic?

Marjan Ghorbani Anarkooli,Sara Sayad Fathi,Hassan Moladoust,Ebrahim Zaeimi,Mohammad Hadi Bahadori,Ebrahim Nasiri 대한해부학회 2018 Anatomy & Cell Biology Vol.51 No.3

The aim of medical education is to teach the essence of practical skills alongside with the theoretical knowledge. Teaching anatomy, as the center of medical education, should be leading to use this knowledge as a skill during clinical period. According to the rising numbers of dentistry faculties’ experiences, inappropriate education results in misguidance during clinic. Thus, this study was conducted to find about the pre-clinical and clinical dentistry students’ points of view on the helpfulness of anatomy classes in achieving clinical goals. Present descriptive cross-sectional study evaluated Guilan University of Medical Sciences’ pre-clinical and clinical dentistry students’ opinions on the effectiveness of anatomy classes during their clinical period in 2017. The sampling method used here was census via questionnaire and scoring was according to Likert scaling system. Analyses showed that anatomy of the nervous system was the most assistive course, which helped dentistry students during their clinical period (P<0.001). The least scored course was visceral organs and that means they did not use most of their learnings from classes with this topic (P<0.001). They also stated that other important factors such as using cadavers and moulages in practical sessions, teaching clinical skills theoretically before practical sessions and performing group activities are crucial for them to recall important details of the relevant courses during clinical period. Results of this study suggests that alongside with the various topics of anatomy courses, other factors like professors’ characteristics and their teaching methods are also of important factors helping the dentistry students throughout clinic.

Incorporation of Oxidized Pectin to Reinforce Collagen/Konjac Glucomannan Hydrogels Designed for Tissue Engineering Applications

Marjan Ghorbani,Parinaz Nezhad-Mokhtari,Farideh Mahmoodzadeh 한국고분자학회 2021 Macromolecular Research Vol.29 No.4

Injectable hydrogels have been widely studied for the use as scaffolds or as carriers of therapeutic agents including proteins, cells, drugs, and bioactive molecules in the disease treatment and the regeneration and repair of tissues. Collagenbased hydrogels and pectin that mimic the extracellular matrix are generally applied to maintain the balance between physical and biofunctional features. In this study, preparation and characterization of novel hydrogels based on oxidized-konjac glucomannan (OKG), collagen, and oxidized-pectin (OP) have been successfully developed. Fabricated hydrogels were evaluated for their morphological, degradation, thermal stability, and mechanical properties. The physicochemical properties of OKG/ collagen hydrogels without pectin (HG) or with pectin (HGP) and oxidized-pectin (HGOP) were studied. The results presented that with the addition of the OP content, the hydrogels degradation behavior and mechanical properties were improved. In addition, HGOP hydrogels enhanced the cell proliferation without any cytotoxic effect on mouse embryonic fibroblast (NIH-3T3) cells. These achieved results suggested that the developed hydrogel could be a suitable candidate to be applied for tissue engineering scaffolds.

Development of Gelatin Thin Film Reinforced by Modified Gellan Gum and Naringenin-Loaded Zein Nanoparticle as a Wound Dressing

Marjan Ghorbani,Nasrin Hassani,Mortaza Raeisi 한국고분자학회 2022 Macromolecular Research Vol.30 No.6

Today, the importance of biocompatible nanocomposite films with suitable properties for potential applications in wound healing has been considered. In present study, nanocomposite films of gelatin/aldehyde-gellan gum/Naringeninloaded Zein nanoparticle (GL/AG/NR@Z) were successfully produced with the solution casting method. NR@Z with different concentrations (1.5 and 3 wt%) loaded into the GL/AG films. Then, the morphological, structural, thermal, and physical properties of these films were investigated. The obtained findings illustrated that by addition of NR@Z content, a denser and more porous structure with high swelling ratio (around 80%), high thermal stability, high tensile stress (54.33 ± 3.45 MPa), and high weight loss (around 70%) was observed. Cell viability assessment of the produced films displayed no cytotoxicity for NIH3T3 fibroblast cells. Furthermore, since NR is a polyphenolic compound, the produced GL/AG/NR@Z nanocomposite films showed antioxidant and antibacterial activity. Consequently, we demonstrated that nanocomposite films (GL/AG/NR@Z) could be a suitable scaffold for wound healing applications.

