Iranian Journal of Basic Medical Sciences
Year:2005 | Volume:8 | Issue:2 (26)|Papers Count:13

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the normal anatomic indices of thyroid glands in adult population of Isfahan. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive study, 250 postmortem thyroid glands were examined. During autopsy, the thyroid glands were excised carefully and the weight and volume of glands and their lobes were measured. Then all portions were examined visually with a magnifying glass looking for gross pathologic lesions. The specimen was also examined by palpation and homogenous glands were selected for the study. The data were analyzed using SPSS software and independent T-Test and ANOVA, and divided into four distinct age groups (19-29, 30-39,40-49 and 50-64 years old) in both sex groups. Results: In this postmortem project, the thyroid glands of 152 men and 29 women were studied. Total mean thyroid weight and volume were 15.5±5 gr and 15.8 ±5 ml respectively (Table 1 and Fig. 1). Mean thyroid right lobe length, width and thickness were 4.4±0/8 cm, 2.5±0.5cm and 2±0.3 cm respectively, the same parameters for left lobe were 4.3±0/8 cm, 2.3±0.5cm, and 1.2±0.3 cm, respectively. Mean thyroid weight were higher in men comparing with women (p<0/05), except in 40-49 age group. Mean thyroid volume and weight tend to increase with age in men (p<0.05) but not in women (Table 2 and Fig. 2). Conclusion: The results of our study seem to be similar with those countries in which iodine deficiency has been compensated. Because of presence of differences between the results of autopsy study and those of sonography study, these two different studies should be repeated synonymously in our country until we reach a standard basis for thyroid anatomic indexes which could be applied in next therapeutic iodine supplementary programs.      

Objective: Sore throat is a common complication after intubation. The objective of this study, from the clinical viewpoint, is the evaluation of the local heat on postoperative sore throat. Also this study, from the methodological viewpoint, is an attempt to introduce the ethical and economical advantages of sequential analysis that was used for the first time in Iran. Materials and Methods: In this clinical trial patients were randomly assigned to either experimental or control group. In the experimental group a small electrical blanket with the temperature of 40 C was used during the general anesthesia. The sequuntial double trianuglar test was used to analyse and monitor clinical trial. Results: This study was stopped after the forth analysis (80 patients evaluated: 40 with electrical blanket and 40 without it) in favor of electric blanket. Whereas the sample size required by the single-stage-design was 160. Conclusion: Our findings showed that local heat on the tracheal area could reduce the incidence of postoperative sore throat. Also, from methodological viewpoint, using the double triangular test leading to a 50% reduction in sample size, which is more effective from health economics viewpoint.            

Objective: The liver is the key organ of the metabolic, secreatory and excretory functions in the body and, accordingly, its disorders are numerous and varied. In folk remedies the plant Fumaria parviflora Lam is used for liver diseases. In this study, protective effect of hydroalcoholic; extract of Fumaria parviflora L was determined on isolated rat hepatocytes to develop new remedies with liver protective effects. Material and Methods: After isolating hepatocytes by collagenase, several concentrations of ethanolic extracts were added to the suspension of freshly isolated rat hepatocytes incubated in Krebs-Henscleit buffer under a flow of 95% O2 and 5% CO2, 20-minutes before the addition of 10 mM of CCl4. Then the percentage of cell death was investigated after 0.5, 1, 2, 3 hours by Trypan Blue Exclusion test. Results: The extract with concentrations of 0.7 to 4.2 mg/ml protected the cells against CCl4-induced cytotoxicity, but concentrations of 7 mg/ml and higher increased the CCl4-induced cytotoxicity. Conclusion: The results of the present study support the traditional beliefs on hepatoprotective effects of Fumaria parviflora, however; high concentrations were hepatotoxic.    

Objective: In this research, the effects of methanolic extract of aerial parts of Zhumeria majdae and its fraction, on the development of tolerance to the antinociceptive action of morphine were examined in mice. Materials and Methods: Morphine tolerance in mice was developed by injecting morphine .sulfate (20 mg/Kg, S.C.) twice a day for 4 days. Vehicle injected mice was considered as control. To determine the effect of intraperitoneally administered methanolic extract of Z. majdae and its fractions on tolerance development, they were injected in the appropriate dose twice a day. The development of tolerance to the antinociceptive effect of morphine sulfate (10 mg/Kg, S.C.) was measured on days 1 and 6 using the tail-flick test.Results: The methanolic extract showed a significant activity and attenuated tolerance development at 0.14, 0.28 and 0.56 g/Kg doses. The methanolic extract of plant was suspended in methanol-water (3:2) and extracted with chloroform. The activity of hydroalcoholic fraction was more than the chloroformic one, and showed significant activity. Further fraction on silica gel column chromatography was obtained. Three fractions (A, B and C, similar Rf in each group) were obtained; fraction A and B were more effective. The methanolic extract of plant and its fractions themselves, at dose employed in the study, did not exert any effect on antinoeiceptive activity. Conclusion: These results indicated that the extracts of Z. majdae contain component(s) that can attenuate tolerance development to the antinociceptive action of morphine.

