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Showing 131 results for Mehdi

Soudeh Ghafouri-Fard , Mehdi Dianatpour , Seyed Mohammad Bagher Tabei, Mohammad Miryounesi ,
Volume 74, Issue 11 (February 2017)
Abstract

Background: Mental retardation is defined as impaired mental capacity and ability to comply with environmental and social conditions. Chromosomal abnormalities are the most important causes of mental retardation. Carriers of balanced chromosomal translocation are phenotypically normal, although they may be at risk of infertility, recurrent miscarriage or giving birth to mentally retarded children. These abnormalities are caused because chromosomes participated in the reciprocal translocations produce quadrivalents at meiosis. These quadrivalents segregate and lead to several different meiotic outcomes, just two of which are normal or balanced.

Case Presentation: A consanguineous family with three mentally retarded daughters at the ages of 24, 18 and 10 years was referred to Comprehensive Medical Genetics Centre, Shiraz, Iran in 2015. Family history showed a case of unexplained infant death as well as a spontaneous abortion. Three survived siblings had hypotonia and severe developmental delay during infantile period. In addition, they suffer from primary amenorrhea. Two siblings have vesicoureteral reflux (VUR). Cytogenetic analysis of two patients showed 46,XX,t(6;12)(q23;q22),der(9)t(8;9)(q24;p24) with partial monosomy of chromosome 9 and partial trisomy of 8q24 segment, while the other patient had 46,XX,der(12)t(6;12)(q23;q22) with partial monosomy of 12q22qter and partial trisomy of 6q23qter segment. Their mother had two balanced chromosomal translocations (46, XX, t(6,12)(q21;q22), t(8,9)(q24;p24)).

Conclusion: The above presented case is another example for the rare occurrence of double balanced chromosomal translocations in a phenotypically normal person. Although the most important causes of mental retardation in consanguineous marriages are autosomal recessive disorders, the role of chromosomal aberrations in mental retardation in these families must not be neglected. In other words, cytogenetic studies should be performed as a first line test in either situation.


Marjan Zarif Yeganeh , Samira Kabiri , Sara Sheikholeslami , Hosna Hesanmanesh , Mehdi Hedayati ,
Volume 74, Issue 12 (March 2017)
Abstract

Background: Thyroid carcinoma is the most common endocrine malignancy. Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) approximately accounts for 5-10% of all thyroid carcinoma. Nowadays, it is obviously, the mutations in REarranged during transfection (RET) proto-oncogene, especially, mutations in exons 10, 11 and 16 are associated with MTC pathogenesis and occurrence. Thus, early diagnosis of MTC by mutation detection in RET proto-oncogene allows to identify patients who do not have any developed symptoms. The aim of this study was to screening of germline mutations in RET proto-oncogene exons 17 and 18 in MTC patients and their first degree relatives in Iranian population.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, three hundred eleven participates (190 patients, 121 their relatives) were referred to endocrine research center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Science during September 2013 until September 2015. The inclusion criteria were pathological and clinical diagnosis. After whole blood sampling, genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood leucocytes using the standard Salting Out/Proteinase K method. Nucleotide change detection in exons 17 and 18 was performed using PCR and direct DNA sequencing methods.

Results: In this study, twenty missense mutations [CGC>TGC, c.2944C>T, p.Arg982Cys (rs17158558)] which included 16 heterozygote and 4 homozygote mutations were found in codon 982 (exon 18). In the present study, 154 G>A (rs2742236) and 4 C>T (rs370072408) nucleotide changes were detected in exons 18 and intron 17 respectively. There was no mutation in exon 17.

Conclusion: It seems that because of arginine to cysteine substitutions in RET tyrosine kinase protein structure and its polyphen score (0.955) and SIFT score (0.01) the mutation in codon 982 (exon 18) could be have pathogenic effects. On the other hands, the mentioned mutation frequency was 6.4% among MTC patients, so this mutation of exon 18 could be checked in genetic screening tests of RET proto-oncogene. Although this needs more study.


Razieh Akbari, Mehdi Aghili,
Volume 75, Issue 3 (June 2017)
Abstract

Background: Cancer is a major life-threatening disease that can evoke deep-rooted fear of death and sense of loss of hope. Even the word, cancer, has powerful connotations of anxiety, pain and suffering. Cancer has a great impact on patients’ lives, so the extent to which physicians should inform them of the diagnosis poses a difficult decision in clinical settings. Therefore, truth telling is one of the most important issues in patients- physicians’ relationship. Besides the ethical aspect, telling or not telling the truth has some legal aspects, therefore, it is important to know the effective factors and understand how to deal with this issue especially for incurable diseases such as cancer. Therefore, the aim of this research was to analyses the effective factors in physician’s truth telling to cancer-patients.

