Journal of Isfahan Medical School
Year:2016 | Volume:34 | Issue:397|Papers Count:5

Background: Atopy and/or allergy are in the same meaning. Patients with allergy are individuals who have positive family history and the number of eosinophil in their blood test and immunoglobulin E (IgE) level in their skin test are high against allergen, which is demonstrated by allergic rhinitis، eczema، asthma and urticaria. Many genetic factors are involved in disease onset one of which is interleukin-7 receptor subunit alpha (IL7R-α). In this study we aimed to evaluate the frequency of this polymorphism in two groups of case and control.Methods: 101 patients with allergy and 201 controls were selected. After DNA extraction، different genotypes of C/T polymorphisms were studied using high-resolution melt real-time polymerase chain reaction (HRM real-time PCR) technique.Findings: There was a significant association between the frequency of this gene polymorphism and atopy. In fact، individuals with TT genotype were approximately 4 times more at a risk of this disease.Conclusion: The frequency of this polymorphism with same results was also studied in both Germany and India، which shows that this polymorphism is significantly associated with allergy. Studies have also shown that IL-7 plays a pivotal role not only in eosinophil survival and operation but also in immune system homeostasis.

Background: Terahertz radiation is non-destructive and hence، in the last two decades it has been of interest to researchers for various applications such as medical imaging. Having an accurate model of the tissue can pave the way for the researches in this field. In the terahertz region، water has high absorption and due to high water content in body tissues، the main mechanism of contrast in terahertz medical imaging in adjacent tissues is the difference in water content. Thus، dielectric models are suitable for modeling body tissues.Methods: In this study, goodness of fit of double-Debye, Cole-Cole and Fitzgerald dielectric models to experimental data of the body tissues was evaluated. For qualitative assessment, the correlation coefficient between simulated values and experimental data was calculated.Findings: Skin tissue was more compatible with the double-Debye model; breast tissue was more consistent with the Fitzgerald model and other investigated tissues were compatible with the Cole-Cole model.Conclusion: Cole-Cole model is a general model, which can achieve a correlation of about 0.9 for a wide variety of tissues. Double-Debye and Fitzgerald models are specific models, which have higher accuracy for skin and breast tissues and whose correlation coefficient is about 0.95.

Background: Scorpion venom contains bioactive peptides that have potential of medicinal value in drug discovery. Nowadays، many studies indicated the treatment feature of scorpion venom component apart from their normal activities in venom. One type of venom peptides is calcium channel toxins which blocked ryanodine sensitive calcium channels (RyR). Uncontrolled function of RyR2 has been seen in heart arrhythmia. Calcium toxins that inhibit these ion receptors can be a natural drug for treatment of this type of anomalies.Methods: cDNA (complementary DNA) library was constructed from six telsons of Odontobuthus doriae scorpion. ODCaTx1 cDNA was isolated from library and characterized molecularly by some software such as ORFfinding, BlastP, Clustal Omega, SignalP4.1, DISULFIND, ProtParam and Phyre2.Findings: ODCaTx1 putative peptide had low molecular weight (4440.1D) and 43 amino acids in length which classified as a stable molecule. Based on various bioinformatic assessments، this peptide was similar to the RyR2 toxin from Hottentotta judaicus. The estimated half-life was 30 hours (mammalian reticulocytes, in vitro).Conclusion: In this project، cDNA sequence of the ryanodine receptor toxin isoform-2 and its putative peptide from Iranian yellow scorpion “Odontobuthus doriae” were characterized molecularly. In addition، by preparation of a framework for expression of ODCaTx1 identified in this project، we create a ground to accesses enough peptide for feature used. ODCaTx1 due to its small size and stability can be a good candidate for pharmaceutical research in the field of heart arrhythmia and seizure treatment.

Background: Internal dosimetry in nuclear medicine is very important for assessing the benefits of the used method against its risks. The absorbed dose of injected radiopharmaceutical is determined by several different methods. The aim of this study was to determine the absorbed dose of the breast using the software Medical Internal Radiation Dose (MIRD) and to compare it with the computer-simulation software [quoted] in some authentic articles.Methods: 22 females were posed to gamma camera at intervals of 15، 60 and 90 minutes after injection of the radiopharmaceutical 99mTC-sestamibi، and scanned. Radiotracer based on activity was performed using conjugated-view method. The breast dose was calculated using MIRD formula. The quantitative data of dosimetry were analyzed via SPSS software.Findings: The breast activity in 15، 60 and 90 minutes after injection of the radiopharmaceutical was calculated as 0.234±0.076, 0.17±0.053 and 0.134±0.053 mCi, respectively. By drawing graphs of the activity over time using Excel software، we witnessed a decline of the graph. The average amount of radiopharmaceutical uptake by heart was then calculated as 3.065±0.327 percent.Conclusion: The results of this study were not in good agreement whit valid studies. So، the conjugated view method is not an accurate approach for organ activity quantification in myocardial perfusion scan.

Background: We investigated the correlation between the findings of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and post-craniotomy complications in patients with brain tumor.Methods: Patients undergoing craniotomy for resection of brain tumor were monitored for post-operation complication such as delayed extubation، seizure، nausea، vomiting، headache and shivering; data on the findings of pre-operation MRI were also obtained and the correlations were analyzed.Findings: 137 patients entered the study. The prevalence of post-operation complications and related radiologic findings in patients with that complication were as delayed extubation with midline shift، cerebral edema and mass effect 43.8%, post-operation headache with hydrocephalus 40.9%, shivering with hydrocephalus and cystic component 41.6%، post operation nausea with midline shift، cerebral edema، mass effect and cystic component 38% and new neurologic deficit with multifocal tumor 8.8%. Furthermore، there were correlation between age and post operation vomiting also female gender and new neurologic deficit.Conclusion: Post-operation complications and related radiologic findings were as delayed extubation with midline shift، cerebral edema and mass effect، headache with hydrocephalus، shivering with hydrocephalus and cystic component of tumor، post-operation nausea with midline shift، cerebral edema، mass effect and cystic component، and new neurologic deficit after the surgery with multifocal tumor.