Background : Measurement of vitamin A and E is of utmost importance since they have antioxidant and protective activity that could be helpful to prevent cancer. Thus precise measurement is important. In the present study we have measured the se two vitamins using HPLC technique.

Materials and methods : It was an exploratory survey. Having prepared the serum sample, 50 microliter was injected to HPLC instrument. Reversed phase chromatography with UV detector and a Super Pacpep-S column with a flow rate of 1.5ml/minute was used. Retention time, coefficient of variation, and reliability as well as the amount of recovered vitamins were determined.

Results : Vitamin A, retinil acetate, and vitamin E were removed from the column at minutes of 3.4, 4.7, and 11.5. the limit detection was 25ng/ml and 1 μ g/ml for vitamin A and E respectively. The recovery rate of vitamin A and E were 78.2% and 90.8%.

Conclusion : Reversed phase HPLC is a reliable technique to measure vitamin A and E. Further studies in order to improve this technique is highly recommended.

Background: Metabolic syndrome or X syndrome is a combination of disorders such as: central obesity, hypertension, increased blood glucose and impaired blood lipids. Metabolic syndrome increases risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, dislipidemia and some cancers. This study was carried out to determine the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in students of Kashan University of Medical Sciences in 2008.

Materials & Methods: This study is a cross-sectional survey carried out on 221 students in an age range of 19-27 years. Metabolic syndrome was defined having at least three of the Third Report of the Adult Treatment Panel (ATP III) criteria as the following: triglycerides ≥150 mg/dL high blood pressure (systolic blood pressure≥130 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure ≥ 85 mmHg) fasting glucose≥110 mg/dL waist circumference≥102 cm in men and ≥ 88 cm in women and HDL<40 mg/dL in men and<50 in female.

Results: Approximatry 30.8% of subjects had one component of metabolic syndrome. The most prevalent metabolic syndrome components had high blood pressure (16.7%) and low HDL (26.2%).

Conclusion: The results show that the important metabolic syndrome risk factors among students are high diastolic blood pressure and low HDL.

Background: Amylin is a 37-aa pancreatic hormone. It has been determined that an aggregation of amylin is associated with the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes mellitus. This study aimed to evaluate the variations in aggregation potential in the presence and absence of Lead (Pb) and Selenium (Se).

Materials and Methods: The peptide stock solution was prepared by adding 1 ml Dimethyl Sulfoxide (DMSO). Stock solution (1mg/ml) was diluted with Krebs buffer (pH: 7.4) to a final concentration of 0.4 μM. The samples without the elements were selected as control. Selenium and Lead with concentration of 50 and 10 μM were prepared in the two separate groups, respectively. The last group included Se 50 μM +Pb10 μM in amylin solution. All samples were incubated at 37oC. To monitor the peptide folding, Thioflavin T (ThT) assay was performed and recorded by a fluorescence spectrometer.

Results: The obtained results showed that after 144 hour incubation, Selenium, decreased amylin aggregation by 30.2 % (P<0.05) and Pb increased the aggregation potential by 23.1 % (P<0.05). Combined effect of Se and Pb decreased the amylin aggregation by 9.52% compared to the Pb group.

Conclusion: According to the results of the study, Selenium not only reduced amylin aggregation significantly but also detoxified Pb toxicity. Therefore, it can be concluded that the toxic effects of amylin amyloid on pancreas may be reduced by Selenium.

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory demyelinating disease of the CNS. Recent studies have described the anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory properties of cannabinoids. One of the synthetic components that activate cannabinoid receptors is HU-210. This study aimed to examine the effect of HU-210 on cytokines profile and the clinical signs of the disease in the experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE).

Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, 48 male C57BL/6 mice were immunized with 250 µg of myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein peptide (MOG35–55). Different doses of HU-210 (3¸10¸30 mg/kg, i.p.) were administered for 17 days (every other day) in the 3 groups of mice, respectively. The clinical status of mice during the study was evaluated using the clinical score tests. The animals were sacrificed at the 17th day of treatment and then the serum TNFα, IL-12 and IL-4 levels were measured using the ELISA method.

Results: Results showed that the HU-210-treated mice, especially with a dose of 30 mg/kg, had significantly less clinical score of EAE than the non-treated EAE-induced mice. The administration of HU-210 (30 mg/kg) in the EAE-induced mice significantly decreased the serum TNFα and IL-12 levels. Moreover, the serum IL-4 level was increased significantly in the mice treated with three doses of HU-210 (3, 10, 30 mg/kg) compared to those treated with phosphate.

Conclusion: HU-210, which triggers the stages of an immunological cascade, has a beneficial effect in the EAE. This drug can be used for the acute phase of MS.