saeed abdi

Today, according to the turbulent and changing environment of the industry, one of the important factors in customer satisfaction is the optimal performance of the supply chain. The current research was conducted with the aim of investigating the impact of supply chain disruptions on customer satisfaction in a specific industry, taking into account the mediating effect of empowering green employees. This study is applied and descriptive in terms of purpose and was conducted with a descriptive method. The statistical population in this study is 350 employees of Ghadir Nyriz Steel Company, who were selected by convenience sampling. In order to analyze the data, partial least squares method and Smart PLS-3 software were used. Convergent validity was used in order to check the validity, and Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used to evaluate the reliability, which was more than 0.7 for all research constructs. The obtained results indicate that supply chain disruptions have a negative and significant effect on customer satisfaction and green employee empowerment. Also, the positive and significant effect of green employee empowerment and customer satisfaction in a specific industry was confirmed. Finally, the results of this research showed that the green employee empowerment variable mediates the relationship between supply chain disruptions and customer satisfaction.

Our objective was to assess the efficacy and safety of adding alpha-pinene (a herbal terpenoid) to quadruple therapy compared to a placebo in improving symptoms and Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) eradication rates in Functional dyspepsia (FD) patients.

FD is a prevalent upper gastrointestinal condition, and no definitive pharmacological treatment is available for its management.

We conducted a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial on FD patients diagnosed with H. pylori infection. We collected baseline demographic data and assessed FD symptoms in the participants. Patients were randomly allocated to receive either standard quadruple therapy with α-pinene capsules (0.25 mg/day) or quadruple therapy with a placebo for two weeks. We employed a validated questionnaire, the Short Form Leeds Dyspepsia Questionnaire (SF-LDQ), to evaluate FD symptoms. The eradication rate of H. pylori was compared between the two groups one month after completing the treatment regimens. Any reported adverse drug reactions (ADRs) were documented throughout the trial.

Over four months, a total of 66 patients completed the trial. Notably, there were no significant differences in baseline SF-LDQ scores between the two groups (p=0.83); however, a significant divergence emerged at the trial's conclusion (p=0.03). The H. pylori eradication rates did not show notable differences between the two treatment arms (p=0.43). Importantly, there were no dropouts from the trial due to ADRs. Among reported ADRs, participants experienced abdominal pain, headache, diarrhea, and a metallic taste, with no significant variance in incidence rates observed between the two groups (p=0.62).

These findings suggest that α-pinene could be an effective and safe agent for reducing FD symptoms.

 The useful effects of N-acetylcysteine ​​(NAC) in preventing progression of liver injury and improving liver function were investigated. The aim of this study is evaluation of the effects of NAC in patients with early stages cirrhosis compensation.

 All patients referred to the gastrointestinal department of Ayatollah Taleghani Hospital during 1 year with known etiology of cirrhosis and Child-Pugh score A, B or C were enrolled. In the intervention group, patients received NAC tablets at a dose of 600 mg daily and the control group will use placebo.  Demographic data, blood tests, liver function tests (bilirubin, albumin, prothrombin time, transaminases), kidney function tests (creatinine, urea and electrolytes), Child-Pugh score and MELD Score (baseline and end of 6 months) were recorded were compared between two groups.

 In the present study, 30 patients with mean age of 55.8 years were studied in the intervention group, 22 (73.3%) male and 8 (26.7%) females. In the control group, 30 patients with mean age 56.3 years were studied, of whom 13 (43.3%) were male and 17 (56.7%) were female. Hematologic variables and biochemical parameters were not significantly different before and after the intervention. In the intervention group, the hepatic variables under study decreased significantly after the intervention despite the control group. (P value = 0.01)

 N acetylcysteine ​​had a significant decreasing effect on renal function through serum urea, creatinine levels, liver enzymes, Child-Pugh score and MELD Score, but had no significant effect on hematological and biochemical parameters.