Methods: The samples of this descriptive and analytical study, (survey study) consist of 161 cancer-specialists from Tehran University of Medical Sciences who have been selected by simple random sampling method in 2015 and 2016. The data was obtained by survey approach and the data collected using a questionnaire. In order to evaluate the validity and reliability of the research, expert’s opinion and Cronbach alpha coefficient have been used. The questionnaire included scales designed to measure attitude, intention, subjective norms; perceived behavior control. Statistical package for social science software (SPSS) were used to analyses the data. T-test and ANOVA were used to compare groups.

Results: Fifty-nine hudred percent male and 41% female physicians took part in this study. The average age of the participants was 43.4±11.27 years. The best person for truth-telling was physician and psychologist. Results showed that there was no significant difference between attitudes of male and female specialist but there was significant difference between oncologist and non-oncologist tendency to tell the truth. Results also showed that there was difference between physician’s behaviors (average 8.87). There was difference between behavior of private and public-private sectors physicians (62.8).

Conclusion: Although the results show that there are differences in specialists’ attitude toward truth telling, it is not a good reason for not telling the truth. Although the physicians should consider several factors when telling the truth.


Mohammad Mehdi Soltan Dallal, Shirin Nezamabadi, Jalal Mardaneh, Zahra Rajabi, Abolfazl Sirdani,
Volume 75, Issue 3 (June 2017)
Abstract

Background: In recent years, use of powdered infant formula (PIF) milk for neonates feed is increasing; therefore, the quality control (QC) of PIF products is very important. The aim of present study was detection of toxigenic Bacillus cereus species in PIF milk using PCR assay.

Methods: The cross-sectional study was carried out on 125 samples of powdered infant formula milk (PIF) purchased between March 2015 and April 2016 in Department of Pathobiology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Briefly, 0.1 dilutions were prepared and inoculated on Bacillus cereus selective media (MYP) and incubated at 30 °C for 24 hours. The suspicious colonies were verified using biochemical tests based on standard methods. Final confirmation of studied isolates was carried out by ITS gene detection using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay. Presence of nonhemolytic enterotoxin (NHE) (linked to diarrhoea syndrome) and emetic toxin (EM) (linked to emetic syndrome) virulence genes were investigated using polymerase chain reaction assay. 

Results: In this study, of 125 PIF samples, 84 (67.2%) were contaminated. Of various recovered bacteria from these samples, 110 bacterial isolates were suspected to be Bacillus spp. using phenotypic methods. The ITS PCR results showed that 91.8% of the isolates were B. cereus. Respectively, 53.63 and 79% of B. cereus isolates possessed NHE and EM virulence genes.

Conclusion: Our data revealed that near 80% of Bacillus cereus isolates have emetic toxin (EM) gene, as result virulence potency of this isolates is very high. However, the low number of this organisms in foods is very important and food safety protocols for these opportunistic toxigenic bacteria should be revised. Since the pasteurization process is ineffective on B. cereus spores; therefore, spores can remain in PIF milk and the vegetative bacterial cells can cause food poisoning in neonates. Therefore, modification of foods quality control protocols is essential in order to identify virulence genes in this bacterium.


Samira Ehyayi , Mehdi Hedayati , Marjan Zarif Yeganeh , Sara Sheikholeslami , Sayed Asadollah Amini,
Volume 75, Issue 6 (September 2017)
Abstract

Background: Thyroid carcinoma is the most common endocrine malignancy and approximately accounts 2% of all cancer cases. Medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) is an endocrine tumor with differentiation of Parafollicular or C-cells and is categorized into hereditary or sporadic types. Medullary thyroid carcinoma approximately accounts for 5-10% of all thyroid carcinoma. Germ-line and somatic mutations in exons 10 and 11 RET (Rearranged during Transfection) proto-oncogene are responsible for the occurrence of the familial and sporadic types, respectively. Calcitonin is a key marker in MTC diagnose and has been demonstrated to be highly sensitive for differential diagnosis prognostic assessment, follow-up and evaluation of MTC treatment. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between plasma levels of calcitonin in MTC patients with or without RET mutation.
Methods: In this cross-sectional study, the population consist of MTC patients who have referred to the endocrine and metabolism research center of Shahid Beheshti University of medical sciences since October 2013 till October 2016. Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood leucocytes using the standard salting out/proteinase K method. Nucleotide change detection in exons 10 and 11 was performed using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and direct DNA sequencing methods. Participants were then divided into two groups with or without mutation (43 individuals in each group). Plasma calcitonin levels were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method in both groups.
Results: Evaluation of the level of plasma calcitonin in 43 patients with a molecular mutation in RET proto-oncogene (mean age 31 years) and 43 patients without molecular mutations in RET proto-oncogene (mean age 43 years) were 7.6 pmol/mL and 3.07 pmol/mL respectively. This difference is statistically significant (P=0.0014).
Conclusion: Routine measurement of calcitonin has been investigated as a screening method for the diagnosis of medullary thyroid carcinoma patients. Nevertheless, additional data are required to definitely support routine measurement of calcitonin due to the role of RET proto-oncogene.

