Tehran University Medical Journal

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Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE AR-SA MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Background: Defective sperm function is now recognized as one of the most important causes of male infertility. Seminal plasma possesses a rich source of different enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants such as vitamin C (ascorbic acid) that protect spermatozoa against oxidative stress as one of the mediators of infertility causing sperm dysfunction and low sperm quality. The aim of this study was investigation of seminal total antioxidant capacity and determination of vitamin C effects on sperm motility.

Methods: We designed a case-control study with a total subject of 62 males. Sperm parameters were analyzed according to World Health Organization guidelines (WHO, 1999). Total antioxidant capacity and vitamin C level of seminal plasma were measured in the 32 normozoospermic as the control group and 32 asthenospermic men as the case group using FRAP (Ferric Reducing of Antioxidants Powers) and RP-HPLC (Reverse Phase High Performance Liquid Chromatography) methods, respectively.

Results: Our results indicated that total antioxidant capacity levels in the seminal plasma of asthenospermic men were significantly lower than healthy men (p=0.002). In addition, we found a positive correlation between reduced total antioxidant capacity levels and low sperm motility. Vitamin C levels of seminal plasma in asthenospermic men were statistically lower than control men (p=0.01).

Conclusions: It is suggested that asthenospermia could be related to an antioxidant deficiency or it&aposs reduction.

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Background: The current standard of adjuvant management for gastric cancer after curative resection based on the results of intergroup 0116 is concurrent chemoradiation. Current guidelines for designing these challenging fields still include two-dimensional simulation with simple AP-PA parallel opposed design. However, the implementation of radiotherapy (RT) remains a concern. Our objective was to compare three-dimensional (3D) techniques to the more commonly used AP-PA technique.
Methods: A total of 24 patients with stages II-IV adenocarcinoma of the stomach were treated with adjuvant postoperative chemoradiation with simple AP-PA technique, using Cobalt-60. Total radiation dose was 50.4Gy. Landmark-based fields were simulated to assess PTV coverage. For each patient, three additional radiotherapy treatment plans were generated using three-dimensional (3D) technique. The four treatment plans were then compared for target volume coverage and dose to normal tissues (liver, spinal cord, kidneys) using dose volume histogram (DVH) analysis.
Results: The three-dimensional planning techniques provided 10% superior PTV coverage compared to conventional AP-PA fields (p<0.001). Comparative DVHs for the right kidney, left kidney and spinal cord demonstrate lower radiation doses using the 3D planning techniques (p<0.0001), the liver dose is higher (p=0.03), but is still well below liver tolerance.
Conclusion: Despite the department protocol using conventional planning, 3D radiotherapy provides 10% superior PTV coverage. It is associated with reduced radiation doses to the kidneys and spinal cord compared to AP-PA techniques with the potential to reduce treatment toxicity.

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Background: Epidemiological studies have reported positive, negative, U-shaped or J-shaped association between high blood pressure and cognitive function as well as dementia whereas other studies have not reported any significant association. The aim of this study was to examine the association between hypertension and cognitive impairment in the elderly residents of Kahrizak Charity Foundation (KCF).

Methods: This cross sectional study was done in Kahrizak Charity Foundation in suburban areas of Tehran, Iran during 2008. The data were collected over one week. Among the 850 elderly residents of the Foundation who were ≥ 65 years old, 185 individuals were chosen randomly. The Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) was completed for all. Mean of all blood pressure readings were recorded while anthropometric and biochemical measurements were performed.

Results: The findings indicated that in participants with cognitive impairment, systolic blood pressure, diastolic and mean blood pressures were higher than people with normal cognitive function but the differences were not significant statistically. The odds ratio of cognitive impairment in patients with and without hypertension was 1.52 and 1.58, respectively (P>0.05).

Conclusion: This study did not show any significant association between hypertension and cognitive impairment in the elderly residents of Kahrizak Charity Foundation.

