فصلنامه علوم پزشکی دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی
سال سی و دوم شماره 1 (پیاپی 107، بهار 1401)

Worldwide epidemic had a specific role on human health and economic; Corona, for example, as a huge pandemic had an expand effect on human health, social relation, economic, politic and environment with severe respiratory disorder and high mortality rate in the world. Due to importance of SARS-Cov-2, the present paper deals with the route of transmission, their relation with sex, prevention and control. Research shows that sex-linked immunological differences as well as sex hormones are effective in responding to infectious diseases. Since COVID- 19 is a critical global treat, therefore, in this article, factors such as restricting populations, appropriate medicine, forestry, population growth control, global ban on wildlife trade and nutrition, which are important factors in the spread of this organism are discussed. Results illustrated that sex hormones and presence of ACE2 receptors in male are the most important factors for developing the disease. Hence, it is recommended that they take more responsibility for the use of masks, regular hand washing with disinfectants, reducing the use of cigarettes and alcohol, and using foods containing vitamins such as A, C, E, zinc, Selenium and omega-3s and reduced presence in populations can prevent virus transmission.

Nanomicrobial cellulose is an important biopolymer with a three-dimensional structure that is produced by some microorganisms and has been widely used in medicine. One of the unique properties of microbial cellulose is its very high water absorption, which can be used to produce modern wound dressings. But after drying, it’s three-dimensional structure collapses and the amount of water reabsorption decreases. Accordingly, the aim of this project was to preserve the three-dimensional structure of nanomicrobial cellulose by networking it and improving the water reabsorption properties of this biopolymer. In addition, the cell viability, proliferation, and cell growth of the modified structure and untreated microbial cellulose were also studied.

In this study, microbial cellulose was produced, purified, and neutralized using stationary culture. The samples were then treated with different concentrations of citric acid/sodium hypophosphite and crosslinked. Finally, the characteristics of treated and raw samples were studied by various tests including ATR-FTIR, MTT, SEM, water absorption and in vitro and in vitro tests.

According to the results, it was found that the cross-linking operation prevents the collapse of the structure and not only does not cause toxicity, but in addition to increasing water uptake, it also increases viability, adhesion, and cell proliferation in the modified cellulose.

Cross-linked nanomicrobial cellulose has high potential as a modern wound dressing.

Due to the importance of investigating nosocomial infections and drug resistance in bacteria causing these infections, the use of herbs can be very helpful in treatment. In the present study, the effect of silver nanoparticles obtained from portulaca oleracea extract on bacteria causing nosocomial infections and effective parameters in the synthesis of these nanoparticles were investigated.

First, an aqueous extract of portulaca oleracea was added to a 1 mM silver nitrate solution. The extract was used as a reducing and stabilizing agent for nanoparticles. The effect of effective parameters for the optimization of silver nanoparticles was evaluated by ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The antioxidant and antibacterial effect of the synthesized nanoparticles was determined by studying the activity of catalase, MIC, MBC, disk, and well method.

The results showed the effect of alkaline pH as well as silver salt concentration on the quality of synthesized nanoparticles. Also, the results of the antimicrobial test showed that gram-negative bacteria revealed significant sensitivity to synthetic nanoparticles and Staphylococcus aureus showed the highest resistance to nanoparticles. Antioxidant properties were also observed against gram-negative strains.

The results showed that silver nanoparticles synthesized with portulaca oleracea had antibacterial and antioxidant properties. Therefore, photosynthesis of nanoparticles can be a good option for the treatment of infectious diseases caused by gram-negative bacteria.

In this study, we aimed to evaluate the effects of GW9508 as an unsaturated fatty acid on inducing oxidative stress in HT-29 cancer cell line and non-cancer HUVEC cells.

The effects of GW9508 on cell viability were determined by performing MTT assay after 1, 3 and 5 days. The anti-oxidant superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase enzymes' assay was performed to evaluate the apoptosis. Moreover, inverted microscope and DAPI staining were applied to measure the changes in cell and nucleus morphology.

The IC50 dose of GW9508 was 500 µM in both cancer and normal cells. Results of enzymatic activity assay exhibited the increscent of activity of catalase and SOD in treated cells led to promoting apoptosis in cells. The amount of activities of SOD and catalase in HT-29 treated cells that were calculated 1.254 and 0.338 mU/mg respectively, which had a significant increase compared to activities of these two enzymes in control cells (0.85 and 0.206 mU/mg, respectively) (p≤0.05). There was also a significant increase in the activities of SOD and catalase in HUVEC treated cells (1.111 and 0.517 mU/mg) compared to the activities of the two enzymes in the control group, which were calculated 0.755 and 0.184 mU/mg, respectively.

