Journal of Kerman University of Medical Sciences
Volume:27 Issue: 2, Mar-Apr 2020

The prevalence of multiple sclerosis (MS) is high in patients suffering from 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 [25(OH)D] deficiency. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible association of saliva and serum 25(OH)D concentrations with MS in women.

Serum and saliva 25(OH)D levels of 30 MS women and 30 matched healthy controls in this case-control study were measured by ELISA. Data were analyzed by unpaired two-tailed student’s t-test, Pearson correlation test and Receiver operating characteristic (ROC).

The mean levels of 25(OH)D in serum and in both stimulated and unstimulated saliva were significantly lower in patients with MS. Serum levels of 25(OH) significantly correlated with stimulated (r = 0.575; P=0.003) and unstimulated saliva (r = 0.548; P=0.004). The mean (±SD) EDSS was 3.6±1.9 in the MS group. EDSS was not significantly correlated with 25(OH)D in serum or in stimulated and unstimulated saliva. The cut-off points of 25(OH)D in serum and saliva were 18 ng/ml and 65 pg/ml, respectively.

25(OH)D level in saliva like in serum was low in MS women. Serum 25(OH)D levels correlated positively with saliva 25(OH)D in women suffering from MS.

Vascular dementia is one of the most common forms of dementia. At now, there is no treatment available to cure vascular dementia or to alter its clinical course. Some studies suggest that some drugs may be useful in controlling symptoms. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of donepezil, memantine, rivastigmine and galantamine on mean flow velocity and Mini-Mental State Examination of patients with vascular dementia in a three- month follow-up period.

This double-blind clinical trial was conducted on 44 patients with vascular dementia. Vascular dementia was diagnosed based on the DSM-V criteria. According to the order of entry into the study, the participants were treated with one of the selected drugs [donepezil (10 mg/d), memantine (10 mg/d), galantamine (8 mg/d) and rivastigmine (6 mg/d)]. The sampling finished whenever 11 patients in each group completed the three-month trial. The MMSE and color Doppler ultrasound was performed for all participants before and three months after the intervention.

According to the findings, there was no significant difference among the groups in the frequency of variables and the mean scores of Mini-Mental State Examination before the intervention, but the administration of memantine and donepezil significantly increased Mini-Mental State Examination score (P = 0.009 and P = 0.001 respectively). Moreover, rivastigmine, galantamin and donepezil significantly increased mean flow velocity in some arteries.

Memantine and donepazil improve cognitive function in patients with vascular dementia. Rivastigmine, galantamin and donepezil have some effects on cerebral blood flow.

Cancer is one of the major health problems worldwide and natural resources are being explored to develop anticancer drugs with fewer side effects. Iranian propolis contains components including flavonoids and polyphenols and has various medicinal properties. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of Ethanolic Extract of Sirch Propolis (EESP) on three breast cancer cell lines.

The MDA-MB-231, SKBR-3 and MCF-7 cells were treated for 24 and 48 h at the presence of 1% and 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS) concentration. MTT, BrdU and flow cytometry assays were used for measuring cytotoxicity, cell proliferation and apoptosis.

The highest cytotoxicity was seen on MDA-MB-231 cell at the presence of 1% and 10% FBS respectively following 48 h treatment. BrdU assay showed that treatment with 200 μg/ mL of EESP at the presence of 1% FBS for 48 h, reduced proliferation of MDA-MB-231 cell to 75% and that of MCF-7 and SKBR-3 cells to 70% and 60% respectively. Cell cycle analysis by flow cytometry showed that EESP at 200 μg/mL for 48h, induced G0/G1 phase arrest in MCF-7 and SKBR-3 cells and G2/M, S phase arrest in MDA-MB-231 cell. The cytotoxic effects of EESP were primarily found to be due to the induction of early stage apoptosis on SKBR-3 cell and early and late stage apoptosis on MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells.

The results demonstrated that EESP is a natural anticancer mixture capable of reducing breast cancer cells proliferation and inducing cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in them.

Colorectal cancer is a common cancer and has a high rate of mortality and morbidity. This can be reduced by screening tests. Some of the studies have recently referred to Red Cell Distribution Width (RDW) as a marker for early detection of various cancers. The aim of this study was to investigate the RDW and early detection of colorectal cancer and polyp.

A total of 90 patients were divided into three groups. One group included patients with colon cancer, another group with colon polyps, and the third group with normal colonoscopy as a control group. Blood samples were taken from patients and mean corpuscular volume (MCV), hemoglobin (HB), platelet (PLT), red blood cell distribution width (RDW), ferritin, serum iron, and total iron-binding capacity (TIBC) values were recorded. Transferrin saturation (Tsat) was also calculated. Statistical analysis was performed to remove the anemia effect of patients who had Tsat less than 20%, which was compared to patients who had Tsat over 20%. For the relationship between RDW and colon cancer, a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used.

The area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve (AUC) of the RDW for predicting colon cancer was 0.698, with cut off >14 which had 80% sensitivity and 60% specificity.

RDW can be considered as a parameter for predicting colorectal cancer.

Anthropometry is a branch of anatomy. One of the important parts of anthropometry is cephalometry, which is characterized by anatomical dimensions of the head area. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between brain volume, weight, and IQ in children.

This descriptive-analytical study was performed on 300 students. Conventional measuring instruments were used for anthropometric measurements. Body weight and skull dimensions were measured. Then, using the appropriate formulas, the volume and weight of the brain and the brain index were measured.