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Background: Microangiopathy and macroangiopathy frequently coexist in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Both types of the vascular complications share traditional risk factors but it is not clear whether the presence of microangiopathy, such as diabetic retinopathy, constitutes a predictor of atherosclerosis in carotid arteries in patients with the disease. In this study we looked for the association between diabetic retinopathy and intima-media thickness in carotid arteries of patients with T2DM.

Methods: In this case-control study we examined 100 consecutive patients with T2DM in Rasoul Akram Hospital in Tehran, Iran during 2009-2010. We assessed intima-media thickness of carotid arteries by ultrasonography. All patients underwent ophthalmo-logic examination.

Results: Diabetic retinopathy was found in 50 (50%) patients. Intima-media thickness was higher in patients with diabetic retinopathy than those without it (0.77±0.17 mm vs. 0.71±0.2 mm, respectively, P=0.041). Moreover, intima-media thickness was more prevalent in patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy than patients with non-proliferative form of the disease (0.87±0.16 mm vs. 0.68±0.1 mm, respectively, P<0.001).

Conclusion: Diabetic retinopathy seems to be associated with increased intima-media thickness of carotid arteries in T2DM. It may be a common denominator of pathogene-sis of microvascular complications and atherosclerosis in T2DM. Evaluations of carotid arteries are to be done by non-invasive methods such as color Doppler sonography for screening and preventing prospective cereberovascular accidents in patients with diabetic retinopathy, especially proliferative retinopathy, in routine ophthalmological examination of patients with T2DM.

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Background: Intracranial lipomas are rare benign neoplasms that comprise 1% of all primary brain tumors. Generally, occur in midline structure and usually identified incidentally on CT scans or in autopsies. The incidence of intracranial lipomas is about 0.08 to 0.46% on autopsies. These benign lesions are slow-growing, usually asymptomatic and rarely require surgery.

Case Presentation: We report a 20 years old male who complained of headache since two years ago. On CT examination, a quadrigeminal cistern lipoma without any pressure effect on neural structures demonstrated. His headache remitted with conservative measures. Here, we have a review on the literature and explain CT scan and MRI findings.

Conclusion: According to the literature and present case, it seems that direct surgical excision of tumor is not justified in the majority of cases and symptoms of patients greatly respond to conservative measures and, at most, in cases of hydrocephalus, CSF shunting relieves their symptoms.

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Background: Primary culture takes place following the cell isolation from tissues. Isolation and culture of melanocytes based on their roll in the protection of body against hazardous sun rays, production of skin, cornea and hair color is really important. This study was done to set isolation, culture and proliferation of melanocytes from children foreskin and adult eyelashes, and also comparison of two types of melanocyte culture medium.
Methods: Human foreskin and eyelash samples were used for melanocyte isolation and culture. After isolation of epidermis from dermis, epidermis cell suspensions were prepared by enzymatic digestion. The isolated cells were cultured in two melanocyte selective culture media. Immunocytochemistary and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assays were used for confirmation of isolated and cultured melanocytes.
Results: Our results indicated that isolated melanocyte cultured in the selective medium without phorbol esters is better than the melanocytes cultured in selective medium cont-aining phorbol esters not only morphologically but also physiologically and from the aspect of cell adhesion. In addition, the results showed that isolated melanocyte from adult eyelashes are more dendritic than melanocytes isolated from children foreskin. Conversely, our results indicated that the number of cell passages in melanocyte isolat-ed from foreskin is more than melanocytes isolated from adult eyelashes.
Conclusion: Melanocytes cultured in selective medium containing convenient growth factors in absence of phorbol esters show more native physiological and adhesive properties. In addition, melanocyte isolated from younger tissues such as foreskin have better proliferative and sub-culturing properties so we suggest isolation and culture of younger tissues.

