JOURNAL OF ARDABIL UNIVERSITY OF MEDICAL SCIENCES (JAUMS)
Year:2015 | Volume:15 | Issue:1 |Papers Count:15

Background & objectives: Intestinal parasitic infections are the most health threatening agents around the world, developing countries in particular. The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence ofGiardia lamblia and Enterobius vermicularis among the children of kindergartens in Shahroud, Iran.Methods: In this descriptive cross sectional study from 811 children of 15 kindergartens fecal samples were collected by way of census in 2013. This work was conducted with education of parents and their full consent. All samples were examined at Central Laboratory of Shahroud University of Medical Sciences based on formalin ethyl acetate method. In addition direct smear was also applied for the watery and loose samples. Finally, collected scotch tape samples were examined microscopically. Descriptive statistics indices including means, standard deviations, and frequencies were used for reporting the results.Results: The overall prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections among the children of Shahroud' s kindergartens was 22.2%. Also, the prevalence of the infections among males and females were 24.1% and 20.4%, respectively. The highest prevalence of infections were belongs toGiardia lambliaand Endolimax nana (7.4 and 4.8%), respectively. Also, Trichomonas hominis had the lowest prevalence (0.5%). Prevalence of infection caused byEnterobiusver micularis was (2.1%), the average ages of children infected byEnterobius vermicularis and Giardia were 5.1 and 4.7, respectively. There was no difference in order of parasites infection on the basis of gender.Conclusion: The prevalence of infection caused by Enterobius vermicularis among the children was considerably low. Also, the prevalence ofGiardia lamblia was lower than the average of its prevalence in countrywide scale. Although the health services have been effectively enhanced, the prevalence of intestinal parasites, Giardia lamblia in particular, is still problematic.

Background & objectives: Patients with bulimia nervosa may have impaired mental image of their body and fear of weight gain. The aim of current research is study the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy on improving body image of female students with bulimia nervosa.Methods: The design of current study is as quasi-experiment research with pre-test and posttest with control group. Statistical population consists all 12-16 years old female students with bulimia nervosa of Ardabil city in the 2013-13 academic years. In order to select the sample, at first 400 students were selected by multi stage cluster sampling method. Then between the students with bulimia nervosa, 40 subjects were selected randomly and were put in two experimental and control groups. The experimental group participated in 8 sessions of acceptance and commitment based training. Thecontrol group received no intervention. The gathered data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA).Results: The results show that acceptance and commitment therapy improved body image and reduced the symptoms of bulimia nervosa subjects of experimental group in comparison with the control group in the post-test (P<0.001).Conclusions: The results indicated that acceptance and commitment therapy by therapeutic strategies, improved body image of female students with bulimia nervosa. Thus, interventions based on this approach in schools for students lead to decreasing the psychological problems.

Background & objectives: The “redox” state represents the oxidation/reduction potential within the cell; in a way that more “redox” is the marker of health, while the more oxidized reflects predisposition to diseases. Different types of exercise training may change the thiol/disulfide ratio of redox couples such as glutathione and represent a shift in redox balance. This study was assessed the influence of high-intensity aerobic exercise on glutathione redox state in red blood cells in professional, recreational athletes and nonathletes.Methods: Ten voluntary well trained (WT), moderately trained (MT) and untrained men subjectswere randomly selected for this semi-experimental study (mean ages of 21.10±1.72; 21.70±1.88 and 20.10±1.44, respectively). Blood samples were collected before, immediately, 10 min and 30 min after acute aerobic exercise with 75%VO2max. The levels of reduced glutathione (GSH), oxidized glutathione (GSSG) and (GSH/GSSG) in red blood cells (RBCs) as well as serum levels of cortisol and creatine kinase (CK) were measured.Results: The results showed reduction, elevation and no changes in RBCs GSH/GSSG ratio in UT, MT and WT groups, respectively. The lowest levels of GSH/GSSG ratio in RBCs and the highest one were detected in the WT and MT groups, respectively. The serum levels of cortisol and creatine kinase were increased following the exercise in three groups.Conclusion: It is concluded that acute aerobic exercise with high intensity does not change redox balance in well trained subjects, however it is capable to shift redox balance towards more reducing environment in moderately trained subjects and also to more oxidizing one in untrained subjects.

Background & objectives: Dental caries is one of the most chronic diseases in children. Various factors were effective in incidence and prevalence of dental caries. The aim of this study was to determine the dental caries prevalence among 6-12 years old school children in Ardabil city.Methods: In this descriptive–cross sectional study a total of 847 school children (444 girls and 403 boys) were randomly selected from public and private schools in all over of Ardabil city.Clinical examination of children have been done for dental caries according to world health organization (WHO) criteria including determination of DMFT, dmft, DMFS and dental caries prevalence. Data were analysed in SPSS.16 by statistical methods.Results: Total prevalence of dental caries was 79.7% in children with 71.1 % in permanent and 88.3 % in primary dentition. The mean of dmft, DMFT, DMFS indexes were 2.74 ± 0.09, 1.6±0.1, and 3.5 ± 0.1, repectively. Results showed that there was a significant relation between DMFT, dmft and DMFS and age group.Conclusion: Results showed that the dental caries prevalence among 6-12 years-old school children in Ardabil city was higher than the world standard. Therefore, improving the existing dental services, programing and performing education, prevention and treatment programs for oral health between school children seems to be necessary in the future.

