Journal of Kerman University of Medical Sciences
Volume:27 Issue: 5, Sep-Oct 2020

Chondroitinase ABC (cABC), due to its loosening impact on the extracellular matrix scaffold, has been used to enhance regeneration of injured axonal tracts after spinal cord injury (SCI). However, cABC thermal instability at physiological temperature has limited its clinical application. The disaccharide trehalose has been shown to increase the stability of cABC in body temperature. Therefore, the present study was conducted to assess the effect of combined trehalose and cABC on inflammation, lipid peroxidation and histopathological changes following SCI.

Male Wistar rats were randomized into six groups (n=12) including sham, SCI, vehicle, trehalose, cABC and trehalose + cABC. In sham group, only laminectomy was performed. Other groups underwent laminectomy followed by contusion spinal cord injury. Twenty four hours after treatment, the level of IL-1β, Myeloperoxidase (MPO) and Malondialdehyde (MDA) were measured. Histopathological changes were also scored.

Spinal cord injury in rats resulted in severe trauma characterized by increase in inflammation, oxidative stress, neutrophils infiltration, hemorrhage, necrosis and edema. The levels of IL-1β, MDA and MPO were 260.3±16.4 nmol/mg protein, 1.2±0.06 mU/mg protein and 18.9±0.7 pg/mg protein, respectively in the vehicle group. However, combined treatment with cABC and trehalose reduced the amount of these factors significantly to 142.4±17 nmol/mg protein, 0.57±0.03 mU/mg protein and 13.8±0.4 pg/mg protein, respectively (P<0.05). In addition, treatment with cABC and trehalose improved histopathological alterations.

The present data suggest that coadministration of trehalose and cABC exhibits neuroprotection effect through reducing inflammation and tissue injury events associated with SCI.

Diabetes mellitus remains a primary chronic disease all around the world, including Indonesia. A poor lifestyle that includes smoking habits, stress, and lack of physical activities will increase the incidence of diabetes mellitus.This study aimed to explore the relationship of smoking habits, stress, and physical activity with diabetes mellitus incidence in Indonesia.

A total of 12,110 respondents from 13 provinces in Indonesia were interviewed and evaluated in a cross-sectional national-based population study in Indonesia. Multivariate binary logistic regression analysis was used to calculate the adjusted odds ratio value with a 95% confidence interval.

Of the 12,110 respondents, 9,154 (75.59%) were ³ 45 years old and 6,704 (55.36%) had low physical activity.  Exposure to cigarette smoke (AOR = 0.73, 95% CI = 0.57-0.94, p < 0.05) and high or vigorous physical activity (AOR = 0.81, 95% CI = 0.67-0.9, p <0.05) were significantly related to diabetes mellitus.

Smoking habits and physical activity were highly associated with diabetes mellitus but stress was not. Therefore, health promotion measures for improvement of life style and prevention of diabetes mellitus are needed and should be organized by primary health care system.

Meningitis is a common life threatening infection in neonatal period. Diagnostic value of CSF-CRP level in bacterial meningitis in children and adults has been studied worldwide, but there are limited studies on CSF-CRP in neonatal meningitis. This study conducted to assess any relation between CSF-CRP and plasma CRP levels and abnormal CSF findings in neonates suspected to meningitis.

Seventy five hospitalized neonates suspected to meningitis were enrolled in this cross sectional study. All infants were gone through a complete sepsis workup including blood and CSF CRP.

CSF-CRP level had statistically significant correlation with serum WBC (p= 0.048) and also poor correlation with CSF protein level (p= 0.054). Serum CRP level had statistically significant correlation with CSF WBC (p= 0.008).

No correlation found between CSF and serum CRP levels of patients in this study. Although, CSF-CRP is a rapid and easy to interpret test, it can be performed alongside CSF cytology and biochemical analysis, smear and culture as a confirmatory test for definite diagnosis of neonatal meningitis.

The spread of drug-resistant microbial strains has led many studies for identifying, designing, and synthesizing new antimicrobial agents.The aim of this study was to evaluate antimicrobial effects of some synthesized potassium dithiocarbazinate derivatives against 6 Gram-negative and 4 Gram-positive bacteria as well as 2 molds and 1 yeast. Potassium salts of dithiocarbazinic acids were prepared in good yields from the reaction of various hydrazides with carbon disulfide. Potassium hydroxide and diethyl ether were used as base and solvent, respectively.

