مجله دانشگاه علوم پزشکی کرمان
سال:1403 | دوره: | شماره: |تعداد مقالات:8

Background: By examining flow-mediated dilation (FMD) as an index for indirect assessment of arterial endothelial function, this study aimed to investigate the relationship between inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and early atherosclerosis.Methods: This study was performed on 75 patients with ulcerative colitis, 15 patients with Crohn's disease, and 75 healthy individuals as the control group. Vascular endothelial function was assessed by flow-mediated dilation (FMD) and Doppler ultrasonography of the right brachial artery. Results: The mean FMD in the IBD patients (12.04±3.8) was lower than that of the persons in the control group (16.68±2.2). Besides, the mean FMD in Crohn's patients was 12.02±3.5 and the corresponding value in the patients with ulcerative colitis was 12.07±4.2, showing no significant difference (p = 0.78). There was a significant relationship between age and FMD in the control group so that with increasing age, FMD decreased (r = 0.6, p = 0.01). However, there was no association between age and FMD among IBD patients. Conclusion: Given that this study focused on people without known risk factors for atherosclerosis, the results pointed to endothelial dysfunction in IBD patients, and IBD can be considered as an independent factor in the development of atherosclerosis.

Background: Islamic instructions suggest waking up near dawn at night and spending time praying to Allah. This is the time of maximum melatonin secretion, that is a hormone mainly functioning in the circadian rhythm. Melatonin secretion declines with age and leads to different clinical consequences. This study aimed to investigate the melatonin levels among night vigil prayers, non-prayer late sleepers, and those with regular night sleep.Methods: A questionnaire including information about age, gender, education, and occupation was used to collect the demographic information of the participants. Melatonin was measured with two blood draws (at 23:00 to 24:00 and 9:00 to 10:00 a.m.). Results: There was a significant difference between both nocturnal and daily melatonin of the night vigil prayers with the other two groups. The average daily melatonin serum level had no significant difference in groups of regular night sleepers and the nonpraying late sleepers (p=0.306). Moreover, an adverse significant relationship was found between age and nocturnal melatonin (R=0.38, P<0.0001) and between age and daily melatonin (R=0.25, P=0.02).Conclusion: The night vigil prayers have a higher average of nocturnal and daily melatonin serum secretion compared to the nonpraying late sleepers and regular night sleepers. Therefore, waking up at night accompanied by approaching Allah, prayer, supplication, and good thinking is related to the release of more melatonin.

Objective: Although numerous pharmacological effects of Shilajit have been explored by extensive experiments, there is no study on the effects of this ayurvedic substance on the mRNA level of NF-κB family members (p50 and RelB) and IKK subunits (IKKα and β), in breast cancers. Accordingly, the objective of the current experiment was the mechanistic evaluation of the anti-tumoral potential of Shilajit against the breast cancer cell line (MCF-7). In this experimental study, the viability% of Shilajit (0, 100, 200, 400, 600, and 800 μg/mL)-treated cells was analyzed after 24, 48, and 72 h. In the following, the apoptotic rate and p50, RelB, and IKKα/β genes expression were assessed using flow cytometry and real-time PCR assays, respectively.Results: Shilajit had a potent cytotoxic activity in a dose- and time-dependent manner with an IC50 of 280 μg/mL. Based on the Annexin-PI analysis, IC50 concentration of this compound induced significant apoptosis in the cells, possibly through suppression of NF-κB-regulated genes. The expression levels exhibited significant (P≤0.05) downregulation of these genes in the treatment group. The findings of the present experiment clearly indicate that Shilajit possesses promising anti- breast tumor activity through inhibition of IKK/NF-κB signaling pathway.

Introduction: This study aims to identify the risk factors affecting mortality among Covid-19 patients in the southeast of Iran. Methods: This cross-sectional study used data from the Covid-19 patients admitted to Afzalipur Teaching Hospital in Kerman, Iran, from February 2020 to September 2021. The demographic and clinical data of 6,057 patients were analyzed using Bayesian network and logistic regression models. Findings: Out of 6,057 patients, 333 patients (5.5%) died. The most important risk factors for Covid-19 mortality were age, gender, fever, headache, decreased level of consciousness (LoC), chronic liver disease, blood oxygen level (BOL), admission season, and length of stay (LoS). Fever, headache, and longer LoS were protective and mortality-reducing variables.Conclusion: Following model estimation results, it is recommended that old male patients with low oxygen levels and a lower LoC, as well as patients with chronic liver disease, receive additional medical care and not be discharged prematurely. Early medical interventions for high-risk patients may reduce the Covid-19 mortality risk.