Aim of this study was to investigate the effect of high-intensity interval training on serum levels of irisin, follistatin and metabolic status of overweight and obese women.

The current research was a semi-experimental type with a pre and post-test design. 30 women with an average age of 22.9±2.11 years, weight 82.45±6.1 kg, BMI above 28 kg/m2) voluntarily participated and they were randomly divided into two groups of 15 people including HIIT (4 bouts of 60 seconds of running at an intensity of 80-90% HRmax with a 4-minute rest in the first four weeks) and control (did not have a regular exercise program). Blood samples were taken 24 hours before the start of the training period and 48 hours after the end of the last session, to measure irisin, Follistatin and metabolic status, by ELISA method. Then, independent t-test was used to examine changes between groups, and correlated t-test was used for intragroup comparison. Data analysis was done by SPSS version 25 software at a significance level of 0.05.

After 8 weeks of intervention, the HIIT group showed that HIIT exercises led to a significant increase in irisin(p=0.25) and follistatin(p=0.12), triglyceride (p=0.30), total cholesterol levels. (p=0.41), LDL (p=0.14), VLDL (p=0.17), weight (p=0.31), fat percentage (p =0.21)) and BMI (p=0.251);And there was a significant increase in maximum oxygen consumption (p=0.11). However, no significant change was observed in the amount of HDL (p=0.55).

The purpose of this research was to phenomenology of the experiences of operational project managers of the construction camp in the face of the crisis of continued erosion of sanctions based on big data fuzzification. The method of conducting this research is applied in terms of its purpose and descriptive. Due to the use of both qualitative and quantitative methods in this research, a mixed method type is used. Sampling has been selected from the operational project managers of the construction camp. Due to the use of qualitative method, a structured interview tool was used. According to this method, the sample number was considered to include 35 successful managers in order to implement the interview process. The method of conducting the research in the quantitative research method was a survey, and researcher-made questionnaires including 33 open questions were used to measure the experiences of successful managers. The variables of the research included the ability to plan and organize in crisis conditions, the ability to lead in times of crisis, and the ability to control the organization in crisis conditions. Based on the results, the most important component of leadership ability in times of crisis, including strategies to increase profit and income, was selected. Based on the results, the most important component of production logistics service management requirements, increasing and deepening the relationship with production logistics service management requirements, human capital development was selected. Based on the results, the most important component of the organization's control power in critical conditions, market segmentation according to the type of project and requests was selected.

The current research has been conducted with the aim of investigating the role of information technology in creating flexible supply chains with the mediating role of trust and industry competitiveness. This study is applied and descriptive in terms of purpose and was conducted with a survey method. The statistical sample in this study is 183 managers and employees of Ghadir Niriz Steel Company, who were selected by convenience sampling. In order to analyze the data, partial least squares method and Smart PLS-2 software were used. Convergent validity was used to measure validity, and Cronbach's alpha was used to measure reliability, and its coefficient is greater than 0.7 for all research constructs. . The obtained results indicate that information technology has a positive and significant effect on flexible supply chains respectively with the path coefficient (0.411), trust (0.582) and industry competitiveness (0.667). On the other hand, the confidence and competitiveness of the industry also has a positive and significant effect on flexible supply chains. Finally, it can be said that both trust variable and industry competitiveness play a mediating role in the relationship between information technology and flexible supply chain. Therefore, it can be said that paying attention to information technology is necessary in order to create flexibility and trust in the supply chain and competitiveness in the steel industry.

This study aimed to examine the environmental factors associated in Iranian patients withinflammatory bowel disease(IBD).

The role of environmental factors in the development of IBD remains uncertain.

In this case-control study, the patients with IBD referred to the Taleghani Hospital, Tehran, Iran, were recruited from 2017 to 2019. Controls were matched by sex. Data were collected using the designed questionnaire and also valid questionnaire suchPittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) for sleep quality and anxiety/depression, respectively. Conditional logistic regression models were used to estimate adjusted odds ratios (ORs).

