Background: Margarine contains trans fatty acids as major sources of dietary free radicals, and oxidative stress. Effect of oral administration of margarine on hepatic enzyme was investigated in Wistar rats.Methods: Thirty six (36) adult Wistar rats were uniformly divided into three groups of control , margarine 15% and 20%, twelve rats in each groups (6males & 6 females). Margarine was added to the second and third groups chow as 15% and 20% (w/w) respectively. After four months, their blood samples were obtained and the serum levels of ASPARTATE Amino TRANSFERASE (AST) and Alanine amino TRANSFERASE (ALT) were measured.Results: Serum levels of AST and ALT in margarine groups were higher than control groups, but it was not significant. Treatment of rats with margarine were not significantly alter the serum levels of liver enzymes in all groups.Conclusion: This result suggests that consumption of margarine may not be toxic at the doses investigated.

Objective: To determine serum ALP, AST, GGT and bilirubin changes in theileriotic cows. (Mediterranean coast fever).Design: Case- Control study.Animals: Fifty theileriotic cattle referred to Veterinary Hospital of Shahid Charnran University and fifty healthy cows, Procedure: The cows were examined and their clinical signs were recorded. In theileriotic and healthy cows serum concentrations of ALP, AST, GGT and bilirubin were determined.Statistical analysis: ANOVA and t-test.Results: In this study, lymph nodes enlargment was seen in 90% of cases, Fever and abnormal mucous membranes were seen in 60%. The mean values of ALP, AST, GGT, total bilirubin and direct bilirubin were 69,3 u/l, 62 u/l, 10.6 u/l, 0,58 mg/dl and 0.38 mg/dl, respectively. Furthermore, there was a significant difference between affected and healthy cows (P<0.01). In addition, ALP showed a significant difference between two age groups in affected and healthy cows (P<0.05),Conclusion: On the basis of the results of this study it seems that hepatopathy has an important role in pathogenesis of theileriosis.

Background and Aim: Methotrexate is an important drug for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) but is associated with adverse side effects on liver. In this study we evaluated the effect of silymarin on methotrexate induced hepatotoxicity and its analgesic effects in the patients taking this drug. Materials and Methods: This study inclouded 58 patients with RA. Patients who had been treated with 2. 5 mg methotrexate three times a week for six months were randomly divided into two groups of A and B. Group A received methotrexate and group B treated with 280 mg of silymarin tablets daily (two doses for 2 months) in addition to methotrexate. At baseline (before tests) and after two months, both groups completed the VAS (Visual Analogue Scale) questionnaire and Cr (Creatinine), BUN (Blood Urea Nitrogen), ESR (Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate), Hemoglobin, WBC (white blood cell), PLT (Platelet) and the liver tests including ALT (Alanine Transaminase) and AST (ASPARTATE AminoTRANSFERASE) were evaluated. We used t-test for data analysis. Results: In the group B, ALT, AST and ESR, Cr and BUN decreased significantly. Also clinical signs of pain which were indicative of pain intensity were decreased. Conclusion: Use of silymarin in the patients with RA reduced liver enzymes, liver toxicity and renal complications, which may be due to its antioxidant and cell membrane stabilization properties.

Background and Objective: Ecstasy [3, 4 Methylendioxy Meth Amphetamine (MDMA)] exerts destructive effects on body organs particularly on the nervous system. The current study was carried out to measure the adverse effects of MDMA on hepatocyte and liver-specific enzymes.Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, 50 male Wistar rats were randomly divided in equal numbers into 5 groups: control, sham, experimental 1, 2, and 3. Animals in the experimental groups were received, intraperitoneally 2, 4 and 8 mg/kg of MDMA, respectively. The sham group were received normal saline but the control group was not subjected to any injection. Serum samples were collected and levels of three enzymes under study: alanine aminoTRANSFERASE (ALT), ASPARTATE aminoTRANSFERASE (AST) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) were measured. The sections from the liver tissue were prepared counting the hepatocytes. Data were analyzed using SPSS-16 and One-way ANOVA and Tukey's HSD tests.Results: Data indicated the levels of all three enzymes had been elevated in the animal groups that received MDMA and that the increase was statistically significant compared to sham and control groups (P<0.05). Also, in experimental groups the number of hepatocyte were reduced in comparison with controls (P<0.05).Conclusion: This study showed that the MDMA significantly increased ALT, AST, ALP and reduced the number of hepatocytes and these effects are dose depended.