GW9508 small molecule induces oxidative stress and ROS production in HT-29 and HUVEC cells, leading to cytotoxicity and thus promoting apoptotic cell death in cancer cells. However, these effects are contingent upon dose and the type of cell lineages.

Diabetes is one of the most common chronic metabolic diseases in the world that is caused by decreased insulin secretion or insulin resistance and fat accumulation in visceral adipose tissue (IR). Omentin is a protein inferred from adipose tissue that is associated with the rate of diabetes. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between rs2274907 polymorphism of amentine-1 gene with diabetes.

This case-control study was conducted on 70 patients with diabetes and 70 healthy individuals as control. FBS, TG, CHOL, HDL, and LDL were measured in the subjects and genotype determination was performed using PCR-RFLP.

Age, body mass index, LDL, cholesterol, triglyceride, fasting high sugar and insulin resistance were significantly different between patients and healthy individuals (p<0.05). No significant difference was observed in omentin level in diabetic compared to control patients (p>0.05). Omentin levels in different genotypes rs2274907 were different in healthy subjects, but the difference was not significant. Omentin levels in different genotypes rs2274907 were different in healthy subjects (p<0.05). Genotype regression analysis showed that genotypes in rs2274907 polymorphism were not related to diabetes (p>0.05).

This study revealed that there was no significant relationship between rs2274907 genotype and type 2 diabetes.

Mice are the most commonly used animal in reproductive research and following the urgent need for these type of studies and also due to the increased interest in the ethical principle of animal rights, four various inbred and outbred strains of the laboratory mouse were evaluated to select the more efficient one for reproductive research.

60 female and 16 male of strains (C57, CD1, NMRI, and Balb/c) weighing 25 to 30g and aged 6 to 8 weeks were evaluated under same conditions at different stages of mature oocyte collection, fertilization and in vitro embryo development up to the blastocyst stage. The data were analyzed using a chi-square test, and the selected significance level was p<0.05.

Among the four strains, the highest to lowest fetal survival rates were for the CD1, NMRI, Balb /C and C57 mice, respectively and  their values ​​were 38.9, 14.4, 9.1 and 3.1%, individually.

Considering the results, we conclude that it is not possible to obtain optimal results for some strains due to using same instructions. The results showed that the highest rate of fertilization and embryo development up to the 8-cell stage was observed in the outbred CD1 mice. It seems that this strain is more applicable than others for reproductive research. In addition, we believe that using different medium during fertilization and embryo development as well as laboratory conditions, probably assist in improving the embryo production while minimized the required number of animals and allowed the achievement of the desired result.

Today, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID -19) pandemic and its control are the global priority. Therefore, identifying the epidemiological and clinical patterns of this disease is critical. We aimed to evaluate the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of patients diagnosed with COVID -19 and its relationship with disease severity.

In this cross - sectional study, we recruited patients referred to Amir - a l -Momenin Hospital, Tehran, Iran, diagnosed with COVID -19 from February 20, 2020 to April 19, 2020. Data related to the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of COVID -19 admitted patients were collected through their hospital records and were analyzed using descriptive methods by ANOVA, Chi -square tests, multivariable logistic regression, and Tukey post hoc tests.

197 patients diagnosed with COVID -19, including 108 (54.8%) male and 89 (45.2%) female were studied. 44.9% of them were assessed as being severely ill. 65.5% of patients in the critical condition were ≥75 years old (P<0.001). Most patients with IHD, asthma, CKD dialysis, and congenital IHDs were in critical condition (P<0.05). Also, most patients with headache, impaired consciousness and restless on admission were in critical condition ( P<0.05). Each unit decrease in O 2 saturation, age range 15 -34 years, age range 35 -49 years, hyposmia, impaired consciousness, restless, and weakness, increase the disease severity by 32.4%, 22.6%, 27.8%, 1.7%, 26.8%, 19.6%, and 13.9%, resapectively .

The findings of this study suggests that older patients (> 75 years) and patients with some comorbidities were at increased risk of severe disease. O 2 saturation at the time of admission was also negative predictors of disease severity .

