مجله دانشکده پزشکی اصفهان
پیاپی 617 (هفته اول خرداد 1400)

Substance abuse during pregnancy has serious side effects on mothers and her baby. The aim of this study was to determine the relative frequency of substance abuse in pregnant women in Isfahan City, Iran.

This was a cross-sectional analytical research. 400 pregnant women referred to midwifery clinics in Isfahan were randomly selected. Demographic data of pregnant women as well as the history of substance abuse were collected through face-to-face interviews using a researcher-made checklist. Substance abuse of pregnant women was assessed by urine screening tests.

In this study, 400 pregnant women with a mean age of 30.2 years were included. Urine sample test was negative for drugs or stimulants in 94.5% of mothers and positive in 5.5%. Pregnant women with a positive history of substance abuse had significant differences in terms of occupation, maternal smoking, spouse addiction, the presence of an addicted person in first-degree relatives, method of use in first-degree relatives, and positive urine test compared to pregnant mothers without substance abuse history.

The prevalence of substance abuse among pregnant women in Isfahan was estimated to be about 5.5% based on urine screening test. This is near the prevalence rate of substance abuse among pregnant women reported in other studies in the country. The frequency of positive urine test for substance abuse was higher than the frequency announced in face-to-face interviews with pregnant women.

Atrial fibrillation is one of the most common arrhythmia in heart surgery. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of metoprolol injection during rewarming on the incidence of postoperative atrial fibrillation in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting.

This study was performed as a double-blind clinical trial in the cardiac operating room and intensive care unit (ICU) in Chamran hospital, Isfahan, Iran, in patients undergoing non-emergency coronary artery bypass graft surgery. Patients were randomly divided into two groups of 43 patients as case and control groups. The metoprolol group received 10 mg intra-oxygenator metoprolol in rewarming period of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), and the case group received 10 cc placebo at the same time. Both groups were monitored during and after surgery.

The frequency of patients with atrial fibrillation was 25% and 4.7% in the control and intervention groups, respectively. The mean duration of ICU hospitalization was 2.98 and 2.24 days in the control and intervention groups, respectively, with significant difference (P < 0.050). The need to inotrope or antiarrhythmic drugs and shock therapy did not show significant difference between the groups (P > 0.050).

According to our findings, it seems that metoprolol injection during coronary artery bypass grafting can significantly reduce the frequency of atrial fibrillation and the length of ICU stay.

Influenza virus, which is a decisive agent of influenza, attracted interest because of the event of the annual epidemic among a wide range of animal and human hosts. This study aimed to express the hemagglutinin protein of Iranian swine Influenza A (H1N1) through a baculovirus system in SF9 cells to produce a new recombinant vaccine.

Hemagglutinin gene of Swine H1N1 virus was amplified with specific primers containing restriction enzymes site, and then cloned. Afterward, the vector was transformed to DH10Bac using Bac-to-Bac system in order to produce a recombinant bacmid. Hemagglutinin expression and its biological activity were assessed using molecular and immunization tests.

The target rHA in length, 1710 bp, was produced and expressed in transfected SF9 cells with a size of ~66 kDa. The infected cells expanded in size and their nucleus, and desiccated from the surface of the cell culture as a granular. They could absorb chick red blood cells (RBCs), and appear as cell aggregates forty-eight postinfection. The fact that infected cells were unable to form cell clamp showed the test's accuracy and inhibition of hemodesorption activity. The amount of protein obtained was 10.76 µg/100 µl, equal to 0.1 mg/ml.

The baculovirus expression system could express the recombinant protein in the insect cell. Therefore, it may be a well-suited alternative to produce a new generation of the vaccine instead of egg-based and cell-culturebased generation vaccines.