مجله طب جنوب
سال بیست و پنجم شماره 4 (مهر و آبان 1401)

Spirulina platensis (S. platensis) is a filamentous and photosynthetic microalgae that contains 25 kinds of vitamins and minerals and bioactive compounds such as flavonoids and polyphenols. The aim of this study was to evaluate the antioxidant and cytotoxic activities of ethanolic extract of S. platensis.

The polyphenolic content, flavonoid content and antioxidant activity of the ethanolic extract of S. platensis was evaluated by Folin-Ciocâlteu reagent, chloride aluminum method, and CUPRAC, respectively. The cytotoxicity of extract on HCT116 and SW742 colorectal cancer cells was determined using an MTT assay after 24, 48 and 72 h treatment with various concentrations of S. platensis extract (0-1000 μg/ml).

The ethanolic extract of S. platensis showed an antioxidant activity of 53/7±6/63 mg of Ascorbic acid/g dried sample and was characterized with a high level of polyphenolic and flavonoid content. A dose and time dependent decrease in the viability of HCT116 and SW742 cells was detected following exposure to the extract. After 72 h treatment, IC50 value of HCT116 and SW742 cell lines was obtained as 14/79±0/33 µg/ml and 13/26±1/52 µg/ml, respectively.

The results of the present study showed that the ethanolic extract of S. platensis decreases colorectal cancer cell viability significantly. Therefore, this extract can be a candidate for producing anticancer agents.

Brittle stars can produce well-known toxins responsible for various of their biological activities in addition to their physical defense. The purpose of this study was to identify secondary metabolites and assess the anticholinesterase activities of the crude venom of the Persian Gulf Ophiocoma erinaceous (brittle star) in vitro and in silico due to the abundance of this marine life on the Persian Gulf coasts and with knowledge of their numerous biological effects.

In this study, after the lyophilization of the brittle star sample, an LD50 test, a test of cholinesterase inhibitory activities, identification of the secondary metabolites, and their in-silico evaluations were performed by, respectively, Spearman-Karber, the Ellman spectroscopic method, Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS), and computational docking method.

According to the results, the LD50 value of the sample was 6.04±0.13 (mg/kg). The IC50 values related to their Acetylcholinesterase and  Butyrylcholinesterase were 37.925 ±0.055 and 5.388±0.02 (μg/ml), respectively, compared to the galantamine standard. The GC-MS analysis of the sample showed 25 bioactive chemical compositions with different structures, such as alkaloids, terpenes, and steroids. The computational results of the compounds also confirmed the experimental results. Among these, the alkaloidal compound BS4, had the highest affinity for both enzymes.

As for toxicity potency, the brittle star crude venom sample was classified in the highly toxic category. The GC analysis of the crude venom showed various bioactive secondary metabolites with different chemical structures. The experimental and computational results on the anticholinesterase activities of the sample showed that the venom acts as a significant inhibitor of both enzymes. Further studies are required to determine whether the compound BS4 could be a candidate for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.

Bladder cancer is the sixth most common cancer in men and the tenth most common cancer in women. The role of viral infections in the development of urinary bladder cancer has been discussed a lot in recent years. The role of Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) as a cocarcinogen has been proven in some human cancers. Therefore, the aim of this research is the molecular investigation of EBV in bladder masses in Bushehr province.

The current research is a descriptive-analytical study. The study population includes bladder tissue biopsies of people diagnosed with bladder cancer referred to Persian Gulf Martyrs Hospital in Bushehr. The paraffin-embedded bladder biopsy tissue of 181 patients with bladder cancer with an average age of 64.52±13.78 as well as 30 non-cancerous bladder tissue samples as the control group were examined for molecular tests after deparaffinization and nucleic acid purification. In order to ensure the absence of PCR inhibitors, human beta globin gene was first detected as an internal control, and then the BKRF1 gene of EBV was detected by nested PCR method. Finally, SPSS software version 26 was used to analyze the data and perform statistical tests.

Out of 181 bladder carcinoma samples, 7 cases (3.9%) were infected with EBV, but no statistically significant relationship was found for age, sex, and stage and grade of tumor with EBV positive samples (P>0.05). In addition, EBV was not detected in any of the non-cancerous control samples; however, the difference in the prevalence of EBV between the bladder cancer patients' group and the control group was not statistically significant (P=0.33). In addition, the sequencing of the nested PCR products of the BKRF1 gene and the phylogenetic analysis indicate the presence of EBV type 1 in the positive samples.

