Journal of Kerman University of Medical Sciences
Volume:23 Issue: 3, 2016

Diabetes is a very important factor for stroke due to blocked blood vessels. It can involve systemic and cerebrovascular arteries at the same time via microangiopathy and macroangiopathy. This project aimed to compare the intima-media thickness of carotid artery in children with diabetes type and the control group.
In this case-control study, 50 children with the age of 5-18 years were enrolled in two equal groups of patients and controls. After obtaining informed consent and completing the demographic data, carotid artery ultrasound, lipid profile test and checking random blood pressure was conducted for the subjects. Then, the data were statistically analyzed using SPSS software.
The mean intima-media thickness of the carotid artery was 0.45 ± 0.09 and 0.38 ± 0.06 in control and patient groups, respectively. There was a statistically significant difference between the two groups (P = 0.004).
The intima-media thickness of the carotid artery and serum lipid profiles in children with diabetes was significantly higher than the control group. In addition, in children with diabetes, the systolic blood pressure was significantly correlated with the increased intima-media thickness of the carotid artery.

Alzheimer's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the abnormal aggregation of amyloid-? plaques in the brain. Although several studies have been done for finding effective medicines in the treatment of this disease, a drug that inhibits amyloid ? aggregation and ameliorates the disorder has not been approved so far. One important therapeutic approach is use of herbal extracts which are rich in aromatic compounds. In the present study, we induced amyloid aggregation in hen egg white lysozyme (HEWL), and the therapeutic efficacy of Satureia hortensis extract on amyloid aggregation inhibition, learning and spatial memory of rats were investigated.
A total of 24 male wistar rates (250-280 gr) were divided into the 4 groups (n=4): control, scopolamine- received, lysozyme- received, and lysozyme- received in presence of Satureia hortensis extract. Morris Water maze was used for studying the learning and spatial memory.
The results showed that the hippocampal injection of HEWL causes damage to the spatial memory of rats, but amyloid aggregation formed in the presence of Satureia hortensis is not toxic and has, no significant effect on spatial memory of rat.
These observations suggest that Satureia hortensis extract is capable of inhibiting amyloid aggregation. Morover, the study showed the importance of using model proteins as a valid tool in studies on Alzheimer’s disease.

The main long-term problems of chronic diabetes are cardiovascular complications classified as micro/macro-vascular complications. The consequences for patients include cardiovascular diseases, nephropathy, retinopathy, and so on. Due to the effect of exercise on tissue blood flow distribution and the different nature of the two types of resistance and aerobic exercises, this study aimed to compare the effect of aerobic and resistance trainings on angiostatinlevel of men with type 2 diabetes.
A total of 26 men with type 2 diabetes (mean age: 64.56±11.3 years, mean weight: 68.50±5.42 kg, mean height: 150±43.162 cm and 10- year history of diabetes) referred to Kerman Diabetes Center were purposefully selected and randomly divided into two groups of aerobic and resistance trainings. After being familiarized with the research protocol, subjects did resistance exercises based on a percentage of the maximal strength (1 RM) and the endurance exercise with the intensity of percentage of maximum consumed oxygen three sessions in week (40-60 minutes each session) and for 12 weeks. Blood samples before and 24 hours after the last training session were collected. For comparison within the groups, independent t- test and for comparison between groups, repeated measure two-way ANOVA were used.
Serum anigiostatin level and VEGFR showed no significant difference between the two groups (P=0.116, P=0.218 respectively), but groups showed significant increase in serum angiostatinlevel and VEGFR after the intervention (P The results showed that twelve weeks of resistance and aerobic exercises can improve of men with type 2 diabetes and increases their anigiostatin level but non significantly.