Objective: Breast cancer is the most common malignancy of the women and causes death in many patients every year. About 70% of breast surgeries and biopsy taking are not necessary because they yield benign diagnosis. For diagnosing breast masses accurately and specially differentiating benign from malignant tumors without surgery, Triple Test has been introduced. This project tried to evaluate the diagnostic value and accuracy of fine needle aspiration cytology of the breast as the most significant element of this test. Materials and Methods: During a 3 years period, 120 females with the chief complaint of a breast mass being admitted in Mashhad Imam Reza Hospital were subjected to all components of the triple test followed by confirmatory open biopsy. In 100 patients all paraclinical procedures were obtained and the results were available. Results: FNA cytologic results were classified in three groups as benign, malignant and suspicious for malignancy. Fifty-five patients had benign and 40 had malignant cytology which were confirmed by routine histopathology. From 5 patients with suspicious cytology, 2 yielded malignancy and 3 benignancy by tissue confirmation. Conclusion: FNA cytology of the breast is a well tolerated, simple, safe, accurate, cost effective, noninvasive, less complicated procedure and operable in office practice for diagnosing breast lesions, with an accuracy of about 100%, specially when it is employed in association with physical exam and mammography in the triple test. Based on these results we strongly recommend application of this method as an ideal procedure for breast diagnosis and elimination of open biopsy in our country, which certainly will result in expenses reduction.      

Objective: Exposure to the sunlight can have harmful effects on the human skin; such as, skin cancers, hyperpigmentation and photoaging. Therefore, it is essential to use sunscreen products to prevent these adverse effects. The photoprotection provided by a sunscreen product is assessed in terms of its sun protection factor (SPF). There are in vivo and in vitro methods for the SPF determination. In vivo methods have some problems; therefore, in vitro methods are used more often. Materials and Methods: In this study we compared 3 in vitro methods for the determination of SPF of homosalte FDA standard sunscreen lotion. Results: The SPF of the homosalte standard lotion by the method of solution in ethanol was 8.23±0.13, by the method of solution in methanol method was 6.17±1.02 and by transpore tape method was 5.88±0.12. Conclusion: According to these results and statistical tests, transpore tape was the best method.      

Objectives: In this in vitro study a series of new norfloxacin derivatives with an oxime or a substituted oxime attached to the piperazine ring at C-7 position were evaluated for their cytotoxicity on Human Cancer Cell Lines Materials and Methods: The growth inhibitory activity of these compounds was determined for human cancer cell lines including bladder carcinoma (EJ138), renal adenocarcinoma (ACHN), breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7), hepatocyte carcinoma (HEPG2), lung carcinoma (A549) and rat-Adrenal fibroblast-pheochromocytoma (PC-12) using colorimetric MTT assay. Results: The results showed that the norfloxacin derivatives tested in this study showed significant inhibitory activity for cancer cell lines. Some of the compounds such as C1, C9, C10  and C11 exhibited the most inhibitory activity against MCF-7 and PC-l2 with IC50 value of 9 µM (p<0.05). Among the cell lines tested, PC-l2 was very sensitive to these compounds. The known cytotoxic drug, Etoposide, demonstrated the most significant activities against all the cell lines tested with IC50 value less than 1.7 µM (p<0.001). Conclusion: The results indicated that the synthesized norfloxacin derivatives tested in this study, although they act mostly as antibacterial agents, they can also affect the function of the type 2 DNA topoisomerase in eukaryotic cells. Further studies are needed to elucidate the mechanisms by which these derivatives act.      

Objective: Kaposi's Sarcoma (KS) is a common malignant tumor in immuno compromised individuals and in organ transplant recipients due to immunosuppressive drugs. The correlation of lymphotropic viruses such as HHV-8 and HTLV-l to KS is currently being studied. These viruses may be the risk factors or the primary cause of KS. The presence of HHV-8 and HTLV-1 genome was determined in archived skin biopsies diagnosed as KS. Material and Method: In this study we selected 35 paraffin embedded skin biopsies with KS diagnosis. These diagnoses were reconfirmed by careful microscopic examination. Five micron thick sections of the blocks were prepared; and after deparaffmization, their DNA was extracted. Using LTR, tax and pol specific primers and ORF-26 and ORFK 9-1 specific primers the HTLV-1 and the HHV-8 genomes were amplified; respectively. Results: Our results indicate that none of the KS tissues were infected with HTLV-1, however we detected the presence of HHV-8 genome in all of the specimens. Conclusion: According to these findings, it seems that HTLV-1 infection does not affect the process of HHV-8 activation.      

Objective: HSA is the highly water-soluble plasma protein, which is the smallest and most abundant plasma protein in the human body. Oxazepam (O) and Flurazepam (F) include the most frequently prescribed sedative-hypnotic agents. (F) and (O) bind to human serum proteins more than 95%. Investigations show that HSA has an important role as a carrier for diazepins. The interaction of drugs with HSA, which may have important pharmacokinetics implications, has been extensively studied by several workers. Materials and Methods: The binding of two diazepins [Oxazepam (O) and Flurazepam (F)] to HSA was investigated by means of spectrophotometry. The binding isotherms for interaction of (F) and (O) with HSA at 25°C shows the variation of v, the average of bound (O) and (F) per HSA molecule, versus log [O]. The corresponding Scatchard plots for these isotherms were driven. They coincide with usual shapes of Scatchard plots and can represent the existence of one binded set. The binding parameters, binding constant and binding capacity of these medicines were obtained from Hill equation. Results: The binding constants of Flurazepam (F) and Oxazepam (O) were determined 0.6±0.1(x105) and 1.4±0.3 (x105) respectively. The binding capacity of (F) and (O) were computed 1±0.1and1.3±0.1, and the Hill constant (nH) was obtained 4.076 and 2044 respectively. The results of this study show, spectrophotometry can be a simple and fast technique to determine the binding constant for some ligands. Conclusion: These values show the binding affinity of (O) is more than (F), on the other hand, the cooperativity of (F); is higher than (O). With regards to the amount of K, binding affinity of (0) to HAS is more than (F). These results can be justified by the amounts of partition coefficient of (O) and (F).