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Background: Vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) plays an important role in modulating coronary blood flow and heart rate. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of eight weeks of low intensity aerobic exercise on plasma levels of VIP hormone, blood pressure and heart rate in healthy elderly men and women, and patients with coronary artery disease (CAD).
Methods: In this study, 15 healthy women and 15 healthy men and 15 female and 15 male with CAD disease were randomly chosen as the experimental and control groups. Subjects did aerobic exercises tree days/week, for eight weeks, with the heart rate of 10010 beats per minute. Blood samples were taken from each subject in three stages, (before, immediately after and 24 hours after the 8 weeks of exercising).
Results: The results showed that there was a significant difference among plasma VIP levels in the four groups. Moreover, a significant difference was observed between the systolic blood pressure in the four groups (P=0.01) and the systolic blood pressure in male patients and healthy women (P=0.03) while there was no meaningful difference the systolic blood pressure in the two other groups. There was also a significant difference in the heart rate of the three rounds of sampling in the three of groups (P=0.002) but no significant difference was observed in healthy men.
Conclusion: According to the above results, it seems that the duration and intensity of each workout should be considered to reach the VIP stimulation threshold. It may bring about considerable changes in VIP levels.

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Background: Prostate cancer is the third leading cause of death and is the most common cause of cancer in elderly men. Regarding to the low accuracy of screening methods such as prostate-specific antigen (PSA), Digital Rectal Examination (DRE) and trans rectal ultrasound (TRUS) in detection and localization of tumor, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Diffusion Weighted Imaging (DWI) attracted many attentions in the past years. DWI reveals micro-molecular diffusion, which is the Brownian motion of the spins in biologic tissues. This technique can delineate pathologic lesions with high tissue contrast against generally suppressed background signal. In this paper, the value of DWI in detection of prostate cancer is studied.
Methods: In this cross-sectional study, the studied population are suspicious patients to prostate cancer based on high Prostatic Specific Antigen level or abnormal Digital Rectal Examination who refered for prostate biopsy to radiology department of Hazrat-e- Rasoul Hospital during the year 2011. The results of DWI are compared to biopsy results for all patients.
Results: Eighty five patients are selected. The DWI sensitivity in detecting of prostate cancer is 100%, specificity 97.1% and positive and negative predictive values are 89.5% and 100%, respectively. The results showed that if DWI reports the prostate cancer as negative, the result was highly reliable and if it reports as positive, although the report was not 100% reliable, but it still had high reliability, more than 90%.
Conclusion: DWI had high accuracy in detecting prostate cancer for patients with cancer. Also the accuracy of this method for patients without prostate cancer was acceptable compared to the other common methods.

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Background: Damages caused by scald burns are common and can cause severe complications and death. The purpose of this study was to define risk groups and then methods of prevention and treatment is designed to fit.

Methods: Data for this retrospective study of hospitalized patients in Shahid Motahari Hospital in Tehran from 2007-2011 were compiled. Data including age, sex, cause of burn, and degree of burn and ultimate fate of the victims were collected from scald burns. Burns caused by boiling water and hot food (Scald) , in two age groups : 12 and under 12 years ( children) and more than 12 years ( adults) were compared in terms of statistics .

Results: A total of 1150 patients consisting of males (57.9%) and females (42.1%) were studied. The most common age was 1 year old and 50% of patients were under 3 years of age. 87.9% burned with boiling water and 12.1% had experienced burns with hot food. Incentive to burn was 0.3% cross burning and 99.7% incident. A maximum number of burns in children 12 years and younger males (42.1%) and a minimum number in men over 12 years (15.7%) were observed. Mean percentage of burns was 11% in over 12 years group and 30.9% in 12 and under 12 years group. The average hospital stay was 11.4 days and the mortality rate was 4.8%. The final status of the patients was as fallows: full recovery 904 cases (78.6%), partial recovery 134 (11.7%), clearance with personal consent 41 (3.6%), death 55 (4.8%) and 16 cases (3.1%) were among other reasons.

Conclusion: In general it can be said, scald burns incidence in individuals aged 12 and younger were more than the older ones and the mean of burns was lower in individuals with over 12 years old. There was a sexual preference for males under 12 years. Mortality rate in the two groups has not any statistically significant difference. There was no statistically significant association between sex and mortality rate. Some of our findings are depending on cultural, social and economic conditions, so generalized this findings to other geographical areas should be done with caution.

