Gastrointestinal parasites are among the most common parasitic infections found in stray cats, which might act potential helminthic parasites to domestic cats. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of gastrointestinal parasites in stray cats in the city of Azarshahr, which is located in East Azerbaijan province, Iran. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 50 necropsied stray cats, trapped and collected from different geographic regions of Azarshahr. From a total 50 stray cats examined, 15 (30 %) were female and 35 (70 %) were male. Overall 47 cats (94 %) were identified as infected with at least one of the endoparasites. The prevalence of parasites found were: Taenia taeniaeformis (60 %), Dipylidium caninum (58 %), Taenia hydatigera (24 %), Mesocestoides lineatus (78 %), Ancylostoma tubaeforme (14 %), Toxascaris leonina (30 %), Toxocara cati (78 %), Physaloptera praeputialis (10 %), and Syphacia obvelata (10 %). Contamination rate for zoonotic parasites of cat was greater than expected in AzarShahr region. Therefore, appropriate control measures should be taken and preventive methods should be applied.

Background:Cornus mas L, an olive-shaped red-colored single-seeded fruit, is used in traditional medicine in different parts of Europe and Asia.Objectives:In the present study, 40 male Wistar rats were randomly divided into five groups, and the effects of 21 days of intraperitoneally (IP) administration of 50, 200 and 400 mg/kg body weight of C. mas hydro-methanolic extract on the rats hematological and biochemical parameters were investigated. The experimental study was carried out in Tabriz, Iran.Materials and Methods:The hematology and biochemical tests were performed by the Technicon H1 Hematology Analyzer and enzymatic methods, respectively.Results:The results indicated that all doses of the extract caused significant (P < 0.05) decreases in the hemoglobin distribution width (HDW) (2.3 ± 0.2 vs. 2.5 ± 0.2, P = 0.049) and platelet distribution width (PDW) (56.5 ± 1.8 vs. 63.9 ± 3.6, P = 0.001) of the treated groups vs. control group, whereas only high doses caused significant elevation in the mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) (30.3 ± 0.8 vs. 28.6 ± 0.6, P = 0.047), mean platelet volume (MPV) (5.0 ± 0.6 vs. 4.1 ± 0.3, P = 0.002), total platelet mass (PCT) (0.33 ± 0.07 vs. 0.26 ± 0.01, P = 0.050), and significant decrease in the red cell distribution width (RDW) (13.8 ± 0.4 vs. 14.7 ± 1.3, P = 0.048) of the treated groups vs. control group.Conclusions:Decreasing effect of the extract on platelet activity might classify it as an alternative for antiplatelet therapy in cardiovascular diseases (CVD). The results of this study suggested that further investigations with higher doses of C. mas fruit extract are necessary to obtain significant protective and nonprotective changes in hematological and biochemical parameters.

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Glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) are an important family of multifunctional enzymes that play a role in the protection of tissues by the detoxification of hazardous and carcinogenic compounds. We found previously that Gstm6 is upregulated in the somatic cells of male mouse fetal gonads relative to female gonads. In this study, we describe the spatial and temporal expression pattern of Gstm6 during mouse development. We show that Gstm6 is predominantly expressed in the reproductive system, at significantly higher levels in XY gonads compared with XX gonads from 11.5 dpc onwards, and remains expressed in the testes in adult mice. Its expression is associated with the Sertoli cell lineage, and is dependent on the expression of the male sex-determining gene Sox9. Our data suggest that Gstm6 plays a male-specific role in gonad development or function, possibly by modulating the exposure of somatic tissue and/or germ cells to endogenous or exogenous toxicants.

Since gastric cancer (GC) is diagnosed at advanced stages, the survival rate is low in affected people. In this regard, investigating the mechanisms underlying GC development, are so critical. MiRNAs, which are small non coding RNAs, as a post transcriptional repressor, regulate expression of target genes by stimulating breakage or transcription suppression of their targets therefore aberrant expression of miRNAs leading to GC carcinogenesis. In the last decades, there have been various studies approving the pivotal role of miRNAs in various phases of GC development including cancer initiation, proliferation, migration, invasion, metastasis, angiogenesis, apoptosis, and drug resistance. Therefore, the present review aimed at summarizing the dysregulated miRNAs which contribute to various cellular and developmental mechanisms such as, proliferation, apoptosis, invasion, migration, and angiogenesis. Moreover, it provides an overview on novel miRNAs involved in drug resistance and circular miRNAs as cancer biomarkers. Thereafter, it is hoped that the present study will shed more light on diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers of GC, and potential GC treatments based on miRNAs.