QOM UNIVERSITY OF MEDICAL SCIENCES JOURNAL
Year:2016 | Volume:10 | Issue:8|Papers Count:13

Background and Objectives: Subclinical hypothyroidism affects 6-17% of general population. Given that mild increase in TSH level leads to dyslipidemia, it can be associated with cardiovascular disease.The present study aimed to investigate the effect of early levothyroxine treatment on blood lipid profile in subclinical hypothyroid patients (with serum TSH level less than 10mIU/l and normal lipid level.Methods: In this clinical trial, 82 subclinical hypothyroid patients with normal FT4 (free T4), TSH of 5.2-10mIU/L and normal lipid level, were investigated. The patients were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. The experimental group received levothyroxine for 2 months and then both groups were evaluated. Data were analyzed using Kolmogorov-Smirnov and t tests. The level of significance was considered less than 0.05.Results: The mean age in experimental and control groups were 39.68±9.25 and 37.63±9.99 years, respectively. FT4 level significantly increased, and HDL, LDL, triglyceride, and cholesterol levels significantly decreased in the experimental group after two months of treatment with levothyroxine.Conclusion: The results of this study revealed that levothyroxine treatment in subclinical hypothyroid patients significantly decreases serum levels of HDL, LDL, triglyceride, and cholesterol.

Background and Objectives: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most important endocrine disorders, which affects about 5-10% of women in reproductive age and is one of the main causes of infertility due to anovulation. In this study, the effect of letrozole was investigated on serum levels of testosterone and estradiol hormones and body and ovarian weight.Methods: This experimental study was carried out on 20 adult female Wistar rats (180-200 g) in 2 groups. The first group (control) received 0.2 ml of distilled water (solvent) and the second group (hyperandrogenism) received letrozole through gavage at a dose of 1 mg/kg bw for 21 days. At the end of this period, 6 mice of each group were randomly selected and sacrificed for hormonal studies. In the first step, blood samples were taken from the animals’ heart and centrifuged to prepare serum samples; also, uterine samples were prepared. The serum levels of testosterone and estradiol were measured by ELISA method. Data analysis was performed using independent t test. The significance level was considered p<0.05.Results: According to the obtained results, the concentration of testosterone, body weight, and ovarian weight significantly increased in the group receiving Letrozole compared to the control group (p<0.05). Conclusion: The results of this study showed that letrozole as a non-steroidal aromatase inhibitor, blocks the conversion of testosterone into estradiol, and increases serum testosterone levels, also causes increase in body weight and ovarian weight.

Background and Objectives: Flaxseed has been considered as an important functional food due to its high content of α-linolenic acid, lignans, and fiber. Flaxseed has health benefits, such as in reduction of cardiovascular disease, atherosclerosis, diabetes, cancer, arthritis, osteoporosis, neurological disorders, and autoimmunity. In the present study, the effects of flaxseed oil on memory retention, was investigated in adult male rats using passive avoidance learning task.Methods: In this experimental study, 30 male Wistar rats were randomly divided into 5 groups. The animals of control group were intact. The experimental rats intraperitonealy received flaxseed oil at doses of 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, and 2ml/kg body weight. Twenty-four hours after training, memory retention was evaluated using passive avoidance learning task. The step-through latency and time in dark compartment was measured. The data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA and Dunett statistical tests. The level of significance was considered p<0.05.Results: Post-training treatment with flaxseed oil (at doses of 1.5 and 2ml/kg body weight) significantly increased the step-through latency time and significantly decreased the time in the dark compartment compared to the control group (p<0.05).Conclusion: The results of this study showed that flaxseed oil significantly improves the retention memory process.

