Anti-Toxoplasma Effects of Methanol Extracts of Feijoa sellowiana, Quercus castaneifolia, and Allium paradoxum

Ebrahimzadeh, Mohammad Ali,Taheri, Mohammad Mohammad,Ahmadpour, Ehsan,Montazeri, Mahbobeh,Sarvi, Shahabeddin,Akbari, Mohammad,Daryani, Ahmad KOREAN PHARMACOPUNCTURE INSTITUTE 2017 Journal of pharmacopuncture Vol.20 No.3

Objectives: The currently available agents for use against toxoplasmosis have serious limitations. Thus, the aim of the present study was to investigate the anti-Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) activities of methanol extracts of Feijoa sellowiana (F. sellowiana) (leaves and fruits), Quercus castaneifolia (Q. castaneifolia) (fruits), and Allium paradoxum (A. paradoxum) (leaves) in vitro and in vivo. Methods: Vero cells were treated with different concentrations (from 0 to $400{\mu}g/mL$) of the above extracts or with pyrimethamine at a dose of 50 mg/mL (positive control). Then, the viabilities of the T. gondii-infected cells were measured by using colorimetric MTT (3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl) 2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assays. In addition, the survival rates of mice acutely infected with $2{\times}10^4$ RH strain tachyzoites of T. gondii were examined in vivo after intraperitoneal injection of the extracts at doses of 100 and 200 mg/kg/day for 5 days. Results: In the in vitro anti- T. gondii assay, the $IC_{50}$ values were 12.77, 180.2, 74.73, 213.2 and $163.8{\mu}g/mL$, and the selectivity indices were 6.05, 1.31, 0.35, 0.69 and 1.30 for the F. sellowiana (leaves and fruits), Q. castaneifolia, and A. paradoxum extracts and pyrimethamine, respectively. Moreover, the mice treated with F. sellowiana (leaves and fruits) achieved better results in terms of survival than the others (P < 0.05). Conclusion: The results of the current study indicate that methanol extract of F. sellowiana has significant anti-Toxoplasma activity. Further study should be conducted to investigate the potential bioactivity of this extract through bioactivity-guided fractionation.

Anti-Toxoplasma Effects of Methanol Extracts of Feijoa sellowiana, Quercus castaneifolia, and Allium paradoxum

Mohammad Ali Ebrahimzadeh,Mohammad Mohammad Taheri,Ehsan Ahmadpour,Mahbobeh Montazeri,Shahabeddin Sarvi,Mohammad Akbari,Ahmad Daryani 대한약침학회 2017 Journal of pharmacopuncture Vol.20 No.3

Objectives: The currently available agents for use against toxoplasmosis have serious limitations. Thus, the aim of the present study was to investigate the anti-Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) activities of methanol extracts of Feijoa sellowiana (F. sellowiana) (leaves and fruits), Quercus castaneifolia (Q. castaneifolia) (fruits), and Allium paradoxum (A. paradoxum) (leaves) in vitro and in vivo. Methods: Vero cells were treated with different concentrations (from 0 to 400 μg/mL) of the above extracts or with pyrimethamine at a dose of 50 mg/mL (positive control). Then, the viabilities of the T. gondii-infected cells were measured by using colorimetric MTT (3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl) 2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assays. In addition, the survival rates of mice acutely infected with 2 × 104 RH strain tachyzoites of T. gondii were examined in vivo after intraperitoneal injection of the extracts at doses of 100 and 200 mg/kg/day for 5 days. Results: In the in vitro anti- T. gondii assay, the IC50 values were 12.77, 180.2, 74.73, 213.2 and 163.8 μg/mL, and the selectivity indices were 6.05, 1.31, 0.35, 0.69 and 1.30 for the F. sellowiana (leaves and fruits), Q. castaneifolia, and A. paradoxum extracts and pyrimethamine, respectively. Moreover, the mice treated with F. sellowiana (leaves and fruits) achieved better results in terms of survival than the others (P < 0.05). Conclusion: The results of the current study indicate that methanol extract of F. sellowiana has significant anti-Toxoplasma activity. Further study should be conducted to investigate the potential bioactivity of this extract through bioactivity-guided fractionation.

