مجله دانشکده پزشکی اصفهان
پیاپی 541 (هفته اول آبان 1398)

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of chamomile cream on the improvement of grade I pressure ulcer in order to find an effective and inexpensive treatment.

In this randomized clinical trial study, 70 patients with grade I pressure ulcer were randomly divided into two groups. In intervention group, chamomile cream was administered topically on the wound for one week, and in the control group, common preventive methods were presented. Then, the condition of wound healing was evaluated for all patients using the Pressure Ulcer Scale for Healing (PUSH) instrument, at the first, fourth, and seventh days of the study.

There was no significant difference in the mean scores of pressure ulcer between the two groups at the first day of the study (P > 0.050). At the fourth and seventh days of the study, the mean scores of pressure ulcer were significantly lower in intervention group (P < 0.001). Before intervention, the mean score of pressure ulcer in intervention group was 6.44 ± 2.25 which reduced to 1.33 ± 1.12 at the seventh day. In control group, the first assessment of the PUSH score was 5.86 ± 1.93 which increased to 8.14 ± 2.40 at the seventh day.

Chamomile cream seems to be effective in the treatment of grade I pressure ulcer. This combination is likely to be used as a treatment option in addition to standard treatment, and will be effective in the treatment of grade I pressure ulcer in the short term. However, due to the fact that this study was conducted on grade I pressure ulcer, more studies are suggested be done to investigate the effect of chamomile on the recovery of grade II pressure ulcer.

Given the high prevalence of depression in the elderly, as well as the importance of health-related lifestyle in the prevention of aging, this study was designed to compare the health-promoting lifestyle in elderly with depression and healthy elderly.

This was a cross-sectional study on 200 elderly over 60 years of age referred to health care centers in Isfahan City, Iran, during the year 2018. Demographic information, health-promoting lifestyle (Walker and Hill-Polerecky questionnaire), and depression [Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) short form] were recorded and analyzed.

The prevalence of depression among 200 elderly was 59.1%, and the initial analysis showed a significant relationship between marital status, education, and all aspects of health-promotion lifestyle (nutrition, exercise, responsibility for health, stress management, interpersonal support, and self-healing) and depression. However, after adjusting for all factors in multivariate regression analysis, there was significant independent and inverse relationship between the dimensions of stress management [odds ratio (OR) = 0.76; confidence interval (CI): 0.99-0.58) and responsibility (OR = 0.75; CI: 0.90-0.62) and depression in the elderly.

Onwards of health-promoting lifestyle, stress management, and health responsibility in elderly with depression is poorer than healthy ones.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a common disease of the central nervous system, and the incidence of this disease in women is twice that of men. Considering the importance of miRNA polymorphisms in the expression and function of mRNAs as well as the risk of disease, this study investigated the association of rs6977848 polymorphism (a genetic variant in 19-nucleotide downstream of miR-148a coding gene) with the risk of MS disease in Isfahan City population in Iran, for the first time.

In this case-control study, a population of 95 healthy individuals and 99 patients were assayed. The genotype of the individuals for the polymorphism was determined using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). To confirm the results, a number of samples were sequenced. Then, the frequency of genotypes and alleles were evaluated.

Considering the total dominance of T allele, the total TT and TG genotypes significantly increased the susceptibility to MS disease compared with the GG reference genotype [odds ratio (OR) = 2.27, P = 0.043); while considering the genotype GG as reference genotype, there was a significant difference between the TG and the reference genotypes in this population with a risk of disease (P < 0.050). However, no significant difference was observed between genotype TT and GG genotype as reference genotype.

Findings indicate that rs6977848 polymorphism in miR-148a coding gene downstream may be effective in influencing the performance of this miRNA as well as its expression level. Moreover, the incidence of the ability of individuals to affect this disease is not significantly related to the incidence of disease in the studied populations.

Drug-delivery systems have exhibited many advantages over intravenous or oral drug administration, especially for cancer treatment. Therefore, biodegradable implants have received lots of attention for controlled delivery and release of anticancer drugs.

In the present study, chitosan-based nanoparticles (CsNPs) were prepared using ionic gelation method, and were used as carrier for loading doxorubicin (DOX). CsNPs were characterized before and after the drug loading by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and zeta potential.

The in-vitro assessments showed that drug release profile of CsNPs/DOX exhibited an appropriate release rate that could be more effective against the cancer cells; as the controlled release of drug in a dedicated period (0-120 hours), could tend to more effectiveness in fighting cancer cells.

Based on the results of this research, the CsNPs/DOX system can be an appropriate choice for replacement of multiple-doses injections of doxorubicin for breast cancer treatment.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a common autoimmune disease, and if not diagnosed and treated in a timely manner, can lead to irreversible complications such as lupus nephritis. Thus, the early detection of the disease is very important. On the other hand, some studies have shown that there is a relationship between the serum levels of anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) and the activity of lupus disease. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between antibody titer with severity and activity level of SLE.

In a cross-sectional study, 70 women in age range of 18-35 years old with SLE who referred to rheumatology clinic of Alzahra hospital, Isfahan, Iran, were selected. Lupus activity was determined using SLE Disease Activity Index-2000 (SLEDAI-2k) score, and serum level of AMH was measured; and the relationship between SLE activity and serum level of AMH was evaluated.

Mean serum level of AMH was 1.49 ± 1.58 ng/ml, ranging from 0.20 to 7.36; and thus, 11 patients (15.7%) had low levels of the hormone. Moreover, there was a statistically significant inverse correlation between disease activity scores and serum levels of AMH, as much as 0.46 (P < 0.001).

The results of our study showed a relation between lupus activity and serum AMH. Especially, among the patients under treatment with corticosteroids and cyclophosphamide pulse therapy, there were lower levels of AMH; and this might lead to ovarian reserve loss and fertility problems in women of childbearing age