Background and aim: Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disease with multiple complications. Skin tag is a pedunculated papule, which is more common in women and has been suggested as a cutaneous marker of diabetes mellitus. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of diabetes mellitus in patients with skin tags.Materials and methods: This descriptive study was done on 100 patients with skin tags. The investigation included fasting blood sugar (FBS) and glucose tolerance test (OTT).Results: 66 patients had normal FBS, 27 had diabetes mellitus, 5 had impaired OTT and 2 had impaired fasting glucose. Over all, 34 had abnormal glucose metabolism, 7 were unaware of their metabolic abnormality. Among 40 hospitalized patients 50% had abnormal glucose metabolism meanwhile 23.3% of 60 outpatients had this abnormality (p<0.01). No association was seen between BMI, obesity, gender, location and number of skin tags with abnormal metabolism of glucose.Conclusion: It is recommended to consider skin tags as a cetaceous marker for abnormality of glucose metabolism.

Background and aim: Non-melanoma skin cancers (NMSC) are one of the most prevalent malignancies of the human. Although the morality rate is not high for these cancers, they may cause high morbility for the patients. In addition to the skin type, factors such as sun exposure, head and neck radiotherapy, inappropriate use of sunscreen and cultural changes may increase the incidence of these cancers. The objective of this study was to determine NMSC in Isfahan.Materials and Methods: We used data of the cancer resistery center for performing this study and the incidence of NMSC per 100,000 populations was determined. Results: Overall 1681 cases were registered. The incidence of NMSC was calculated to be 10.67/100,000population. The most common site for BCC and SCC was middle face. Conclusion: NMSC incidence in Isfahan is lower than west countries although this incidence is 10.67/100,000in a year. It means that 5-6 thousand cases of NMSC occur in Iran each year. We can prevent its morbidity and mortality by early correct diagnosis.

Background and Aims: During the last years a new Foreskin cell line strain (RFSC) has been isolated, characterized and stored in a representative cell bank stock in liquid nitrogen as a part of HCB (Human Cell Bank) development program in Razi institute.Materials and Methods: The cell population was serially passaged for mass production purpose based on WHO schedule. The controls on pool samples were carried out upon our sampling method and international recommendations.Results: The data concerning parameters as well as the result of compulsory controls on Kario logy oncogenicity, cross contaminations, species specificity, no oncogenicity, and mycoplasma free of a human cell line that contained heteroploid chromosomal characterizations are performed.Conclusion: Kariological examination found an obvious discrepancy in the frequency of aberrations due to high passage level that produced a heteroploid continuous cell line. Virus susceptibility shows RFSC-1 more sensitive to RS#12 Mumps virus strain. This cell line is completely sterile and has no any cross contamination to other pathogen and can be used for production and control of Mumps vaccine.

Aim and Background: Thermostable DNA polymerase enzyme has been taken much into consideration due to its application in PCR and molecular biology researches and it has doubled the importance of the study on the various thermostable DNA polymerase. The purpose of this study was to assay the function and efficient production of the cold sensitive thermostable DNA polymerase and its quick and cheap purification.Material and Methods: After synthesis of the designed gene artificially, it was cloned into the pET28 vector and then was transferred into E.coli. IPTG was used as an inducer in the study of gene expression. Initial purification of the enzyme was performed by heat treatment at 72oC and precipitation of other insoluble proteins by centrifuge. The DNA synthesis activity of crude extract was compared with commercial enzyme.Result: Recombinant cold sensitive and thermostable Taq DNA polymerase expressed in E.coli showed a significant advantage and more desirable functionality such as activity and thermostable compared to commercial enzyme.Conclusion: With regard to importance and application level of thermostable DNA polymerase in molecular biology, the production method used in this study is practical and cost effective. Additionally, the simplicity of producing method of this enzyme and its accuracy is a good reason for artificial and local production of highly pure cold sensitive Taq DNA polymerase.