The study population included 200 individuals: 100 (50%) IBD patients and 100 (50%) controls. Age under 50, marital status, sleep difficulties, vitamin D insufficiency, anxiety/depression, dietary fiber deficit, post-menopausal hormone treatment, oral contraceptives, and antibiotics were all prognostic factors for IBD on the univariate analysis (P< 0.005). In multivariate analysis, the risk of IBD was significantly increased with 50 years (OR: 6.699, 95%CI: 3.271-8.662, P=0.017), abnormal sleep status (OR: 6.383, 95%CI: 3.389-7.19, P=0.001), and using oral contraceptive (OR: 7.426, 95%CI: 5.327-9.865, P=0.001). However, the risk of IBD was significantly decreased with older age (OR: 0.795, 95%CI: 0.697-0.907, P=0.001) and married status (OR: 0.008,95%CI: 0.001-0.438, P=0.018).

Data suggest that the environmental factors play a significant role in the etiology of IBD and probably on the disease course. While the evidence for some factors is strong, many factors require further supportive data.

 Cardiovascular disease, which itself can lead to liver disorders, is known as the most common cause of death in many countries, including Iran. Elevated liver enzymes can increase mortality risk after transplantation in most heart surgeries. This study aimed to investigate the effect of elevated liver enzymes before and after transplantation on the risk of perioperative mortality in heart transplant patients.

 The information of this historical cohort study was prepared using patients’ hospital records from 2014 to 2019. The data belonged to demographic information, medical history, and laboratory data of 203 patients admitted to Dr. Masih Daneshvari Hospital. More than three times normal institutional ranges defined elevated liver enzymes. Also, the number of deaths within 30 days after transplantation was considered to determine perioperative mortality. The Chi-square test and regression method were used to analyze the data using SPSS software.   

 Mortality of patients with elevated liver enzymes before and on the first, second, and third days after heart transplantation was 4.08, 3.95, 3.75, and 4.89 times higher than those with normal liver enzymes, respectively. Increasing the Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score was associated with a significantly increased risk of death (p<0.001).

 Elevated liver enzymes before or three days after heart transplantation are significantly associated with perioperative transplant death. Optimization of liver function before transplantation can play an important role in preventing mortality.

There is insufficient data about esophageal body dysmotility in patients with refractory gastroesophageal reflux disease (RGERD) and inadequate response to proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) treatment. This study aimed to assess esophageal motility disorder and reflux parameters among these patients by high-resolution manometry (HRM) and intraluminal impedance and pH (MII‐pH) monitoring after stopping PPI therapy. A retrospective study was conducted among 100 RGERD patients admitted to Taleghani Hospital (Tehran, Iran) for one year. More than half of them were males (55%). Their mean age was 47.10±6.92, and 50% of patients had ineffective esophageal motility (IEM). Middle, distal, and proximal esophageal pressure (MEP, DEP, and PEP), lower esophageal sphincter (LES) basal pressure (LESP), integrated relaxation pressure (IRP), distal contractile integral (DCI), large breaks, upper esophageal sphincter basal pressure (UESP), and LES length (LESL) in IEM patients were significantly lower than the patients with normal esophageal motility (P<0.001). Furthermore, there were more patients in the IEM group with long-term and abnormal weakly acid reflux compared with the non-IEM group (P<0.05). It seems that the evaluation of reflux parameters and esophageal motility could lead to additional insights into the pathophysiological mechanisms of RGERD. Nevertheless, further studies are suggested to evaluate the effects of esophageal motility disorders among RGERD patients.

non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one of the common concerns in the world. This disease has a correlation with obesity, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and other diseases. So, prediction and diagnosis of NAFLD is important. Fatty liver index can be used as a good method for prediction of NAFLD involvement but there are few evidences about it. The aim of this study was to investigate the prediction and diagnostic power of FLI to predict and diagnosis of NAFLD.