BSA/Chitosan Polyelectrolyte Complex: A Platform for Enhancing the Loading and Cancer Cell-Uptake of Resveratrol

Marjan Ghorbani,Hamed Hamishehkar,Mahnaz Tabibiazar 한국고분자학회 2018 Macromolecular Research Vol.26 No.9

The ultimate goal of cancer therapy is to kill as many cancerous cells while minimizing damage to the normal cells nearby. However, conventional chemotherapy suffers from drug resistance and lack of selectivity and consequently increased side effects which all can be overcome by application of nanocarriers. Resveratrol (Res) is supposed to act as a chemo-preventive agent by various mechanisms but its low chemical stability and restricted bioavailability limit its therapeutic application. To afford of these limitations, Res-loaded bovine serum albumin (Res-BSA) nanocarrier was developed. Then, to elevate the cytotoxic performance of Res-BSA, chitosan (CS) was used to provide adequate positive charge on the surface of nanoparticles and consequently cause enhanced cell-uptake. The particle size of Res-BSA/CS (235 ±11 nm) showed narrow distributed nano-ranged size (PdI: 0.095) and the amount of complexed Res with NPs was found to be approximately 65% in BSA/CS complex. The successful cell uptake of Res-BSA/CS was investigated via fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry and the results showed that Res-BSA/CS induced 1.5 times more cell internalization than Res-BSA. Consequently, cell cytotoxicity studies pointed out ~1.5 and 3 times higher cell cytotoxicity after 24 h and 48 h for Res-BSA/CS than Res in MTT assay. Thus, it can be concluded that the developed Res-loaded BSA/CS nanocarrier paves a way for efficient cancer therapy and may be considered as an attractive and promising approach to enhance the therapeutic performance of Res against cancer.

Improvement in histology, enzymatic activity, and redox state of the liver following administration of Cinnamomum zeylanicum bark oil in rats with established hepatotoxicity

Fatemeh Niknezhad,Sara Sayad-Fathi,Arezoo Karimzadeh,Marjan Ghorbani-Anarkooli,Fatemeh Yousefbeyk,Ebrahim Nasiri 대한해부학회 2019 Anatomy & Cell Biology Vol.52 No.3

Formaldehyde (FA) is an environmentally-available pollutant. Since the liver acts as a detoxifier in the human body, it is the first and most affected organ in individuals exposed to higher-than-normal amounts of FA. FA mainly alters oxidant/ antioxidant status and initiates oxidative stress, and by means, causes functional damage to the liver. Thus, it is important to identify natural bioactive compounds with antioxidant properties in order to be used as food additives. Cinnamon (Cinnamomum zeylanicum) is a popular flavor and also a medicinal plant with a variety of beneficial effects. In the present original study, cinnamon essential oil (CEO) has been administrated at doses of 10, 20, and 100 mg/kg, orally, to hepatotoxicity rat models caused by FA (10 mg/kg, intraperitoneally). Liver enzymes and its histology were assessed and oxidative stress biomarkers in the liver tissue were also examined. CEO administration caused a significant increase in superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, and catalase and a prominent decrease in nitric oxide levels in the liver tissue. Also, in serum samples, CEO significantly reduced the elevated amounts of alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, and alkaline phosphatase. When assessed histologically, portal area and central vein fibrosis alongside with the hepatocytes’ hypereosinophilia and swelling, focal inflammation, and necrotic areas were found to be prominently decreased in the CEO group. In conclusion, our study suggested that the CEO may have the potential for being used against FA-induced hepatotoxicity.