Background: The purpose of this research is to investigate the effectiveness of different training methods of dual task on balance and cognitive function in the elderly.Method: The participants in this study were 36 elderly individuals aged 65 years and older, who met the research's entry criteria. The selected individuals were divided into three groups of 12 people each based on the pre-test Berg balance scores. The research groups included dual task balance training with fixed and variable priority and a control group. The Berg balance test was used to assess functional balance in the elderly, and the Serial reaction time test was used to assess cognitive function. Data analysis was conducted using covariance analysis and the Bonferroni post hoc test. Result: The results of the data analysis showed that in the balance test, there was no significant difference between the control group and the dual task group with fixed and variable priority (P≥0.05). In addition, the serial reaction time test results showed that the dual task groups performed significantly better than the control group (P≤0.05), And the variable priority dual-task group had a significantly lower reaction time than the fixed priority dual-task training group (P≤0.05).conclusion: The results of this research demonstrated that dual task training, particularly with variable priority, resulted in faster information processing in the elderly. Therefore, it appears that, in addition to the theory of limited attention capacity, other mechanisms such as the allocated attention ability can effectively impact balance and cognitive performance

Background:Recurrent oral ulcers constitute the most common complaint of patients with Behçet’s disease (BD) and recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS). Enhanced innate immune response and neutrophilic activity might be a possible etiopathogenesis of BD. This study aimed to determine the significance of salivary HNP 1-3 in BD and RAS patients and detect their correlation with different clinical presentations, disease activity, and characteristics of oral ulcers.Methods:This cross-sectional study included 25 BD patients and 25 RAS patients as well as 25 healthy participants. 5 cc of unstimulated saliva were collected and levels of HNP 1-3 were measured by ELISA. Other data were obtained through interviews, examination, and reviews of medical records. SPSS 25.0 was used to analyze the data.Results:Salivary HNP 1-3 levels were not significantly different between the study groups (P=0.282). Duration of oral ulcers did not correlate with HNP 1-3 levels in RAS and BD patients (P>0.05). Also, BD patients with involvements other than oral ulcers were not found to have different levels of HNP 1-3 comparing to those who did not manifest these conditions.Conclusions:The validity of HNP 1-3 to be used as a probable biological marker for evaluation, diagnosis, and estimation of disease activity in patients with BD and RAS is still questionable due to our results.

Introduction: Melatonin is synthesized from the tryptophan amino acid in the pineal gland. Its role in Sleep was defined previously. Several studies have shown the effect of melatonin on postoperative pain and sedation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of melatonin on postoperative pain in patients undergoing an appendectomy.Methods: In a double-blind clinical trial, 64 patients aged 18-80 years with an ASA Ⅰ-Ⅱ anesthesia class who had been candidates for appendectomy with general anesthesia were enrolled. Patients were randomly divided into two groups’ melatonin and placebo (each group was 32). The first group received 6 mg of oral melatonin one hour before while the second group received a placebo. Before surgery and during the hours 2, 12, and 24 hours after surgery, patients' pain was measured based on the VAS. The patients' sedation was measured according to the Ramsay score and rescue analgesia was measured at the above time points. To analyze the data, SPSS software was used and the significance level was considered as P-value<0.05.Results: The results of our study showed that pain levels in the melatonin group were lower in the 2nd, 12, and 24th hours after the surgery of the appendectomy than in the placebo group. Sedation rates were not significantly different between the two groups. The analgesic consumption was lower in the Melatonin group than in the placebo group.Conclusion: Melatonin has a positive effect on the degree of pain (VAS) after an appendectomy.

Background:Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) disease caused a recent pandemic that killed thousands of people by causing mild and severe systemic organ involvement. Researchers are still trying to find the proper diagnosis tool for the disease. In addition, we investigated the effect of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) enzymes on long-term outcomes.Methods:The variables in this retrospective cohort study were collected from the records of patients with Covid-19 referred to Rouhani Hospital in Mazandaran, northern Iran. Patients were followed up to the cut-off points for mortality.Results:Among 320 eligible patients, AST levels, unlike ALT and ALP, were significantly associated with mortality (p<0.001) and disease severity (p=0.016). The level of AST, unlike the level of other tests examined at the time of referral, has a significant effect on mortality at admission time (p < 0.001, 95% CI= 2.433 to 20.463, MD = 7.056) and time of admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) (P = 0.012, 95% CI= 1.291 to 7.907, MD = 3.195). None of the tests (AST, ALT and ALP) could predict long-term mortality in patients.Conclusions:AST levels, unlike ALP and ALT levels, have shown an excellent ability to predict mortality and severity at admission, but neither of AST, ALT and ALP predicted long-term adverse outcomes.