Background and Objectives: Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) is a vascular complication of type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of Calcium Dobesilate (CD) on decreasing Endothelin-1 (ET-1) and high sensitivity C-Reactive Protein (hs-CRP) serum levels in patients with diabetic retinopathy.Materials and Methods: Ninety adults with type II diabetes having DR complication were included in this double-blind randomized clinical trial study. Patients categorized in two groups of case (diabetic retinopathy patents treated with CD) and control (diabetic retinopathy patents without CD treatment), age and sex-matched randomly between two groups during seventeen month period in Tabriz Nikookari eye Hospital and Sheikholrais clinical center. The case group received 500mg of CD for three month, The serum level of hs-CRP and ET-1, was recorded in all patients before and after administration of CD and compared between both groups.Results: Ninety patients with diabetic retinopathy, including of 30 males and 60 females, with the mean age of 59.18±7.13 years were enrolled in the study. The mean level of serum endothelin-1 was significantly different in the case group than control group after treatment with CD as well (0.69±0.32 pg/ml vs.0.86±0.30 pg/ml; p=0.005), and also there was a significant different of mean serum level of hs-CRP after treatment with Doxium between the case and control group, as well (3.28±3.28 mg/L vs.4.67±3.75 mg/L; p=0.006; respectively).Conclusions: Treatment with CD can decrease the serum levels of ET-1 and hs-CRP as two important inflammatory biomarkers in patients with diabetic retinopathy. More studies are recommended to be carried out in this regard.

Background & Aims: Diabetes mellitus is one of the most common types of chronic disease leading to serious complications such as blindness, end stage renal disease (ESRD), neuropathy and cardiac disorders. Skin tag is a common benign skin tumor that its association with impaired carbohydrate metabolism has been reported in some studies. The aim of this study was to compare the frequency of diabetes and other carbohydrate metabolism disorders in patients with and without skin tag.Methods: In a case- control study on 200 individuals over 30 years old referring to Dermatology Clinic of Afzalipour Hospital, 100 individuals with at least 3 skin tags as case group and 100 individuals without skin tag as control group underwent FBS and standard GTT tests.Results: There was no significant difference between case and control groups in the frequency of diabetes (19% vs. 10%), IGTT (11%vs.13%) and IFG (19% vs. 15%).Mean FBS and GTT were significantly higher in the case group compared to the control group.There was a positive correlation between the total number of skin tags and mean FBS (r= 0.33, P= 0.001) and GTT (r= 0.37, P= 0.000). The frequency of diabetes in patients with at least 20 skin tags was 45.8%. Positive predictive value, negative predictive value, sensitivity and specificity of skin tag for the diagnosis of diabetes were 19%, 90%, 52% and 65% respectively. Conclusion: This study revealed that patients with skin tags are at a higher risk of carbohydrate metabolism disorders. Therefore, screening of patients with skin tag for carbohydrate metabolism disorders is recommended.

Some formulations of drug in adhesive transdermal drug delivery systems (TDDSs) with different functional and non-functional acrylic pressure sensitive adhesives (PSAs) were prepared. For this purpose fentanyl was used as a drug component. The effects of PSAs type on skin permeation and in vitro drug release from devices were evaluated using hydrodynamically well-characterized Chien permeation system fitted with excised rat abdominal skin. The adhesion properties of devices (peel strength and tack values) were obtained. It was found that TDDS with – COOH functional PSA had the lowest steady state flux. Drug release was followed by Higuchi's kinetic model. Adhesion properties of the samples were improved by addition of functional PSA in the formulations.

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is an inflammatory skin condition that causes itching and eczematous skin lesions over a long period. Peanut allergy is an immunological reaction mediated by immunoglobulin E (IgE) that often manifests in childhood and can cause anything from moderate skin reactions to anaphylaxis. This study evaluated the accuracy of a skin prick test (SPT) using local peanut allergen extract compared with standard allergen extract in diagnosing peanut allergy or sensitization involving 30 adult atopic dermatitis patients. The patients underwent history taking and SPT tests with local and standard allergen extracts at separate times at 1-week intervals. The local allergen extract was produced by Dr. Soetomo General Academic Hospital Surabaya, Indonesia. There were three patients with positive results from the standard peanut SPT. Meanwhile, no positive results were detected with the local peanut SPT. The specificity of local peanut SPT was 93.3%, while the negative predictive value was 100%. The compatibility of local peanut SPT to the patient’s history was 93.33%, which consisted of patients with no previous history of peanut allergy who got negative results. The local peanut allergen extract for SPT had reasonable specificity and can be considered an alternative diagnostic tool to exclude peanut allergy in AD.