Studies in Medical Sciences
Year:2015 | Volume:25 | Issue:12|Papers Count:12

Background & Aims: More than half of all infertility cases are contributed by males. One of the important causes of infertility is free radicals in seminal fluid which causes sperm DNA oxidation and alteration in organic bases in DNA structure that finally leads to sperm destruction and reduction of its movement and fertility ability Therefore, in addition to semen analysis, sperm function tests are recommended. One of these performance tests is the evaluation of sperm double-stranded DNA. So the effect of vitamins E, C, omega-3W supplementation)) and zinc (Zn) as a treatment of antioxidative stress on the level of DNA fragmentation of sperm as well as the outcome of pregnancy in IUI candidates couples will be examined. The aim of this study was the evaluation of effects of ant oxidative treatment on sperm DNA fragmentation and IUI pregnancy tests.Materials & Methods: In a randomized clinical trial study, 150 infertile IUI candidates who met our inclusion criteria were enrolled in the study. A simple non-probability sampling was performed and 150 infertile couples (aged 25-40 years) attending were classified into five groups of 30 as follows: control group, the group receiving vitamin C, the group receiving vitamin E, the group receiving omega- 3, and the group receiving zinc (Zn); all groups were treated for 2 months. Statistical analysis was performed by SPSS, and DNA fragmentation index results were compared between the groups.Results: The mean DFI in group receiving Zn before and after the treatment was 33.6±2.14 and 21±2.9 respectively. The mean DFI in group receiving Vitamin C before and after the treatment was 38±5.36 and 26.9±5.4 respectively, and in the control group it was 34.7±3.66 in the first sampling and 35.3±5.4 in the second sampling. In the group receiving omega 3, it decreased from 37.2±4.72 before treatment to 22.6±3.5 after the treatment. In the group receiving vitamin E, it was 37.1±3.54 before the treatment that decreased to 21±3.09 after the treatment. The comparison of the changes in 5 groups shows that vit. E was effective in reducing the fragmentation rate significantly (P<0.001). The pregnancy rate was not significantly different in study groups based on the chi-square analysis.Conclusion: Accordingly, this study and better response to treatment in groups receiving antioxidants comparing to the control group, we can conclude that the antioxidant therapy can decrease the sperm DNA fragmentation. The difference between the control and case groups was significant; the most considerable decrease in defragmentation was in group receiving vit. E. There were no cases of pregnancy in groups receiving the antioxidants and no cases of pregnancy were seen.

Background & Aims: Since acute tramadol poisoning is related to several clinical complications. The aim of this study was to evaluate the epidemiologic, demographic and renal function indices in acute tramadol intoxicated patients.Materials & Methods: In this retrospective descriptive study, all patients admitted to Taleghani hospital of Urmia, Iran, were evaluated during a one-year period. Patients’ demographic data and the results of laboratory tests were imported to computer and analyzed.Results: From 254 tramadol intoxicated patients, 219 (86.2%) were male and 35 (13.8%) female. The patients’ mean age was 23.29 (SD=7.04) years. Most patients were single (69.3%). The ingested tramadol doses were known in 162 cases with average of 1837.35 mg (SD=2347.36). Three patients (1.2%) had hyperkalemia, Based on laboratory and clinical findings, renal dysfunction and acute renal failure were detected in 29 and 6 patients, respectively. Four patients with acute renal failure recovered by treatment, one patient underwent hemodialysis and one patient expired despite of medical cares.Conclusion: Acute renal failure and hyperkalemia are side effects of tramadol intoxication that should be considered in diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of these patients. Our study may be a beginning for further investigations for renal complications of tramadol toxicity.

Background & Aims: Various problems and maladjustments of children suffering from attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) necessitate paying more attention to the disorder. The aim of the present study was to compare the social skill, impatience and sleep problems among students with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and normal students.Materials & Methods: This causal-comparative study was conducted on all students of 5th grade of normal schools in 2013 in Tabriz city. About 30 students with ADHD (15 boys and 15 girls) and 30 normal students (15 boys and 15 girls) were selected by multi-stage cluster sampling method. Data were collected through Conners's questionnaire, Raven IQ test, social skills Matson, Impatience Farmer & Sundberg and Child Sleep Habits Questionnaire. The data were analyzed through the multiple analyses of variance (MANOVA).Results: The results of multivariate analysis of variance showed statistically meaningful difference in social skills, impatience, and sleep problems among students with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and normal students.Conclusion: Given that the children with hyperactivity disorder /attention deficits, poor social skills and more irritability have more sleep problems; therefore, effective educational programs on social skills and increased irritability and sleep is important on these students.