Background & objectives: Cancer is a major public health problem in many countries of the world. At the present time, cancer is the third leading cause of death in developing countries. The aim of this study was to determine of epidemiologic status and incidence rates of cancers in the patients above 15 years old in East Azerbaijan province, Iran.Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 3832 new cancer cases were obtained from cancer registries in East Azerbaijan province in 2012. Characteristics of all registered cancers (including age, sex, and etc) were collected in a special form. Then the data were summarized and coded using the International Classification of Disease (ICD). Frequency, mean, standard deviation and 95% confidence interval of the study variables were calculated. Age standardized incidence rate was performed by direct method using the world standard population.The data was analyzed by SPSS 16 software.Results: Among 3832 cases, 2047 (53.5%) were males and 1782 (46.5%) were females. The mean age and standard deviation of cancer incidence were 58.1 and 15.8 years, respectively. The overall incidence rate of all types of cancer in population was 132.5 in 100000 people per year. Among men, the highest frequency (263) of all cancers occurred in the 65-69 age group but in women the highest (220) of them occurred in the 50-54 age group. The highest incidence rate (813.3 per 100000) of cancers had occurred in men who were older than 85 years. While the highest (406.3 per 100000) of them in women had occurred in 70-74 years. The most common cancers among males and females were stomach (11.4%) and breast (30%), respectively. Histopathologically the most common cancers of stomach, breast and skin were adenocarcinoma, infiltrating duct carcinoma and basal cell carcinoma, respectively.Conclusion: According to the results, the most common cancers in East Azerbaijan province were breast and stomach, respectively. Therefore, comprehensive and complementary studies for recognizing relevant factors seem to be essential.

Backgrounds & objectives: In addition to their genomic actions, thyroid hormones (THs) can modulate the immune responses through cell surface receptors. One of these is the antiviral effect of THs. Methimazole, as an anti-thyroid compound, is widely used to treat hyperthyroid patients.It also reduces blood leukocytes, granulocytes in particular, and thereby may affect the immune response. Recently, we reported that methimazole-induced hypothyroidism intensifies herpes simplex virus-1 (HSV-1) infectivity. To determine whether the effect is mediated through alterations in circulating leukocytes, we assessed the HSV-1 infectivity and circulating leukocytes in methimazole-induced hypothyroid rat.Methods: Male Sprague Dawley rats received methimazole (200 mg/ml) in their drinking water for 2 weeks. Rats were then inoculated with a non-lethal single dose of HSV-1, and sacrificed 3 days later to harvest their spleen. Spleen extract was prepared, and virus yield was determined by evaluation of cytopathic effects (CPE) induced by the extract in a Vero cell culture system. For quantitative analysis, standard method of Reed-Muench was employed. The routine Wright’s staining protocol was used for blood leukocytes differential count.Results: The CPE development was significantly increased in the cell cultures exposed to the spleen extract of methimazole-treated animals (P<0.05), indicating a higher virus yield and intensified virus infectivity. However, the effect of methimazole on blood leukocytes was minimal.Conclusion: Our data suggest that methimazole increases the susceptibility to HSV-1 infection, at least in part, by blocking THs synthesis but not alterations in circulating leukocytes.

Background & objectives: Wound infection is a predominant cause of death in burned patients who are clearly at increased risk of nosocomial infections. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is the most common cause of burn infections and is difficult to treat because of having high level of resistance to antibiotics. The aim of this study was to perform isolation, identification and determination of antibiotics resistance pattern of P. aeruginosa strains isolated from wounds of hospitalized burn patient.Methods: Biochemical and molecular tests were used for identification of the P. aeruginosa and antibacterial susceptibility test was performed using disk diffusion (Kirby- Bauer) methods. Then, the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was performed for four representatives of different groups of antibiotics.Results: Among 94 evaluated strains of P. aeruginosa, 83 isolates (88.3%) were multi drugs resistant. Based on Kirby-Bauer method, the most resistance was seen to cefepime (89.5 %) and among the antibiotics studied to determine the MIC, the most resistance was observed to ciprofloxacin (89 %).Conclusion: These results indicate high range of resistance to different antibiotics among strains of P. aeruginosa isolated from burn wounds of patients. So, the fast and accurate measurement and evaluation of antibiotic resistance for appropriate antibiotic therapy of burned patients is imperative.