Background and Objectives: Chemerin is a novel adipokine, which plays a key role in the pathological process of insulin resistance and inflammation; clinical studies have shown that chemerin levels increase in diabetic patients. However, the acute effect of exercise on chemerin is not known. In this research, serum changes of chemerin in diabetic male rats were investigated in response to two types of exercise.Methods: In this experimental study, 29 diabetic male rats (age, 12 weeks; weight, 220-240g) were assigned to 5 groups, including immediately and 2 hours after high-intensity interval exercise (HIIE0, HIIE2), immediately and 2 hours after moderate-intensity continuous exercise (MICE0, MICE2), and control (C). Both MICE groups exercise on treadmill (intensity, 60-65% vo2max) for 40 min, and both HIIE groups (with intensity of 90-95% vo2max) in 12 one-minute intervals with one-minute rest intervals. ELISA technique was used to measure serum chemerin. Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA and post-hoc Tukey's test. The level of significance was considered at 0.05.Results: Serum chemerin levels in MICE0, MICE2 groups and HIIE2 groups, significantly increased compared to the control group (p˂0.05). However, there was no significant difference between HIIE0 group and control group (p>0.05). There was significant difference between MICE0 and HIIE2 groups with HIIE0 group (p˂0.05).Conclusion: The results of the present research showed that acute exercise leads to increase in serum chemerin in diabetic male rats.

Background and Objectives: High intensity exercise weakens the immune system and causes upper respiratory tract infection (URTI). Probiotic supplements reduce the incidence of infections. In the present study, the effect of 8-week high-intensity intermittent training along with probiotic yogurt consumption, was investigated on immune cells, CRP, and IgA in young football players.Methods: In this quasi-experimental and applied study, 36 healthy young men (16 to 19 years) were randomly divided into two groups of supplement–training (ST) and training (T), with a mean height of 172±0.77 cm, weight of 66.76±5.87, and BMI of 21.27±2.09. Fasting blood samples were taken before and after 8-week training and after aerobic and anaerobic capacity tests. The subjects performed three 90-minute sessions of training, and the experimental group had probiotic yogurt (400ml) twice a day. Data were analyzed using Mann-Whitney-U test and repeated measurements at the significance level of p>0.05.Results: After training program, in the experimental group, lymphocytes, neutrophils, IgA, and C-reactive protein significantly increased, and no URTI case was observed.Conclusion: The results of this study indicated that training and consumption of probiotic supplement improve aerobic and anaerobic capacity and strengthen, immune system, and reduce the risk of URTI in ST group, therefore its daily consumption is recommended in athletes who perform intense physical training.

Background and Objectives: Considering that paranoid thought has one-dimensional approach, use of long questionnaires has no clinical and research application, therefore use of short questionnaires seems necessary. The Green et al. paranoid thought scale is a short self-assessment tool for assessing paranoid thought in non-clinical and clinical group. This research was conducted to validate this questionnaire in Iranian population.Methods: In this cross-sectional survey, 356 students were selected using stratified sampling method and assessed by GPTS and Minnesota multiphasic paranoid inventory (MMPI) in 2015. Validity was assessed simultaneously with MMPI testing.Results: The correlation coefficient of GPTS and MMPI scores was a=0.71 and significant (p<0.001). Internal consistency value was estimated to be 0.81 according to Cronbach's alpha coefficient.Conclusion: GPTS is an appropriate and short tool for screening in paranoid thought-related researches.

Background and Objectives: Musculoskeletal disorders are one of the most common and costly occupational injuries, because they account for one-third of work-related injuries per year. In this study, the factors affecting musculoskeletal disorders, were investigated among hospital emergency nurses of Qom University of Medical Sciences.Methods: This study was performed as a descriptive cross-sectional study using census method on 127 nurses in the Emergency Department of hospitals affiliated to Qom University of Medical Sciences in 2014. The participants completed the Nordic musculoskeletal disorders questionnaire. Data analysis was carried out using Mann-Whitney and the Chi-square Statistical tests. The significance level was considered to be 0.05.Results: In this study, 46 (36.2%) participants were men and the remaining were women. The mean age was 33.87±8.892 and the mean work hours per week was 57.71±17.675. The overall prevalence of musculoskeletal disorder was reported to be 82.7%, which had significant relationships with weight, interference with daily work, and pain per day (p<0.05), but had no relationship with age, gender, and work experience (p>0.05). Also, only 16 subjects had participated in ergonomics workshops and 118 subjects were aware of the occupational risks.Conclusion: According to the results of this study and high prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders among nurses, it is suggested that given the type of disorder, change in the way of job performance, adjustment of working hours, holding ergonomics workshops, and preventive measures be placed on the agenda.