Background & Aims: Kawasaki disease is an acute multisystem vasculitis that primarily occurs in infants and young children. Pincer nail deformity is not from classic signs of Kawasaki disease and its occurrence with Kawasaki disease is rare, and concomitant occurrence of it with coronary artery aneurysm in Kawasaki disease is rarer.Case report: A three-month-old infant was admitted to hospital with history of high fever, poor feeding and ill appearing from three days before. In the 4th day after admission, diffuse pincer nail deformity appeared in all nails of hands and feet. This deformity was transient and after therapy of Kawasaki disease with IVIG, it completely resolved. In sub-acute phase, after resolution of fever, severe aneurysms appeared in right and left coronary arteries, so therapy with warfarin and aspirin were given for patient. In outpatient follow up one year later, fortunately all aneurysms were completely resolved.Conclusion: Pincer nail deformity could be a sign of atypical Kawasaki disease and appearance of this deformity in a patient with Kawasaki disease can be a risk factor for coronary artery involvement.

Background & Aims: Ethanol has overall toxic effects on male fertility which directly or indirectly disturbs spermatogenesis. Zinc as an antioxidant agent, reduces ethanol-induced toxic effects on somatic (non-sexual) cells. However, the underling mechanism of effects of ethanol and zink on fertility potential especially on testis somatic cells is poorly understood. Accordingly, in the present study was aimed to investigate the effects of single and co-administration of ethanol and zinc on viability and morphology of cultured sertoli cells.Materials & Methods: The mouse sertoli cells were cultured and investigated in four main groups including: ethanol (160mM), zinc (8mM), pretreatment and control, in which cells were exposed to treatment containing medium for 24 or 48 hours. In pretreatment group, cells were incubated with zinc before ethanol exposure and in control group cells were only incubated with free medium without any further treatment. The cellular viability was then assessed using MTT method and morphological alterations were investigated with invert microscope.Results: There was a significant decrease in cell viability and some morphological alterations in ethanol group compared to other groups. Cell viability increased in zinc group compared to other groups even in the control group. In pretreatment group cell viability significantly decreased in comparison to zinc group but increased compared to ethanol group.Conclusion: Zinc reduces ethanol-induced effects in decreasing cell viability. Zinc may prevent spontaneously- or pathologically-induced apoptosis in germ cells suggesting a probable clinical importance and therapeutic effects of zinc on alcoholism and male infertility.

Background & Aims: Nowadays, in most parts of the world, cardiovascular diseases such as myocardial infarction are among the most widespread chronic diseases and anxiety and depression are common symptoms of the disease. However, according to the studies, spiritual health can play an important role in confronting and coping with the stress resulted from illness. For this reason, the study for examining the relationship between spiritual health, anxiety and depression in acute myocardial infarction was carried out.Materials & Methods: In a descriptive correlational study, 67 patients with acute myocardial infarction who were hospitalized at Seyyedolshhda hospital in University of Medical Sciences were selected by simple sampling. A questionnaire was used to collect data that consisted of three parts: the first part was demographic information; the second part included spiritual health scale Palutzian & Ellison; and the third section was the hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS). The data were analyzed using of SPSS 16.Results: In this study, 46 patients (70.8%) were male and 19 were female. In addition, 23 patients (37.7 percent) in addition to heart disease had another chronic disease, respectively. In terms of mental health, a total of 16 (23.9%) of the participants in this study had lower levels of depression or anxiety and 36 (53.7%) of the participants had a major depressive or anxiety disorder, borderline and finally, 15 (22.4%) of the participants had a higher level of depression or anxiety disorders. In terms of spirituality, a total of 35 (52.2%) of the participants had a mean spiritual level and 32 (48.3) of the participants had a high spiritual level and none of them had a lower spiritual level. There was a significant relationship between spirituality and level of depression and anxiety, gender and level of education and occupation.Conclusion: The results showed that there is a reverse relationship between spiritual health and level of anxiety and depression. Spirituality-based care programs can be a good method to reduce anxiety and depression of the patients.

