Studies in Medical Sciences
Year:2020 | Volume:31 | Issue:7|Papers Count:8

Background & Aims: Different species of Anopheles mosquitoes, in addition to causing discomfort from biting and blood-feeding, are of significant importance due to their essential role in the transmission of some diseases. The present study was performed to identify the species belonging to the Anopheles maculipennis s. l complex in West Azerbaijan province using the molecular marker cytochrome oxidase I (COI). Materials & Methods: In the present study, collected species were identified after collecting samples from 12 regions in five counties in West Azerbaijan province. After DNA extraction, mitochondrial COI sequences of the samples were amplified using specific primers and the affinities and differences of nucleotide sequences were investigated. Results: The presence of three species including An. maculipennis s. s, An. messeae, and An. sacharovi of the studied species complex and notable genetic variation was observed among different populations of these species in West Azerbaijan province. An. maculipennis s. s was found as a predominant species in the study areas. Conclusion: Due to the presence of three different species belonging to the An. maculipennis s. l in West Azerbaijan and fundamental differences in biological characteristics, vectorial capacity and resistance to insecticides in each of these species, determination of these parameters in the design of control programs against each of these species in the conditions of transmission, and establishment of diseases transmitted by these species are of fundamental importance.

Background & Aims: Impingement syndrome is the most common injury and cause of movement limitations and pain in the shoulder area. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of eight weeks of focused scapular training on pain, electrical activity of shoulder muscles, and upper extremity performance in male volleyball players with shoulder impingement syndrome. Materials & Methods: In this randomized clinical trial 30 male volleyball players with shoulder impingement syndrome were selected as sample and randomly divided into two groups of training (N=15) and control (N=15). The training group performed eight weeks of focused scapular training for 60 minutes in three sessions per week. Pre-test and post-test of shoulder pain, electrical activity of shoulder muscles, and upper extremity performance were measured in two groups. For data normalization, Shapiro– Wilk test and for data analysis paired t-test and independent t-test were used (α ≤ 0. 05). Results: The results showed that scapular focused training reduced pain (p≤ 0. 001), increased activity of Supraspinatus muscle (p≤ 0. 001), lower trapezius (p≤ 0. 001), and the serratus anterior muscles (p≤ 0. 001) during volleyball spike motion, and increased upper extremity performance in the Y balance test (p≤ 0. 001) (p≤ 0. 05). No statistically significant changes were observed in the control group. Conclusion: According to the results, it seems that 8 weeks of scapular focused training had an effect on the pain, electrical activity of shoulder muscles, and upper extremity performance of volleyball players with shoulder impingement syndrome. So it can be used as an appropriate training method in volleyball players with shoulder impingement syndrome.

Aortic transection is a rare but life-threatening complication of blunt chest trauma. Treatment options include open repair, medical management and most recently, endovascular repair. We report a 33 years old male with a traumatic aortic transection following a car accident. Aortic injury and its pseudo-aneurysm were confirmed by Chest CT scan and TEE in the descending thoracic aorta just below the isthmus. We did not have endovascular repair possibility at our center. The patient was transferred to the operating room for emergent surgery. Aortic transection was repaired by partial left heart bypass and Dacron interposition grafting. Postoperatively, no vascular-related complication was seen. There was temporary recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy that resolved spontaneously. The patient has no problem at 6-year follow-up.

Background & Aims: Triple-negative breast cancer cells refer to any breast cancer that does not express the genes for the estrogen, progesterone, and HER2 receptors. The Wnt signaling pathway is important in the development and progression of various types of cancers. Quinacrine, a derivative of 9aminoacridine, has been shown to inhibit the growth of several types of cancer cells. In this study, we examined the effect of Quinacrine on Wnt3a gene of Wnt signaling pathway in breast cancer cell lines MDA-MB 231 and MCF7. MDA-MB 231 cell line has triple-negative breast cancer cell properties. Materials & Methods: Breast cancer cell lines, MDA-MB 231 and MCF7, were treated with 0. 5 µ M Quinacrine for 3 days. The dose was selected using the MTT assay. The expression of Wnt3a gene was quantified by Real-time PCR. Significance of observations was checked by means of appropriate statistical methods using p<0. 05 as the level of significance. Results: Quinacrine did not have a meaningful effect on Wnt3a gene expression on the MDA-MB 231 cell line (p = 0. 34) in 0. 5 µ M concentration for 72 hours, but a decrease in Wnt3a gene expression of 1. 3 times was observed in MCF7 cell line (p < 0. 05). Conclusion: The Wnt3a gene is important in the Wnt signaling pathway and the present study demonstrated that Quinacrine could not affect the expression of this gene in the MDA-MB 231 cell line, however in the MCF7 cell line, a decrease in the Wnt3a gene expression was observed.