in this diagnostic study, patients who were referred to our hospital from 2020 to 2021 were assessed. Patients with NAFLD (N=108) were compared with normal people (N=220) based on age, sex, anthropometric parameters, laboratory data, and FLI.

the mean age among all participants was 45.62 ± 10.93 years. There were significant differences between NAFLD group and normal group about age, sex, height, weight, BMI, waist circumference, diabetes and hypertension history, TG, LDL, AST, ALT, ALK,GGT. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of FLI in diagnosis of NAFLD were 73.15%, 81.36%, and 78.66%, respectively. The best cut-off point based on ROC analysis and Youden index for differentiation of grade 1 from grade 2 was 69.5 and the best cut-off point for differentiation of grade 2 from grade 3 was 72.5 when the high FLI level considered as 60.

FLI is good method for prediction and diagnosis of NAFLD.

The purpose of this study is to describe and analyze the content of scientific-research articles related to politics and sport. The research community of this study includes Years articles (2009-2019). available at Irandoc, civilica, RICeST, Noormag, Zednee, Magiran, Ensani, SID, ISC Database Searching for keywords: Politics and sports, sports diplomacy, political sports, politicians in sports and sports politicians, 28 articles were reviewed through content analysis. The results showed that these studies can be categorized in terms of number in order of priority in the four topics of politics entry in sport, policy making, diplomacy and politics and economics in sport. In addition, among the universities of the country, Tehran University has focused more on politics and sports, and has also used more citations on Persian articles. In the year 2017, research in this field has grown significantly. Therefore, given the enormous importance of the relationship of sport to politics, it is recommended that research in this field be continued with interdisciplinary collaborations, in particular the use of sports organizations 'documentation and managers' experiences.

In recent decades, the number of cases developing drug-induced esophagitis (DIE) has been identified to an increasing extent, which shows the significance of detecting medicines capable of causing this adverse reaction. This study aims to provide an updated review on recent case reports of DIE, evaluate the possible mechanism of this side effect, and provide helpful management. Data was gathered through searching three databases, including PubMed, Medline, and Cochrane. Seven drug categories were evaluated, including antibiotics, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), cardiovascular medicines, bisphosphonates, chemotherapeutic agents, miscellaneous agents, and supplements. According to our findings, retrosternal pain, heartburn, odynophagia, and dysphagia are the typical symptoms. In most cases, DIE is a self-limiting side effect that can resolve by removing the causative agent and supportive therapy.

Patients with a prolonged corrected QT (QTc) interval are at risk of arrhythmias, including Torsade de pointes (TdP). This interval could be affected by demographic characteristics, ischemia, and most importantly drugs. Furthermore, hospitalized patients tend to experience arrhythmias, accompanied by electrolyte abnormalities and the inflammatory status of diseases.

The present retrospective study recruited 135 patients with COVID-19. We observed the QTc interval on the third post-administration day and laboratory findings for possible risk factors for QTc-interval prolongation.

Ischemic heart disease was markedly more common among patients with prolonged and severely prolonged QTc intervals. Laboratory findings showed a significantly higher neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in patients with prolonged or severely prolonged QTc intervals compared with those with normal QTc intervals and QTc intervals exceeding 500 milliseconds (P<0.001) on admission and the third day. Ribavirin caused the most elevation in the QTc interval after 3 days of hospitalization compared with other drugs. Forty percent of the patients who took ribavirin experienced a QTc interval exceeding 500 milliseconds, which was significant compared with other therapeutic regimens.

In addition to the well-known predisposing factors for the prolongation of QTc interval, we suggest focusing on the history of ischemic heart disease and inflammatory status (eg, by NLR) in patients with COVID-19 before making decisions to commence drugs that greatly affect QTc intervals. Further studies are required to shed light on the cardiac side effects of medications applied for COVID-19, particularly ribavirin. 

