Zahedan Journal of Research in Medical Sciences
Volume:23 Issue: 4, Oct 2021

High-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) as an invaluable predictor is used to determine the risk of heart diseases and evaluate the effectiveness of lipid-lowering therapies.

In this study, we aimed to investigate the association between HDL cholesterol level and some cardiovascular risk factors in the patients referring to the Heart Clinic of Birjand, Iran, during 2016 - 2017.

In this cross-sectional study, 410 patients referring to the Heart Clinic of Birjand, Iran, during 2016 - 2017 were selected. Then using a questionnaire, complete demographic and biochemical data were collected and statistically analyzed for assessing the effects of some lifestyle factors such as the diet and physical activity on the serum level of HDL. Finally, all the results were analyzed by SPSS software (version 15).

In our study, the majority of dyslipidemic people had low levels of HDL (58.8%). Most of the participants were in a poor health condition according to BMI and physical activity, in a moderate health status in terms of smoking and cholesterol and fasting blood glucose (FBS) levels, and finally in the ideal health group in terms of the diet and blood pressure. The HDL level was significantly associated with physical activity, FBS, BMI, and blood pressure (P < 0.05).

Considering the association between persistent cardiovascular risk factors and HDL cholesterol level, encouraging people to adopt a healthy lifestyle can help prevent cardiac diseases.

The idiopathic peptic ulcers (IPU) or non-Helicobacter pylori, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug non-NSAIDs associated peptic ulcers are a serious therapeutic challenge. The prevalence of IPU is increasing in some parts of the world.

This study aimed to determine the prevalence of IPU in southeastern Iran.

In this cross-sectional study, a total of 367 patients with active peptic ulcer were diagnosed by endoscopy between Jan 2018 and Feb 2019. The patients were assessed for history of medication use (including NSAIDs) in the past month, smoking, alcohol, as well as a complete history of health problems related to underlying disease such as cardiopulmonary, hepatic, renal problems, and chronic pancreatitis. Biopsy samples from antrum were performed for rapid urease test (RUT), and if RUT was negative, then biopsies were sent for histopathology. If both RUT and pathologic findings were negative for H. pylori, in patients who had treatment for H. pylori eradication, anti-H. pylori IgG antibody of blood samples was assessed. Patients were considered infected with H. pylori if any of the diagnostic tests had a positive result.

According to the results, 336 (91.3%) cases had at least one of the two main etiologic factors (H. pylori and NSAIDs) for peptic ulcer. While 323 (87.7%) patients were H. pylori-positive, 45 (12.3%) patients were H. pylori-negative. However, out of 45 H. pylori-negative cases, 13 patients had a positive history of using NSAIDs, and 32 (8.69%) patients were IPU.

Our study showed that both H. pylori infection and NSAIDs use remain the main cause of peptic ulcers, and the prevalence of IPU is relatively high in Zahedan.

Since there has been no research on music therapy in a systematic way so far to develop motivation and hope in the course of treating individuals who are addicted to drugs, especially stimulant drugs whose use has increased in Iran, the present research was conducted to examine the effect of music therapy on the sense of loneliness and life expectancy in methamphetamine-addicted individuals who were attempting to quit.

The research is pretest, posttest, and test and control groups. The research sample includes 30 methamphetamine-addicted individuals who were quitting in a midterm residential center in Sowme'eh Sara who were selected by convenience sampling and allocated to two control (N = 15) and experiment (N = 15) groups randomly. UCLA sense of loneliness scale and Schneider statistical questionnaire (1991) were used for data collection.

Studies showed that music therapy could reduce the symptoms related to the sense of loneliness and increased life expectancy (P < 0.001).

It is concluded that mental health professionals can use group music therapy to improve sense of loneliness and life expectancy in methamphetamine-addicted individuals attempting to quit. Also, it is suggested that future research should investigate the effectiveness of group music therapy in improving other psychological constructs in addicted females and males who are attempting to quit.

Drug abuse and its destructive consequences are among challenging issues concerning students’ health.

The present study aimed to investigate the relationship of social adjustment and resilience with attitude towards drugs in boy and girl students of Lali City.

The study was a descriptive correlational study performed by path analysis. The study population included 1500 boy and girl high school students of Lali City in the academic year of 2017 - 2018, among whom 133 boys and 142 girls were selected through multistage stratified sampling and using Cochran’s formula. Research instruments included Bell’s Adjustment Inventory (BAI) for Students, the Connor-Davidson Resilience scale (CD-RISC), and the Drug Attitude scale (DAS). The collected data were analyzed using SPSS version 23.

The results revealed a significant negative relationship between social adjustment and girl students’ attitudes towards drugs (P < 0.001); however, there was no significant relationship between social adjustment and attitudes towards drugs in boy students. Meanwhile, there was no direct and significant relationship between resilience and attitudes towards drugs in boy and girl students. On the other hand, a significant positive relationship was observed between resilience and social adjustment in boys (P < 0.01) and girls (P < 0.05). The indirect impact of resilience on the students’ attitudes towards drugs, mediated by social adjustment, was not significant.

Resilience reduces stress, and as a result, students with more resilience seem to have better coping skills, higher social adjustment, and negative attitudes towards drugs.

Myonectin (CTRP15) is a newly discovered myokine with important metabolic functions. It was shown that circulating myonectin levels decreased in obesity.

