Journal of Isfahan Medical School
Year:2023 | Volume:41 | Issue:749|Papers Count:3

Background: Cardiopulmonary bypass and reperfusion injury lead to the release of free radicals and inflammatory mediators during surgery. The use of antioxidants during cardiopulmonary bypass has become a strategy to save the myocardium from the attack of these radicals. This study aimed to investigate the effect of N-acetyl cysteine on reducing damage to the myocardium caused by free radicals.Methods: In a randomized clinical trial, 40 patients who were candidates for vascular graft surgery to receive N-acetyl cysteine in Prime solution were randomly divided into two intervention and control groups. In the intervention group, N-acetyl cysteine was added to the prime solution, and in the control group, an equivalent volume of placebo (normal saline) was administered. The levels of Troponin I and C-reactive protein, the need for shock and pacemaker, and the length of stay in the Intensive Care Unit were investigated and compared in both groups.Findings: The patients of both groups did not have significant differences in terms of ages, sex, ejection fraction, duration of the pump, and Athort clamp. Average troponin 8 hours after surgery in the intervention and control groups were 60.5 ± 1.84 and 5.05 ± 1.84 respectively. 10.37 ± 1.0 and the average CRP 24 hours after the operation was 28.47 ± 7.45 and 55.18 ± 5.74, respectively. The need for a defibrillator was not significantly different between the two groups (P < 0.05). The average length of stay in the intensive care unit in the intervention and control groups was 51.73 ± 10.9 and 55.78 ± 13.5, respectively, and no significant difference was seen.Conclusion: The results show that the use of NAC decreases CRP and cTnI after open heart surgery, which shows its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effect on the myocardium.

Background: Using shields is considered one of the most critical tools for ionizing radiation. Recently, to enhance the properties of shields alongside ease of use and their dimensions, the incorporation of shields containing nanoparticles has garnered significant attention. This study aims to investigate tellurium compounds containing bismuth oxide (Bi2O3) nanoparticles as radiation shielding based on the standard parameters of radiation shielding evaluation.Methods: In this study, while conducting an initial assessment of the performance of tellurium glasses as radiation shields, the role of adding Bi2O3 nanoparticles in improving the protective properties of these glasses against photon radiation was investigated using the Monte Carlo code MCNPX. The performance assessment was conducted using parameters such as mass attenuation coefficient (μm) and transmission factor (TF). The energy range of incident radiation for tellurium glasses with micro and nanostructures was from 15 keV to 300 keV. Furthermore, the effect of nanoparticle dimensions on the performance of radiation shields was examined and discussed.Findings: The simulations show that the improvement of μm has a direct relationship with the reduction of the dimensions of nanoparticles. Also, increasing the weight percentage of bismuth in the protection increases μm so that the best protective role is assigned to the composition that contains nanoparticles with the highest weight percentage.Conclusion: The results indicate that tellurium glasses containing bismuth nanoparticles provide better radiation shielding than the absence of nanoparticles. Moreover, the presence of bismuth particles in nanometer dimensions creates superior radiation shields compared to particles in micrometer dimensions.

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a progressive inflammatory disease in which inflammatory markers play an effective role in the development of this disease. In contrast, exercise training may lead to improved chronic inflammation. However, the effect of exercise training on inflammatory markers is not clearly understood. Therefore, the purpose of this meta-analysis is to investigate the effect of exercise training on IL-6, TNF-α, and IL-10 as well as CRP in patients with MS.Methods: A comprehensive search was conducted in the three principal databases of PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus for English and Persian articles published until December 22, 2022. To determine the effect sizes of the effect of exercise training on inflammatory markers IL-6, IL-10, TNF-α, and CRP, standardized mean difference (SMD) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated.Findings: Sixteen studies involving 687 patients with MS were included in the meta-analysis. Exercise training resulted in a significant decrease in levels of IL-6 [P = 0.002, (CI: -0.14 to 0.65: -0.40)] and CRP [P = 0.02 -0.04 to 0.70 CI: -0.37], but did not lead a significant effect on the levels of TNF-α [P = 0.20, (0.14 to 0.68 CI: -) -0.27] and IL -10 [P = 0.94, (0.43 to 0.40 CI: -0.15)].Conclusion: Exercise training may lead to improvement of chronic inflammation status by reducing IL-6 and CRP in patients with MS. Therefore, prescribing regular exercise may be a suitable approach for disease management in patients with MS.