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Background: Acquired paralysis of the diaphragm is a condition caused by trauma, surgical injuries, (lung cancer surgery, esophageal surgery, cardiac surgery, thoracic surgery), and is sometimes of an unknown etiology. It can lead to dyspnea and can affect ventilatory function and patients activity. Diaphragmatic plication is a treatment method which decreases inconsistent function of diaphragm. The aim of this study is to evaluate the outcome of diaphragmatic plication in patients with acquired unilateral non-malignant diaphragmatic paralysis. Methods: From 1991 to 2011, 20 patients with acquired unilateral diaphragmatic paralysis who underwent surgery enrolled in our study in Ghaem Hospital Mashhad University of Medical Science. Patients were evaluated in terms of age, sex, BMI, clinical symptoms, dyspnea score (DS), etiology of paralysis, diagnostic methods, respiratory function tests and complication of surgery. Some tests including dyspnea score were carried out again six months after surgery. We evaluated patients with SPSS version 11.5 and Paired t-test or nonparametric equivalent. Results: Twenty patients enrolled in our study. 14 were male and 6 were female. The mean age was 58 years and the average time interval between diagnosis to surgical treatment was 38.3 months. Acquired diaphragmatic paralysis was mostly caused by trauma (in 11 patients) and almost occurred on the left side (in 15 patients). Diagnostic methods included chest x-ray, CT scan, ultrasonography and sniff. Test prior to surgery the average FVC was 41.4±7 percent and the average FEV1 was 52.4±6 percent and after surgery they were 80.1±8.6 percent and 74.4±1 percent respectively. The average increase in FEV1 and FVC 63.4±4, 61.1±7.8. Performing surgery also leads to a noticeable improvement in dyspnea score in our study. Conclusion: In patients with acquired unilateral non-malignant diaphragm paralysis diaphragmatic plication is highly recommended due to the remarkable improvement in respiratory function tests and dyspnea score without mortality and acceptable morbidity.

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Background: Androgenetic alopecia (AGA) is the most common type of progressive balding that appears with early loss of hair, chiefly from the vertex. There has been significant relationship between AGA with coronary artery disease and related risk factors, such as hypertension in some studies. The aim of this study is to investigate the association between androgenetic alopecia with hyperlipidemia.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 112 patients with vertex type AGA (in male grade 3 or higher Hamilton- Norwood scale, and in female grade 2 or higher Ludwig scale) (study group) and 115 persons age and sex matched, with normal hair status (Normal group). None of participants had diabetes mellitus, hypothyroidism, liver disease, kidney disease and none of them had history of smoking and using drugs with effect on serum lipids. They were 20-35 years old and their body mass index were 20-30. Blood samples were obtained following 12 hours fasting status and serum levels of triglyceride (TG), cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) were determined using standard laboratory methods. Total cholesterol greater than 240 or TG greater than 200 or LDL greater than 160 or HDL less than 40 in men or HDL less than 50 in women were considered hyperlipidemia.
Results: In androgenetic alopecia group 46.4% and 47% of normal group were female. Mean (±SE) of total cholesterol (172.4±3.1, 148.8±3.1, P< 0.001), TG (133.6±5.5, 88.3±4.3, P< 0.001), LDL (96.4±2.9, 84.9±2.7, P= 0.004) and HDL (54.9±2.0, 45.5±0.9, P< 0.001) in AGA patients were higher than normal group. %46.4 of patients and %52.2 of controls had hyperlipidemia. Relationship between AGA with hyperlipidemia was not significant (P> 0.05).
Conclusion: The findings showed that there is no relationship between AGA and hyperlipidemia. Regarding to high levels of total cholesterol, LDL and triglyceride in AGA patients, it seems that, AGA increases risk of coronary heart disease. To determine a definite association between AGA and hyperlipidemia more studies are recommended.