Hoda Rezaie , Ahmad Naghibzadeh-Tahami, Mohammad Mehdi Bagheri ,
Volume 75, Issue 6 (September 2017)
Abstract

Background: The prevalence of gestational diabetes is increasing among pregnant women. It is associated with an increased risk of congenital heart disease, including hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of maternal diabetes control (based on HbA1c) on their hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in newborns.
Methods: This case-control study was performed on 60 neonates born in Afzalipour Hospital (Kerman University of Medical Sciences) from May to November 2014 in two groups of eligible infants using the convenience sampling method. Information about the age, sex, weight, gestational age, maternal age, obstetric history, gestational diabetes through the checklist were collected. Then Doppler echocardiography, M- Mode, Doppler tissue was conducted on two groups. Echocardiographic criteria including ventricular septal thickness and blood HbA1c mothers in both groups were compared. To compare quantitative and qualitative variables between the two groups’ Independent samples t‐test and Chi-square test was used. A significant level of 0.05 was considered in all of the statistical samples and SPSS software, ver. 20 (IBM, Armonk, NY, USA) was used to analyze the data.
Results: In this study, the birth weight of infants and the age of mothers did not differ between two groups (Respectively P=0.56, P=0.08) However, HbA1c was significantly higher in the infants of mothers with impaired glucose tolerance test (GTT) (P<0.001). In infants of mothers with impaired GTT, ventricular septal thickness was significantly higher than the healthy controls (P=0.03), Also there was a significant difference between two groups in tissue Doppler criteria (Ea) (P=0.04), In other echocardiographic criteria, no significant differences were reported (The LA/AO, LVPWT, LVEF, LVEF, LVFS, LVFS, LVEDd, LVESd, Sa and Aa, All P-values were ≥ 0.05).
Conclusion: Diabetes mellitus of mothers causes several complications in their infants. The prevalence of cardiomyopathy hypertrophy is higher in babies whose mothers have higher levels of HbA1c and a sign of poor control of blodd glucose level during pregnancy.

Sajad Shafai , Elham Moslemi , Mehdi Mohammadi , Kasra Esfahani , Amir Izadi ,
Volume 75, Issue 10 (January 2018)
Abstract

Background: Prostate cancer is one of the most common diseases that affect men. Although prostate cancer is not the fatal flaw in most cases, detection of effective factors for early diagnosis and treatment is essential. Research results have shown that the use of KLK2 plus PSA can be a good biomarker for diagnosing prostate cancer. During prostate cancer, expression of KLK2 gene increases which can be used as a prostate cancer biomarker. The aim of this study is an assessment of KLK2 gene expression as a potential factor in the prostate cancer diagnosis.
Methods: In this case study, 50 prostate cancer urine samples from patients and 50 urine samples from normal individuals who were referred to Mehr Hospital of Tehran (from December 2014 to February 2016) were obtained and stored in the central research laboratory of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, till tests were being done. The age of collected samples between the 46 up to 71 years. RNA of samples were extracted, and then cDNA was synthesized by using M-MuLV enzyme, Oligo dt, and Random hexamer primers. KLK2 specific primers designed by Primer Express software, version 3.0 (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA, USA), and KLK2 gene expression evaluated by using ∆∆ct methods.
Results: In comparison with patients and normal sample`s gene expression, the mean increase expression of KLK2 gene in patients less than 50 years was 2.32 and in patients more than 50 years, it was 5.79, P<0.0001. In addition, gene expression results with respect to GS (Gleason grading system) classification shown that patients with GS6 had the lowest gene expression (3.40) and in the patients with GS8, had the highest gene expression (10.74) in comparison with normal group (P<0.0001).
Conclusion: The expression of KLK2 gene in people with prostate cancer is the higher than the healthy person; finally, according to the results, it could be mentioned that the KLK2 gene considered as a useful factor in prostate cancer, whose expression is associated with progression and development of the prostate cancer.

Mohammad Mehdi Saghafi, Mohammad Javad Fatemi , Tooran Bagheri , Mohammad Hasan Hablolvarid, Mitra Niazi, Mohsen Saberi, Shirin Araghi ,
Volume 75, Issue 11 (February 2018)
Abstract

