مجله دانشکده پزشکی اصفهان
پیاپی 220 (هفته دوم اسفند 1391)

Streptococcus agalactiae is the major cause of meningitides and septicemia in infants and also intrauterine infection and preterm labor in pregnant women. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of group B streptococci (GBS) colonization in rectovaginal region of 15 to 40 years, pregnant women. Recto-vaginal swab samples from 250 pregnant women referred to health centers in the city of Yazd, Iran, 2002, were taken. The specimens were cultured on sheep blood agar and the presence of GBS was identified with catalase-negative, hipporte hydrolysis, CAMP (Christie Atkins Munch-Petersen) test, and Gram staining. Results were confirmed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) molecular methods for the amplification of cpsH capsular gene. Out of 250 samples, 49 (19.6%) were identified as Streptococcus agalactiae. All 49 samples were PCR positive with cpsH gene fragment with a 550 bp fragment in length that were assessed with 1% gel agarose electrophoresis. The most prevalence was identified among women with 20-25 years old and the least one among 15-20. Statistics of GBS prevalence varies in different regions which could be due to various factors such as age, sex, culture method and the inherent differences in study populations and increased use of antibiotics in some populations. Due to high prevalence of GBS in Yazd, Iran, appropriate screen/control programs would be necessary to prevent the damages in infants and mothers.

One of the most important aspects of health services is physicians’ professional behaviors that will affect treatment process. Obtaining information of behavioral dimensions is essential for educational and managerial planning in clinical setting. This study aimed to identify the different aspects of professional treating physicians’ encounters via extracting and reviewing patients’ opinions and deep experiences.

In this qualitative study, the hospitalized patients in internal and surgical wards of two educational hospitals in Isfahan, Iran, in 2011 were enrolled. Sampling was done by purposive sampling method to achieve data saturation in this field. After signing an informed consent by the patient, a semi-structured interview was done by the researchers using interview guide. The gathered data were analyzed by content analyzing method and extracting themes.

From the 17 interviews, 333 codes in four themes and 19 sub-themes were extracted. The themes were “physician-patient communication” with 5 sub-themes, “expectations of profession” with 9 sub-themes, “physician’s humane perspective to patient” with 2 sub-themes, and “physician’s excellent characteristics” with 3 sub-themes.

Findings of this study demonstrated a series of actual concepts about patients’ positive and negative experiences related to their physicians’ encounters in clinical settings; these findings let us to comprehend the spiritual, psychological, affective, and social needs of patients. In addition, they may be used in educational planning process and health care service evaluation to achieve optimum services for patients.

Mindfulness may mediate the influences of negative cognitions, sensations, and emotions affecting behavior. Besides, mindfulness may affect the experience of pain-related anxiety, and thereby improve other aspects of physical and psychosocial functioning. The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential mediating role of pain-related anxiety between mindfulness and physical and psychosocial functioning in women with chronic low back pain. In this cross sectional study, 144 women with chronic low back pain were selected by randomize simple sampling method. Mindful attention awareness scale, Hospital anxiety scale, and Health status inventory were used to assess the participants’ status. The data were analyzed by LISREL8.50 software. The results showed a negative relationship between mindfulness and anxiety and a positive relationship between mindfulness and physical and psychological functioning (P < 0.01). In addition, based on the path analysis model, anxiety was found to mediate the relationship of mindfulness and physical and psychological functioning (P < 0.01). Path analysis showed that the mediation model had adequate indices for physical and psychosocial functioning. Regarding the mediation role of anxiety, the anxiety level should be assessed before starting mindfulness-based treatment methods among women with chronic low back pain.

One of the most efficient methods of damaged tissue regeneration and repairment is cell therapy; nowadays is used from mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) because of high capacity of these cells for self-renewal and multi-lineage differentiation and secretion of different growth factors, like platelet derived growth factor (PDGF) and stromal cell-derived factors-1alpha (SDF-1α). Sexual hormone which affect the secretion of these factors, regulate proliferation and migration of stem cells and also, repairment processes. The purpose of this study was to determinate the effect of exogenous testosterone on the amount of PDGF and SDF-1α in bone marrow of male Wistar rats.

In this experimental study, 24 male Wistar rats randomly were divided into four groups. The first group underwent sham operation and received 0.1 ml of sesame oil as a placebo. The other three groups underwent orchidectomy operation and after two weeks received 0.1 ml of sesame oil (as a placebo), 1 and 5 mg/kg/day of testosterone dissolved in sesame oil respectively, subcutaneously each day for 3 weeks. Then, the amount of factors was measured in extracted femoral bone marrow using ELISA method.

