مجله غدد درون ریز و متابولیسم ایران
سال هفدهم شماره 2 (پیاپی 80، خرداد و تیر 1394)

This research aimed at determining and comparing the precision and recall of general search engines to retrieve images of important diseases in the field of endocrinology.

An analaytical survey was conducted in this applied research, for which 50 keywords in the field of 5 endocrine diseases were selected, and the 30 top images retrieved by each search engine were stored and analyzed, using precision and recall measurement formulas and excel software.

This research show that Google search engine has the most percision (35%) followed by the Bing and Yahoo search engines. Images retrieved for adrenal diseases had the most percision (42%) in google while it was (16%) in yahoo. The Bing search engine had the most recall (77%), followed by the google and yahoo search engines. Diabetes mellitus had the most recall (97%) in the google and bing search engines. Adrenal diseases had the least recall (30%) using yahoo search engine.

Results show that Google and bing search engines were in competition with each other and professionals of endocrinology and other researchers can use these search engines, Google and bing in particular, to retrieve the best medical images. Librarians also can use and recommend these two search engines to related professionals for retrieving medical images of adrenal, pituitary, thyroid, diabetes and para-thyroid diseases.

Normal menstruation is one of important indicators of the general health of reproductive-aged women. We aimed to investigate the prevalence of menstrual disorders and its related factors.

This cross-sectional study was conducted among women participants of the Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study, a population-based study aimed identify the prevalence of noncommunicable diseases from March 2013 to 2014. A total of 1393 women, aged 15-49 yr were included and all pregnant, breastfeeding and menopausal women were excluded. Socio-demographic characteristics and menstruation patterns were assessed by a standardized ad-hoc questionnaire. Menstruation was categorized based on last FIGO definitions. Data analyzed using SPSS version 11.0 (SPSS-Inc., Chicago-IL), 0.05 was set as significant level.

Mean age of participants was 37.7 (11) y. The results showed that 64.1% of subjects had normal menstruation and 35.8% experienced different forms of menstrual disorders. Heavy menstrual bleeding was one of the most prevalent disorders (17.2%). Prevalence of menstrual disorders was statistically higher in women <20 yr (47.7%) and ≥40yr (45.5%) than women between the 20-40 yr age range (P=0.001). Irregular menstrual bleeding in >20 yr, heavy menstrual bleeding in 20-40 yr and ≥ 40yr were the most common menstrual disorders. The results remain unchanged for age and BMI after adjustment for potential confounders (OR: 1.08, CI 95%: 1.07-3.97; P<0.03), (OR: 1.05, CI 95%: 1.02-5.04; P<0.04), respectively.

Our findings showed that menstrual disorders are prevalent as one-third of reproductive aged women suffer from one or more menstrual disorders. Understanding the prevalence of menstrual disorders could help health care providers to identify some serious diseases, and prioritize strategies to promote these women’s quality of life.

There is lack of data about the effects of aerobic training in hypobaric status on metabolic risk factors. Thirty-nine middle-aged sedentary male volunteers with metabolic syndrome (Mets) were randomized into four groups, including the normobaric control (NC), hypobaric control (HC), normobaric exercise training (NT) and hypobaric exercise training (HT) groups. Both aerobic training groups (NT and HT) participated in running exercises on a treadmill (three sessions per week) for six weeks, 30 min per session, at 50% of HR max based on Karvonen's formula. Both the control groups (NC and HC) remained inactive during the six weeks of the study, sitting in the barometric chamber, watching TV or studying. Barometric pressure was adjusted to 3000 meter altitude at hypobaric conditions. In both the NT and HT groups, all the metabolic risk factors (waist circumference, mean atrial pressure, blood sugar, triglycerides, high density lipoprotein and Mets overall z score) and body weight were significantly changed; however the rate of waist circumference decrease was sharper in the NT group (P<0.05). Hypobaric exposure (HC) also significantly decreased fasting blood sugar and Mets overall z score (P<0.05). The beneficial effects of inactive exposure to hypobaric conditions on overall metabolic state and blood glucose, indicates its therapeutic properties. However, the effects of hypobaric exercise training were not better than those of normobaric exercise on each metabolic risk factor, findings which confirm that promotion of physical fitness and hypobaric exposure could be instrumental in the control of metabolic risk factors.

Obesity is one of the major risk factors for many diseases such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Although a few studies have been shown the pharmacological properties of Peganum harmala, there is no data on the anti-obesity effect of this plant. This study was designed to investigate the effect of the hydroalcoholic extract of Peganum harmala seed on the weight and blood biochemical parameters in male wistar rats. Fifty male Wistar rats were categorized into 5 groups: Negative control group (standard diet); positive control group (high-fat diet with 4% of fat); treatment groups (high-fat diet + hydroalcoholic extract of Peganum harmala at 200 and 400 mg/kg/day and high-fat diet + Orlistat at 200 mg/kg/day). Extracts and orlistat were administrated by gavage for 8 weeks, and levels of serum glucose, triglycerides, cholesterol, high density lipoprotein (HDL) and liver enzymes were measured by routine laboratory kits. Our findings demonstrate that this extract reduced weight in the group that received high-fat diet, at both doses (P<0.05). This extract also significantly decreased the levels of serum glucose, triglycerides, and cholesterol and increased HDL in the group that received high-fat diet (P<0.05); however it had no effect on reduction of liver enzymes. Our data suggest that the hydroalcoholic extract of Peganum harmala has beneficial effects on controlling body weight in animals fed with a high-fat diet and it also significantly improves biochemical parameters in animals fed with a high-fat diet.

