Tehran University Medical Journal

Background: Stereologic methods are used to obtain quantitative information about three dimensional structures from histologic sections. The aim of present study was using new and unbiased stereological techniques to investigated changes in volume and number of glomeruli after chronic lead acetate intoxication. Lead is one of the heavy metals that have adverse effects on renal function. Its effects can involve both renal tubules as well as glomeruli. So many studies based on observation and qualitative reports. Some of which report changes in volume and number of glomeruli.

Materials and Methods: Male Wistar rats were randomly divided to four groups (n=9). During a period of 8 weeks, the treatment groups were given 0.5 percent and 1 percent lead acetate in drinking water and the control and sham control were given distilled water and 0.4 percent acetic acid solution respectively. Stereological analysis based on Cavalierie's principle was performed to determine the reference volume (VRefrence), the fraction volume of glomeruli (VVGlom) and total glomerular volume (VTGlom). Furthermore, for estimating the numerical density (NVGlom) and total number of glomeruli (NTGlom), the physical dissector was utilized.

Results: Results showed that the number of glomeruli in treatment group which received 1 percent lead acetate in drinking water decreased significantly (P<0.05), but no changes occurred in 0.5 percent group (P>0.05). On the other hand glomerular total volume in both 0.5 percent and 1 percent groups increased significantly in comparison to control and sham control groups (P=0.000).

Conclusion: This experiment is in agreement with other qualitative reports by using unbiased method of stereological methods and showed changes in volume and number of glomeruli following lead acetate intoxication.

Background: Cephalometry is one of the important branches of anthropometry that has wide uses in identification, forensic medicine, plastic surgery, orthodontics, archeology and determining the origins of races. This research was investigated to determine the head and face phenotypes among one-day newborn boys in two aborigines of Sistani and Baluchi who were resident in Zahedan.

Materials and Methods: The investigation is based on cross-sectional analytical descriptions of 420 newborn aborigine boys (216 Sistani & 204 Baluchi), who were clinically healthy, in Quds hospital in summer 1381, in Zahedan. In this study cephalic and prosopic indices were determined by classical cephalometric.

Results: The mean and the standard deviations of cephalic index were 83.67±4.80 and 83.64±4.77 and prosopic index 86.79±5.87 and 86.53±6.76 for Sistani and Baluchi subjects respectively. Based on the cephalic index, the dominant head types in sistani group were hyperbrachycephalic (37%) and brachycephalic (37%). In Blachui group, the hyperbrachycephalic (37.3%) and brachycephalic (35.3%) type were the dominant one. Furthermore, according to the prosopic index. The dominant face type among sistanis was euryprosopic type (42.6%). In Baluchi group, the dominant face type was also euryprosopic (39.2%).

Conclusion: This research showed no statistically significant differences in terms of head and face type indices between two aborigines of Zahedan. Based on this cross-sectional study, it seems that there is similarities between the aforementioned groups