Hakim Journal
Year:2001 | Volume:3 | Issue:4|Papers Count:14

Many investigators all around the world are working to find the best and novel methods for cancer treatment. Among them some are trying to reduce the treatment side effects from which patients are suffering.The side effects of Gamma-Ray on skin appear in forms of different damages, including. erythema, dry desquamation, wet desquamation and even skin necrosis and wounds. At present to prevent such damages some external oil- riched creams and ointments including Zinc Oxide are used which are not appear to be very useful. Fortunately there are extensive information's about ALOE plant and it's good effects on burn, skin wounds, healing, anti-inflammation and sunbrun which facilitate the use of this new formulated medicinal plant in modern medicine. Because of skin protection ability of the plant extract against the sunburn it was suggested by the present workers that it may also protect the skin from Gamma ray due to radiotherapy. According to British Pharmacopoeia (B.P.) the most effective and active substances of the (ALOE VERA) are barbaloin and Aloin with the chemical base of hydroxyanthracene that have incompatibility with alkalines. This study was conducted in one of the best cancer centers (Tajrish Shohada hospital), 70 patients were randomly selected and divided in four groups of test (2) and control (2). ALOE extract in form of gel formulation as the best preparation was chosen and applied. The test groups (35 patients) were treated by Aloe Gel either along with radiotherapy program, or right after radiotherapy treatment completed. For control groups (35 patients) after each radiotherapy program, either Zinc Oxide cream was applied or no treatment conducted. The irradiation equipment was cobalt 60, and the average irradiation rays was 180-200 centigray/day. all the 70 patients had different forms of cancers. For this reason the principal variables of the study were chosen "Healing effectiveness" and "Tissue damage rate". The results and comparison between test and control groups indicated that: a- The overall effectiveness in test groups are much higher than control groups.b- The healing in test groups compare to control groups is significant (p<0.05).c- The average healing period (AHP)) for the group which using gel formulation right after radiotherapy started or after total period completed were significantly shorter than the group that was treated by Zinc Oxide (p<0.001).For the best result achievement it is highly recommended that for cancer radiotherapy treatment, Aloe Gel formulation be applied because of its preventive effect on skin from the beginning up to the end of the radiotherapy program.

Lack of protective antibody response to hepatitis B vaccine has bem reported in 1-10% of healthy neonates worldwide. In the present study triple doses of 10 µg recombinant hepatitis B vaccine was administered at 0, 1.5 and 9 months intervals to a group of healthy neonates in the city of Kerman. Anti - HBs antibody was then measured in-serum collected 2-4 weeks after completion of primary vaccination by sandwich ELlSA using commercial kits.Our results show that protective antibody response (anti - HBs>10 IU/L) was developed in 96.1% of vaccines. However, 3.9% of the neonates did not develop protective response. The responders were arbitrary classified into low (anti- HBs = 10-100 IU/L; x= 41 IU/L), intermediate (anti – HBs=100-1000 IU/L; x= 238 IU/L) and high responders (anti - HBs>1000 IU/L; x= 8900 IU/L). Accordingly 10%, 18.2% and 68% of the vaccines were found to be low, intermediate and high responders, respectively. Responsiveness to the vaccine was similarly represented in both male and female vaccinees. These results suggest high immunogenicity of this vaccine in healthy Iranian neonates.

In order to predicting changes in the prevalence of smoking in Iran from 1991 to 1999, 1/1000 households of the country had been chosen from each of the two national health survey by cluster sampling. Related data to smoking were obtained from 15-69 years old participants in 1991 (n=27346) and from 15-99 years old ones in 1999 (n=36966), respectively. Cigarette smoking prevalence have been decreased overall from 14.6 to 11.7 percent in 15-69 years old age group. Although use of hookah and traditional pipe (Chopough) have been reduced from 3.8 to 3.5 percent overall, but increased from 0.8 to 1.4 percent in 15-24 years old age group.Coincident with health educational programs, absence of massive promotional campaigns by tobacco companies and increasing tobacco taxes in Iran have led to a decrease in smoking prevalence.