The average concentration of PDGF in bone marrow of control group was significantly less than these amounts in sham group (P < 0.05). In castrated group received 1 and 5 mg/kg/day of testosterone, these factors increased significantly in comparison with control group (P < 0.05). The average concentration of SDF-1α in bone marrow of sham group did not show significant differences comparing the control group. This amount showed significant decrease in castrated group received 5 mg/kg/day testosterone comparing the control group (P < 0.05).

The results showed that testosterone leads to increase the amount of PDGF in bone marrow of male rats but decrease the amount of SDF-1α.

Living environment and applied building materials in dwellings contain various amounts of radioactive elements. Knowing about the distribution and the level of radiation in the environment is very important to evaluate the effects of radiation on the human. In this study, the level of radioactive nuclei in the granite was assessed according to the color of the stone. 13 different types of granite used in city of Isfahan (Iran) dwellings were selected, turned to powder, packaged in Marinli dishes and sealed accordingly. The International Atomic Energy Commission instructions were applied for sampling and all other steps of the survey. The dishes were kept for 5 weeks before spectroscopy, to obtain equivalent amount of uranium and thorium nuclides. Then, the gamma-spectroscopy of each sample was collected by HPGe (high purity germanium detector) for 12 hours and categorized based on its energy level. Finally, the special activity of the radiating nuclides in each sample was obtained. Measuring natural radioactivity, including nucleus radioactivity of 238U, 232Th, 40K based on Bq/kg unit, was done. The specific average radioactivity concentration of each radiating nuclei was evaluated, too. The reported special activities for 238U were less than malondialdehydc (MDA) level for green, 65.72 Bq/Kg for white, 57.26 Bq/kg for red, and 24.31 Bq/kg for black granites. The measured special activities for 232Th were 113.36, 84.31, and 34.28 Bq/kg, and less than MDA level for white, red, black and green granites, respectively. Besides, the measured special activities for 40K were 53.16, 525.82, 897.37, and 1243.28 Bq/kg for green, black, red, and white granites, respectively. White granite sample has the highest special activity for the three nuclides, 238U, 232Th, and 40K. Also, the lowest special activity for these nuclides was found in green stones and the red granite had an intermediate activity.

Mucoadhesive drug delivery system can prevent first pass effect and produce high blood level. These films could adhere to oral mucosa and protect wound, reduce pain and also treat oral diseases more effectively. The aim of this study was to formulate bilayer buccal films of triamcinolone acetonide to be used for oral lesions such as recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS). Triamcinolone acetonide mucoadhesive film was prepared by solvent casting method. First layer formulated from different conventional bio-adhesive polymers such as chitosan, HPMC K4M, K15M, eudragit RL100 and glycerin and propylene glycol as the plasticizer. The second layer contained ethyl cellulose. Pharmaceutical properties of film and other parameters such as uniformity, thickness, swelling capacity, disintegration time, mucoadhesion and in vitro drug release were evaluated. Chitosan-contained formulations had high flexibility and maximum adhesion to the mucosa, but most of them were shrinking. HPMCK15M and eudragit had more amounts of formula-related mean dissolution time (MDT). The pattern of drug release from the HPMC-contained formulations was zero order (case II). Chitosan-contained formulations followed non-fickian zero order. The rate of drug release was same in formulations contained propylene glycol and glycerin. Eudragit adhesion to the mucosa was less than chitosan and HPMC. Drug release model of eudragit-contained formulations contain followed supper case II. The appropriate formulation was made from eudragit and ethyl cellulose (less than 200 mg). This formula has more amounts of MDT and good adhesion and suitable release.

Echinococcus granulosus causes human cystic echinococcusis (hydatid cyst) as an important public health problem in many regions of the world. Serologic tests are the main methods for diagnosis of the disease nowadays and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is the most routine and common method for diagnosis. There are some problems in primary diagnosis such as cross-reaction with sera from patients with other parasitic disease in serological tests. Using an appropriate source of antigenic material is a very important and crucial point in improvement of ELISA method. Recombinant AgB Echinococcus granulosus were applied as a new antigen in ELISA and sensitivity and specificity of new kit were compared with Euroimmun hydatid kit. 73 sera from patients with hydatid cyst (confirmed by surgical operation) and 73 healthy individuals’ sera were tested by recombinant AgB kit. The sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 97.33% were determined by homemade kit. According to our results, recombinant EgAgB has good performance in total IgG ELISA for detection of sera antibodies from patients with hydatid cyst.