Background: Burns is a major health problem due to severe side effects and limited financial resources. Some herbs are cheap and available, such as Arnebia euchroma can be effective treatment of burn wounds and reduce recovery time. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of Arnebia euchroma ointment on healing of deep second-degree burn wound in rats.
Methods: This experimental study was conducted in animal laboratory of Hazrat Fatemeh Hospital in 2015, Tehran. In this study 24 male Sprague-Dawley rats weighing approximately 300 to 350 g were selected. After general anesthesia, back of each rat was shaved with clipping device. Then second-degree burn with the area of 2×4 cm was induced on them. Rats were randomly divided into 2 groups, 12 in each. The surface of the wound in the first group was covered with Arnebia euchroma ointment and in the second group with Vaseline. Dressing was done daily until complete recovery and the wound healing process was monitored by photographing every five days. On day 20, the samples were sent for pathological evaluation of the amount of collagen and inflammatory cells.
Results: Results showed that, during days from 5 to 15 the extent of the wounds reduced in both groups (P= 0.000). The reduction of wound size was significantly higher in Vaseline group compared to Arnebia euchroma ointment group (P= 0.040). The results of the pathological examination showed no significant difference in the amount of collagen and inflammatory cells in the two groups.
Conclusion: It seems Arnebia euchroma ointment to some extent reduced the extent of the wound especially in superficial burns compared to other dressings. However, it is better to conduct more similar studies with a larger sample size and different method and change in timing of dressing.

Elham Shakiba , Monireh Movahedi , Ahmad Majd , Mehdi Hedayati ,
Volume 75, Issue 12 (March 2018)
Abstract

Thyroid cancer is one of the most common endocrine malignancies and in the last two decades the number of involved people in the world has been increased. Thyroid cancer in Iran is the seventh most common cancer in women and 14th in men. In recent years many achievements regarding to molecular pathogenic factors such as the substantial role of signaling pathways and molecular abnormalities have been made. Nowadays there is no efficient treatment for progressed thyroid cancer that does not respond to radioiodine therapy which are included poorly differentiated, anaplastic and metastatic or recurrent differentiated thyroid cancer. Although the results of some clinical trials in phase II for treatment of progressed thyroid cancer are rewarding but none of the treated patients responded to treatment and only a few of them responded partially to the treatment which indicates that the treatment can only control the condition of patients with advanced disease, therefore it is needed to consider other alternative solutions which would be helpful in controlling the disease. Epigenetic is referred to study of heritable changes in gene expression without changes in primary DNA sequence. The main mechanisms of genetic and epigenetic alterations are including mutations, increasing the gene copy number and aberrant gene methylation. Epigenetic defects are prevalent in different types of cancers. Aberrant methylation of genes that control cell proliferation and invasion (p16INK4A, RASSF1A, PTEN, Rap1GAP, TIMP3, DAPK, RARβ2, E-cadherin, and CITED1), as well as specific genes involved in differentiation of thyroid cancer (Na+/I- symport, TSH receptor, pendrin, SL5A8, and TTF-1) in association with genetic alterations, leads to tumor progression. Growing evidence shows that acquired epigenetic abnormalities participate with genetic alterations to cause altered patterns of gene expression or function. Many of these molecular changes can be used as molecular markers for prognosis, diagnosis and new therapeutic targets for thyroid cancer. This article is about the most common genetic and epigenetic alterations in thyroid cancer which can be complementary together in recognition of new treatments for the disease.

Mehdi Nikseresht , Mahmoud Nikseresht , Valiolla Dabidy-Roshan ,
Volume 75, Issue 12 (March 2018)
Abstract

Background: Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of human mortality worldwide. Myocardial ischemia is a type of cardiovascular disease that increases with age spread. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare non-invasive myocardial ischemia in patients with heart problems in different age groups.
Methods: This study is a causal-comparative study was conducted from July to October 2016 in the University of Mazandaran. One hundred and seventy-five (age=45-59 years) and 124 (age=60-77 years) men with heart problem participated in this study. The questionnaires of Rose angina pectoris (for assessing the risk of ischemic myocardium), lifestyle and physical activity level were completed by the participants. In addition, the anthropometric characteristics, blood pressure and peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak) of the participants were measured.
Results: The risk of myocardial ischemia in men aged 60-77 years was significantly higher than men aged 45-59 years (P=0.049). Men aged 60-77 years were significantly lower in good indices (physical activity level, VO2peak and more lifestyle indices) and higher in bad indicators (waist/hip ratio, body shape index, ankle systolic blood pressure, brachial systolic and diastolic blood pressure) than men aged 45-59 years (P<0.031, for all variables). Also, there was no significant difference in the risk of ischemia between groups, when they were similar in physical activity level.
Conclusion: It seems that the higher risk of myocardial ischemia in men aged 60-77 years, as compared to men aged 45-59 years, might be related to aging process and imbalance in the risk factors. Promoting physical activity can favorably affect the risk of myocardial ischemia in the middle-aged or elderly men. It is concluded that physical activity effectively decreased the risk of myocardial ischemia.