Chronic bipolar disorder (CBD) impairs cognition, leads to depression, and deteriorates patients’ quality of life. This study assessed the usefulness of RehaCom cognitive rehabilitation software on attention and working memory functions in patients with CBD.

This was a pre-test, post-test, quasi-experimental study. In this study, 50 patients with CBD at Mahan Rehabilitation Center, Tehran, Iran were selected using purposive sampling technique and were randomly divided into the control and intervention group. Both groups were pre-tested using Beck Depression Inventory, SDMT, PASAT, and n-BACK tests. The intervention group received 10 sessions (45 min each) of RehaCom software intervention. The participants in the control group were waiting-list controls. Data analyzed using descriptive statistics and multivariate analysis of covariance. Significance level was set at 0.05.

Cognitive rehabilitation by RehaCom software improved attention (F = 13.92, P = 0.006, h2 = 0.53) and working memory (F = 43.58, P = 0.002, h2 = 0.77) as compared to the control group.

The results showed that cognitive rehabilitation program by RehaCom software can be used to improve attention function and working memory in patients with chronic bipolar disorder. Therefore, in order to use the software to improve cognitive functions, it is suggested that more detailed studies be conducted on a larger number of these types of patients.

Children on dialysis need long-term care. The child's illness and the conditions associated with his/her treatment and care expose the mother to various psychological stresses. Resilience maintains good decision-making power and performance in stressful situations. The aim of this study was to investigate of resilience status among mothers of children on dialysis.

This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed on all mothers of children undergoing dialysis in Children's Medical Center, Mofid Hospital, Ali Asghar Hospital and Bahrami Hospital. A total of 166 eligible mothers were selected by census and completed a two-part questionnaire including demographic information and Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale. Data analysis was performed using SPSS software version 22 at a significance level of 0.05.

The mean of resilience was 3.35 out of 4 points and was at strong level. Also, the mean of dimensions of personal competence/strength, trust in personal instincts, tolerance of negative emotions, control and spirituality in individuals were 3.37, 3.17, 3.43, 3.45 and 3.33, respectively. The resilience of mothers of children undergoing hemodialysis was significantly higher than children under peritoneal dialysis (p=0.047). There was no significant association between maternal age, maternal education, maternal status of morbidity, child age, child gender, number of children in the family and duration of dialysis and mean maternal resilience.

The resilience situation was at a good level. Due to the importance of resilience, it is recommended to provide educational and empowerment interventions for parents of children with chronic diseases.

Because multiple sclerosis (MS) affects both the body and the mind, in addition to pharmacological and physiological interventions, psychological interventions should be considered in the treatment of these patients. The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of compassion-focused therapy on death anxiety and quality of life in women with multiple sclerosis.

This study was a semi-experimental with a pre-test, post-test control group design. This study consisted of all women with MS in Esfahan who were members of the MS Society in 2019. In total, 30 women were selected and randomly divided into two groups by a purposive sampling method. Members of the experimental group received their treatment in eight sessions of 1.5 hours; however, the control group did not receive any treatment. Data were analyzed using ANOVA with repeated measures.

In the pre-test, mean and standard deviation of death anxiety score and quality of life were not significantly different in the experimental and control groups (p>0.05). Compassion-focused therapy reduced patients' death anxiety post-test, and increased their quality of life (p<0.001). At the follow-up stage, the effect of this treatment was lasting (p<0.001).

Compassion-focused therapy can reduce death anxiety and thus better cope with the disease and increase the quality of life of women with MS.

Vitamin D deficiency is related to acute myocardial infarction (MI) directly and indirectly. Therefore, this study evaluated serum level of vitamin D in patients with acute MI.

This is a cross-sectional and descriptive study on 84 patients with acute MI in Amiralmomenin hospital since May 2018 to May 2019. The demographic information of patients including risk factors for MI as: age, gender, body mass index, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, cigarettes use or drugs abuse, history of cardiovascular diseases, inpatient time, and vitamin D status are gathered as questionnaires. The data was added to SPSS version 25, and the P-value of 0.05 was considered significant.

52.4% of patients were female. All the patients were 36 to 90 years old, and the mean (±standard deviation) age was 67.51±12.90 years old. 25% of the patients had vitamin D deficiency, 23.8% insufficiency, 11.9% severe deficiency, and 51.2% normal value. However, none of the risk factors were related to the vitamin D status significantly.

In this study, none of the risk factors were related to vitamin D status in MI patients, yet cohort studies with major samples are required because there are several studies confirm that vitamin D status has an important role in development of acute MI.