Journal of Isfahan Medical School
Year:2013 | Volume:31 | Issue:247|Papers Count:7

Background: Toxoplasmosis is caused by an intracellular protozoan, Toxoplasma gondii. In pregnant women with toxoplasmosis, the parasite can be transmitted to the fetus, causing severe complications. The aim of this study was to determine the seroprevalence and risk factors of toxoplasmosis in women of reproductive age in Tehran, Iran, to provide detailed information for health authorities regarding the prevention and control of the disease.Methods: In this cross-sectional study conducted in 2013, completion of the questionnaires was done and blood samples were collected from 300 women of 18-40 years of age. Levels of IgG and IgM antibodies against Toxoplasma gondii were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test and the risk factors cited in questionnaires were also analyzed.Findings: Among 300 studied sera, 85 (28.3%) cases were positive for IgG, 4 (1.3%) for IgM and 3 (1%) for both classes. There were no significant relationship between toxoplasmosis and factors such as employment, education, eating raw meat and vegetables and contact with cats (chi-square test); but there was a significant relationship between toxoplasmosis and age (Mann-Whitney test, P = 0.04).Conclusion: 70.4 percent of selected women in the study were seronegative. It is necessary to avoid the risk factors during and before the pregnancy for women via health education.

Background: Early diagnosis of diseases is an important step in their treatment process, but it is difficult due to lack of satisfactorily sensitive imaging devices and difference in the parameters of the subjects. Asymmetry analysis of retinal nerve fiber layer thickness and total retinal thickness can provide a criterion for physicians to accomplish early diagnosis.Methods: Data were collected from 50 normal subjects (aged 35 ± 10 years) by a Topcon model of 3D-OCT 1000. For this purpose, a pipeline of procedures was utilized; segmentation of retinal layers by diffusion map method, scaling operator, automatic localization of the center of macula, and calculation of mean and SD.Findings: The maximum of average RNFL and total retina thickness in right and left eyes is seen in the perifoveal nasal, and the minimum is seen in the fovea. The results demonstrate an overall symmetry between the two eyes (P>0.05). Tolerance limits in RNFL of normal subjects for 9 sectors (from 1 to 9), respectively, are 1.16±0.99, 2.43±1.57, 3.96±2.08, 1.11±1.09, 2.83±1.66, 3.09±1.39, 4.91±1.79, 0.82±1.25, and 3.31±1.63 mm. Tolerance limits in total retina of normal subjects for 9 sectors, respectively, are 9.84±2.75, 3.60±2.74, 4.82±3.23, 3.33±1.76, 6.51±3.69, 3.23±1.30, 5.96±2.62, 2.79±1.42, 6.72±2.57 μm.Conclusion: Asymmetry analysis can be a criterion for early detection of diseases. In this study asymmetry analysis and tolerance limits were calculated.

Background: One of the most prevalent intestinal cancers is rectum cancer causing 10% of mortality rate due to cancer. According to relative high prevalence of rectum cancer in Isfahan, Iran, the aim of this study was determining survival time and recurrent rate of this cancer in this region.Methods: This cross-sectional study for survival analysis was done in Alzahra hospital (Isfahan, Iran) during 2012-2013.101 hospitalized consecutive patients with rectum cancer were selected. The necessary data such as demographic information, pathologic results and etc. were achieved from patients' records. We contacted patients' families for achieving completing data. All patients were followed for prognosis, death and recurrent after the surgery.Findings: The mean of survival time in all patients was 5.45±0.45 years. According to Kaplan-Meier analysis, the median survival was 6.0±0.9 years. Mean and median survival was statistically different based on the disease stage (P<0.001); but other factors had not positive effect on patients' survival.The mean and median of relapse were 14.05±2.30 and 12.00±0.83 months, respectively. Chemradiotherapy before the surgery statistically affected relapse time but other factors were not effective.Conclusion: Because of the high relapse and low survival rate in our patients in comparison with world statistics, protocols of treatment for rectum cancer must be revised.

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a type of sleep related breathing disorder due to upper airway obstruction with the high risk of 26% among adults. According to some researches, it seems there is a relation between OSA and epilepsy. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the risk of this disorder and daytime sleepiness in patients with complex partial seizure.Methods: This analytical descriptive study was done on 90 patients referred to Alzahra Neurology Clinic in Isfahan, Iran, in 2012. They were divided into two case and control groups (n=45). The first consisted of Complex partial seizures (CPS) patients and the second was non-epileptic patients. Sleep Quality Questionnaire was completed for the participants, and demographic information, type and doses of used drugs, and seizure recurrence cases in the previous 3 months were gathered for each patient. Data were analyzed by SPSS software.Findings: The mean value of OSA in the case and control groups were 1.95±1.41 and 1.84±1.43, respectively, with no significant difference (P=0.71). The mean score of EPWORTH questionnaire were 5.1±4.4 and 5.3±4.8 in the two groups; which were not significantly different.Conclusion: There was no evidence of OSA association with epilepsy. However, due to the importance of OSA it is recommended that further studies be carried out in this regard. Moreover, it is necessary for epileptic patients to gain definitive diagnosis. Then, the effects of OSA on improvement of seizure control, and their quality of life must be studied.

Background: Obesity and Diabetes are two metabolic diseases that are dependent on genetic and various environmental factors. Today, obesity and type 2 diabetes cannot just be attributed to genome changes, bad eating habits, or physical activity reduction. Gut microflora is another effective factor that has an important role in health. Recently, numerous experiments have been done to investigate the relation between metabolic diseases and bacterial populations in the gut. The purpose of this study is to assess the bifidobacteria of the intestinal microbiota in people with type 2 diabetes and compare with healthy persons.Methods: In this study, 40 male and female adults, 20 of whom were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, were studied. For this study, age, gender, and body-mass index (BMI) are matched in diabetic and healthy persons. After fecal sample collection from diabetic and healthy persons, and extraction of DNA from samples, culture and extraction of DNA from standard bifidobacteria were done as a positive control. After that, cloning in PTZ57 R/T plasmid and extraction cloning plasmid was done.For quantitative investigation of bifidobacteria, Real-time PCR molecular technique was done by using special primer of bifidobacterium and standard curve. To study the number of bifidobacteria in people with type 2 diabetes and compare with healthy persons, statistical analysis was done.Findings: Average number of bacteria in people with type 2 diabetes is more than in healthy persons, but Student’s independent t-test (P=0.09) and Mann-Whitney test (P=0.1) indicate that there are no meaningful differences between them.Conclusion: Quantitative calculation with Real-time PCR indicates that the number of bifidobacteria is not effective in Iranian type 2 diabetes patients.