Farideh Zafari Zangeneh , Mohammad Mehdi Naghizadeh , Maryam Bagheri ,
Volume 76, Issue 1 (April 2018)
Abstract

Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common neuroendocrine-metabolic disorders at the infertile age. Patients with PCO often at risk for secondary complications including metabolic difficulties (impaired glucose tolerance, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes mellitus), reproductive (hirsutism, hypeandrogenism, infertility) and psychological features (worsened quality of life, anxiety, depression). Studies of the past decade suggest that the quality of life is important in the improvement of this syndrome. The purpose of this study was to provide an accurate pattern in the lifestyle of these women.
Methods: This case-control study was conducted to assess the lifestyle of patients with polycystic ovary syndrome who referred to Vali-e-Asr Infertile Clinic of Imam Khomeini Hospital, Tehran, from March to February 2015. After filling the consent form, 168 women participated in this study with the age range of 20-40 years and the body mass index (BMI) less than 28 m2/kg. The dimensions of lifestyle in this study were evaluated by the following questionnaires: general qualities of life (GHQ-28), Pittsburgh sleep quality, depression-anxiety-stress (DASS-42) and researcher-made demographic questionnaire.
Results: The mean of BMI and weight in study group were higher than control group (P= 0.002) (P< 0.001). Symptoms of PCOS such as irregular cycle (P< 0.001) and hirsutism (P< 0.001) in the study group were greater than the control group. Sleep problems such as drug use (P= 0.048), late sleep (P= 0.024), and sleep adequacy (P= 0.049) were also higher in the study group than control group.
Conclusion: These results indicate that environmental factors can easily effect on the quality of life in PCO women. The pattern of sleep is not desirable. Menstrual disorder effects on the mood and the impact of the low income generates negative emotions and affects their quality of life, since the cost of treatment for infertility is high for the low-income families. Therefore, this study indicates that having proper weight and proper sleep can help to plan a correct pattern of lifestyle in these patients.

Farzaneh Naserian , Fatemeh Heshmati , Maryam Mehdizadeh Omrani, Reza Salarian ,
Volume 76, Issue 4 (July 2018)
Abstract

Today, nanoscience has grown and developed in various medical and therapeutic areas, including cancer treatment. On the other hand, cancer and its types have been rumored and inclusive and many people suffer from this fatal and deadly disease. Currently, existing therapeutic method, including chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and etc., along with the therapeutic effect, cause complications that are unpleasant for patients. Hence, scientists and researchers are looking to develop and improve treatment options and methods to deal with this serious disease. Today, nanoscience and nanotechnology have become widespread, and its various fields, including nanoparticles, are widely used for a variety of applications, especially for delivery of drugs and diagnostic items and imaging cases. Nanotechnology-based release systems have a significant impact on the release of cancer drugs. Advances in bio-materials and bio-engineering are contributing to new approaches to nanoparticles that may create a new way for the improvement of cancer patients. Nano-technology in the drug release system has had a great impact on the selection of cancer cells, the release of a targeted drug, and overcoming the limitations of conventional chemotherapy. At the present many drug delivery systems are now made of nanoparticles, and various substances have been used as drug-stimulating agents or as a reinforcing agent to improve the efficacy of the treatment and durability and stability and also the safety of anticancer drugs. The materials used to release cancer drugs are divided into various categories such as polymer, magnetic, biomolecules. In the meantime, polymer nanoparticles have been organized in the carriers of anti-cancer nanoparticles due to the process of easy production, biocompatibility, and biodegradability. Although the loading of hydrophilic compounds is still confronted with limitations, due to the diversity of nanoparticle structures, it is possible to encapsulate various molecules. Also, surface changes and modification such as binding to antibodies and target ligands can also be applied to these materials, to act as target drug delivery to increase the effectiveness of treatment process. In this article, we will have an overview of cancer disease and cancer drugs and also nanoparticles and their contribution to cancer treatment.

Mehdi Safarpour, Seyed Reza Hosseini , Hojjat Zeraati , Ali Bijani , Akbar Fotouhi ,
Volume 76, Issue 5 (August 2018)
Abstract

Background: With aging, muscles strength decrease. Balance disorder is one of the common aging problems which can cause falls and serious injuries. The purpose of this study was to present a model along with the determinants of balance status in the elderly.
Methods: This cross-sectional study is part of a cohort study, "investigation of the health status of elderly in Amirkola City", which was performed on 1616 old people aged≥ 60 years, (response rate 72 %). The baseline data of this study were collected in the Center for Social Determinants of Health (SDH) Research Centre of the Babol University of Medical Sciences during March 2011 to July 2012. We considered the age, sex, physical activity, quadriceps muscle strength, daily activity, serum level of vitamin D, BMI, number of comorbidities and orthostatic hypotension as independent variables. Using the results of Berg balance test, the balance status of participants (as dependent variable) was categorized into two groups: score between 41-56 as normal (low risk of fall) and score < 41 as balance disorder (medium or high risk of fall). Then, the association of independent variables with balance status were evaluated in the logistic regression model.
Results: The mean and standard deviation of participants' age was 69.37±7.6 years, 54.7% of them were men and 7.5% of them had balance disorder. The odds ratio of medium or high falls in women to men, the number of comorbidities, having strong quadriceps to weak muscles, seniors aged 80 years and over, to 60-69, seniors with high physical activity to low physical activity, daily activities were (OR=2.1, 95%CI: 1.0-4.1), (OR=1.7, 95%CI: 1.0-2.9), (OR=0.05, 95%CI: 0.0-0.4), (OR=5.0, 95%CI: 2.3-10.6), (OR=0.3, 95%CI: 0.1-0.6), (OR=14.4, 95%CI: 3.4-60.4), respectively and statistically significant. The odds ratio of fall for vitamin D, orthostatic blood pressure and BMI variables did not show any statistically significant differences. The results of the analysis showed that the balance in all age groups in men was better than women.
Conclusion: Weak quadriceps, aging, being a woman and having comorbidities are the most important risk factors of balance disorder in the elderly.