Background & Aims: Folic acid is one of the important hematopoietic agents necessary for proper regeneration of the blood forming elements and their functioning. Since humans cannot synthesize folates, they must be obtained from dietary sources. The most important dietary sources of folates are fortified foods and cereal products with folate content of 50-200 mg/100 g. In Iran the majority of people consume bread as an ideal food because of its low price and availability. The objective of this study was to develop a simple and precise High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) method for determination of folic acid in enriched wheat flours and bread.Materials & Methods: The method combines several procedures including an extraction technique, oxidation of folic acid to increase fluorescent properties, and an improved HPLC with fluorescence detection method. The method was performed on a C18 analytical column. The mobile phase consisted of a mixture of methanol and pure water (20/80).The elute was continuously monitored using a fluorescence detector (lex 296 nm and lem 440 nm).Results: The standard curve for folic acid passed through the origin and was linear over the range 0.1 – 8 mg/L. The peak of folic acid appeared as sharp with retention times of 1.12 minutes. The intra-day coefficient of variation was evaluated in the range of 3.09-7.82 mg/L. The Inter day coefficients of variation for the method ranged between 2.37 and 5.07 mg/L. The accuracy of the method ranges between 99.2% and 103.7% for intra-day analysis and 98.8% and 106.9% for inter-days analysis. The limit of determination for folic acid was 0.03 mg/L. The mean concentration of folic acid was 102 mg and 85 mg per 100 gram of flour and bread respectively. The amount of folic acid was decreased during preparation and fermentation process (16.67%).Conclusions: The obtained results indicated that this method is a rapid, sensitive, and precise technique for measurement of folic acid in enriched wheat flours and breads.

Background & Aims: Maxillofacial fractures have economic and psychological complications in addition to effects on the performance and appearance of a person. The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of maxillofacial fractures in patients referring to the emergency department of Shahid Beheshti hospital in Babol between 2011 to 2013.Materials & Methods: In this retrospective study, we assessed the medical files of 311 patients with maxillofacial fractures admitted at Shahid Beheshti hospital during a 3-years period. Data collected in this study included age, sex, etiology, date of injury, anatomic site of injury. Goals were examined using descriptive statistics.Results: Among 311 patients, there were 250 men and 61 women with a gender ratio of 1: 4. The peak incidence of maxillofacial injury was observed in the age group of 21–30 years (32.2%). Road traffic accidents with 50.8% were the primary etiological factor. Among all fractures, mandibular bone fracture was the most common site of fractures (37.9%). Mean fractured point of 1.6 observed in each person. The maximum number (11.9%) of trauma cases was reported in February-March.Conclusion: Maxillofacial fractures often occur in the third decade of men’s live and accidents remain the leading cause of these fractures. Therefore, we recommend more educational programs need to be evolved and implemented to promote the culture of using safety equipment and safety precautions. We additionally recommend that further, more elaborate studies should be conducted in areas and use the output to make policies for prevention and treatment.

Background & Aims: KAI1 is a tumor suppressor gene and inhibitor of metastasis in a wide range of malignancies. While it is ubiquitously expressed in normal tissues, KAI1 expression is down regulated in tumors. The present research proposal aims semi quantitative evaluation of KAI1 mRNA expression in Iranian patients with Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Esophagus (SCCE) on finding a correlation between expression levels of KAI1 and stage of tumorigenesis, especially metastatasis and invasion of SCCE as well as demographic and pathologic factors of patients.Materials & Methods: In this study, KAI1 and b-Actin mRNA levels was detected by RT-PCR on 35 tumor tissues and 12 normal tissues as fresh samples obtained from 35 patients referring to Imam Khomeini Hospital.Results: Accordingly, 69.2% and 30.8% of the sample were on and off for KAI1 gene expression, respectively. The samples in stages 3, 4, and metastatic phases showed no expression of this gene. Statistical analysis showed that there was a significant differences of the KAI1 expression between four groups of samples; normal, stage 1, 2, 3 (P<0.05).Conclusion: There is a significant difference between semi-quantitative of KAI1 expression and stages of tumor samples (P<0.05) as well as semi-quantitative of KAI1 expression and metastasis (P= 0.00015). The outcome of the present research proposal would be applicable as a suitable mean for clinicians in order to better treat Esophageal Squamous-Cell Carcinoma.

Background & Aims: Solid tumors in their course of development have the stages of dysplasia, carcinoma insitu, angiogenesis, invasion and metastasis. In this process, peptide components having the ability of angiogenesis inhibition (angiostatin) are produced and due to their low molecular weight, they are filtrated. The purpose of this study is to study the probability of primary diagnosis of stomach adenocarcinoma in patients by the application of the filtered peptides in urine to introduce a noninvasive and safe method.Materials & Methods: The randomized urine samples of 20 patients with stomach adenocarcinoma were compared with normal urine samples of 20 healthy people by means of the optimized direct sandwich ELISA in order to diagnose the peptide components.Results: The results by means of T-test (P value<0.05) showed a significant correlation between stomach adenocarcinoma and finding of these peptides in urine and they were completely in accordance with the results of pathologic tests.Conclusion: The comparison between results obtained in this study showed that by finding the peptides in patients' urine, a non-invasive and safe method was used for primary detection of stomach adenocarcinoma in suspicious patients which was performable before invasive methods (pathology); nevertheless, it is needed to confirm it with complementary tests similar to each screening method.