Zahedan Journal of Research in Medical Sciences
Volume:17 Issue: 11, Nov 2015

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in most areas of the world. In Iran and Guilan province, frequency of this type of cancer has shown an increasing rate according to statistics of health centers of province in recent years. Despite of efforts on early diagnosis and treatment, this type of cancer is still the second leading cause of deaths due to cancer in women. This study aimed at obtaining protein biomarkers that may be useful in diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. Patients and In this experimental study, 10 patients with proved breast cancer and 10 patients with healthy breast, healthy and cancerous tissue samples were obtained to perform proteomics. All tissue proteins were purified using standard separation methods and proteins were separated using two-dimensional electrophoresis. Healthy and tumorous tissue proteomes were compared and the extent of protein expression was analyzed. Four hundred fifty four proteins were recognized, 138 of which were identified with changes in protein expression while cancerous. The expression of 61 proteins in tumorous group was suppressed. Three proteins showed increased expression while cancerous and 74 proteins showed decreased expression in cancerous tissue. It seems that in this disease, the expression of a large number of proteins in cancerous tissues changed, most of them decreased or not expressed at all. These changed proteins can be effective as biomarker in diagnosis and treatment of this disease.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common joint disorder without any curative treatment so, pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic modalities are used to improve pain and disability. This is a study for evaluation of the efficacy and safety of Elaeagnus angustifolia and ginger extracts in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee. Patients and This randomized double-blind clinical trial study carried out on 80 outpatients with knee OA. The patients were randomized to take 200 mg extract of E. angustifolia and ginger or placebo. Knee radiography, serum biochemistry and blood pressure were recorded at baseline and the patients were evaluated for pain intensity, patient and physician global assessment of efficacy, and analgesic use in the past week. The statistical analysis was done using χ2 and t-test for comparing the mean values of patients at baseline and after intervention. Sixty-one patients completed the study. Of all 97.5% of patients were females and the mean of BMI was 30 ± 4.5 kg/m2. An entry 53 (66.2%) of patients were receiving analgesics. Eight weeks after the intervention, the patients in drug group had more improvement in pain intensity according to visual analogue scale (VAS) (P = 0.02) and the physician evaluation according to a 4-scale scoring system (P = 0.03), but the analgesic consumption for pain control was not different. Serum biochemistry and ESR did not change after the intervention. The results of this study suggest that combination of E. angustifolia and ginger extracts are safe and may have some efficacy in patients with knee OA.

Echinococcus granulosus can produce hydatid cysts (HCs) commonly in liver and lung. Central nervous system HCs are rare and comprise 2 - 3%. We found a 25-year-old woman with a medium cerebral HC. She had a rare manifestation, sudden onset of seizure with no other clinical findings 2 hours before admission. Brain CT-scan showed a medium round hypodense lesion at left hemisphere. She had several cystic lesions in right lobe of liver. The cyst was successfully removed without rupture. Although brain HCs is seen mostly in boys, it should be considered in endemic regions, even in young patients with sudden seizure.

This research seeks to make a comparison between executive functions of the obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) patients, with poor and high insight levels and normal people. Patients and In this casual comparative study, 22 OCD patients with high insight level, 5 OCD patients with poor insight level (based on YBOCS’ 11th item score) and 23 normal subjects were selected using convenience sampling technique. The subjects were evaluated using two groups of clinical and neuropsychiatric instruments. The clinical instruments included Y-BOCS, BDI-II and GHQ-12. The executive functions were assessed using the Tower of London test, the Stroop and the Wisconsin Card Sorting tests. The obtained results showed a significant difference between OCD patients and normal people in a number of executive functions. However, comparison between OCD patients with high and poor insight levels showed no significant difference in the executive functions variables. Executive functions (EF) may contribute to the psychopathology of OCD. Therefore examining EF can play an important role in assessment and treatment of OCD.

Entonox (N2O2) for decreasing labor pain is generally used intermittently. As continuous method is easier to use, we compared two methods in point of labor progression. As entonox is used in numerous centers intermittently and it seems that continuous method has benefits such as more analgesic effect and easier usage, we decided to compare the effects of two methods on labor progress. Patients and This randomized clinical trial was performed in Mobini Hospital, Sabzevar, Iran. One hundred admitted women for vaginal delivery were included in this study. Fitted patients were randomly divided into equal groups. Fifty parturients used it intermittently and 50 persons used it continuously. Then labor progression, maternal and fetal conditions and satisfaction were registered and compared in two groups. Statistical analyses were performed by SPSS-17 software, t-test and χ2 test. The duration of three stages of labor was not different significantly. The mothers were more satisfied by continuous method meaningfully (P < 0.0001). Our study showed continuous method had no adverse effects on labor progression and the satisfaction rate was more compared with intermittent method.