Retinopathy OF prematurity (ROP) is a developmental disorder of retinal vessels in premature neonates. In recent years, because of advances in the care of neonates hospitalized in equipped Intensive care units, retinopathy of prematurity has become a major cause of blindness in those who are survived. This study assessed the incidence and severity of retinopathy and related risk factors in premature infants in Bo-Alisina and Emam Khomeini Hospitals in Sari.
This was a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted for one year. All neonates hospitalized in NICU and neonatal wards of selected Hospitals with a gestational age less than 30 weeks or gestational age less than 34 weeks with unstable conditions were included for clinical and laboratory studies.
The incidence of ROP in 146 studied neonates was 16.4% (24 cases), of which 6 cases were of grade 1, 14 cases of grade 2 and four cases were grade 3. All four cases with grade 3 ROP were recovered with injection of intravitreal avastin or without medical therapy. Sixty six percent of patients with ROP, had a gestational age of less than 30 weeks and all of them had birth weights less than 2000grams. There was statistical correlation between the incidence of ROP and gestational age, birth weight, history of intubation, Intraventricular hemorrhage, PH The incidence of retinopathy of prematurity in Bo-Alisina and Emam Khomeini Hospitals in Sari was similar to other studies. The most important risk factors were low gestational age and birth weight. Considering the risk of the disease in premature infants, ROP screening is recommended not only for prematures under 30 weeks of gestational age but also in more mature ones who have any risk factor for ROP.

Amniotic membrane persists for a long time after ocular transplantation (as corneal substitute) and can affect light transmission (transparency). The aim of this study was to evaluate the transparency of amniotic membrane after freeze-drying (lyophilization) and to compare the results with transparency of rabbit cornea.
Transparency of rabbits’ corneas and fresh and lyophilized AMs from disk and peripheral (out of disk) regions of placenta were measured. The epithelial cells which have stem cell properties were removed with enzymatic digestion. The structure of amniotic membrane was evaluated using H&E, periodic acid-schiff and masson’s trichrome staining, and ultrastructural evaluation of surface was carried out using scanning electron microscope.
The transparency of lyophilized amniotic membrane was not different with that of fresh one. The light transmission of amniotic membrane from disk region was less than peripheral region. Removing of the epithelial layer improved the light transmission of the amniotic membrane up to the transparency of rabbit cornea. Scanning electron microscopy revealed that the epithelial cell remnants scatter the light after lyophilization.
Based on the results of this study, it is recommended to remove the epithelial layer of the amniotic membrane before lyophilization to increase its transparency amniotic membrane for corneal transplantation and ocular tissue engineering.

The topical anesthetic effects of diphenhydramine combined with ingredients such as aluminum and magnesium hydroxide have been used for many years in modern medicine. Due to the limited durability of anesthetic mouthwashes due to saliva secretion and the spreading use of herbal and natural medicines in pharmacotherapy, this study was designed to formulate diphenhydramine in the mucilage of quince seed and evaluate its in-vitro properties and clinical anesthetic effect.
This research was a descriptive laboratory and double-blind clinical study on 4 formulations. Diphenhydramine in quince seed mucilage, diphenhydramine and aluminum magnesium hydroxide combination, diphenhydramine solution, and diphenhydramine elixir and aluminum magnesium hydroxide combination were administered to 12 healthy male volunteers. The age range of the participants was 20 to 30 years. All subjects signed informed consent forms. Diphenhydramine release from the formulations was assessed through cellulosic membrane in Franz diffusion cell. The clinical evaluation of the formulations on healthy volunteers was conducted through prescribing mouthwash use for 2 minutes and controlling the duration its effect in 10, 20, and 30 minutes after administration using a questionnaire. Data analysis was performed using Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests.
The duration of effect of diphenhydramine in quince seed mucilage base was at least 3 times longer than diphenhydramine solution and aluminum Mg and the diphenhydramine elixir and aluminum Mg combination. Clinical evaluation showed that the diffusion coefficient of diphenhydramine in the quince seed mucilage base was significantly different from that of the diphenhydramine solution and diphenhydramine and aluminum Mg combination (P The results of in-vitro and clinical studies showed that diphenhydramine in mucilage of quince seed can sustain and control the release of diphenhydramine and can be administered instead of the diphenhydramine elixir and aluminum Mg combination.