Antibiotic-resistant Helicobacter pylori isolates have become a global concern. The standard triple or quadruple therapies have recently become the most effective protocol for eradicating H. pylori in the gastrointestinal tract. There is evidence regarding the impact of different complementary or dietary supplements on H. pylori eradication. This review article intended to search electronic bibliographic databases for any clinical studies that evaluated the use of any herbal or dietary supplements to eradicate H. pylori up to June 2021. A total of 20 human studies met our criteria and were reviewed. Although some herbal medicines have shown their efficacy and safety in eradicating H. pylori in different clinical trials, more randomized blind, placebo-controlled human trials with a large sample size must be performed to extend our knowledge.

Antibiotic-resistant Helicobacter pylori isolates have become a global concern. The standard triple or quadruple therapies have recently become the most effective protocol for eradicating H. pylori in the gastrointestinal tract. There is evidence regarding the impact of different complementary or dietary supplements on H. pylori eradication. This review article intended to search electronic bibliographic databases for any clinical studies that evaluated the use of any herbal or dietary supplements to eradicate H. pylori up to June 2021. A total of 20 human studies met our criteria and were reviewed. Although some herbal medicines have shown their efficacy and safety in eradicating H. pylori in different clinical trials, more randomized blind, placebo-controlled human trials with a large sample size must be performed to extend our knowledge.

Exposure to lead, damages vital organs and is now a global concern. Toxic effects of lead on the liver and thyroid gland have been mentioned previously, sometimes with conflicting results. Therefore, the present study aimed to assess changes in liver and thyroid function tests in patients with lead poisoning.

This case-control study was performed on 100 patients with clinical evidence of lead poisoning who were referred to Loghman-e-Hakim hospital in Tehran from April to December 2018. Also, another 100 participants with the matched sex and age, a history of opium use, and exposure to lead or non-work-related metals, and with normal lead levels, were considered as a control group. Demographic information was collected by a trained researcher by reviewing hospital records or interviewing participants. To monitor lead levels in the control group, 5 ml of venous blood was collected from the antecubital vein at 7 to 8 am in sterile tubes containing EDTA as an anticoagulant. Serum lead levels were assessed by GBC Avanta atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Values in the two groups were compared. SPSS version 16 (SPSS Inc. Chicago, Il, The USA) was used for data analysis. A P-value below 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

The mean level of serum lead in case and control groups were 63.0±12.4 μg/dL and 6.0±2.1 μg/dL, respectively with a statistically significant difference (p<0.001). However, Alkaline phosphatase (ALKp), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) enzymes were significantly higher in cases compared to controls (p<0.001). The thyroid-stimulating hormone in patients with lead poisoning (0.3±0.04 MIU/L) was significantly lower than those in the control group (2.5±1.23) (P=0.04).

Lead poisoning could potentially damage liver function and elevate liver enzymes. Moreover, it can also affect the levels of TSH and levothyroxine. Understanding the exact mechanisms might help to control The hepatotoxic effects of lead in patients. Also, knowing the pattern of elevated liver enzymes and thyroid hormones changes might help discriminate lead poisoning with other differential diagnoses.

Backgrond:

Dyspepsia and digestive disorders are common, debilitating, and costly. Moreover, little information is available about the role of stress management in the treatment of dyspepsia. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of stress management on cognitive emotion regulation and general health of patients with dyspepsia.

We conducted an experimental study with pre-test and post-test as well as control group. Using random sampling method, 30 patients with dyspepsia were selected from among those referred to digestive Clinics in Tehran city in 2019 and were assigned to experimental and control groups (15 in each group). The experimental group received stress management trainings, but the control group did not receive any intervention. The research instruments were cognitive emotion regulation questionnaire of Garnefski and Kraaij and general health questionnaire of Goldberg and Hillier. The reliability indices for the cognitive emotion regulation and the general health questionnaire were 0.70 and 0.81, respectively. As the hypothesis of normality of the data was not confirmed by Shapiro-Wilk test, non-parametric (U-Mann-Whitney and paired Wilcoxon test) methods were used for data analysis in SPSS, version 22. The significance level was set at 0.05. 