Anti-Toxoplasma Activities of Zea Mays and Eryngium Caucasicum Extracts, In Vitro and In Vivo

Ahmadpour, Ehsan,Ebrahimzadeh, Mohammad Ali,Sharif, Mehdi,Edalatian, Sara,Sarvi, Shahabeddin,Montazeri, Mahbobeh,Mehrzadi, Saeed,Akbari, Mohammad,Rahimi, Mohammad Taghi,Daryani, Ahmad KOREAN PHARMACOPUNCTURE INSTITUTE 2019 Journal of pharmacopuncture Vol.22 No.3

Objectives: Toxoplasmosis is a worldwide health problem that caused by intracellular apicomplexan parasite, Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii). Considering that the available drugs for toxoplasmosis have serious host toxicity, the aim of the current study was to survey the in vitro and in vivo anti-Toxoplasma activity of Zea mays (Z. mays) and Eryngium caucasicum (E. caucasicum) extracts. Methods: Four concentrations (5, 10, 25, and $50mg\;mL^{-1}$) of Z. mays and E. caucasicum methanolic extracts for 30, 60, 120, and 180 min were incubated with infected macrophages and then the viability of RH strain of T. gondii tachyzoites was evaluated by trypan blue staining method. Also, we evaluated the survival rate of acutely infected mice with the extracts (100 and $200mg\;kg^{-1}\;day^{-1}$) intraperitoneally for 5 days after infection with $2{\times}104$ tachyzoites of T. gondii. Results: The anti-Toxoplasma effect of the methanolic extracts were extremely significant compared to the negative control group in all exposure times (P < 0.05). The Z. mays (10, 25 and $50mg\;mL^{-1}$) killed 100% of the parasites after 180 and 120 min exposure, respectively. Also, high toxoplasmacidal activity was observed with E. caucasicum extract. Furthermore, treatment of experimentally infected mice with the Z. mays (100, $200mg\;kg^{-1}\;day^{-1}$) and E. caucasicum ($100mg\;kg^{-1}\;day^{-1}$) significantly increased their survival rate compared to untreated infected control (P < 0.05). Conclusion: These extracts are promising candidates for further medicine development on toxoplasmosis. However, further investigations are necessary to clarify effective fractions of the Z. mays and E. caucasicum extracts and the mechanisms of action.

Anti-Toxoplasma Activities of Zea Mays and Eryngium Caucasicum Extracts, In Vitro and In Vivo

Ehsan Ahmadpour,Mohammad Ali Ebrahimzadeh,Mehdi Sharif,Sara Edalatian,Shahabeddin Sarvi,Mahbobeh Montazeri,Saeed Mehrzadi,Mohammad Akbari,Mohammad Taghi Rahimi,Ahmad Daryani 대한약침학회 2019 Journal of pharmacopuncture Vol.22 No.3

Objectives: Toxoplasmosis is a worldwide health problem that caused by intracellular apicomplexan parasite, Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii). Considering that the available drugs for toxoplasmosis have serious host toxicity, the aim of the current study was to survey the in vitro and in vivo anti-Toxoplasma activity of Zea mays (Z. mays) and Eryngium caucasicum (E. caucasicum) extracts. Methods: Four concentrations (5, 10, 25, and 50 mg mL -1 ) of Z. mays and E. caucasicum methanolic extracts for 30, 60, 120, and 180 min were incubated with infected macrophages and then the viability of RH strain of T. gondii tachyzoites was evaluated by trypan blue staining method. Also, we evaluated the survival rate of acutely infected mice with the extracts (100 and 200 mg kg -1 day -1 ) intraperitoneally for 5 days after infection with 2× 104tachyzoites of T. gondii. Results: The anti-Toxoplasma effect of the methanolic extracts were extremely significant compared to the negative control group in all exposure times (P < 0.05). The Z. mays (10, 25 and 50 mg mL -1 ) killed 100% of the parasites after 180 and 120 min exposure, respectively. Also, high toxoplasmacidal activity was observed with E. caucasicum extract. Furthermore, treatment of experimentally infected mice with the Z. mays (100, 200 mg kg -1 day -1 ) and E. caucasicum (100 mg kg -1 day -1 ) significantly increased their survival rate compared to untreated infected control (P < 0.05). Conclusion: These extracts are promising candidates for further medicine development on toxoplasmosis. However, further investigations are necessary to clarify effective fractions of the Z. mays and E. caucasicum extracts and the mechanisms of action.