Neisseria meningitidis is bacteria fastidious, and the main causes of meningitis and acute sepsis. Appropriate treatment depends on accurate and timely diagnosis. This study aimed to identify Neisseria meningitidis infection in samples of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in patients with suspected meningitis.
In this study, 198 samples of cerebrospinal fluid of patients with suspected bacterial meningitis were assessed using real-time polymerase chain reaction (real-time PCR) targeted with specific primers prepared from meningococcal ctrA gene with the length of 110 bp. In addition, the data of patients and analysis of cerebrospinal fluid were collected.
The mean age of the studied patients was 32.1 ± 25.3 year. Totally, the samples of 7 patients (3.5%) with the mean age of 44.0 ± 28.2 years were positive for meningococcal infectioun with the mean protein and glucose levels of 39.86 and 41.86 mg/dl, respectively. In positive cases, the mean number of white blood cells was 5009 with the mean polymorphonuclear (PMN) value was 76.5%.
In this study, most of the positive cases were middle-aged men with a higher incidence rate in the winter. It seems that the traditional methods of cultivation are not sensitive enough to detect this bacterium in cerebrospinal fluid. Alternatively, the molecular techniques such as real-time polymerase chain reaction seem to be accurate, sensitive and rapid for the detection of meningococcus in cerebrospinal fluid. The cytological and biochemical findings of cerebrospinal fluid can provide valuable clues in the diagnosis of bacterial meningitis.

Sexual satisfaction has been considered as one of the basic physiological needs, with significant impact on the health of individuals and society. In order to understand this concept better and dealing with crises and issues arising from it, the development of a specific questionnaire for measuring sexual satisfaction among Iranian couples is required. The present study aimed to assess the validity and reliability of the Persian Version of Index of Sexual Satisfaction in couples in 2013.
In this methodological study, 150 Iranian couples living in Qazvin completed the 25- item Larson's sexual satisfaction questionnaire. Reliability was determined by the calculation of Cronbach's alpha coefficient and intra-class correlation coefficients. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis was done by SPSS-AMOS22.
Cronbach's alpha values for all positives and negative items were above 0.70. By using exploratory principal components analysis, with Varimax orthogonal rotation and an eigenvalue cut-off of 1.0, three factors were produced that explained more than 42.73% of the data. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the final factor construct of Larson sexual Satisfaction questionnaire.
Persian version of Larson sexual Satisfaction questionnaire has suitable validity and reliability to be used among the Iranian couples. The factor analysis demonstrated that Larson sexual Satisfaction questionnaire has a multi-dimensional structure. With consideration of the proper psychometric characteristics, this questionnaire can be used to measure sexual satisfaction in this population.

Considering the important role of stress in intensifying gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) symptoms, the aim of the present study was to determine the effectiveness of stress management training in reducing symptoms in patients with GERD.
In the present semi-experimental study, a pre-test post-test design with control group was used. From among the patients who had refered to a gastroenterology specialist in Anzali, Iran, from January 2011 to July 2012 and were diagnosed with GERD, 38 women were selected based on the inclusion criteria. The subjects were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. After performing the pre-test using the Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease Symptom Assessment Scale (GSAS), 8 sessions of group stress management training were held for the experimental group along with applying routine medical treatments to both groups. At the end of the intervention, post-test was conducted on both groups. The obtained data were analyzed using one-way analysis of covariance, independent t-test, and paired t-test.
Stress management training reduced the dimensions of the frequency of each symptom (t = 0.01) and the discomfort or malaise associated with each symptom of the disease (P Group stress management training can be effective in controlling GERD symptoms. It is, therefore, suggested that it be used alongside pharmaceutical treatments.

Anxiety is an emotion-based disorder resulting from resiliency and it is expected that the ability of individuals to regulate their emotions can be a key factor in determining the amount of their resiliency. The present study aimed to examine the effects of training emotion regulation skills on the resiliency of patients with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).
Using multi-stage clustered random sampling method in this quasi-experimental study, participants were selected from three high schools and two first-grade classes in each high school, respectively. Following the completion of the Beck anxiety inventory (BAI) and clinical interviews, 30 individuals were selected and placed randomly in two groups of experimental and control. The experimental group exposed to 13-sessions Gratz and Gunderson’s emotion regulation skills training, but the control group received no training. Both the groups were responded to the items of the Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale before and after the intervention. The differences of the scores were calculated between pre- and post-intervention data and were analyzed using one-way ANOVA.
Training emotion regulation skills was effective on the resiliency of patients with generalized anxiety disorder.
It seems that training the emotion regulation skills can be implemented in clinical interventions to promote resiliency among the patients with generalized anxiety disorder?.

The production of ?-lactamase enzymes is the main mechanism of resistance to ?-lactam antibiotics in gram-negative bacilli. Therefore, it is important to identify the ?-lactamases-producing bacteria for the treatment of caused infections. This article aimed to review the recent literature and guidelines regarding phenotypic detection of ?-lactamases in common gram-negative bacilli in clinical samples.