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Background and purpose: Laparoscopic donor nephrectomy is an appropriate alternative for open donor nephrectomy in kidney transplant. The latter has been applied in most health centers for 50 years and it has been proven that unilateral nephrechtomy (laparotomy) is safe for the doner and so the remaining kidney can handle its function well. Since the former method for the kidney doner has been recently used as well, it seems necessary to compare the long-term function of the transplanted kidney in the two methods. Materials and methods: In this description study, the function of transplanted 133 kidneys including 75 cases of laparatomic donor nephrectomy and 58 cases of laparascopic were evaluated a with creatinin one years Post transplantion. Results: After one year of transplantation, no significant differences were observed in the creatinine level of the two groups. This research showed that the nephrectomy method, either laparoscopy or laparotomy, has no influence on the kidney function after one year. Conclusion: Laparoscopic nephrectomy is recommended because it has few side effects for the kidney donor and it can be used in clinical settings.

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Background and purpose: Recently, natural antimicrobials attracted a lot of attention due to increasing preference of consumers for organic products which are free of chemical additives. The aim of this study was to investigate the antibacterial activity of cinnamaldehyde in combination with acetic and lactic acids against L.monocytogenes.

Materials and methods: The antibacterial effects of cinnamaldehyde, acetic and lactic acids were determined using minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). Fractional inhibitory concentration (FIC) was also used to evaluate the combined antibacterial activity.

Results: Based on our results, MIC values for cinnamaldehyde, acetic acid and lactic acid were 0.312, 2.5 and 5 μl/ml, respectively. FIC results showed that cinnamaldehyde combination with the organic acids had no interaction effects (1.0

Conclusion: Cinnamaldehyde, acetic and lactic acids were found effective in inhibiting the growth of L. monocytogenes. Meanwhile, organic acids can reduce the required amount of cinnamaldehyde.

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Background and purpose: Fish is an important source of protein for human and is an important part of the diet, so, studying the concentration of heavy metals in commercial fish could be helpful in evaluating the risk of fish consumption.
Materials and methods: A total of 60 fish samples from four different species including anchovy, white, perch, and trout was randomly collected in fall 2016 from Rast Fish Market. After sample preparation and microwave digestion, the amount of heavy metals were determined by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer (ICP-OES). The US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) method was used to estimate the health risks associated with exposure to heavy metals in fish samples.
Results: The highest concentrations of heavy metals included mercury in whitefish (1.29 ± 0.23 μg/g), lead in whitefish (4.54 ± 0.75 μg/g), cadmium in salmon (0.07 ± 0.01 μg/g), arsenic in whitefish (1.36± 0.15 μg/g), nickel in whitefish (0.61 ± 0.07 μg/g), tin in whitefish (0.63 ± 0.05 μg/g), and chromium in fish perch (1.52 ± 0.04 μg/g). Non-cancer risk for all heavy metals in all the species was less than 1.
Conclusion: The concentration of metals in species studied was in acceptable level, indicating no risk of toxicity. According to current results, fish consumption does not lead to adverse health effects.
 
 

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Background and purpose: Parkinson 's disease, one of the most common neuromotor disorders, is caused by the progressive destruction of the dopaminergic neurons of the basal nuclei. Whey is considered a rich source of amino acids and peptides with biological properties. Considering the beneficial effects of exercise on the inhibition and recovery of neuronal damage, the present study investigated the effect of swimming exercise and whey administration on motor dysfunction and gene expression of apoptotic factors of the striatumin the Parkinson's disease model induced with retenon.

Materials and methods: 13-15-month-old male Wistar rats were used. Daily injections of rotenone (2.5 mg/kg in 5% DMSO; i.p.) for 60 days were used to induce PD. 24 h after the last injection, muscle stiffness was measured using the bar test and grid test. Bradykinesia was measured by the rearing behavior. Whey (4 g/rat) was administered daily by gavage for 30 days. Swimming exercise were performed daily for 15 min for 30 days (5 minutes swimming, repeated 3 times at 10-minute intervals). Afterwards, themotor skills were measured again.  Striatum tissue was then isolated and stored at -80° C. Real-time PCR was used for the expression of caspases 3 and 6.
Results: Compared to the control group, rotenone caused a significant increase in the delay time in the bar and grid tests and a significant decrease in the rearing behavior. Whey alone or together with swimming exercises significantly decreased the delay time in the bar and grid testsand significantly increased the rearing behavior compared to the rotenone group. In addition, rotenone caused a significant increase in striatal levels of apoptotic caspases 3, 6 gene expression, whilewhey alone or together with swimming exercise significantly decreased caspases 3, 6 gene expression.
Conclusion: Swimming exercise enhanced the neuroprotective effect of whey against rotenone-induced apoptosis and motor dysfunction, so it may be effective in controlling Parkinson’s disease.
 

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 Background and purpose: It is well established that valproic acid (VPA) is teratogenic associated with oxidative stress in humans and in all animal species tested. In this study, considering the chemical composition of catechins, we investigated its protective effect on the survival of PC12 nerve cells exposed to valproic acid.
Materials and methods: The protective effects of epicatechin (EC) at different concentrations (10, 50, 100, 500, 1000 μg/ml) on survival and viability of PC12 neuronal cells exposed to valproic acid were measured by MTT assay and oxidative stress tests (GPx, SOD, ROS, and lipid peroxidation). All data were analyzed in GraphPad Prism 8.0 using one-way ANOVA and Tukey post-test.
Results: According to findings, EC reduced the cytotoxic effects of valproic acid at 500 and 1000 µg/ml (P<0.0001). EC significantly reduced the oxidative stress induced by valproic acid via decreasing reactive oxygen species (ROS) and malondialdehyde (MDA) production (P<0.001 and P<0.0001, respectively).
Conclusion: The present study showed that epicatechin could increase antioxidant potential and exhibits significant cytoprotective effect against valproic acid toxicity in PC12 cells.