Background and Objectives: Rheumatoid arthritis is one of the most common autoimmune diseases, which affects about 1% of the world population. Rheumatoid arthritis may affect all aspects of life, including sexual function. In this study, sexual dysfunction was evaluated in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was conducted in the first 6 months of 2015 in Qom city. The samples (N=120) were selected by available non-random method. Data collection tool was demographic characteristics questionnaire, Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI), International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF), and checklist of patient information, clinical examination, and laboratory data. The data were analyzed using Chi-square and t tests. The level of significance was considered less than 0.05.Results: The mean age of the samples was 39.2±9.3 years and the majority of the subjects were female (79.2 %). Sixty-four subjects (53.3%) had sexual dysfunction. The prevalence of sexual dysfunction in female patients was higher, which was statistically significantly different (p=0.016).Conclusion: The results of this study showed that there is a relationship between rheumatoid arthritis and sexual dysfunction, therefore, it is recommended that health care staff accurately and more importantly follow this issue in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and that serious screening be performed for all patients with rheumatoid arthritis, especially women.

Background and Objectives: Hemodialysis patients suffer from fatigue due to various problems, which negatively affects their quality of life and health status. The present study was performed with the aim of determining the effect of collaborative care model on the fatigue in patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis.Methods: In this controlled clinical trial study, 52 patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis were purposively selected and randomly divided into two groups of test and control. Demographic characteristics and Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) Questionnaires were completed in both groups before intervention and collaborative care model implemented for 3 months in the test group based on motivation, readying, involvement, and evaluation stages in the intervention group. One month after the intervention, frequency and mean of fatigue severity were compared with pre-intervention data using Chi-square, independent t, and repeated measures statistical tests.Results: After the intervention, mild fatigue increased and intense fatigue significantly deceased (p=0.02). Moreover, the results showed that after the intervention, the mean score of fatigue severity decreased in the intervention group (p=0.036).Conclusion: Implementation of collaborative care model has positive effect on decreasing fatigue severity in hemodialysis patients, therefore, use of this model by nurses, improves the patients’ fatigue.

Background and Objectives: Escherichia coli is the most common etiologic factor of urinary tract infection, which its most important virulence factor is P fimbriae. Uropathogenic E. coli expresses various types of adhesins, such as pili adhesins (pyelonephritis-associated pili, Pap) that mediates binding to the surface of epithelial cells of the urinary tract. This study aims to identify papC and papG genes and to evaluate antibiotic resistance level in the isolated E. coli samples.Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 50 samples were collected from patients with urinary tract infection and after isolation of bacteria and DNA extraction, antibiotic susceptibility tests was performed by disc diffusion method using related antibiotics. Presence of papG and papC genes (class I, II, and III) was assessed by multiplex PCR method. Statistical data were analyzed using descriptive t-test.Results: The isolated E. coli samples were susceptible to amikacin (100%) and cefepime (72%) and resistant to ampicillin (100%) and nitrofurantoin (94%). Eighteen samples (32.7%) had papG gene, of which 17 (30.9%) samples had papGII gene and 1 sample (1.8%) had papGIII gene; papGI gene was not detected in any of the samples.Conclusion: The results of the present study showed that papC and papGI genes are the most common Pap fimbriae adhesion-encoding genes in E. coli isolated from urinary tract infection. The difference between the results of this study with those of other studies is due to geographic diversity.