Cardiovascular diseases are the most important complications of diabetes, representing the ultimate cause of death in more than half of all patients with the disease. Nitrate has been demonstrated to be an effective add-on therapy in patients with heart failure but no study has been yet addressed the effect of nitrate therapy on myocardial injury associated with diabetes. The aim of this study was therefore to assess the effect of nitrate therapy on myocardial injury in type 2 diabetic rats. Thirty-two adult male Wistar rats were divided into four groups (n=8): Control, control+nitrate, diabetes, and diabetes+nitrate. Type 2 diabetes was induced by injection of nicotinamide (95 mg/kg) 15 min before injection of streptozotocin (65 mg/kg). Nitrate in control+nitrate and diabetes+nitrate groups was added to the drinking water (100 mg/L for 2 months). Serum nitrate+nitrite (NOx), CK-MB, and LDH were measured before and at the end of the study and heart malonyldialdehyde (MDA) was measured at the end of the study. Nitrate therapy in diabetic rats significantly increased serum NOx levels (29.2±5.6 vs. 42.8±9.8 μmol/L, P<0.05), decreased heart MDA levels (9.7±1.2 vs. 6.2±0.6 μmol/L, P<0.05), and decreased serum levels of both CK-MB (471.0±29.7 vs. 284.9±10.3 U/L, P<0.05) and LDH (791.6±21.9 vs. 497.8±13.1 U/L, P<0.05). Nitrate therapy provided cardioprotection by increasing NO levels and decreasing oxidative stress in type 2 diabetic rats.

Non-adherence to treatment is a common problem in diabetic patients. Nurse-led Telephone follow-up by nurses can be effective in maintaining consistent care to these patients and improving their knowledge and performance. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of nurse-led telephone follow-up on adherence to treatment in patients with type 2 diabetes. The present quasi-experimental study was conducted on 60 patients with type 2 diabetes, admitted to a diabetes clinic in Aligudarz, Iran. Samples were selected using the convenience sampling method and randomly divided into the experimental and control groups. All participants first received 3 days of diabetes self-care training, and the experimental groups had twelve weeks of telephone follow-ups. Data on the patients’ glycosylated hemoglobin and treatment adherence were collected at baseline and again 12 weeks after the intervention. Results obtained showed a significant increase in the mean scores of treatment adherence and reduction of 1.39% in the mean glycosylated hemoglobin levels of the experimental group (p<0.001). Findings of the present study showed nurse-led telephone follow up is an effective method for improving glycemic control and adherence to treatment in patients with type 2 diabetes.

The main components of olive oil include oleic acid, phenolics compounds (hydroxytyrosol, tyrosol, and oleuropein) and squalene. Studies have demonstrated that the phenolic compounds of olive oil have positive effects on certain physiological parameters, such as plasma lipoproteins, oxidative damage, inflammatory markers, platelet and cellular function and antimicrobial activity. This study aimed to review studies on the health benefits of olive oil. Related articles in English were searched in Pubmed, Science direct, Google scholar, Springer, Wiley Online Library and Elsevier in human, animal, in vitro and in vivo studies. Results showed a lower incidence of coronary heart disease (by antithrombotic properties and improving lipid profiles, vascular function, blood pressure and oxidative stress) and certain cancers (mainly breast, colorectal and prostate cancers). Olive oil was found to lead to modification of immune and inflammatory responses. Oleocanthal, a phenolic compound in virgin olive oil, has possesses anti-inflammatory properties similar to ibuprofen. Olive oil also appears to have a role in bone mineralization. In studies on rats, tyrisol, hydroxytyrosol and oleuropein significantly increased bone formation and can hence be used as effective remedies in the treatment of osteoporosis symptoms. The beneficial effects of olive oil are attributed to its monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) and phenolic compounds.

Thyroid carcinoma including into four types papillary, follicular, medullary, and anaplastic is the most common endocrine malignancy. Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) is one of the most aggressive forms of thyroid cancer and it accounts for up to 10% of all types of this disease. The mode of inheritance of MTC is autosomal dominant and is closely related to mutations of gain of function (missense mutations) in the RET proto-oncogene, well known in MTC development. MTC occurs as hereditary (25%) and sporadic (75%) forms. Hereditary MTC also has two syndromic (multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2A, B; MEN2A, MEN2B) and non-syndromic (Familial MTC, FMTC) types. Increasing advances in molecular biology, genomics, and proteomics have led to personalized therapeutic interventions. Over the last two decades, the genetic basis of tumorgenesis has provided useful screening tools for affected families. Advances in genetic screening of the RET have enabled early detection of hereditary MTCs and prophylactic thyroidectomy for relatives who may not show any symptom of the disease. In this review we emphasize the main RET mutations in the syndromic and non syndromic forms of MTC, and have tried focus on the importance of RET genetic screening for early diagnosis and management of MTC patients.