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Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common endocrine disorder in women of reproductive age. Chronic infections have been mentioned as one of the different etiologic factors related to PCOS. Due to the high prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection especially in developing countries, its probable role in the pathogenesis of PCOS and the limited information available in this area, serologic study of H.Pylori infection in patients with PCOS, was performed. Methods: This research was performed as a case control study from Dec 2010 until May 2012 in 82 patients (and their spouses) with polycystic ovary syndrome (case group) and 82 non PCOS patients (control group) with an age range of 20-40 referred to Vali-e-Asr Hospital infertility clinic. Both groups and their husbands filled a questionnaire and were examined by testing their serum H.Pylori IgG and IgA antibody levels. Statistical testing and analysis was performed by t-student and λ2 tests. Results: Mean age of the women and men and also other demographic characteristics except their profession showed no significant difference (P>0.05) in the two groups (PCOS and non PCOS). H.Pylori antibody IgG serum level was positive in 78% and 76.5% and H.Pylori antibody IgA level in 30.5% and 37% of PCOS versus non PCOS patients respectively which showed no statistically significant difference (P>0.05). There was also no significant difference between the H.Pylori antibodies levels in the spouses in the two groups (P>0.05). Conclusion: This study showed no significant difference in serologic examination re-sults in PCOS versus non PCOS patients. The finding of high prevalence of H.Pylori IgG and IgA positive levels in both PCOS and non PCOS patients can be probably re-lated to the high prevalence of H.Pylori infection or exposure in Iranian population and therefore suggest an issue for further investigation.

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Background: Normal vaginal delivery is the best method of delivery. Vaginal delivery is followed by the best pregnancy outcomes. Reducing the rate of cesarean delivery has been a health goal for the United States with economic and social advantages. This study has been conducted with aim of maternal and neonatal outcomes of Normal Vaginal Delivery (NVD) and comparing with cesarean delivery. Methods: This descriptive- analytic study was conducted in Ghaem University Hospital in Mashhad during years 2007 until 2013. Five hundred thirty six full term infants aged 3- 14 day, born either by NVD as control group or cesarean delivery as case group par-ticipated in this study. Sampling was a convenient method. The data in questionnaire containing maternal information (maternal age, mode of delivery, maternal weight, du-ration of delivery, duration of maternal hospitalization, let down reflex, breast feeding status) and neonatal information (age, sex, Apgar score, urination frequency and defe-cation frequency) were collected by a researcher. Results: According to the findings of this study, the infant’s age (P=0.425), admission weight (P=0.278), jaundice access (P=0.162), urination frequency (P=0.165), maternal weight (P=0.869) showed no statistically significant difference between two delivery methods. Time of the first breast feeding after childbirth (P=0.000), defecation fre-quency (P=0.000), maternal age (P=0.000), maternal parity (P=0.003), duration of de-livery (P=0.000), duration of maternal hospitalization (P=0.025), feeding position (P=0.029), let down reflex (P=0.012), mastitis (P=0.025) and breast problems (P=0.027) showed statistically significant difference between the groups. It means defecation frequency, duration of maternal hospitalization, Apgar score, mastitis and breast problems were more in cesarean group, but early breast feeding after delivery, duration of delivery, proper breastfeeding position and let down reflex were more in NVD group. Conclusion: The results of this study showed in comparison with cesarean delivery, normal vaginal delivery provides better outcomes in terms of breast problems, breast feeding status, duration of labor and duration of maternal hospitalization for both mother and infant. So, adopting careful instructions in management and administration of deliveries will help the prevalence of making decisions for normal vaginal delivery and the recovery of delivery outcomes.

