Pars Journal of Medical Sciences
Year:2011 | Volume:9 | Issue:1|Papers Count:11

Introduction: Zolpidem drugs, as a GABA agonist, is one of the antidepressant and hypnotic drugs. Based on the results of the studies, excessive amounts of this drug could affect the amount of normal endocrine activity and its metabolic activities. Hence, there was an attempt in this study to measure the levels of hormonal axis hypothalamus- pituitary- thyroid hormone plasma in adult male rats.Material and Methods: In this research, 50 male mature rats with the weight of 200±10 grams were enrolled as the experiment, witness and control groups. The experimental group was divided into 3 subgroups and 150, 300 and 450 ml per kg of zolpidem was administered orally for 21 days.0.2 ml distilled water was given to the witness group, but the control group did not receive anything. At the end of 21 days, blood sample was taken from the heart ventral areas and the density of the hormones of T3, T4 and TSH were measured using Eliza method and the commercial kits. The results were evaluated using independent T-test.Results: According to the results of this study, the density of T3 hormones in the experiment group did not show any meaningful differences with the control group, while the density ofT4 and TSH hormones showed a meaningful decrease in the experiment and control groups (P<0.05).Conclusion: The results obtained from this study showed that zolpidem affects the hypothalamus, pituitary and also thyroid glands. According to the results of the research conducted, there is a possibility that zolpidem has this effect through an increase in prolactin exudation, leading to TRH exudation and decrease in TSH and thyroid hormones.

Introduction: Several studies have evaluated the impact of caffeine consumption on athletic performance from different aspects. But, the findings are varied. The aim of this research was evaluating the impact of caffeine consumption on some of the cardiovascular factors including heart rate and blood pressure during rest, end of exercise, and during the 3rd and 5th minutes of recovery.Material and Method: The subjects of this study included 20 female athletes, participating in the study as volunteers. Two exercisetests were performed separately during one week. The subjects used placebo in the 1st and caffeine (5mg/kg) in the second test sessions. Heart rate and blood pressure were measured during rest, at the end of the exercise testing and during the 3rd and 5th minutes of recovery after submaximal test. Maximal oxygen consumption (Vo2max) was measured using Fax submaximal cardiorespiratory test. Paired t- test was used for analysis of data.Results: Caffeine consumption was not significantly effective on Vo2max, heart rate during rest and at the end of exercise, and blood pressure recorded at the end of the exercise. Caffeine consumption caused a significant increase in the heart rate during 3rd and 5th minutes of recovery, and in blood pressure during rest, 3rd and 5th minutes of recovery in athletes.Conclusion: Due to the increase in blood pressure and heart rate as a result of caffeine, caffeine consumption (5 mg/kg) before submaximal exercise is not recommended, especially in those who suffer hypertension or cardiac disease or do exercise for health or athletic purposes.

Introduction: The aim of this study was to determine the effects of core stabilization training on postural control in subjects with chronic ankle instability.Material and Methods: Thirty three male students were enrolled by convenient sampling. The samples consisted of subjects with (n=22) and without (n=11) chronic ankle instability groups. From the subjects with instability, 11 were selected as the control group. Core stabilization training was performed for eight weeks for the study groups. Y balance test (YBT) was used for evaluation of the subjects' postural control. To analyze the data, repeated measure ANOVA and POSTHOC Bonfferoni tests were used (P£0.05).Results: The results revealed that core stabilization training leads to an increase in postural control in healthy and chronic ankle instability subjects.Conclusion: Due to the important role of core stabilizer muscles in the control of extremities' distal parts, it is suggested that for rehabilitation of ankle sprain preventive exercises be implemented for body total kinetic chain.

Introduction: Scleroderma is a systemic disorder with unknown etiology most notably characterized by skin thickening and damage of organs. Endothelin-1 (ET-1) plays a role in skin fibrosis. This study aimed to survey and compare ET-1 level in systematic sclerosis (SSc) patients with and without scar pitting ulcer.Material and Methods: A cross-sectional analytical study was conducted on 95 patients with scleroderma in 2006 who were referred to the Rheumatology Clinic in Shariati hospital of Tehran. A questionnaire was completed and then the level of endothelin I was measured in them. The data were analyzed using SPSS software and statistical tests.Results: The results indicated that the relationship among pitting ulcer, ulcer scar and the level of Endothelin-1 was significant. There was no significant relationship between age and the level of Endothelin-1.Conclusion: These data indicated that the Endothelin-1 plasma level in scleroderma patients with pitting ulcer was higher than patients without pitting ulcer. Thus, increase of ET-1 plasma level could be effective in vascular damage, fibrosis and skin thickness.