Broth microdilution and streak plate methodswere applied according to the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guidelines to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC), and the minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) values.

Good to excellent inhibitory effects especially on fungi were observed with the tested compounds. Dithiocarbazinates 3b and 3f containing 4-nitrophenyl and 3-hydroxy-2-naphthyl substituents could effectively inhibit the growth of all tested bacterial strains. In addition, all synthesized derivatives were effective against fungal pathogens.

Based on the data obtained from antimicrobial susceptibility testing,designed derivatives are especially potent antifungal agents. Potassium 2-(3-hydroxy-2-naphthoyl) hydrazine-1-carbodithioate was introduced as a new wide-spectrum antimicrobial agent. Other biological activities of these water-soluble derivatives can be studied in living organisms.

The prevalence of diabetes mellitus is increasing worldwide and the relationship between peripheral vascular involvement and the complications of diabetes disease, such as retinopathy, has been reported in some studies but has not yet been fully proven. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between diabetes complications and peripheral and central vascular involvement.

A number of 150 patients with diabetes type II aged 30 to 70 years old were entered into this cross- sectional study. Ankle-brachial index (ABI), carotid intima media thickness and diabetes complications were investigated in them.

Abnormal ABI was more prevalent (79%) in Female patients. Furthermore, diabetes disease duration (P=0.005), systolic blood pressure (P=0.005) and retinopathy (P=0.003) were higher in females. Based on regression model, the highest relation of abnormal ABI incidence was observed with female gender (OR=2.4). Moreover, only blood pressure was among the abnormal ABI effective risk factors.

Female gender, duration of diabetes disease, systolic blood pressure and retinopathy incidence were among the effective factors in the incidence of abnormal ABI and abnormal ABI had a direct and reverse relationship with causing vascular diseases in diabetic type II patients.

Punica granatum var. pleniflora (PGP) has been used for thousands of years as an effective agent to treat various types of diseases. However, there are a few new evidences addressing its therapeutic effects and related mechanisms. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the cytotoxic, antioxidant, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory effects of ethanolic (ET), dichloromethane (DM), and ethyl acetate (EA) extracts of PGP.

ET, DM, and EA extracts of PGP were first prepared using maceration method. Total phenolic content (TPC) of PGP was then assessed by the Folin-Ciocalteu assay, and its antioxidant capacity was determined by DPPH and FRAP methods. Furthermore, in-vitro antibacterial activity of the PGP extracts was performed. The effect of PGP on the viability of J774A.1, HUVECs, HT29, and MCF-7 cell lines was evaluated by the MTT assay. The anti-inflammatory effect of PGP was assessed in the lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated J774A.1 cell line using qRT-PCR method.

EA extract contained the highest phenolic content (383.3 ± 9.1 mg gallic acid/g extract) and showed the highest antioxidant activity (IC50 = 36.5 ± 2.3 µg/mL). PGP at concentration of 15 µg/mL significantly decreased the expression of COX-2 (ET) and iNOS (ET and EA) in J774A.1 cell. Also, EA showed the highest antibacterial activity. Furthermore, the PGP extracts decreased the viability of all tested cell lines in a concentration-dependent manner. As indicated by IC50, EA demonstrated the lowest IC50 for all tested cell lines.

According to the results, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and cytotoxic effects of PGP might be driven by its phenolic compounds highly presented in the EA extract.

Hypertension with its related disorders is one of the most common health problems among the Iranian population. Hypertension can be developed by chronic stress and a positive association between stress and rs2596542 has been confirmed.
A Total number of 112 hypertensive patients and 97 healthy individuals were involved in the study. Total blood genomic-DNA was extracted and PASA (PCR amplification of specific alleles) method was used to amplify MICA-rs2596542 polymorphic site. Different genotypes were visualized. The normality of the data was assessed and the binary logistic regression was used for OR and 95%CI calculations.
A-risk allele of rs2596542 increased the risk of hypertension development significantly (OR=1.734, p=0.006). Females were significantly more potent to hypertension development than males (OR=2.015, p=0.013). Risk-allele homozygotes (AA) showed a higher risk of hypertension development than GG (OR=2.132, p=0.020) and AG individuals (OR=3.206, p=0.006). Age adjustments at 70 years old, further increased the risk of hypertension development in GG (OR=3.772, p=0.011) and AG (OR=6.531, p=0.009) individuals.
A-risk allele of rs2596542 could increase the risk of hypertension up to 3.2 folds and this risk could be upraised after sex and age adjustments.