Curcuma longa (turmeric) powder is used abundantly as spice. Turmeric has also been traditionally applied to treat some diseases such as skin inflammation and trauma, bile disorders, diabetes and cancer, especially through Asia and India. Antioxidant properties and therapeutic effects of turmeric have been reported in several literatures. Curcumin as theTurmeric effective substance is used frequently in the investigations but since people are usually using the turmeric powder, this study was performed by administration of its powder. Wistar male rats were used as experimental animals (n=6) in this study. Plasma ASPARTATE Amino TRANSFERASE (AST) and Alanine Amino TRANSFERASE (ALT) levels were measured before and 24 h, one week and two weeks after i.p. injection of CCL4 (0.005 cc/kg), dissolved in liquid paraffin (0.5 cc/kg). In sham control group, animals were treated only by the vehicle. To investigate the therapeutic effects of the turmeric, in post treatment group, animals were orally treated with turmeric rhizome powder (4 g/kg/day) after CCL4 injection. To investigate both the protective and therapeutic effects of the turmeric in pre and post-treatment group, 15 days oral pretreatment of Curcuma longa powder was applied to the animals, and it was followed by post treatment of the powder after CCL4 injection for several days. To investigate the protective effects of the turmeric in pre-treatment group, treatment was as same as the previous group, except the post treatment.In comparison to sham control, AST and ALT levels in the control group significantly increased 24 hrs after CCL4 treatment and remained high until the last measurement (p<0.001), but there were no significant differences between sham control and other three groups. In the histophysiological study, vacuolar state, hepatocyte lipofication and necrosis were chosen as hepatocytotoxicity criterions, in comparison to sham control group, hepatocytotoxicity was obvious, but there were no hepatocytotoxicity in the pre- and pre+post-treated groups, 24 and 48 h after CCL4 injection.The results showed possible therapeutic and protective effects of Curcuma longa powder on the hepatocyte damage induced by CCL4.

Background: Today, participation in regular sports programs is an undeniable need for prevention of diseases and improving the quality of life of the elderly. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a selected combined training course on immunoglobulin G concentration and liver injury index in elderly men. Materials and Methods: In this quasi-experimental study, 20 elderly men in the age group of 65-55 years were randomly divided into two groups of combined exercise and control. Combined exercises, including aerobic activity with an intensity of 60 to 74% of the stored heart rate and strength exercises with 50 to 75% of 1RM were performed during 8 weeks and three sessions per week. Blood samples were collected 24 hours before and 48 hours after the last training session to measure serum AST, ALT and IgG levels. To analyze the data from ANKOVA test and to compare intra-group differences, paired t-test was performed at a significant level of P <0. 05. Results: The results showed that there was a significant difference between the combination and control groups in serum concentrations of AST (P =0. 003), ALT (P=0. 004) and IgG (P=0. 041). Paired t-test results showed a significant decrease in post-test compared to pre-test ALT (P=0. 048), AST (P=0. 007) and IgG (P=0. 02). Conclusion: The results of the present study showed that combined activities are an effective factor in preventing liver damage and strengthening the immune system of the elderly. Combined training can be a good exercise protocol to maintain health in these people.

Objective: Thiopurine S-methylTRANSFERASE (TPMT) catalyses the S-methylation of thiopurine drugs. Low activity phenotypes are correlated with several mutations in the TPMT gene and adverse drug reactions. The molecular basis for dissimilar enzymatic activity of TPMT has been established in Caucasians, African-Americans and Southwest Asians, but it remains to be elucidated in Iranian population. Until present, no study on Iranian population has been performed on the known alleles of TPMT. The aim of this study was to investigate the frequencies of four of the most common variants of this gene.Materials and Methods: This study was conducted during 2007 at the Department of Hematology, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran. Using PCR-RFLP and allele specific PCR techniques, allelic variants of the TPMT gene TPMT*2 (G238C), TPMT*3B (G460A), TPMT*3C (A719G) and TPMT*3A (G460A and A719G) were genotyped in a normal population of 127 Iranians.Results: In this study TPMT*2 showed a prevalence of 7.08%. TPMT*3C and *3A were found in 2.47% and 2.18% of the samples, respectively. TPMT*3B variant was not detected in Iranian subjects. 112 out of 127 participants showed homozygote wild type allele.Conclusion: This study is the first to analyze TPMT allele frequencies in a sample of Iranian population and indicates that TPMT*2 is the most common allele (7.08%) in this population. These results can help to organize national pretreatment strategies in patients with acute lympho blastic leukemia (ALL) or other diseases requiring thiopurine medication in their standard therapy.

In this study, at first, the effects of the acute toxicity of agricultural pesticide, diazinon, on adult males of gold fish were determined. After analyzing the results using Probit software, the amount of LC50 was distinguished during 24, 48, 72 and 96 hours. The amount of LC50 was 11.4 in 96 hours and the fish were assorted according to 0.1 and 0.01 percent of LC50 in 96 hours and were put there for about 7 months. Then, the level of total protein, serum glucose, alkaline phosphatase (ALP), alanine TRANSFERASE (ALT), ASPARTATE amino TRANSFERASE (AST) was studied. The results showed that fish were affected by high concentration of diazinon, had the lowest ALP (P<0.05) but ALT, AST, glucose and total protein increased significantly (P<0.05).