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Background: Toxoplasma gondii, is a mandatory intracellular protozoa, that many people worldwide are infected with. In children, the infection enters central nervous system and leads to inflammation of the gray matter. Autism, is a complex develop-mental disorder, altering social communication, with unknown origin. Neuropathologi-cal changes in autism are the same as those occurred in brain toxoplasmosis. The objective of this survey was to evaluate positive serology of toxoplasma gondii, in autistic children. Methods: This case-control study was done on 3-12 years old children, referring to the neurology and psychiatry sub-special clinics of Baqiyatallah hospital and also autistic children of Omid-e Asr and Navid-e Asr general rehabilitation centers in Tehran, Iran. The study performed at 2012-2013. Forty autistic children were placed in the case group and 40 children, suffering from no neuropsychiatric disease or other ones, were placed in the control group. A folder, containing demographic data, type of the disor-der, onset of diagnosis and child characteristics at birth, such as time of birth (preterm/ term) fulfilled for each child. Sampling was done with 5 ml blood, for determining IgM and IgG antibody levels against toxoplasma gondii, using ELISA method. Data ana-lyzed by the software SPSS ver. 17 and descriptive and analytic analysis were done, us-ing central and dispersion indexes and also chi-Square test. Results: The autistic group contained 34 boys and 6 girls (85 and 15 percent respectively), with the average age of 6 (±2.71) years old [minimum of 2.33 and maximum of 12]. The average age at the time of diagnosis was 4.01 (±1.87) years old. 87. The non-autistic group contained 17 boys and 23 girls (42.5 and 57.5 percent respectively), with the average age of 5.67 (±3.09) years old [minimum of two and maximum of 12]. IgM and IgG serology of all autistic children were negative, while in non-autistic group, 2.5 percent (1 child) were positive and 97.5 percent (39 ones) were negative. There were no statistically significant difference among these two groups according to the serology results. (P=0.31). Conclusion: There was no statistically significant difference in comparing positive se-rology of toxoplasmosis, between the two groups. However, to obtain a perfect result, a larger sample size are required.

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Background: The rate of using firearm in criminal acts, even in countries with strict le-gal controls on these weapons is increasing. The most common methods of homicides and suicides are using firearm in United States. In this study we aimed to evaluate the epidemiology of gunshot bodies referred to Forensic Medicine. Methods: Information about firearm-related injuries in autopsy hall of Forensic Medi-cine center in Tehran during 2011-2012 were evaluated from patients’ documents. Necessary information including age, sex, education, employment, drug and alcohol addiction, as well as information related to shot such as suicide or homicidal, shoot number (incoming bullets), shot location, type of firearm, organ damage, shot distance and location of the incident were extracted and analyzed using SPSS version 16. Results: In this cross sectional study, 38 deaths were identified. These were over-whelmingly males (100%) with mean age of 32.4 (SD= 6.57). The typical entrance wound sites in suicides were the head (42.2%) and chest (24.3%) and abdomen (5.4%) and limb (2.7%) and others (48.6%). place a bullet in the head, 16 (42.2 %), chest 9 (24.3%), the abdomen, 2 cases (5.4%), an organ (2.7%) and hit a different place (9 cas-es 24.3 percent). Brain damaged in 18 cases (84.6%) and lung 5 (13.5%) and 12 (32.4%) and several organs were damaged. The typical entrance wound sites in suicides were the head (42.2%) and chest (24.3%) and abdomen (5.4%) and limb (2.7%) and others (48.6%). This total included 33% attempted or completed suicides, and 47.5% assaults/homicides The scene of disaster were the 12 patients (50%) outdoors, 8 (33.3%) at home and in 4 cases (16.7%) at work. Conclusion: Based on results of this study, age of victims is higher than previously ob-served patterns, such as gender of victims, location of shots, type of weapon used is different with international reports due to differences in availability of Iranian weapons and cultural differences. The results of this study can be a base for other investigations’s changes in trends of total firearm death rates, mass fatal shooting incidents, rates of firearm homicide, suicide and unintentional firearm deaths, and of total homicides and suicides.