The Pearson correlation coefficient confirmed a weak correlation between the amounts of IQ and anthropometric dimension in female samples. The mean head circumference of males was 2 cm above the mean head circumference of females. Compared to the central index and the dispersion, anthropometric dimensions were significant between boys and girls. According to the analysis of neural network, the anthropometric dimensions of head height, brain weight, head width, and brain index in boys and anthropometric dimensions around the head volume of head width and head height in girls were the most important in relation to IQ.

The results of this study showed that there was a significant statistical difference between the central index and the distribution of anthropometric dimensions in boys and girls. Moreover, there was not a significant relationship between IQ and anthropometric dimensions of the body. In girls, there was a weak correlation between IQ and head width, head height, brain volume, and brain weight.

Vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA) plays a key role in angiogenesis during human placenta formation and its abnormal expressions have been reported in placental tissues of women with recurrent miscarriage (RM).

The aim of this study was to evaluate the correlation of polymorphism of VEGF1154 G/A gene in RM and In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) failures.

The peripheral blood samples of women with RM, IVF failures and healthy women with live born children, as control group were collected. DNA samples were isolated and VEGF 1154G/A polymorphism was evaluated by polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism. Single nucleotide polymorphism scanning was done using MnII restriction enzymes for 1154 G/A.

The findings of this study showed that the VEGF 1154 A/A and VEGF 1154 G/A mutation frequencies in both RM and IVF failure groups were significantly higher than those in the control group (p=0.005). The homozygous AA mutant genotype frequency in the control group was 0, While in the RM and IVF failure groups it was 30% and 13.9%, respectively (p=0.005). Moreover, the heterozygous AG genotype frequencies were higher in the RM (66.7%) and IVF failure (77.8%) compared to those in the control group (58.3%).

It was concluded that VEGF 1154 A/A and VEGF 1154 G/A polymorphisms were associated with both RM and IVF failures. However, their relation with IVF failures was more common than RM in A/G genotype, while in A/A, the RM was higher than IVF failure.

The goal of the present study was to investigate the prediction of severity of premenstrual syndrome based on traumatic life experiences and adaptive and maladaptive emotion regulation strategies.

this was a descriptive-correlati the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ) and the Traumatic Experiences Checklist (TEC) were used to gather data. Means standard deviations Pearson correlation coefficient and regression analysis were used to analyze the data.

The results indicated a significant relationship between premenstrual syndrome and maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies so that catastrophizing predicted 37% of the variance of premenstrual syndrome. In addition there was a significant relationship between premenstrual syndrome and traumatic events so that threat to life/bizarre punishment/intense pain as a traumatic event predicted 34% of the variance of premenstrual syndrome. However no significant association was found between premenstrual syndrome and adaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies.

The results suggest that emotion regulation-based interventions and trainings can be useful in helping female student

The purpose of this study was to investigate the rate of coding errors and its effect on the amount of correct reimbursement to patients.

This descriptive and cross-sectional study was performed in 2018. Research resources were records in compensation units in medical documents center of social security organization. A total of 546 records were reviewed of which, 118 records met the research criteria and were selected through census method. Instrument for data collection was a checklist composed of six parts. Data were collected by compensation unit coders.

In total, 118 records met the inclusion criteria. The highest rate of documentation error was related to unconfirmed errors with 106 items and a coefficient of 3845.44. The cost issued to patients based on tariff codes with a coefficient of 9696.4 was estimated as 3684632000 Rials, which only 2416154000 Rials was reimbursed to the patients with the coefficient of 6358.3.

Since coding of diagnostic measures had a high percentage of errors, and the recording of services was not accepted, some proper policies must be adopted to reduce procedure miscoding.

Heterotaxy syndrome or situs ambiguous is a rare congenital disease in which the pattern of anatomical organization of the thoraco-abdominal visceral and vascular structures is not arranged in normal position. Patients with heterotaxy syndrome represent a wide range of anatomical variations including thoraco-abdominal structures. Here we report a rare case of asymptomatic heterotaxy syndrome in an elderly female with multiple accessory spleens, stomach on right side of the abdomen, midline liver, azygos continuation of Inferior Vena Cava (IVC) and intestinal malrotation.

Recent researches have provided evidences of the importance of endothelin axis in carcinogenesis. According to our knowledge, no data exists about endothelin A receptor (ETA) expression in dysplastic oral mucosa (DOM). Therefore, the aim of the present study was to evaluate immunohistochemical expression of ETA in DOM.

In this cross-sectional study, paraffin-embedded tissue blocks of 20 cases of DOM and 20 cases of normal oral mucosa (NOM) were studied. Three-micron sections were prepared from tissue blocks and stained with ETA antibody using immunohistochemistry. Percentage of stained cells and staining intensity were compared between DOM and NOM groups and also between different grades of DOM using Mann-Whitney, Chi-Square and Kruskal-Wallis statistical tests.

In DOM group, 11 cases were stained positive for ETA and in NOM group 17 cases were not stained. Comparison of percentage of stained cells and staining intensity for ETA revealed significant difference between DOM and NOM groups (P=0.01 and 0.02, respectively). There were significant differences among different grades of DOM with respect to the percentage of stained cells (P=0.001) and staining intensity (P=0.02), so that higher grades showed greater expression for ETA.

Our results supported ETA receptor role in the initiation of carcinogenesis process in oral cavity.