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  Background and Objectives : Familial Mediterranean Fever, an autosomal recessive disorder, is the most common and well known periodical fevers syndrome. Disease is mainly prevalent among non-Ashkenazi Jews, Arabs, Turks and Armenia. According to the geographical location of North-West of Iran, neighboring with two high risk FMF population (Turkey and Armenia), the prevalence of FMF in this region of Iran is not unlikely. The aim of this study was to estimate the carriers rate of FMF common mutations in healthy control people. Results can be potentially useful to estimate prevalence of disease.

  Methods : Randomly 200 samples from healthy people [non-FMF] from North-West of Iran selected. After taking consent, DNA was extracted from blood samples of these groups. Then mutations were evaluated using ARMS-PCR and RFLP-PCR techniques.

  Results : from 400 studied alleles, 44 and 7 mutant alleles were found for E148Q and V726A respectively. For 2 other mutations, no mutant alleles were found. The total allelic frequency for these four common mutations was 0.132. The carriers rate was 23.4%.

  Conclusion : This study showed that E148Q has high mutation frequency relative to other mutations in North-West of Iran.

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Background & objectives: Diabetes mellitus cause cognitive defects. Royal Jelly has been claimed to improve the neurological damage caused by diabetes. In this study, the effect of oral administration of royal jelly on memory and passive avoidance learning was studied in diabetic male rats.
Methods: This experimental study was conducted in Qazvin University of Medical Sciences on 48 male Wistar rats. The animals were divided into control, diabetic without treatment, diabetic recipient of glibenclamide (600 μg/kg) and three diabetic groups treated with 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg royal jelly (n=8). Diabetes was induced in the animals by intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (60mg/kg/ip). Treatment in the groups performed by gavage from the onset of hyperglycemia for 30 days. At the end of the test, the passive avoidance learning and memory and blood glucose were measured. Data were analyzed by by SPSS software using ANOVA and post-hoc LSD tests, and p<0.05 was considered significant.
Results: Diabetes reduced the latency time of dark room entering. Royal jelly treatment delayed the entrance to the dark room significantly at 24 h, 48 h and 2 weeks after the shock, especially at doses of 100 (p<0.05) and 200 mg/kg (p<0.01) compared to untreated diabetic animals.
Conclusion: According to the results, diabetes causes memory impairment, and royal jelly administration can reduce the memory impairment due to diabetes.

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Background & objectives: Epidemiological Studies have shown that diabetes increase the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease (AD).also several studies have confirmed that long term use of Metformin (Met) improves cognitive function in diabetic patients.  The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of Met on learning and memory in diabetic and non-diabetic rats.
Methods: Animals were divided into 2 groups including healthy and diabetic group. In healthy group, normal rats subdivided into control, saline and Met groups which received saline or Met (500mg/kg) and in diabetic group including DM, DM+saline and DM+Met subgroups, diabetic rats  received saline or Met (100, and 200mg/kg) for 20 days. Diabetes was induced by intraperitoneal injection (ip) of streptozotocin (STZ).
Results: Our results showed that Met (500mg/kg, ip) impaired spatial learning but improved spatial memory in normal rats. The results also showed that Met improved learning and memory in diabetic rats in a dose dependent manner, so that the rats of DM+Met group compared to DM+saline group found platform in less time and with less distance traveled. Met also increased the percentage of time elapsed and the distance swum in the target quadrant in diabetic rats during the probe trial.
Conclusion: An intraperitoneal injection of STZ resulted in a significant decline in learning and memory and treatment with Met can enhance learning and memory in a dose dependent manner, therefore, it is useful for treatment of cognitive impairment in diabetic patients.
 

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Background & objectives: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients suffer from anxiety and depression. Sodium hydrosulfide (NaHS) can remit the depressive-like and anxiety-like behaviors induced by diabetes mellitus. We aimed to investigate the effects of chronic administration of hydrogen sulfide on depressive and anxiety-like behaviors in the Streptozotocin (STZ) rat model of AD.
Methods: Animals were divided into: Control, NaHS, and Alzheimer’s rats group include (STZ, STZ + Saline and STZ + NaHS groups) which were the Alzheimer’s rats and received Saline and NaHS (5.6 mg/kg per d) for 21 days. For induction of AD, STZ (3 mg/kg, 10 μl/injection site) was administered into the lateral ventricles. The behavioral consequences were assessed using plus maze, forced swim and sucrose preference tests.
Results: Our results showed that intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injection of STZ decreased the percentage of open arm time and entries, indicating anxiety-like effects. It also increased the duration of immobility time and decreased the percentage of sucrose preference indicating depression-like effects. Sodium hydrosulfide administration in STZ-treated rats increased the percentage of open arm time and entries, indicating anxiolytic-like effects. It also decreased the duration of immobility time and increased the percentage of sucrose preference, indicating antidepressant-like effects.
Conclusion: STZ administration can induce depression- and anxiety-like symptoms in rats, and Sodium hydrosulfide treatment, decreased the depression- and anxiety-like symptoms in STZ rat Model of AD, suggests that Sodium hydrosulfide can be useful in the treatment of affective disorders in AD patients.

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Background & objectives: There is a tendency to increase the risk of dementia in patients with periodontitis, but the opposite, the role of Alzheimer's disease on periodontal disease is still unclear, so in this study, the effect of experimental Alzheimer's disease on periodontal inflammatory cells, collagen fibers and neovascularization was investigated in male rats.
Methods: In this experimental study, 16 Wistar male rats (230-250 grams) were randomly divided into 2 groups; control (saline) and streptozotocin 3 mg/kg (bilateral ICV injection, with a volume of 10 μl, in both groups). After 4 weeks of treatment, two groups were tested with the Morris water maze. Then the rats were killed by deep anesthesia and sampling from the papilla around the two central incisor teeth was done. Samples were fixed and the paraffin block was prepared, serial 5-micron slices were made with a microtome. After hematoxylin & eosin staining, the number of inflammatory cells (PMNs, eosinophils, and mast cells), angiogenesis, and fibroblasts were counted using a microscope (400×). Data were analyzed using SPSS 21 software and an independent T-test.
Results: The results showed that Alzheimer's disease causes an increase in periodontal inflammatory cells, collagen fibers and new vessels in the gums of mice, and the difference between these changes between the experimental and control groups was significant in all parameters (p<0.00).
Conclusion: According to these findings, Alzheimer's disease causes or aggravates inflammation and increases the rate of periodontal diseases in rat and may have the same effect in humans.