Background & objectives: Trichomonas vaginalis is a protozoan parasite lives and also causes symptoms in urogenital system of human. Trichomoniasis is the widest spread infection which is transmitted through sexual contact and more than 170 million people are affected with Trichomonas vaginalis in the world. Trichomonas vaginalis in women causes pelvic inflammatory disease, increase in the risk of fallopian tube dependent infertility, ectopic pregnancy, preterm labor, the birth of low weight infants and the increase in the possibility of HIV transmission. Considering the importance of Trichomonas vaginalis infection in pregnant women and lack of data from Ardabil city, this study was performed to identify this infection in pregnant women referred to health and medical centers of Ardabil city. Methods: Vaginal discharge from 500 pregnant women was collected with sterile swap and disposable speculum and examined for Trichomonas vaginalis by direct microscopic examination and cultured in Diamond specific medium. A testimonial and questionnaire were completed for each case and the results analyzed using chi-square test by SPSS statistical software version 19.Results: In this study, the culture of samples displayed 12 positive cases (2.4%). Furthermore, Trichomonas vaginalis trophozoites were observed in five cases (1%) with direct microscopic examination. Among 12 positive cases, five respondents (41.7%) were in age range of 16-25 years and seven (58.3%) in 26-35 years old. Among different clinical manifestations there was a significant relation between discharge and the infection.Conclusion: The present survey confirmed the presence of Trichomonas vaginalis infection in pregnant women of Ardabil city. Therefore, an effective healthcare program by health authorities for prevention of infection in this group seems to be needed.

Background & objectives: Glutamine has antioxidant properties and can be used to treat some diseases. This study was conducted to assess the effect of one-week glutamine supplementation on oxidative stress indices in young healthy men.Methods: Nineteen active healthy men volunteered for this study. This study was conducted in biochemistry lab of Ardabil branch of Islamic Azad University in Spring 2014. Participants were randomized in a double-blind placebo-controlled method into two groups: Glutamine (n = 9) and placebo group (n = 10). The participants took supplement (0.15 g/kg glutamine + 15g sweetener + 250ml water) or placebo (15g sweetener + 250ml water) daily for 7 days before main trial. Fasting blood samples were taken before and after supplementation. Total antioxidant capacity (TAC) of plasma, reduced glutathione (GHS) level of serum, and malondialdehyde (MDA) of plasma were measured.Results: GHS significantly increased after treatment compared with pre-treatment in Glutamine group (p<0.05). There were no other within and between group significant differences in any indices (p>0.05).Conclusions: These results showed that one-week daily oral supplementation of glutamine has been able to increase GHS probably because of greater glutamine availability.

Background & objectives: This study evaluated the effect of intravenous magnesium sulphate on clinical improvement of the patients with acute stroke. There is a lot of information about the use of magnesium sulphate in different conditions of brain ischemia while the effect of magnesium sulphate as a neuroprotective agent has been demonstrated in focal and global brain ischemia in animal models. However, the effect of this agent is still unclear.Methods: 80 patients (47 % female and 53 % male) with acute ischemic stroke signs and symptoms, lasting less than 12 hours of ischemia, were included in the study. Patients were divided into two groups; 40 patients received 4 g of MgSO4 over 15 minutes and then 16 g over the next 24 hours, and the other 40 patients received serum normal salin as the placebo. Results: The results showed that magnesium sulphate administrated group had better clinical improvement rate than control group. The number of patients with grade III decreased in magnesium received group and patients with grade II, I were increased. After 2 weeks, patients with Grade III decreased to 12.5% and the patients with grade II and I increased to 50% and 37.5%, respectively (based on NIHSS score).Conclusion: According to this study, magnesium sulphate can be used as a neuroprotective agent in patients with acute stroke.

Background & objectives: Primary dysmenorrhea (PD) is a common gynecological problem in women. It is defined as a menstrual pain that occurs in absence of pelvic pathology. PD causes school absence and job restriction for many women and girls. Pain is the main complain of PD but other systemic symptoms like headache, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, fatigue, irritability and dizziness are common. Many chemical drugs have been used to manage dysmenorrhea, but most of them have side effects. Acupoint stimulation therapies, like acupressure, might be an effective intervention for primary dysmenorrhea. SP6 and Liv3 are two important acupoints to improve primary dysmenorrhea. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of acupressure in two points SP6 and Liv3 on primary dysmenorrhea. Methods: This is a single-blind, randomized clinical trial study. Severity of pain and symptoms were assessed at baseline and also after two menstrual cycles of the investigation using validated questionnaires. 94 non-married women between 18-30 years old, who suffered from primary dysmenorrhea, completed the study (n=50 Liv3, n=44 SP6). The SP6 group received 20 min of acupressure during the initial intervention session and educated to perform the technique twice a day, from 3-5 days before to third days of their menstrual cycle, for two cycles. In contrast, the Liv3 group, performed this method but on Liv3 acupoint. Severity of dysmenorrhea was assessed with Andersch and Milsom verbal multidimensional scoring system. In order to analysis of data, Friedman test and GEE statistics test were used. Results: In comparison with baseline, severity of pain in both treated groups decreased (p=0.001). But statistical significance was not observed between two groups.Conclusion: It seems that acupressure on SP6 and Liv3, without any preference, is effective to decrease of severity of pain of dysmenorrhea.