Prediction of breast cancer risk and identifying women who are at high risk of breast cancer, would be a great help for planning and conducting screening programs. The aim of this study was to estimate the 5-year breast cancer risk among women in Isfahan.
This cross-sectional study was conducted on 9674 women aged 35-69 years who referred to the Breast Cancer Screening Centre at Omid Hospital in Isfahan from 2008 to 2016. Data were collected using a breast cancer risk assessment tool (Gail model). Any woman with Gail scores greater than 1.67% was considered as a high-risk woman for breast cancer. Using STATA 14, logistic regression was employed to determine the predictors of breast cancer risk at significance level of 5%.
The mean 5-year breast cancer risk (BRCA) for all women was 0.62 ± 0.39%, and 2.56% of women had 5 years breast cancer risk greater than or equal to 1.67%.  There was a relationship between the 5-year risk of breast cancer and age, age at menarche, age at first live birth, family history of breast cancer, and history of breast biopsy.
According to the results, the Gail model can predict the risk of breast cancer and may be employed as a breast cancer risk assessment tool in screening and prevention of breast cancer program.

Frozen shoulder (FS) or adhesive capsulitis is a common disease which causes pain, difficulty and restriction in the movement of the shoulder joint due to unclear complex etiology. The everyday tasks such as bathing, dressing and driving become difficult. It affects both men and women especially in their 40s and 60s. The duration of the disease varies from one patient to another and it may last for up to three years. The symptoms of the disease vary from simple to sever and complex depending on the stage of the disease and the symptoms may vary from patient to patient. Currently, there is no consensus on what the best approach or guidelines can be as the best solution for FS. Our review will discuss the pathogenesis of the disease, early diagnosis, treatment methods and the rehabilitation of the patients during the period of the disease.

Abstinence is one of the most important aspects of “ABC” approach to prevent the spread of HIV through changing sexual behavior. The purpose of this study was to review the studies conducted in the field of sexual abstinence education.  

We investigated the published experimental or quasi-experimental studies from 1998 to 2018 on the impact of sexual abstinence education in the Web of Sciences, PubMed, Scopus, Springer, PsycNET and Sience direct databases. Inclusion criteria were: Randomized Controlled Trials on adolescents receiving abstinence education programs in both English and Persian languages. The outcome measure was sexual behaviors. Of the 1195 articles, 10 papers were evaluated and analyzed by two researchers separately. The quality of the studies was evaluated by Critical Appraisal Skills Program and judged by Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool and divided into three levels of low, high and unclear risk of bias.

Seven of the ten included studies in this review reported positive results of abstinence education on sexual behaviors in adolescents.

Some evidence supports the efficacy of any particular abstinence education on different aspects of sexual behaviors in adolescents. But, unfortunately, there is no strong evidence in this area. Evaluations of sexual abstinence education using behavioral indicators and long-term follow-up are needed to truly assess its impacts.

Intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) is divided into two traumatic and non-traumatic categories. The present study sought to investigate the anatomical properties of non-traumatic intracranial hemorrhage in Kerman, Iran.

A total of 305 non-traumatic ICH cases were chosen in Shafa medical center. Data from patients’ files and CT scan images, including demographic factors and type of malformation, aneurysm size and shape, as well as the invovled location and artery were gathered and statistically analyzed.

Most cases were 40-60 years old. SAH, ICH and SAH+IVH were 69.5%, 14.4 and 8.5% respectively. From all, 65.2% had arteriovenous malformation and following furthure assessment, aneurysm with 148 cases (74.4%) was the most frequent and 57.4% of aneurysm cases were located in the right hemisphere. In 14.9% of cases, multiple aneurysms were observed.

According to the results of this study, non-traumatic intracranial hemorrhages caused by arteriovenous malformation were in the shape of an aneurysm; an increase in age may result in higher probability of aneurysm occurence.