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Background: Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer in the world. Non-coding RNA especially miRNAs have important regulatory roles in cancer. miRNAs are small non coding RNA 21-23 nucleotides long which have different levels of expression between tumors and normal tissues. This study was designed to compare expression level of miRNA-21 between Iranian population colorectal cancer tissues and normal tissue. Methods: This case-control study has performed in medical genetics department of Tehran University of Medical Sciences from January to November 2013. We used 35 samples. The samples were isolated from tumor and adjacent normal tissues of colon. Thirty-five samples were divided into different groups according to cliniopathologic features including tumor size (>4 and <4 cm), metastasis (+ and -) and stage. After small RNA extraction from tissues by small RNA purification kit the quality and quan-tity of extracted RNA was determined using spectrophotometry. cDNAs were synthe-sized and real-time polymerase chain reaction carried out. Finally expression levels were statistically analyzed by LinRegPCR and REST software. Results: miRNA-21 expression ratio in stages I, II and III were 1/804 and 4/574, re-spectively, the increase from stage III was statistically significant (P= 0.037). The ex-pression were also studied according to different clinicopathologic status of colon can-cer, tumor size (>4 and <4 cm) and metastatic (+ and -), miRNA-21 over expressed in both groups, however the increase was not statistically significant. Conclusion: In this study, we found miR-21 over-expression in advanced stage in tu-moral tissue comparing with normal adjacent tissue. This means perhaps in the future it would be possible to use miRNA-21 as an informative prognostic biomarker to guide for better treatment strategies for colorectal cancer patients. Our findings also indicate that miRNA-21 is a promising new molecular target for designing novel therapeutic strategies to control colorectal cancer.

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Background: Stem cells are applied in the treatment of wide range of diseases and can be separated from different tissues of the body. These cells can treat diseases by cytokine and growth factor secretion and also cell differentiation. Burn wound is a challenging problem of reconstructive surgery and stem cells may help wound healing process. We designed this study to evaluate the beneficial effect of fat derived stem cells for coverage of 3rd degree burn wound. Methods: This study was experimental and has been done in Burn Research Center of Iran University of Medical Sciences during January 2012 to April 2013. Thirty rats randomly divided to three equal groups. Inguinal fat of 10 rats (one group) were used for preparation of autologous adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells. Acellular amnion was used as a scaffold for stem cell transfer. Each of the thirty rats had been exposed to a cm deep 3rd degree burn on back area. 24 hours after surgery, the wound was excised and it had been covered by three methods: conventional dressing in the first group, acellular amnion in the second group and acellular amnion seeded with adipose-derived stem cell in the third group. The rate of wound healing and pathologic characteristics was compared in all three groups. Results: Healing rate and decrease in wounds size was significantly better in acellular amnion seeded with adipose-derived stem cells compared with other two groups at 3rd and 15th days after surgery P<0.01. Also in histopathology examination, fibroplasia and neovascularization of wounds were significantly better in stem cells group than the other two groups P<0.001. Conclusion: Acellular amnion seeded with adipose-derived stem cell can result in faster wound healing and better histopathology characteristic. The amnion as a scaffold and the fat derived stem cells as healing accelerator are recommended for coverage of the 3rd degree burn wounds after excision and it may reduce the need for skin graft.

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Background: Gonadotropins are commonly used for superovulation in human and animals to retrieve more oocyte and increase chance of pregnancy. Ovarian stimulation in assisted reproduction technology produces lower implantation rates per embryo transferred than natural and ovum donation cycles, suggesting suboptimal endometrial development due to the hormones used to recruit more oocytes. Due to the frequent use of gonadotropins in the treatment of infertility in successive periods, the aim of this study was to determine the endometrial changes in response to repeated ovarian stimulation. Methods: This experimental interventional study has done in research center of Hamadan university of medical sciences in 2012. NMRI female mice six weeks old were used in this study and divided into 7 groups (5 each). The mice in group 1, 2, 3 and 4 received 1, 2, 3 and 4 times pregnant mare serum gonadotropin (PMSG) and 48 hours later 7.5 IU human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) respectively. For each group were considered a control group which received on time gonadortropin injection. The mouses were killed 13-16 hours after hCG injection and middle part of uterine horn cut for histological study using Hematoxylin and Eosin staining. The parameters that studied were surface epithelium of endometrium, glandular epithelium, and endometrial height and axis of uterine gland. Results: Our results showed that there are no significant differences in glandular epithelium, axis of glands and height of endometrium in experimental groups (P>0.05). The height of surface epithelium showed significant increases after ovarian stimulation in experiment group (P≤0.03). Our results showed that there are no significant differences in glandular epithelium, axis of glands, height of endometrium and height of surface epithelium between control groups and also it's experimental group (P>0.05). Conclusion: Changes in the height of surface epithelium could be one of the reasons for decrease implantation rates with repeated ovarian stimulation.