The results showed that in the study of mental health, dimensions of physical symptoms (P=0.001), anxiety and insomnia (P=0.034), social dysfunction (P=0.005), depressive symptoms (P=0.028), and in the dimensions of cognitive regulation, in putting into perspective (P<0.001), positive refocusing (P<0.001), positive reassessment (P<0.001), acceptance (P<0.001), refocus on planning (P<0.001), self-blame (P<0.001), blame others (P<0.001), focus on thought/rumination, and catastrophizing (P<0.001), there was a significant difference between the experimental group and the control group after the treatment. Also, at the significance level of 0.05, in the experimental group, significant improvements in health status and emotion regulation were observed after the intervention.

Stress management is a reliable model for improving cognitive emotion regulation and general health of patients with dyspepsia.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the position of physical education among other subjects in managers, teachers, parents, and students’ views. The statistical population of the study consists of all managers and both male and female teachers and all male and female students of Elementary Schools of Rasht. The sample consists all the managers, 310 teachers, 400 male and female students among their parents. The instrument to gather the data was a researchermade questionnaire that different Educational position of physical education compared to other school subjects tested Elementary Schools. content and face validity have been approved by University professors, leaders of different subject groups and experienced teachers, and reliability has also been approved by Cronbach Alpha Method. The result of the study showed significant difference between the position of physical education subject and other school subjects in students, parents, managers, and teacher’ views. The results were as follows: Students ranked physical education in fourth, parents ranked physical education in third, and principals and teachers ranked physical education in first. Due to the fundamental transformation plan, the development of a national curriculum and various plans in the elementary school, the physical education course was of considerable importance.

A 42 year old woman admitted to the gastrointestinal department of Taleghani hospital; a teaching referral hospital in Tehran; Iran with epigastric pain; fever and dysphagia. She complained of intermittent dysphagia; regurgitation and epigastric pain( without any benefit from PPI treatment)  one month in each year from five years before admission.

Melatonin is the "clock factor" produced from the pineal gland dominating regular circadian rhythm in mammalians. It is an indoleamine with potent multifunctional pharmacological effects, both receptor dependent and non-receptor dependent effects, including antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. The aim of this review is to summarize clinical evidence related to melatonin's effectiveness in the treatment of liver and pancreas diseases. Databases including PubMed, Scopus, and Cochran Library were searched up to November 2020.Finally, this review has summarized up-to-date clinical evidence to investigate the efficacy and safety of melatonin for the management of liver and pancreas diseases. Melatonin has been demonstrated to have beneficial effects on the management of Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), sleep disturbance of cirrhotic patients, prevention of drug/poison induced liver toxicity,and prevention of post endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography pancreatitis (PEP);more data is needed to recommend melatonin administration in the treatment of mentioned disorders.

Health promotion in occupational and educational environments contributes to the improvement and higher efficiency of the people affected by them. The health status of medical students as future providers of health services has great importance. This study aimed to evaluate health promotion standards in the school of medicineatShahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences.

This cross-sectional study evaluated health promotion standards of school of medicineusing a questionnaire filled out by medical students in 2020. The validity and reliability of the questionnaire were confirmed. The questionnaire measured health promotion standards in the fields of healthy nutrition, facilities for proper physical activity, providing a healthy environment for students, adequate education for health promotion and disease prevention. Analytical and statistical tests were performed using IBM SPSS 23 software.

Among 340 medical students participatedin the study31.8 percent were in the basic sciences grade, 26.5 percent were stagers, and 41.8 percent were interns. The mean score of all questions among different grades was 1.11 (SD=0.33), 0.97 (SD=0.43), and 0.93 (SD=0.34), respectively (on a scale of 0-3). A significant difference was reported in the comparison of "basic sciences versus stagers (PV=0.011)" and "basic sciences versus interns (PV<0.01) ". the mean score of questions overall was 1.00 (SD=0.37).