This investigation conducted on the molecular basis of thalassemia intermedia in 50 Iranian patients. The patients were clinically heterogeneous. The age at diagnosis varied considerably amongst them with mean of 7.9 years. These patients developed few symptoms such as splenomegaly or skeletal changes and just a few number of them needed occasional blood transfusion. Other therapeutic interventions included splenectomy in one third of them and administration of folic acid and hydroxy urea in some patients. Hemoglobin concentration was between 7-10 g/dl in 73% and 10-12 g/dl in 23% of the cases. Ninety Six percent of the patients had high Hb F levels. This indicates a substantial elevation of expression of the gamma globin genes.All patients were examined for the - 158 C---> T substitution in the G-gamma promoter locus, recognized by cutting with the restriction enzyme Xmnl , and 76% of the cases had the mutation either in homozygous or heterozygdus forms. The patients were also scanned for the IVSII-1 beta-globin gene mutation, the most common in the Iranian population, and 60% of the them had the mutation in either homozygous or heterozygous combinations. About 96% of the patients with IVSII-1 mutation had the Xmnl marker concurrently. Examining the patients for both molecular determinants, it was established that there is physical linkage between the Xmnl marker and the IVSII-1 allele at least in 72% of the cases who carried the two mutations. It was previously postulated that the coexistence of the Xmnl marker and some severe bata globin alleles in cis situation under the condition of heamatopoetic stress might contribute to the overproduction of HbF causing HPFH. It seems this phenomenon endows mild features of intermedia in a big number of the Iranian thalassaemia intermedia patients.

Many plants of the crucifera family have anti-thyroid effects. In this study ant thyroid effects of the seeds of Brassica napus var.esculenta are compared with methimazole. N-Mari rats (male & female) obtained from Pasteur Institute weighting between 180-200 g were divided into three groups. Group I received normal diet as control group, group II, in addition to normal diet, received 400 µg/Kg aqua. Solution of methimazole daily and group III, in addition to normal diet received an ether extract of the seed with dose of 5 g/kg.After 10, 20 and 30 days, rats were sacrificed by decapitation, blood samples were collected and centrifuged. For thyroid hormones measurments, sera were stored in -20°C and hormonal concentrations were measured using radioimmunoassay method. The glands were kept in 10% formalin solution for histological studies. Ehter extract of the seed caused a significant reduction in T3 Uptake,T3 and T4 concentrations which was comparable with methimazole. The extract also caused a remarkable increase in TSH concentration compared with controls. Histological findings show that in test groups, the number of inactive follicles have been increased compared with control. In conclusion from the results of this study, the goitrogenic effects of brassica napus seed in human and animals must be considered.

The evaluation of the resistance of Streptococcus pneumonia against penicillin, regarding treatment, has gain some importance. For instance the low-resistant strains could be treated by penicillin, but for high-resistant strains a new formula of medication will be needed. In order to study about Pneumococcal resistance to penicillin and some other antibiotics, samples which obtained from different hospitals, were cultured.Finally, susceptibility tests were performed, using-disc diffusion method, on 66 obtained strains from 100 clinical specimens. The same was carried out for 5 different antibiotics (penicillin, cefazolin, ampicillin, amoxicillin and vancomycin). The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and the minimum bactericidpl concentration (MBC) were measured, using serial dilution method.In the case of Pencillin 47 sensitive strains and 19 high-resistant strains were obtained. No intermediate or low-resistant strains were found. The resistance against other antibiotics were evaluated as 10.6%, 7.5%, 18.1% and 0.0%, respectively. The study showed that all strains were sensitive to vancomycin except one low resistant strain.

