نشریه دانشور پزشکی
پیاپی 164 (فروردین و اردیبهشت 1402)

Covid-19 disease as a pandemic with high spreading power and a wide range of clinical symptoms and lack of definitive treatment is a challenge for mankind in recent years. The antiviral response of type 1 interferon against the SARS-COV-2 virus is one of the most important pathways of the innate immune system in dealing with this disease. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the expression of two genes, ly6e and usp18, with the severity of clinical symptoms in patients with covid-19.

Peripheral blood samples were prepared from patients and their DNA was extracted, then the expression of ly6e and usp18 genes was measured by real-time PCR method. cDNA samples were first amplified using specific primers. Data analysis was performed using chi-square, Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests. A significance level of 0.05 was considered.

The expression of the ly6e gene was significantly (p=0.008) decreased in the hospitalized group compared to the control group. No significant difference was seen in the expression of the usp18 gene among the studied groups.

Proper expression of ly6e protein can be related to controlling the severity of clinical symptoms of covid-19 disease.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is one of the most important pathogens causes of hospital infections in the world, which has become resistant to many common antibiotics. Increasing antibiotic resistance in bacteria has increased attention to herbal medicines and natural antimicrobial substances. Due to its metabolites such as thymoquinone, Nigella sativa has various effects, including antibacterial properties. This research was conducted to determine the antibacterial effect of Nigella sativa extract and the cotrimoxazole, as well as the combined effect of these two substances on the standard MRSA strain in laboratory conditions.

In this study antimicrobial effects of Nigella sativa extract and cotrimoxazole separately and together using the checkerboard method on MRSA (ATCC33591) standard strain were investigated by microdilution method and their minimum growth inhibitory concentration (MIC) were determined.

Cotrimoxazole antibiotic at MIC of 5 μg/ml and Nigella sativa extract at 4.687 mg/ml prevented the growth of the target bacteria. When combining both of them were tested, the MIC concentration for both extract and antibiotic combinations was significantly reduced. These values ​​were reduced to 0.292 mg/ml for the extract and 2 μg/ml for the antibiotic.

According to the obtained results, the antibacterial activity of Nigella sativa ethanolic extract and cotrimoxazole have a synergistic effect on MRSA. Thus, we can use the combination both of antibacterial agents for improving the antimicrobial effect.

Multiple sclerosis is the most common neurological disease in the world and third cause of disability in chronic disease. One of the dimension to treatment of MS is adherence drugs that need development of an instrument.  This study aimed to evaluate the reliability and validity of treatment adherence drugs tool in patient with multiple sclerosis (MS) based on the theory of planned behavior.

This cross-sectional study in 2021-2022 that was carried out on 269 patients with MS were referred to Sina Hospital in Tehran city with a random sample.  Through quantitative and qualitative face validity, content validity index, with a 10-member panel of experts examined to judge the quality and reliability by determining the internal agreement (Cronbach's alpha coefficient) and was approved estimates.

The mean age of patients was 35.04±9.63 years and mean age of morbidity was 32.48±9.6 years. After reviewing the results validity, content validity index less than limit the questions to be revised and the necessary changes were made in the narrative process is repeated until the desired amount of content validity index of more than 0.62 reliability content was more than 0.79. Test-retest and reliability with more than 0.7 was confirmed. The mean of Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.87.

The results of this study provided good evidence of valid and reliable tools to assess treatment adherence drugs in patients with MS based on the theory of planned behavior.