Mitra Jamali , Mehdi Rostami Rad , Gholamreza Anani Sarab , Roya Mahdavi ,
Volume 76, Issue 7 (October 2018)
Abstract

Background: Multiple sclerosis is the most common autoimmune demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS). Interleukin-33 (IL-33) is a cytokine with both pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory activities that implicated in the pathogenesis of some autoimmune diseases. The aim of this study was to determine single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of IL-33, rs1929992, in patient’s gene with multiple sclerosis (MS) and investigation of this polymorphism with susceptibility to MS.
Methods: In this case-control study, peripheral blood samples were collected from 140 MS patients (patients in the Afzalipur Hospital in Kerman) and blood sample of 140 healthy subjects (people referred to the Blood Transfusion Organization) as a control group from March 2016 to January 2018. SNP at rs1929992 was determined by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method.
Results: There was significant difference between healthy control group and patient with multiple sclerosis in the frequency of genotypes. The frequency of AA genotype at rs1929992 was significantly higher in the MS group in comparison with healthy control subjects (P= 0.0001), whereas frequency of AG genotype was significantly higher in the control group as compared with MS group (P= 0.02). There was no significant difference between the MS patients and healthy control group in GG genotype. Moreover, the frequencies of AA genotype at SNP rs1929992 were significantly higher in patients with secondary progressive MS (SP-MS) and primary progressive MS (PP-MS) as compared with control group (P= 0.03). However, the frequencies of AG genotype was significantly lower in patients with relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) in comparison to the healthy group (P= 0.01). In patients with RR-MS, PP-MS and SP-MS patterns, the frequencies of A allele was significantly higher than that in control group (P= 0.03, P= 0.01, P= 0.001). In patients with RR-MS, PP-MS and SP-MS pattern, the frequency of G allele was significantly lower than control group (P= 0.03, P= 0.01, P= 0.001).
Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that the SNP rs1929992 in IL-33 gene, may be associated with different pattern of MS susceptibility.

Fateme Azizi Mayvan , Mehdi Jabbari Nooghabi , Ali Taghipour , Mohammad Taghi Shakeri , Mahsa Mokarram ,
Volume 76, Issue 7 (October 2018)
Abstract

Background: Regarding the increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes in pre-diabetic people, identifying pre-diabetes and determining of its risk factors seems so necessary. In this study, it is aimed to compare ordinary logistic regression and robust logistic regression models in modeling pre-diabetes risk factors.
Methods: This is a cross-sectional study and conducted on 6460 people, over 30 years old, who have participated in the screening of diabetes plan in Mashhad city that it was done by Mashhad University of Medical Sciences from October to December 2010. According to the fasting blood sugar criteria, 5414 individuals were identified as healthy and 1046 individuals were identified as pre-diabetic. Age, gender, body mass index, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure and waist-to-hip ratio were measured for every participant. The data was entered into the Microsoft Excel 2013 (Microsoft Corp., Redmond, WA, USA) and then analysis of the data was done in R Project for Statistical Computing, Version R 3.1.2 (www.r-project.org). Ordinary logistic regression model was fitted on the data. The outliers were identified. Then Mallow, WBY and BY robust logistic regression models were fitted on the data. And then, the robust models were compared with each other and with ordinary logistic regression model according to goodness of fit and prediction ability using Pearson's chi-square and area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve respectively.
Results: Among the variables that were included in the ordinary logistic regression model and three robust logistic models, age, body mass index and systolic blood pressure were statistically significant (P< 0.01) but waist-to-hip ratio was not statistically significant (P> 0.1). There were 552 outliers with misclassification error in the ordinary logistic regression model. Pearson's chi-square value and area under the ROC curve value in the Mallow model were almost the same as for ordinary logistic regression model. But it was relatively higher in BY and WBY models.
Conclusion: Based on results of this study age, overweight and hypertension are risk factors of prediabetes. Also, WBY and BY models were better than ordinary logistic regression model, according to goodness of fit criteria and prediction ability.