Background & Aims: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is a common liver disease in the world and most studies show that there is a relationship between aging and the prevalence of this disease. Regarding the side effect of chemical drugs, it is better to control and treat this disease by changing the lifestyle and diet. In this study, we investigated the effects of 8 weeks of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise training and administration of curcumin supplementation alone and together on levels of leptin and hepatic enzymes in elderly male rats. Materials & Methods: Thirty-two aged and eight young rats were divided into five groups: young control, aged control, aged-curcumin, aged-exercise, and aged-curcumin-exercise co-treatment. Results: After eight weeks of treatment, the results revealed a significant decrease in leptin after curcumin administration in compared to aged control but there was no significant changes in amount of hepatic enzymes. Moreover, 8 weeks of exercise training did not have a significant effect on the amounts of leptin and hepatic enzymes compared to aged control group. Also 8 weeks of treatment with curcumin and exercise together decreased the levels of leptin and hepatic enzymes significantly. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that consuming curcumin and moderate exercise training has positive effects on the treatment of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

Background & Aims: Considering the importance of drug resistance among pathogenic bacteria and their treatment problems, this study aimed to determine the prevalence of extended-spectrum betalactamases (ESBLs), including TEM, SHV, and OXA genes among the isolated Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae obtained from urine specimens of kidney transplant patients. Materials & Methods: The bacterial isolates were collected and identified from urine specimens of kidney transplant patients at Imam Khomeini hospital of Urmia, Iran. All isolates were screened for ESBLs using both cefotaxime and ceftazidime, alone and in combination with clavulanate (Double Disc Diffusion Test; DDDT). The presence of TEM, SHV, OXA-10, and OXA-2 beta-lactamase genes were then investigated using PCR. Results: A total of 96 isolates, including 39 (40. 6%) K. pneumoniae and 57 (59. 4%) E. coli were included in this study. Of these, 56 (58. 3%) isolates were screened as ESBLs, including 17 K. pneumoniae and 39 E. coli using DDDT. The TEM (78. 6%) and OXA-2 (7. 1%) genes had the highest and lowest frequency among the isolates, respectively. Conclusion: The study showed a relatively high frequency of ESBLs producing genes among E. coli and K. pneumoniae isolated from kidney transplant patients, indicating the necessity for early detection of these resistant infectious agents. It is also important to control the conditions in which these types of resistances are developed, especially the need for careful antibiotic administration.

Background & Aims: Body Mass Index (BMI) is a factor that affects the quality of panoramic images. This study aimed to evaluate the quality of panoramic digital images with Safe Beam Exposure (SBE) and manual dose adjustment among patients with different BMI levels. Material & Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 200 patients, aged 20-60 years who were prescribed panoramic radiography in the course of their treatment were selected randomly as samples. 50% of the subjects were allocated to the manual dose adjustment group and 50% were distributed randomly to the SBE technology group. After grading quality of the images, scores were entered into the SPSS software. Results: The mean age of participants was 37. 96± 11. 96. 53. 5% of participants were women and 46. 5% were men. 87% of the samples fell in BMI of 18. 5 ≤ to ≥ 30. The overall quality of the images included noise (p=0. 0003), contrast (p=0. 0001), density (p=0. 0002), and resolution (p=0. 0003) and anatomical indicators included Laminadora (p= 0. 0003), edge sharpness of teeth (p = 0. 0002), mandibular canal walls (p = 0. 0001), apex end of upper molar teeth (p = 0. 0002), and DEJ limit (p= 0. 0002). SBE technology in various categories of BMI was better than manual dose adjustment. Conclusion: SBE technology could be used as a new technology to obtain images with higher quality and better anatomical resolution in various categories of BMI. As BMI decreases, the diagnostic quality of the different anatomical landmarks examined in the panoramic images increases.

Background & Aims: Economic and social factors have a great impact on health and consequently on life expectancy. Health means having complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and it does not only refer to the absence of disease and disability. Health status depends on the factors affecting it, including economic, social, cultural, physical environment, genetic factors, and the level of access to health services. The health status of communities is measured by health indicators. The present study compares the effect of health indicators and macroeconomic variables on life expectancy. Materials & Methods: This study first describes the factors affecting the life expectancy index, then estimates the impact of macroeconomic indicators (economic growth), inflation and unemployment, and health indicators (health expenditure, food poverty, mortality rate and level of education) on life expectancy (information from the countries surveyed from the World Bank website, the International Monetary Fund and the World Health Report) using the Panel Data method in the period 2010 to 2018 for developed and developing countries using Eviews software. Results: Limer and Hausman F tests were used to determine the optimal model. Based on these tests in both categories of developed and developing countries, the width of the origin was not the same for all sections and the Panel Data method was used and model estimation in the case of fixed effects over model estimation has priority over other methods. In developing countries, inflation, unemployment, mortality, and food poverty rates have a negative effect on life expectancy and the impact of economic growth, education, and health expenditures on this index are positive, but due to the level of significance of research variables is observed. The effect of education and health expenditures on life expectancy index is not considered significant. This may be due to the low level of education and spending on health in these countries. Also, in developed countries, inflation, unemployment, mortality, and food poverty rates have a negative effect on life expectancy and the effect of economic growth, education, and health expenditures on this index is positive, but due to the significant level of research variables, the effect is observed. Inflation and mortality rates are not considered significant on the life expectancy index. This may be due to low inflation and mortality rates in these countries. Conclusion: The results of comparing the panels of developed and developing countries show that in almost both categories of studied indicators, the impact of economic and health indicators on life expectancy index in developing countries is more than the developed countries. This can be due to the poor state of economic and health indicators in developing countries compared to developed countries, which with each change in these variables, the status of life expectancy index shows more changes than developed countries.