DMD is the prototype of muscular dystrophy in childhood. As there is currently no absolute treatment, the present study aimed to propose a new drug repositioning for DMD therapy. A microarray dataset of 16 DMD and 6 control samples were analyzed and 208 differentially expressed genes were screened. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) algorithm, applied to obtain co-expressed gene networks for the establishment of transcriptional modules related to clinical and demographic data of DMD patients. Results indicated that a maximum of 11 co-expression modules is present in datasets with a varying number of genes. Turquoise module with 3334 genes was strongly correlated with collagen fibril organization as a positive regulator in DMD pathogenesis (r=0.98, p-value=2/00E-15) through which other DMD related hub-genes were identified as COL1A1, FZD10, COL1A2, CRISPLD1, FMO1, COL5A1, COL3A1, COL5A2, TP53I3, PLAGL1, RIPK2, SBF1, MLXIP, CFAP46, and TYRP1. Drug repositioning of the turquoise module identified some candidate drugs which are not presently approved for the treatment of DMD. The targets in the turquoise module indicate some drugs can greatly affect DMD's structure and function as COL1A1 with 42 fold changes was the most up-regulated gene. Furthermore, drug repositioning introduced Zoledronic acid as a potent antagonist for COL1A1.
Breast cancer is the most common malignancy among American women and the second leading cause of cancer death after the lung cancer. For this reason, trying to find new drugs for the treatment of this disease is essential. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the cytotoxic effects of three cinnamic acid derivatives isolated from Allium ampeloprasum var. Persicum including Caffeoyl tyramine, Feruloyl tyramine, and Persicoimidate on two breast cancer cell lines, MCF-7 and BT-474. Evaluation the cytotoxic effects of mentioned purified compounds against MCF-7 and BT-474 cells was performed using MTT assay and their IC50 was determined. Finally, flow cytometery analysis on MCF-7 cells was performed and used to determine the cell death mechanism of investigated compounds. The results exhibited that the cytotoxic effects of all three compounds against breast cancer cell lines was concentration-dependent. The IC50 of Caffeoyl tyramine, Feruloyl tyramine, and Persicoimidate was determined to be as 73, 56, and 40 μg/ml for MCF-7 and 100, 54, and 37 μg/ml for BT-474 cells, respectively. So, Perscicoimidate showed the most potent cytotoxic effects against two breast cancer cells. Finally, flow cytometery analysis showed that Persicoimidate caused approximately 48% of apoptosis in concentration of 40 μg/ml. According to the tyrosine kinase inhibitory activity of cinnamic acid derivatives, these compounds has the potential of being cancer drug candidates for complementary studies on breast tumors with highly expression of EGF receptor. However, evaluation of anti-cancer effects of these compounds against other breast cancer cell lines is suggested.
Natural medicine products usually consist of two to five kinds of plants that have synergistic biological activity. The responsible constituents for the therapeutic activity in plants often involve diverse chemical components. The combination of ethanol extracts of Annona squamosa L. (EEAS) and Persea americana M. (EEPA) has been shown to have antihyperlipidemic activity. To ensure the correctness and consistency of the EEAS and EEPAs combination as the antihyperlipidemic treatments, it is necessary to characterize the plant’s secondary metabolites. This study aimed to obtain the profiles of the secondary metabolites of Annona squamosa L. and Persea americana M. using the TLC-densitometry technique. Extract samples were applied to TLC plates and screened using densitometry at 254 nm. The obtained chromatogram peak was measured at the wavelength range of 200–700 nm to obtain the maximum wavelength of each peak. The results showed that EEAS had 5 peaks with rf values of 0.00, 0.61, 0.67, 0.73, and 0.87. The TLC-densitometry analysis results of EEPA showed eight peaks with rf values of 0.00, 0.11, 0.19, 0.49, 0.56, 0.71, 0.77, and 0.90. The extract chromatograms spectra showed that 2–3 peaks at the wavelength range of 300-350 nm. Chromatogram TLC-densitometry profile data on EEAS and EEPA can be used as the indicators in the raw material combinations standardization process of EEAS and EEPA as natural medicine products to treat antihyperlipidemic.
Inflammatory reactions of active radicals play a primary role in many vital circumstances, and if they are not neutralized and persist in the body, many diseases will occur. Antioxidants are the very critical resources available in the body to eliminate these free radicals. Medicinal herbs have been used extensively in the treatment of diseases for centuries. Gynostemma Pentaphyllum is grown in many different locations of Europe and Asia is an adaptogenic plant that is rich in antioxidants. During this study, the antioxidant effects of Gynostemma Pentaphyllum extract are evaluated using two different methods of adrenaline autooxidation and Chemiluminescence, both patented in Russia. Our results show that the organic solvent is more suitable for the extraction of these antioxidants with the ratio of 70% ethanolic extract being yield in more extraction. This preliminary work might open a new door for future studies on the antioxidant effects of this herb grown in Russia for the treatment of inflammations and other diseases with such pathology.
Information management is considered as one of the keys to the supply chain management (SCM) success. This study intends to explore the factors affecting the knowledge sharing and knowledge quality in the SCM of the drugs and medical consumables. This applied study was conducted using analytical-survey research method. The research population consisted of 78 people involved in the supply chain of the drug and medical consumables in the teaching hospitals of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences (IUMS). Data were collected by a questionnaire whose face and content validity were both confirmed by pooling the ideas of some professors of Health Information Technology and Health-care Services Management faculties of IUMS. The reliability of the questionnaire was validated by estimating Cornbrash’s alpha coefficient (α=0.93). Data were analyzed using multiple regression analysis method and SPSS software version.23. Based on the results, the environmental uncertainty and intra-organizational facilitators had no impact on information sharing and information quality but inter-organizational relationships influenced the information sharing (p = 0.01) and information quality (p = 0.001). To achieve high-quality information sharing, establishing appropriate relationships with the other chain partners is of critical importance. Based on the results of the study, although there was no statistically significant relationship between the intra-organizational facilitators and environmental uncertainty and the information sharing and information quality, top management support, information technology (IT), appropriate selection of supplier and attention to the drug needs of the patients, should not be neglected.