Azita Fathnezhad Kazemi , Sepideh Hajian , Mehrangiz Ebrahimi-Mameghani , Mehdi Khabazkhob,
Volume 76, Issue 10 (January 2019)
Abstract

Pregnancy as a natural event leads to changes in various aspects of physiology, psychology, and social life. The adoption of a health promoting lifestyle is an important strategy for achieving the desired outcomes of pregnancy and is important on the future health of mother and child. The aim of this study was to assess the various aspects of health promotion behaviors during pregnancy. The data was obtained with advanced search in the Iranmedex, Magiran, Scientific Information Database (SID), IranDoc, PubMed, Google Scholar, Web of Science and Scopus databases. Articles containing full text were collected using the proper keywords for Persian articles and their equivalent in Mesh included “Health promotion" OR "Behavior health "OR “Health Promoting Lifestyle” AND pregnancy for English articles with a time limitation of 2010 to 2017. At first 3247 articles obtained after reviewing and evaluation of the references, 4 Persian and 25 English articles with observational and qualitative design were included. A review of studies showed that finding a way to pass pregnancy safely is the most important concern for mothers. Pregnant women do some actions to reach favorable outcomes and they have a high incentive to adopt health behaviors during pregnancy due to fear of fetal health, but there is some obstacle to adopt health behaviors including individual factors like that lack of time and inadequate information about pregnancy or health-related functions and social factors including health system problems and cultural factors. In addition age, level of education, individual’s beliefs and factors associated with pregnancy such as high-risk pregnancy and environmental factors such as social support and health system performance play an important role in the adoption of health behaviors. In order to increase the potential of pregnant women to adopt healthy behaviors, changing the health system approach and paying attention to social determinants of health, in order to carry out the necessary interventions, it is recommended to conduct qualitative studies and appropriate design for deep study of the subject in the cultural background.

Fatemeh Masaebi , Farid Zayeri , Malihe Nasiri , Mehdi Azizmohammad Looha ,
Volume 76, Issue 11 (February 2019)
Abstract

Considering the advancement of medical sciences, diagnostic tests have been developed to distinguish patients from healthy population. Therefore, Determining and evaluation of the diagnostic accuracy tests is of great importance. The accuracy of a test under evaluation is determined through the amount of agreement between its results with the results of the gold standard, and this test accuracy can be defined based on sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and the area under the receiver operative characteristic curve (AUC). Gold standard is an accurate and error- free method to determine the presence or absence of disease of interest and classify patients, which is not available in some diseases and situations as this method is costly or invasive. In these cases, reference standard is a best available replacement method to be used by physicians to diagnostic disease. However, in some situation, the acceptable reference standard is invasive or costly and does not exist or unreliable. It can be imperfect and results of the reference standard method are not necessarily error- free and cannot be applied to everyone in the study; all these cases point to the conditions in which the gold standard is not available. The use of reference standard including error causes to incorrect separation of patients from healthy population and thus, it cannot be a comparing measure for other diagnostic tests and its results are inaccurate. Therefore, other alternatives methods are needed for evaluation and determine the diagnostic accuracy tests when the gold standard does not exist. Imputation method, correct imperfect reference standard method, the construct reference standard method, latent class models, differential verification, composite reference standard and discrepant analysis are of these alternative methods. Each of these methods, considering its features, advantages, and limitations can be used to evaluate the accuracy of diagnostic test in the absence of gold standard. The present study gave an overview of methods to evaluation of diagnostic accuracy tests when there is no gold standard and the focus of this study was on explain the concept of these solutions, review and compare them and their strengths and weaknesses.

Mohammad Mehdi Soltan Dallal , Mona Moshiri, Abbas Mirshafiey, Masoumeh Douraghi , Farhad Rezaie, Mehrdad Gholami ,
Volume 76, Issue 11 (February 2019)
Abstract

Background: Probiotics are living organisms that are beneficial for human health. Lactobacillus species has been considered as probiotic bacteria due to their adjustment of human immune responses and therapeutic effects in inflammatory disorders. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of Lactobacillus probiotic strains on toll-like receptors (TLR2 and TLR4) expression in HT29 cell line (a human colon cancer cell line) infected with S. enteritidis.
Methods: This experimental study was done in Food Microbiology Research Center of Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran, from March 2016 to February 2017. In this study, two strains of Lactobacillus acidophilus PTCC 1643 and Lactobacillus casei PTCC 1608 were used. HT29 cells were cultured in RPMI medium containing fetal bovine serum and antibiotics. Then, the cells were treated with the Lactobacillus strains, after or before challenge with S. enteritidis. After total RNA extraction and cDNA synthesis, the capacity of probiotic lactobacilli to modulate TLR2 and TLR4 expression on treated and un-treated HT29 cells were assessed quantitatively using Real-time polymerase chain reaction technique with specific primers.
Results: Our findings indicated that after treatment of non-infected HT29 cells, with both the probiotics, the expression of TLR2 and TLR4 genes significantly increased. In contrast, the expression of these two genes in HT29 cells which were infected with S. Enteritidis was significantly reduced before and after treatment with each one of the probiotic bacteria. The anti-inflammatory effect of probiotic lactobacilli on S. enteritidis were confirmed in tests. This study showed that L. acidophilus and L. casei play a major role in boosting the innate immune responses, the TLR2 and TLR4 expression levels also decreased, pre and post-infection with S. enteritidis.
Conclusion: According to the results, both Lactobacillus strains have remarkable anti-inflammatory effect in pathogenicity of S. enteritidis, but L. acidophilus display greater anti-inflammatory activity than L. casei in this work. Additional in vivo and in vitro studies are required to further elucidate the mechanisms underlying this anti-inflammatory effect.