Based on findings, health promotion in the schoolof medicine atShahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences was in the medium range, which demonstrates the need for future policies that lead to a more efficient health-promoting environment.

Decision-making on allocating scarce medical resources is crucial in the context of a strong health system reaction to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Therefore, understanding the risk factors related to a high mortality rate can enable the physicians for a better decision-making process.

Information was collected regarding clinical, demographic, and epidemiological features of the definite COVID-19 cases. Through Cox regression and statistical analysis, the risk factors related to mortality were determined. The Kaplan-Meier curve was used to estimate survival function and measure the mean length of living time in the patients.

Among about 3000 patients admitted in the Taleghani hospital as outpatients with suspicious signs and symptoms of COVID-19 in 2 months, 214 people were confirmed positive for this virus using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique. Median time to death was 30 days. In this population, 24.29% of the patients died and 24.76% of them were admitted to the ICU (intensive care unit) during hospitalization. The results of Multivariate Cox regression Analysis showed that factors including age (HR, 1.031; 95% CI, 1.001–1.062; P value=0.04), and C-reactive protein (CRP) (HR, 1.007; 95% CI, 1.000–1.015; P value=0.04) could independently predict mortality. Furthermore, the results showed that age above 59 years directly increased mortality rate and decreased survival among our study population.

Predictor factors play an important role in decisions on public health policy-making. Our findings suggested that advanced age and CRP were independent mortality rate predictors in the admitted patients.

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is characterized by recurring episodes of inflammation limited to the mucosal layer of the colon. The exact etiology of UC is unknown, but the role of autoimmunity and activated inflammatory cascade is quite clear. Melatonin possesses anti-inflammatory and immune-modulative properties in animal and clinical trials. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of oral melatonin as an adjudicative therapy in clinical, biochemical, and quality of life in UC patients. Thirty patients diagnosed with mild to moderate UC, were randomly allocated to either receive melatonin (3 mg/d) or the placebo group for three months. Simple clinical colitis activity index (SCCAI), fecal calprotectin (FC), C-reactive protein (CRP), Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR), and Sf-36 questionnaire have been used for assessment at the baseline and the end of the trial. Melatonin significantly improve SCCAI score, FC, role-emotional, energy and general health relative to placebo (p = 0.03, 0.05, 0.002, 0.032, 0.004 respectively). Regarding CRP, ESR, and the other components of SF-36 there is not any significant difference between melatonin and placebo group. Melatonin supplementation over a three-month period is effective and safe in improving clinical index, FC, and some quality of life in patients with mild to moderate UC.

Several studies have focused on the alterations of hematological parameters for a better understanding of the COVID-19 pathogenesis and also their potential for predicting disease prognosis and severity. Although some evidence has indicated the prognostic values of thrombocytopenia, neutrophilia, and lymphopenia, there are conflicting results concerning the leukocyte and monocyte count.

In this retrospective Double Centre study, we reviewed the results of WBC and monocyte counts of 1320 COVID-19 patients (243 of whom (18.4%) had severe disease) both on admission and within a 7-day follow-up.

We found that both the number of monocytes and the percentage of monocytosis were higher in the severe group; however, it was not statistically significant. On the other hand, we found that not only the mean number of WBCs was significantly higher in the severe cases also leukocytosis was a common finding in this group; indicating that an increased number of WBC may probably predict a poor prognosis. Also, the monocyte count was not affected by age; however, univariate analysis showed that the percentage of leukocytosis was significantly greater in the older group (>50) with an odds ratio of 1.71 (P: 0.003).

Alteration of monocytes either on admission or within hospitalization would not provide valuable data about the prediction of COVID-19 prognosis. Although the rapidly evolving nature of COVID-19 is the major limitation of the present study, further investigations in the field of laboratory biomarkers will pave the way to manage patients with severe disease better.