Current Research in Medical Sciences
Volume:6 Issue: 1, Spring-Summer 2022

 The aim of this study was to compare refractive error, uncorrected and corrected distance visual acuity (UDVA and CDVA) changes in patients with different types of cancer before and after completing the course of systemic chemotherapy

 Sixty-four right eyes of 64 consecutive patients with cancer were evaluated prospectively to compare the changes of UDVA and CDVA using standard Snellen chart and refractive errors using objective refraction before and after chemotherapy process.

 The mean age of patients was 52.7± 12.9 (range, 27-80) years [28(43.8%) males, and 36 (56.3%) females]. The most changes in refractive error were found in hyperopic patients in the component of “spherical equivalent” (0.69±1.34) and “spherical” (0.61±2.37) refractive error after the first course of chemotherapy. However, the other changes in deferent refractive error groups were under -0.25 diopter. Although the spherical refractive error in all patients’ groups decreased, these reductions were not statistically significant (P>0.05). On the other hand, in all patients’ groups, the amount of cylindrical refractive error was increased, but these changes were not statistically significant (P>0.05). Although the UDVA in different refractive error groups had insignificant changes after completing the course of chemotherapy, these changes were not statistically significant(P>0.05). In addition, the CDVA in different refractive error groups remained relatively stable following the chemotherapy process (P>0.05).

 The refractive error, UCVA and CDVA after completing the course of systemic chemotherapy remained relatively unchanged. This study revealed that in patients with cancer, the refractive error and vision are not influenced by chemotherapy medication.

Variant Omicron was discovered as a newest severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first emergence of the omicron variant was detected in November 2021. In this study, we investigated the clinical manifestation, laboratory and radiological findings and responding to treatment of 70 pediatric patients with positive RT- PCR COVID-19 in Omicron peak. We described 20 criteria associated with efficacy, such as demographic data, clinical manifestation, laboratory and radiological findings. All of the patients received Remdesivir that 5.7% of patients responded to the treatment.  No patients were given Intravenous Immunoglobulin (IVIG). This is the first study aimed at assessing symptoms clinical manifestation among hospitalization pediatrics patients in pediatric Hospital of Amir kola, Babol. The findings of this study can be effective in preventing and controlling disease transmission among children.

Autoimmune diseases (AIDs) are characterized by tissue destruction or organ dysfunction by the body’s own immune system. The anti-nuclear antibodies (ANA) test is a helpful test for diagnosing and classifying ANA-associated rheumatic diseases (AARDs). This study aimed to evaluate the frequency and profile of autoantibodies among patients suffering from systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and Sjogren's syndrome (SS).

This cross-sectional study was performed on patients who referred to the Rheumatology Clinic of Birjand University of Medical Sciences. Demographic data and information about risk factors were collected by a questionnaire. In confirmed cases, the presence of autoantibodies was detected by Fluorescent method (FANA). In all positive patients, ANA profiles were identified.

Totally, 138 patients were included in this study. Prevalence of the three main diseases including SLE, RA, and SS was 45.5%, 39.0%, and 15.4%, respectively and being overweight was the most common risk factor. The rate of positive FANA test was 71.4%, 43.8%, and 78.9% in SLE, RA, and SS, respectively. In the case of autoantibodies, Ro-52 autoantibody had the highest prevalence. The most common co-incidence of autoantibodies was for DFS70 with PM-Scl100.

The results of this study showed that the mean titers of ANAs were higher in SS patients. The Ro-52 autoantibody was the most commonly detected autoantibody. There was no specific profile of autoantibodies for none of the studied diseases. Further studies are needed to evaluate the correlation between the presence of particular autoantibodies with the prognosis of the patients.