Soheila Nasiri Nasiri, Reza Mahmoud Robati , Mehdi Hedayati, Marjan Khazan ,
Volume 77, Issue 1 (April 2019)
Abstract

Herpes zoster (Shingles; Zona) is an acute infectious skin disease that is caused by the reactivation of varicella zoster virus (VZV). After the initial infection (chickenpox) or vaccination, the virus remains inactive or latent in the dorsal root ganglia (DRG); when decreasing cell mediated immunity (CMI) occurs, the virus is reactivated from a latent phase to a lytic phase and frequently replicated in the dorsal ganglion cells then move to the sensory nerves into the skin and causes herpes zoster, which is typically characterized by painful neuralgia and unilateral dermatomal vesicular rash that normally lasts 3 to 5 weeks. The most common complication of herpes zoster is chronic pain owing to postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), which is estimated to occur in approximately 20% of the people aged 50 and over. Although herpes zoster is rarely fatal, the pain related to the acute phase of herpes zoster and subsequent PHN can cause psychological distress, physical disability, impaired sleep and consequently negatively affect the quality of life that can be significantly reduced by all of these occurrences. Due to increasing trend in the incidence of herpes zoster and increasing older people population, it will be expected that herpes zoster and subsequent PHN cause a significant economic burden to the healthcare system, the government, and families along with reducing the quality of life. The average lifetime risk of herpes zoster is estimated to be approximately 30% in developing countries. Although the risk of herpes zoster significantly increases with increasing age and diminished immune system function, any factor impacting on VZV-specific humoral and cellular immune responses may affect the risk of herpes zoster. This paper is provided an overview of the incidence and potential risk factors of herpes zoster with emphasis on the role of micronutrients and their deficiencies in the impaired immune system function. Also, the common method for prevention by zoster vaccine and the role of micronutrients in the efficacy of vaccination are shown.

Abbasali Niyazi , Shima Javanbakht , Nezar Ali Muolaie , Mohamad Kazem Momeni , Mosayeb Shahriyar , Mehdi Nourallahzadeh,
Volume 77, Issue 1 (April 2019)
Abstract

Background: Matrix metalloproteases (MMPs) are multi-chain proteins that regulated by tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases (TIMP) and several other mechanisms. This Includes transcription regulation and protein form secretion. The roles of MMPs in wound healing and tissue repair. In tuberculosis (TB), the activity of MMPs is increased and TIMP inhibitors decrease activity. Therefore, in tuberculosis, MMPs cause excessive damage to the lung tissue and cavity formation.
Methods: In a case-control study, plasma samples of healthy controls, symptomatic respiratory tract controls and tuberculosis patients were evaluated by available sampling in Ali Ibn Abitaleb and Bouali Hospitals, Zahedan, Iran, from Apri1 2015 to April 2018. Patients were divided into two groups: tuberculosis and control group and the level of MMPs were measured by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method in plasma samples of the two groups. For MMP-8, which was important in the diagnosis of tuberculosis, a cutoff point was obtained.
Results: 384 people including 123 healthy controls. 107 non-tuberculosis, and 154 tuberculosis patients were examined; 230 patients in the control group and 154 patients in the tuberculosis group. Levels of MMPs in tuberculosis and symptomatic respiratory group were higher than healthy group. The mean of MMP-8 was significantly different between two groups (P<0.001). In this study, sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value of plasma MMP-8 in detection of TB in non-TB patients in MMP-8 cutoff point=6650 pg/ml were 65.4%, 78.2%, 50%, and 93% respectively outcome. Significantly, the rate of pulmonary cavity was significantly higher in the TB group; Higher cavity, higher concentration of plasma MMPs.
Conclusion: In this study, first comprehensive analysis of MMPs was performed. Two collagenases, MMP-1 and MMP-8, were active in tuberculosis, but MMP-8 was specifically higher in tuberculosis than in both symptomatic and healthy controls. Level of MMP-1, 3, 8, 9 was higher in men than in women. The analysis of genders separately showed MMP-8 was increased in tuberculosis group in comparison with control group and MMP-1 group in both TB and symptomatic respiratory tract increased.


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