Cross-Cultural Adaptation, Validation, and Reliability Testing of the Modified Oswestry Disability Questionnaire in Persian Population with Low Back Pain

Aslan Baradaran,Mohammad H. Ebrahimzadeh,Ali Birjandinejad,Amir Reza Kachooei 대한척추외과학회 2016 Asian Spine Journal Vol.10 No.2

Study Design: Prospective study. Purpose: We aimed to validate the Persian version of the modified Oswestry disability questionnaire (MODQ) in patients with low back pain. Overview of Literature: Modified Oswestry low back pain disability questionnaire is a well-known condition-specific outcome measure that helps quantify disability in patients with lumbar syndromes. Methods: To test the validity in a pilot study, the Persian MODQ was administered to 25 individuals with low back pain. We then enrolled 200 consecutive patients with low back pain to fill the Persian MODQ as well as the short form 36 (SF-36) questionnaire. Convergent validity of the MODQ was tested using the Spearman’s correlation coefficient between the MODQ and SF-36 subscales. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and Cronbach’s α coefficient were measured to test the reliability between test and retest and internal consistency of all items, respectively. Results: ICC for individual items ranged from 0.43 to 0.80 showing good reliability and reproducibility of each individual item. Cronbach’s α coefficient was 0.69 showing good internal consistency across all 10 items of the Persian MODQ. Total MODQ score showed moderate to strong correlation with the eight subscales and the two domains of the SF-36. The highest correlation was between the MODQ and the physical functioning subscale of the SF-36 (r =−0.54, p <0.001) and the physical component domain of the SF-36 (r =−0.55, p <0.001) showing that MODQ is measuring what it is supposed to measure in terms of disability and physical function. Conclusions: Persian version of the MODQ is a valid and reliable tool for the assessment of the disability following low back pain.

Experimental determination of void fraction in surface aeration using image processing technique

Amir Mohammadpour,Mohammad Ali Akhavan-Behabadi,Masoud Ebrahimzadeh,Pedram Hanafizadeh,Mehrdad Raisee 대한기계학회 2015 JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Vol.29 No.6

In this paper, a new method for determination of void fraction in surface aeration process is presented and discussed. The proposedmethod is based on the image processing technique. The experimental setup has been designed to create various surface aeration conditionsin the water. Void fraction has been calculated for the wide range of water height, impeller immersion depth and rotational speed. Experiments have been performed in an open cubic tank with side length of 60 cm, equipped with one Rushton disk turbine. Moreover,the void fraction has been measured with level gauge method. The results showed that the image processing technique provides moreaccurate results than the level gauge measurements for void fraction calculation in surface aeration especially in low void fraction aeration. In addition, the experimental data revealed that increase in impeller immersion depth and rotational speed increase void fraction andoxygen transfer rate in surface aeration process.

Renoprotective Effect of Plantago major Against Proteinuria and Apoptosis Induced by Adriamycin in Rat

Zohreh Naji Ebrahimi Yazd,Zahra Samadi Noshahr,Sara Hosseinian,Mohammad Naser Shafei,Ali Reza Ebrahimzadeh Bideskan,Reza Mohebbati,Nazanin Entezari Heravi,Samira Shahraki,Somayeh Mahzari,Abolfazl Khaj 대한약침학회 2019 Journal of pharmacopuncture Vol.22 No.1

Objective: Adriamycin (ADR) is an important anti-cancer drug which can cause renal toxicity. Given the known anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects of Plantago major (P. major), the aim of this study was to determine the effects of hydroalcoholic extract of P. major on ADR- induced nephropathy in rats. Methods: Fifty male Wistar albino rats were randomly divided into 5 groups including: control, ADR (5 mg/kg), ADR + P. major (600 and 1200 mg/kg) and P. major (1200mg/kg). The animals were treated with P. major extract for 5 consecutive weeks and ADR was intravenously injected on the 7th day of the study. Urine and serum samples were collected on days 0, 14, 21, 28, and 35 for the measurement of serum cholesterol and albumin levels and urine protein excretion rate. At the end of the study, the left kidneys were removed for apoptosis assessment. Results: Administration of ADR significantly decreased serum albumin level and increased serum cholesterol and urine protein excretion rate as well as, apoptotic cell numbers compared to the control group (P < 0.001) while had no effect on glomerular filtration rate (P > 0.05). Treatment with P. major , in both 600 and 1200 mg/kg doses, increased serum albumin level and decreased serum cholesterol concentration, urine protein excretion rate and as well as the number of apoptotic cell compared to the ADR group (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Our results showed that the P. majorextract effectively protects against ADR- induced nephropathy by reducing kidney apoptosis and improving renal functioning in rats.