Ulcerative colitis is one type of inflammatory bowel disease. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of cytomegalovirus in patients with ulcerative colitis in comparison with healthy subjects by using PCR technique. Patients and In this analytical case-control study, 5 patients with ulcerative colitis and 30 patients without malignancy as controls were selected. Biopsy specimens were frozen under sterile conditions at -20ºC. After DNA extraction, analysis of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to detect CMV DNA in tissue samples was performed. Statistical analysis was performed with χ2 test. CMV DNA was found in 80% of ulcerative colitis samples (4 of 5) and 30% of the non-malignant control group (9 of 30). Statistical analysis showed significant association between the prevalence of CMV and incidence ulcerative colitis in comparison with the control group (P = 0.03). The results of the present study has shown ulcerative colitis patients have a predisposition to CMV infection as compared to healthy individuals, but the etiologic link between ulcerative colitis and CMV infection needs to be studied.

The role of the immune system in multiple sclerosis (MS) has been proved. Pentoxifylline has an inhibitory effect on phosphodiesterase and the cytokine products. In some studies therapeutic effects of pentoxifylline have been documented in MS patients. The aim of our study was to investigate the effects of pentoxifylline on the recurrence and the disease course in MS patients. Patients and In our double-blinded clinical trial study, 44 newly diagnosed relapsing-remitting MS patients were studied for 12 months. They were divided into 2 groups: in group 1, 22 patients received interferon and oral pentoxifylline (800 mg daily for 2 months) and in group 2 (control group), 22 patients received interferon with a placebo. The monthly attack rates and the clinical condition of the patients, using the expanded disability status scale (EDSS), were measured in 3 different times along the study (beginning of the treatment, 6 months after and at the end of the treatment). Analysis of the data was done using t-test and the nonparametric Mann-Whitney U test. There was not any significant difference between the 2 groups in terms of age and sex. The recurrence in the first year was 0.4% and 0 in group 1 and 2, respectively. Also there was not any difference in the clinical course and the recurrence of the disease between two groups in one year of follow-up. Adding pentoxifylline to interferon does not have any synergistic therapeutic effects on the reduction of relapse frequency and EDSS in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis in comparison with interferon.

There are scant evidences between giardiasis and enterobiasis with human mal-absorption of micronutrient. The aim of the present study was to found out the changes in the serum zinc, copper, magnesium and vitamin B12 levels in schoolchildren infected with Giardia intestinalis and Enterobius vermicularis. Patients and This case-control study was carried out among 359 children from aged 6 - 12 years old at 8 suburban public schools. Three stool examinations were done using standard techniques for identification parasitic infection. Fifty E. vermicularis and 37 G. lamblia infected individuals were enrolled as study groups. Serum levels of copper, zinc, magnesium were assessed by autoanalyzer and vitamin B12 levels were measured using gamma counter. ANOVA and paired t-test analyses were used to determine the association between infections and trace elements changes. The prevalence of G. intestinalis and E. vermicularis infections were 10.3% and 13.9%, respectively. The serum zinc, copper and magnesium levels showed a significant decrease in individuals infected with G. intestinalis and E. vermicularis (P < 0.05). Mean values of Giardia positive and negative groups for copper 143.65 ± 16.51 and 176.26 ± 17.6 μg/dL, zinc 62.26 ± 16.06 and 80.66 ± 23.58 μg/dL, and magnesium 1.82 ± 0.23 and 2.01 ± 0.16 mg/dL, respectively. Mean values of Enterobius positive and negative groups for copper 145.55 ± 26.84 and 176.26 ± 17.6 μg/dL, zinc 72.7 ± 17.92 and 80.66 ± 23.58 μg/dL and magnesium 1.93 ± 0.11 and 2.01 ± 0.16 mg/dL, respectively. The results showed that giardiasis and enterobiasis decreased serum levels of copper, zinc and magnesium. Further studies are needed to clarify the actual mechanism governing the zinc, copper, magnesium and vitamin B12 giardiasis/enterobiasis interaction.