The predisposing factors of preeclampsia may endanger the mother's heath as well as her neonate. One hypothesis related to preeclampsia is vitamin D deficiency or insufficiency. This study was conducted to evaluate the relationship between preeclampsia and the serum level of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OH-D) in mothers and their neonates. In this case-control study, we recruited 41 preeclamptic and 50 healthy women from the Imam Khomeini Hospital in Ahvaz, Iran. Venous blood (2 ml) from mothers (in time of labor) and 2 ml of blood from the umbilical cord were taken, centrifuged, stored at -30°C and sent to a laboratory for analysis of 25-OH-D by ELISA. Vitamin D levels<20 ng/ml were regarded as deficiency, levels between 21-29 ng/ml were regarded as insufficiency, and if levels were higher than 30 ng/ml, these were considered normal. Independent t-test, chi-square, Spearman correlation coefficient and logistic regression were used to analyze data. Mean levels of 25-OH-D were significantly lower in preeclamptic women (15.2±13.6 vs. 23.3±15.3 ng/ml, p=0.001) and in their neonates (15.2±13.1 vs. 21.6±12.6 ng/ml, p=0.01) compared to normal pregnant women and their neonates. There was a significant relationship between the levels of vitamin D in preeclamptic women with levels of this vitamin in their neonates (r=0.901, p=0.0001). 25-OH-D deficiency that exist in preeclamptic mothers, may be a health risk for their infants, therefore, early use of vitamin D supplement with higher dose than 400 IU in Iranian women is recommended.
This review article summarizes in vitro and in vivo experiments on seaweed anticancer activity and seaweed chemical components. Seaweed use in cancer therapy, chemopreventive randomized control trials (RCTs) and quasi-experiments are discussed. The literature reviewed in this article was obtained from various scientific sources and encompasses publications from 2000-2012. Seaweed therapeutic effects were deemed scientifically plausible and may be partially explained by the in vivo and in vitro pharmacological studies described. Although the mechanisms of action remain unclear, seaweed's anticancer properties may be attributable to its major biologically active metabolites. Much of the seaweed research outlined in this paper can serve as a foundation for explaining seaweed anticancer bioactivity. This review will open doors for developing strategies to treat malignancies using seaweed natural products.
In this study, fibroblast cells were stably transfected with mouse POU5F1 promoter-driven enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) to investigate the effect of S-adenosylhomocysteine (SAH), the reversible non-toxic inhibitor of DNA-methyltransferases (DNMTs), at different intervals post-fusion on in vitro development of cloned bovine embryos. Treatment with SAH for 12 hr resulted in 54.6 ± 7.7% blastocyst production, which was significantly greater than in vitro fertilized embryos (IVF: 37.2 ± 2.7%), cloned embryos treated with SAH for 72 hr (31.0 ± 7.6%), and control cloned embryos (34.6 ± 3.6%). The fluorescence intensities of the EGFP-POU5F1 reporter gene at all intervals of SAH treatment, except of 72 hr, were significantly higher than control somatic cell nuclear transfers (SCNT) embryos. The intensity of DNA-methylation in cloned embryos treated with SAH for 48 hr was similar to that of IVF embryos, and was significantly lower than the other SCNT groups. The levels of H3K9 acetylation in all SCNT groups were significantly lower than IVF embryos. Real-time PCR analysis of gene expression revealed significantly higher expression of POU5F1 in cloned versus IVF blastocysts. Neither embryo production method (SCNT vs. IVF) nor the SAH treatment interval affected expression of the BCL2 gene. Cloned embryos at all intervals of SAH treatment, except for 24 hr, had significantly increased VEGF transcript compared to IVF and control SCNT embryos. It was suggested that the time interval of DNMT inhibition may have important consequences on different in vitro features of bovine SCNT, and the improving effects of DNMT inhibition on developmental competency of cloned embryos are restricted to a specific period of time preceding de novo methylation.
To investigate the effect of epigenetic modification on pattern, time and capacity of transcription activation of POU5F1, the key marker of pluripotency, in cloned bovine embryos.