There is a relationship between osteopontin and osteocalcin bone indices and diabetes and osteoporosis. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of 8 weeks of endurance training with taurine supplementation on the serum level of osteopontin and osteocalcin in male Wistar rats with streptozocin. In this experimental study, 30 adult non-nursing rats with a weight range of 250-300 grams and 6 weeks old were randomly divided into 3 groups including two diabetic groups, diabetic exercise+supplement (n=10) and diabetic control (n=10) and a non-diabetic group, healthy control (n=10). To induce diabetes, at the end of the eighth week, the amount of 55 mg per kilogram of body weight of streptozocin (STZ) was injected intraperitoneally. The exercise+diabetic supplement group performed combined exercises for eight weeks with a frequency of 5 times a week (endurance exercise with an intensity of 75% Vo2max on the treadmill and then strength training, climbing the ladder 15 times). At the same time as the exercises started, taurine supplement was added to the rats' food. One-way ANOVA and post hoc Bonferroni test were used to compare the mean of the variables between-group and paired samples T test was used to compare the mean of the variables intra-group. Osteopontin decreased significantly in the diabetic exercise+supplement group compared to the diabetic control group (P<0.001); On the other hand, there was a significant increase of 12.118% in the diabetic control group compared to the healthy control group (P<0.001). While, osteocalcin increased significantly in the exercise+diabetic supplement group compared to the diabetic control group (P<0.001) and decreased significantly in the diabetic control group compared to the healthy control group (p<0.001). Eight weeks of endurance training with taurine supplementation led to a decrease in osteopontin and an increase in osteocalcin. Therefore, people with diabetes and prone to osteoporosis are recommended to do combined exercises to prevent the development of this diseases.

Health system reforms in countries are carried out with the aim of increasing public access and quality of medical services, ensuring justice in health services and fair use of medical services. The aim of theis study was to evaluate the impact of social and economic variables on household and catastrophic health costs of families of special patients. It also examined the state of justice using the fair financial participation index in the country. This research was descriptive-analytical. Data were collected randomly and cross-sectional in Tehran province from 296 patients with special needs in 3 disease groups (dialysis, hemophilia and thalassemia). The measurement tool is a standard questionnaire. Fair participation index, the ratio of families of special patients and exposure to catastrophic and poor health costs were calculated and in order to respond to the social and economic variables of household and catastrophic health costs, multiple linear regression model and data analysis with software were used. Excel and Eviews10 are done. The percentage of exposure to debilitating and impoverishing expenses with thresholds of 40% ability to pay is equal to 12/5%. In addition to its increase, the reduction of the country's healthcare costs should also be less than one percent. Also, the value of the FFC index is 0.84. Also, the insurance coefficient, income, age, education, marital status, having a family, being employed shows a significant relationship with health costs with a confidence level of 90%, and gender was not significant (p<0.1). According to the measures taken, the amount of these costs is still high. The reason can be the increase in the cost of medical services and financing methods.

Nowadays, the use of energizing substances has become a complex problem in sports, on the other hand, resistance training and tribulus terrestris have a great effect on controlling inflammatory indicators, but the interaction of the effect of resistance training with tribulus terrestris and Stanazol on inflammatory capacities have been investigated less than the others. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of eight weeks of resistance training with the consumption of Tribulus terrestris extract on TNF-α, IL-10 and the TNF-α/IL-10 ratio of heart tissue of male rats exposed to Stanazol.

In this experimental study, 48 large male rats with a weight range of 150 to 200 grams and an average age of 8 weeks were selected and randomly divided into 8 groups of 6 series including 1) control (C), 2) sham (Sh), 3) use of stanazol (S), 4) use of stanazol with 100 mg/kg of Tribulus Terrestris (ST100), 5) use of Stanazol with 50 mg/kg of Tribulus Terrestris (ST50), 6) use of Stanazol with resistance training (SRT), 7) use of Stanazol with resistance training and 100 mg/kg of Tribulus Terrestris (SRTT100) and 8) use of Stanazol with training Resistance and 50 mg/kg of Tribulus Terrestris (SRTT50). For eight weeks, the 3-8 groups received 5 mg/kg daily of stanazole peritoneally; Groups 6-8 performed resistance training three sessions per week and groups 4, 5, 7 and 8 received certain doses of Tribulus Terrestris daily. The amount of TNF-α, IL-10 and the ratio of TNF-α/IL-10 were measured by Real Time PCR method in the hearts of rats. To analyze the findings, one-way analysis of variance was used with Tukey's post hoc test (p<0.05).