The present study investigated the effect of 8 weeks of progressive resistance training (PRT) on serum myonectin levels in rats following a high-fat diet plus sucrose solution.

A total of 32 male Wistar rats were randomly divided into high-fat diet plus sucrose (HFDS) and standard diet (SD) groups. After 12 weeks, each group was divided into sedentary and training groups. The animals in training groups were subjected to a PRT program (3 days/week, for 8 weeks). Flexor hallucis longus (FHL) and gastrocnemius muscle weights, epididymal and retroperitoneal fat weights, serum glucose, insulin, myonectin, and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) were measured in this study.

The results of the study revealed that HFDS increased weight gain, fat weight, serum glucose, and HOMA-IR levels and decreased muscle weights and serum myonectin levels. Eight weeks of PRT increased serum myonectin levels and FHL and gastrocnemius muscle weights and decreased retroperitoneal fat weight.

The results suggest that PRT may be an efficient intervention to enhance serum myonectin levels, which is associated with the improvement of body composition.

Abnormal position and presentation are challenges for obstetricians in about 10% of all pregnancies.

The purpose of this study was to compare ultrasound with transvaginal finger examination in detecting abnormal position and presentation of fetal head.

This was a cross-sectional study performed in Ali ibn-e Abitaleb Hospital of Zahedan in 2018. The women underwent vaginal finger examination in the first phase of delivery, and then trans-abdominal ultrasound was performed for pregnant women. All examinations and ultrasounds were performed by one person with the same ultrasound device. Data were analyzed with SPSS software.

In this study, 100 pregnant women were studied in the first phase of pregnancy. The mean age of the subjects was 24.7 ± 5.5 years old. Fetal head position was determined in 81 and 93% of women with vaginal examination and ultrasound, respectively. There was weak agreement (kappa = 0.416). Fetal presentation was determined by finger examination in 93% of cases and by ultrasound in 100% of cases. There was moderate agreement (kappa = 0.783).

In general, the results of this study showed that there was no significant difference between ultrasound and finger examination in the presentation and position of fetal head.

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a clustering of complications that are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases. Numerous studies have reported a positive effect of exercise on lipid profile and liver enzymes.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of eight weeks of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) with sodium alginate supplementation (S) on the levels of liver enzymes and lipid profile in men with MetS.

This is a semi-experimental study. Forty young men with MetS volunteered and were randomly divided into five groups: HIIT+S (n = 8), HIIT (n = 8), MICT+S (n = 8), MICT (n = 8) and control (C; n = 8). Blood samples were collected after 12 hours of fasting, 48 hours before the first, and after the last training session to measure liver enzymes and lipid profile. ANOVA, t-test, and Tukey's post hoc test were employed for data analysis using SPSS version 21.

The results showed that after eight weeks of intervention, significant improvements were observed in lipid profile and liver enzymes in the four experimental groups. These improvements were more significant in the HIIT+S than in other groups (P < 0.05). Also, the MetS Z score decreased significantly in all experimental groups, and this decrease was significantly higher in the HIIT + S than other groups (P < 0.05).

Generally, the results showed that HIIT and MICT led to an overall improvement in men with MetS. However, combining sodium alginate supplementation triggers these improvements.

The reaction of immune cells to the introduction of pathogens into the body is an increase in reactive oxygen species, which leads to the induction of oxidative stress. Reducing the level of oxidative stress through the use of antioxidants strengthens the immune system.

This study aimed to investigate the antioxidant effects of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and selenium-enriched S. cerevisiae against the oxidative stress induced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa in rats.

A total of 36 rats were randomly divided into six groups, including control (A), S. cerevisiae (B), S. cerevisiae enriched with selenium (C), P. aeruginosa infection treated with S. cerevisiae (D), P. aeruginosa infection treated with S. cerevisiae enriched with selenium (E), and P. aeruginosa infection (F). At the end of the treatment period, the blood samples were collected to evaluate hematological parameters, total antioxidant capacity, glutathione concentration, and glutathione peroxidase activity.

The concentration and activity of antioxidant agents in group F were significantly decreased compared to those of the control group; however, in groups D and E, the levels of the aforementioned factors showed a significant increase compared to those of the infected group. The number of white blood cells in group F showed a significant increase, compared to that of the control group. In other groups, the observed differences in antioxidant factors and blood parameters were not significant, compared to those reported for the control group.

The results showed that the induction of oxidative stress by P. aeruginosa was partially reduced by treatment with yeast and selenium-enriched yeast. Further studies are essential to confirm the aforementioned results.

During the past two decades, multiple viral epidemics have emerged, including the epidemics of H1N1 influenza in 2009 and the Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (SARS-CoV) in 2002 - 2003. Moreover, the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) was initially recognized in Saudi Arabia in 2012. Recently, cases of another lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) were discovered in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, on December 31st 2019, and reported to the WHO country office in the country. Studies in the field have referred to the identification of first symptomatic people in early December 2019. Since experts in the field could not determine the causative agent of the disease, they mistakenly categorized the first reported cases as pneumonia of unknown etiology (PUE). Therefore, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC), as well as local CDCs, arranged a full outbreak investigation plan, ascribing the etiology to a newly discovered virus of the coronavirus (CoV) family (i.e., the causative agent of COVID-19).