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Background: Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) occurs in both sporadic (75%) and hereditary (25%) forms. The missense mutations of the rearranged during transfection (RET) proto-oncogene in MTC development have been well demonstrated. Several studies have been published that indicate the molecular analysis of RET gene may offer early identification of those patients at high risk to develop MTC and may provide the opportunity for early intervention. The aim of this study was to investigate frequency of G691S/S904S haplotype in MTC patients and their relatives. Methods: From 2004 to 2014, 358 participants were studied, including 213 patients (119 female, 94 male) and 145 their relatives (79 female, 66 male) in cellular and molecular research center of Shahid Beheshti Research Institute for Endocrine Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood leucocytes using the standard Salting Out/Proteinase K method. Nucleotide change detection was performed using PCR and direct DNA sequencing methods. The RET mutations and SNPs, sequences were analyzed. Results: According to DNA sequencing results, 189 individuals (119 patients, 70 relatives) had both G691S (rs1799939) missense mutation in exon11 and S904S (rs1800863) synonymous mutation in exon 15 of RET proto-oncogene. The allele frequency of G691S/S904S haplotype was 35.02% in patients and 29.92% in their relatives. Conclusion: The obtained data showed the frequency of G691S/S904S RET gene haplotype among Iranian MTC patients and their relatives. The G691S and S904S nucleotide changes were in complete linkage disequilibrium, so the results were grouped together and referred to as G691S/S904S haplotype. This haplotype are not considered as oncogenic mutations at this time, its functional role should be investigated. Further analysis is needed to demonstrate the association between this haplotype and MTC development.

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Background: Gestational diabetes is associated with increased risk of congenital heart disease in neonates. The study was performed to evaluate the cardiac parameters in neonates of mothers with abnormal glucose tolerance test (GTT) and compare them with data of normal newborn. Methods: In a cross-sectional study in Amiralmomenin Hospital, Semnan City, Iran from April to October 2013, two groups of infants were eligible for the study. Sampling was performed in succession for the infants who were eligible. Echocardiography was performed for the babies on the second day, and cardiac parameters including interventricular septal diameter, left ventricular shortening fraction and mass, left ventricular posterior wall thickness, aortic and left atrial diameter were measured. Maternal glycemic control and HbA1c were measured indicators. Analysis with the SPSS software version 16, the Student’s t-test, Mann-Whitney and Chi-square test were performed. Results: Thirty five newborn infants of mothers with impaired GTT and newborn of 33 healthy women were studied. Birth weight, maternal age and HbA1c among infants of mothers with impaired GTT were greater than the control group (P=0.003 and P=0.000 and P=0.000 respectively). Diastolic and systolic ventricular septal thickness, ratio of diastolic ventricular septal thickness to diastolic diameter of the left ventricular posterior wall, the aortic diameter and left ventricular outflow tract diameter in infants of mothers with impaired GTT were significantly increased in comparison to data of the normal group (P=0.008, P=0.034, P=0.016, P=0.017 and P=0.020 respectively). No significant difference was reported in other diameters. Conclusion: Gestational diabetes mellitus results in changes of echocardiographic findings particularly relevant in diastolic ventricular septal thickness. The increase in wall thickness especially during diastole, is associated with pathological cardiac hypertrophy. Based on the results of the present study, cardiac hypertrophy can be related to gestational diabetes. Poor control of disease may cause or aggravate the process.