Consumption of S had a significant effect on the increase of TNF-α gene expression and the ratio of TNF-α/IL-10 and the decrease of IL-10 in the heart tissue of rats (P<0.05). However, SRT caused a significant increase of IL-10 and the reduction of TNF-α and the ratio of TNF-α/IL-10 (P<0.05) Also, SRT100 had a significant effect on increasing IL-10 and decreasing TNF-α/IL-10 ratio (P<0.05). SRTT100 and SRTT50 had a significant effect on the reduction of TNF-α and the ratio of TNF-α/IL-10 and the increase of IL-10 (P<0.05). On the other hand, the expression level of TNF-α gene in ST100 and ST50 groups increased significantly (P<0.05).

It seems that resistance training and consumption of tribulus terrestris extract with a higher dose separately have useful effects on the improvement of the gene expression of inflammatory indicators of heart tissue. However, in order to reach a better conclusion in connection with performing resistance exercises along with the consumption of Tribulus Terrestris, further research is needed on the expression of the gene of inflammatory indicators in the heart tissue caused by Stanazol poisoning.

Chronic exposure to paraquat can lead to lung and liver damage, kidney failure, and Parkinsonian lesions in addition to fibrosis. Paraquat toxicity occurs through excessive production of free radicals which results in oxidative stress and damage. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the effect of a period of aerobic exercises and supplementation with piperine on liver enzymes in rats induced with paraquat. 48 adult rats were divided into six groups: 1) Sham, 2) negative control paraquat 3) paraquat + training, 4) paraquat + training + piperine, 5) paraquat + piperine and 6) positive control paraquat + vitamin E. Aerobic exercise training included: seven weeks of walking on treadmill for 5 sessionsper-week 30-40 min per session at a speed of 10 to 18 m/min. The paraquat poison was prepared at dose of 5 mg/kg of rat body weight and was injected intraperitoneally. Daily gavage of piperine supplement was provided at dose of 10 mg/kg of rat body weight. ANOVA statistical test was used to determine the mean difference between groups. There were significant differences in Alanine Transaminase (ALT) and Aspartate Transaminase (AST) levels between the sham, paraquat+exercise, paraquat+piperine, paraquat+exercise+piperine, and positive control paraquat+vitamin E groups compared to the negative control paraquat-group. Furthermore, significant increase in ALT and AST levels was observed in the negative control group compared to the sham, paraquat+exercise, paraquat+piperine and paraquat+exercise+piperine and positive control paraquat+vitamin E groups (p<0.001). The results showed that in rats belonging to exercise training, only exercise training with piperine and piperine decreased the ALT and AST levels compared to the negative control group. However, more research is needed to support these findings.

Acinetobacter baumannii is a gram-negative opportunistic pathogen and one of the most important hospital pathogens. Antibiotic resistance helps Acinetobacter baumannii to survive in environments under antibiotic stress and complicates treatment. On the other hand, the excessive use of antibiotics causes destructive effects on body organs. Vaccinium arctostaphylus plant is used in the treatment of mental diseases due to its abundant polyphenols, including flavonoids, which have significant antibacterial properties. This research is the first to determine the antibacterial effect of meropenem and the ethanolic extract of vacinium arctostaphylus plant in combination, and it was done separately on the standard strain of Acinetobacter baumannii in laboratory conditions. Firstly, the antimicrobial effect of meropenem and ethanol extract of vaccinium alone on the standard strain of Acinetobacter baumannii (ATCC19606) was determined by the microdilution method, then the inhibitory concentration for the combination of antibiotic and extract was calculated using the checkerboard method and also the relative inhibitory concentration index was also obtained. The growth inhibitory concentration of this extract along with the antibiotic decreased significantly, and in the combination of extract and meropenem, the concentration of meropenem was 0.0156 µg/mLand the concentration of extract was 0.390 µg/ml. Factorial test was used for the statistical comparison of classification variables, which showed that there is a significant relationship between the increase in extract concentration and also the combination with antibiotics. According to the results of this study, the ethanolic extract of arctostaphylus vaccinium has a synergistic effect on Acinetobacter baumannii with meropenem. Due to the good antimicrobial effect of the vaccinium arctostaphylus with the antibiotic meropenem on the standard strain of Acinetobacter baumannii, they can be used in addition to antibiotics.