Introduction: Homocysteine is an amino acid yielded from methionin to cysteine metabolism. Increase in the normal levels of homocysteine can increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Several factors such as uremia, genetic factors, dialysis related factors and vitamin B group deficiency lead to increase in the plasma level of homocysteine in dialysis patients. This study was done to evaluate Plasma vitamin B12, Folic acid and homocysteine levels in Jahrom hemodialysis patients.Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out on a total of 43 patients, who were on hemodialysis and 43 age and sex matched healthy individuals without any underlying renal disease as a control group during Dec 2008- Sep 2009. The serum level of homocysteine was measured by an ELISA method and the serum levels of vitamin B12 and Folic acid were measured by an RIA method.Results: There were significant differences between mean serum levels of homocysteine 22.709±5.76 mmol/L vs.16.518±5.425 mmol/L, vitamin B12 513.814±15.378 pg/ml vs.22.976±7.462 ng/ml and Folic acid 5366.814±1734.752 pg/ml vs.868.907±251.484 pg/ml in the patients and control groups (P<0.001).A significant positive correlation was found between mean serum levels of homocysteine and duration of hemodialysis therapy (r=0.893, P<0.001).Conclusion: Although homocysteine level in our patients was more than that of the healthy subjects, it was lower than that of hemodialysis patients in other countries. This difference may be related to some factors such as genetics, administration of daily oral folic acid, and intravenous injection of B12 and B Complex vitamins after each dialysis session.

Introduction: Toxoplasmosis, a parasitic infection, varies in its prevalence in various countries. Some studies have suggested its role in the abortion. The aim of this study was to determine the role of anti-Toxoplasma antibody as an etiologic factor in recurrent spontaneous abortion.Material and Methods: A case-control study was conducted on 120 women with unexplained recurrent pregnancy loss (group I) and 50 women were matched with normal delivery allocated as control group. The sera from 120 cases and 50 controls were tested for anti-Toxoplasma IgG antibody by ELISA.Results: The present study revealed a higher percentage of anti-Toxoplasma IgG antibodies positivity in women with repeated abortions (17.5%) than the- control group (14%); however, the difference between them was not statistically significant (p=0.7).Conclusion: The analysis of these results shows that in spite of the confirmed role of Toxoplasma gondii in fetal abortion, there was no significant difference between the study and control groups. Whether toxoplasmosis can cause repeated abortion is still controversial. Thus to determine the relationship between toxoplasmosis and recurrent abortions, a large cohort of women with toxoplasmosis is required to assess the incidence of otherwise unexplained recurrent abortions.

Introduction: Diabetic foot ulcer is one of the important problems related to diabetes which affects the quality of life of these patients. The purpose of this study was to compare the life quality of men and women with diabetic foot ulcer.Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study aimed to study the quality of life 72 men and 48 women with diabetic foot ulcer. In this study, simple sampling was used. The instrument for gathering data was diabetic foot scale questionnaire which is is used for evaluation of the quality of life of diabetic foot ulcer patients.The data were analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistic tests using SPSS software.Results: of 120 patients with diabetic foot ulcer participating in this study, 60% were men and 40% women with the mean age of 54.23 (±12) ears. The scores obtained in quality of life domains showed that Friends (p=0.024), Treatment (0.013) and Finance (p=0.032) had significant difference between men and women's quality of life. A significant relationship was also found between age and QOL in both genders (p=0.007). Marriage showed a significant relationship with QOL in men (p=0.014) and women (p=0.002). Economic status was significant only with men (p=0.010).Employment status had a significant relationship only with women (p=0.001) QOL. Education level and body mass index had no significant relationship with QOL in none of the genders.Conclusion: Quality of life in women with diabetic foot ulcer was lower than men in most domains.

Introduction: The main reason for the choice of cesarean section delivery is to save the life or health of the mother and her baby. However, cesarean section is not without complications, either for the mother or the baby. In this study, we aimed to determine prevalence of cesarean section and its causes in Jahrom in order to plan for safe deliveries.Material and Methods: In this descriptive analytic study, we investigated the age of mother, type of delivery, delivery rank, cause of cesarean section, birth weight and gestational age.Results: The prevalence of cesarean section was 32.21%.63.1% (652 persons) of women who had cesarean section were from urban and 36.9% (382 subjects) from rural areas. Also, 483 (47.7%) of the women who were sectioned were nullipar. The most common causes of cesarean section were previous cesarean section (34.9%), fetal distress (20.2%), dystocia (11.1%) and cephalopelvic disproportion (10.7%), respectively.6.7% of the cesarean section deliveries were done due to the mothers' request.Conclusion: The prevalence of cesarean section in Jahrom is more than the world standard. In order to decrease the number of unnecessary cesarean cases, educating the young pregnant mothers about the disadvantages of cesarean section seems to be necessary.