Today, cancer remains a worldwide and severe public health challenge. Cancer is one of the reasons of disease and mortality global; chiefly owing to problems in treatment-associated, recurrence rates, metastasis and late diagnosis. In latest years, with the development of nano-materials, the investigation of drug delivery systems has become a novel field of cancer therapy. Local drug delivery systems are hopeful apparatuses in modern medicine because they can promise the release of drugs with the kinetics necessary; via specific applications and a reduction in unwanted side effects. Drug delivery systems are typically composed of delivery carriers, antitumor drugs, and even target molecules. Over the years, a wide variation of polymeric nano-mats has been explored as implantable single drug delivery systems. Gelatin is a natural polymer with highly biocompatibility and non-toxicity that is manufactured via thermal denaturalization of collagen, which is available in animal skin and bones in the presence of dilute acids. On the other hand, electrospinning is a widely considered method for the progress of drug-delivery nano-mats. 3-D Gelatin electrospun nanofibers (with great porosity and small pore size) can be applied to deliver anti-cancer drugs (like Doxorubicin, Tamoxifen and Curcumin) in cancer therapy. This mini review presents the gelatin nanofibrous anti-cancer drug delivery carriers for clinical application of cancer nanomedicine in the future.

Some evidence suggested that Toxoplasma gondii, an obligate intracellular protozoan parasite, might have an inhibitory effect on cancers development.

We performed a matched case-control study of incident breast cancer (BC) cases versus healthy control subjects to evaluate the association between Toxoplasma infection and BC. We enrolled 161 newly diagnosed cases and 91 healthy controls, and anti-Toxoplasma serum antibodies were examined using ELISA kits. Chi-squared test was used to calculate the odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).

Only one BC patient was seropositive for IgM while all healthy controls were seronegative. Moreover, the prevalence of anti-Toxoplasma IgG serum antibodies in the case and control groups was 70.8% (95% CI, 63.1–77.7%; 114/161) and 95.6% (95% CI, 89.1–98.7%; 87/91), respectively, indicating a significant protective association (OR, 0.11; 95% CI, 0.03–0.35%) for Toxoplasma infection in relation to BC development.

Latent Toxoplasma infection might have a protective role against the development of BC. More studies are needed to confirm our findings.

Life expectancy and the consequences of its impairment may affect quality of life and suicide. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of COVID-19 on life expectancy in residents of Gonabad city.

This cross-sectional study was conducted on 300 Gonabad residents (general population) from February 2021 to April 2022 using stratified-random sampling method. Data collection was performed through phone interview. Demographic questionnaire and Schneider's life expectancy scale were used. Data analysis was performed using the SPSS software version 23.

Of the 300 participants (53% female and 47% male), 153 were COVID-19 recovered and 147 did not have the history of COVID-19. The average life expectancy score in COVID-19 recovered participants was significantly lower compared to those without the history of COVID-19 (29.17 ± 5.96 and 31.94±4.34, respectively, p=0.001). Also, there was a significant and positive relationship between mean scores of life expectancy and age, gender, education, economic status, the presence of high-risk individuals at home, history of underlying diseases, and smoking (p<0.05).

The results of this study stated that life expectancy score in COVID-19 recovered participants was a lower than that of participants without COVID-19 history. Therefore, the role of other variables, including age, gender, and disease history on life expectancy was more prominent on life expectancy in COVID-19 recovered participants.

At the beginning of the pandemic, Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) was one of the most widely used drugs prescribed to patients admitted to hospitals with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We try to find the effect of HCQ on the severity and mortality of patients who did not receive corticosteroids.

In this retrospective study, patients with COVID-19 disease were collected from February 20, 2020, to July 21, 2020, at Rouhani Hospital in Babol. Patients were followed up until December 6, 2021. In this study, 170 patients in case and control groups were studied. We used logistic and COX regression models to explore the effects of drugs. Data were analyzed by SPSS version 22.

The use of HCQ did not affect mortality (p=0. 46, 95%CI= 0.63 to 2.71, OR= 1.31) and final severity (p= 0.75, 95%CI= 0.59 to 2.06, OR= 1.10) at admission time. However, azithromycin remained in the final model but did not have a significant effect (P= 0.08, HR= 0.28, 95%CI= 0.06 to 0.18). Heparin use was not associated with severity improvement (p= 0.06, 95%CI= 0.97 to 2.81, HR= 1.65), while ceftriaxone remained a factor affecting severity in the model (p = 0.03, 95% CI= 0.29 to 0.95, HR = 0.52).

In this study, HCQ harmed mortality admission time and was ineffective in the long term. The use of ceftriaxone compared to other drugs showed protective effects against the mortality hospitalization time. Heparin is not recommended without considering the risk of bleeding in COVID-19 patients.