Female genital tract is a suitable environment for growth of various pathogen and nonpathogen microorganisms. Some of these microorganisms with colonization at the appropriate anatomical site may cause various pathological disorders. Some of these derangements may lead to other problems like ectopic pregnancy, infertility and abortion. In this study frequency of Mycoplasma hominis and Ureaplasma urealyticum of 225 specimens of infertile females and 350 specimens of fertile females were investigated by culture method and the results were as follow:Mycoplasma hominis was isolated from 59(26.2%) infertile females and 26(7.4%) of control group. There is significant statistical difference between the two group. (X2 =36. 92, p <0.001) Ureaplasma urealyticum was isolated from 72(32%) infertile females and 81 (23.1%) control group. There is statistical significant difference between two group. (X2 =5.06, p=0.02) The purpose of this study was to investigate the abundance of Mycoplasma hominis and Ureaplasma urealyticum in infertile females and its comparison with control group. and the probable influence of these organisms in infertility process.

Gastric carcinoma is a worldwide disease and one of the most frequent malignancies in IRAN. Although it's mortality have been decreased, it is one of the main causes of death due to cancer. While the etiology is unknown the only hope for patients is early diagnosis of cancer and premalignant lesions such as dysplasia. In this project, the ability of NOR staining to distinguish between different grades of dysplasia in 25 surgically resected stomachs were studied. Samples were taken from the lesions and their margin. The numbers of NOR particle were counted blindly by two persons directly (via microscope) and indirectly (via photomicrograph). Statistical analysis were done by ANOVA with Newman - Kules -Final results showed significant difference between grades of dysplasia and carcinoma (P<0.001). There was no significant difference between grades of dysplasia. It seems that NOR numbers increase from normal to carcinoma.

To determine factors affecting contraceptive failure and discontinuation rate among Iranian women, we conducted a prospective study during ''july 1998 to February 1999 Period" in the south of Tehran province (Shahr-e-Ray, Islamshahr and south of Tehran city). A total of 303 married women (15-49 age group) were randomly selected. Each of them were using one of the three methods (IUD, Condom and pill).Fifty-six cases of contraceptive discontinuation were reported (but much lower in IUD group) and no incident of pregnancy was observed during this time interval. By survival analysis we calculated the continuation rates by groups, those were for IUD, Condom and pill 82%, 59% and 67% respectively. It should be concerned that the majority cases of discontinuation happened at the first three months of follow up for the three mentioned above methods.The most stated reason for contraceptive discontinuation was the presence of side effects which was 40% and the smallest percentage was related to dissatisfaction of the application procedure and intention for pregnancy.On the basis of this study, it is recommended that the women should be fully informed of the contraceptive methods available with their side-effects, and counseling programmers should be offered, particularly during the first three months of use.

Little is known concerning the relation, courses, and connections of the white matter fibers of the human cerebral hemispheres. On the other hand, increasing of our knowledge in this field is very important in anatomical diagnos is of neurological disorders and in improving of neurosurgical techniques. One of the most unkown parts of the white matter of the human cerebral hemispheres is fibers of the extreme capsule. Most of the reliable neuroanatomical texts represent nothing, and a few texts describe it very briefly. So we decided to trace fibers of the extreme capsule in human brain.Ten previously frozen formalin- fixed human brains without cerebral disease were dissected using the Klingler's technique.The fibers of the extreme capsule originate from frontparietal operculum and enter the dorsal border of this capsule. These fibers reach to the temporal operculum directly, or they terminate in dorsal part of insular gyri and another fibers originate from ventral part of insular gyri and terminate in temporal operculum. A group of extreme capsule fibers go between adjacent gyri in insular cortex. The superior longitudinal fasciculus lies along the dorsal border of the extreme capsule, and some fibers pass between the two systems. The compact part of the uncinate fascicules, occipitofrontal fasciculus and inferior longitudinal fascicules pass through the ventral part of the extreme capusle.The findings of this study demonstrate that the fibers of the extreme capsule are association fibers and they can be divided into three main groups: (1) the fibers that belong to long association fibers, such as uncinate fascicules, (2) short association fibers that connect the adjacent gyri and (3) the fibers that go between frontoparietal operculum and temporal operculum. The authors suggest that the later group can be classified as a new group named "intennediate association fibers".