Based on the findings of the present study and despite the fact that the percentage of EBV infection in cancerous samples was higher than in non-cancerous samples, it is unlikely that EBV is an effective factor in causing bladder cancer in Bushehr province, and other risk factors are probably involved in the etiology of bladder tumors in our study population, such as increasing air pollution in this region of the country, high-risk occupations, smoking, and other carcinogenic viral factors.

Governments adopt different policies and strategies to control and reduce the mortality rate of COVID-19. In order to investigate the effect of the adopted policies on the reduction of mortality caused by this disease, the policies implemented by the Regional Headquarter for the Control of COVID-19 Epidemic in Hamedan Province were evaluated.

The required information was obtained from the Vice-Chancellor of Health of Hamadan University of Medical Sciences and the minutes of the meetings of the Headquarter for the Control of COVID-19 Epidemic in Hamadan Governorate. All the information obtained dates to the period from April to August 2021. A Bayesian network model was used in GeNIe software version 2.2 for the analysis of the information.

In this study, seven models were used to evaluate the impact of the adopted strategies. The first model included social distancing, including travel restriction and limiting gatherings, and the mortality rate was estimated to reach 4.72% by implementing the model. The second model includes observing personal hygiene, wearing masks, and vaccination, and the mortality rate was estimated to reach 4.92% by its implementation. The third model encompassed both travel restrictions and business closures, and the mortality rate reached 6.41% after its implementation. Models 4, 5, and 6, which are a combination of the first, second, and third models, have estimated the mortality rate to reach 1.95%, 2.77%, and 2.26%, respectively. In addition, model 7, which combines the above conditions, made the mortality rate reach 2.35%. In the present study, model 6 was selected as the most suitable model with five policies and RMES=0.03005.

According to the results obtained in this study, the simultaneous implementation of five policies, including travel restrictions, business closures, personal hygiene, wearing masks and vaccination, can greatly reduce the risk of mortality.

The present study aims to assess the impact of various image reconstruction methods in 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging on the quantification performance of the proposed technique for joint compensation of respiratory motion and partial volume effects (PVEs) in patients with non-small cell lung cancer. 

An image-based deconvolution technique was proposed, incorporating wavelet-based denoising within the Lucy-Richardson algorithm to jointly compensate for PVEs and respiratory motion. The method was evaluated using data from 15 patients with 60 non-small cell lung cancer. In these patients, the lesions were classified by size, location and Signal-to-Background Ratios (SBR). In each study, PET images were reconstructed using four different

OSEM with time- of-flight (TOF) information, OSEM with point spread function modelling (PSF), OSEM with both TOF and PSF (TOFPSF), and OSEM without PSF or TOF (OSEM). The Contrast to Noise Ratio (CNR), Coefficient of Variation (COV) and Standardized Uptake Values (SUV) were measured within the lesions and compared to images that were not processed using the joint-compensation technique. Furthermore, variabilities arising due to the choice of the reconstruction methods were assessed.

Processing the images using the proposed technique yielded significantly higher CNR and SUV, particularly in small spheres, for all the reconstruction methods and all the SBRs (P<0.05). Overall, the incorporation of wavelet-based denoising within the Lucy Richardson algorithm improved COV and CNR in all the cases (P<0.05.( In the patient data, the median values of the relative difference (%) of CNR for the compensated images in comparison to the uncompensated images were 40.9%, 41.2%, 45.3% and 40.8% for OSEM, PSF, TOF, and TOFPSF, respectively, in the small lesions (equivalent diameter <15 mm), 31.0%, 25.9%, 34.1% and 28.2% in the average-sized lesions (equivalent diameter<30 mm), 35.7%, 33.7%, 37.8% and 33.2% in the lesions in the lower lung lobes, 33.5%, 31.0%, 35.7% and 30.6% in the lesions in the upper lung lobes, 39.7%, 37.9%, 45.1% and 39.0% in the low-SBR lesions and 28.8%, 27.8%, 34.8% and 25.7% in the high-SBR lesions. Changes in motion amplitude, target size and SBRs in the patient data resulted in significant inter-method differences in the images reconstructed using different methods. Specifically, in a small target size, quantitative accuracy was highly dependent on the choice of the reconstruction method.

Our results showed that joint compensation, and incorporation of wavelet-based denoising, yielded improved quantification from PET images. Quantitative accuracy is greatly affected by SBR, lesion size, breathing motion amplitude, as well as the choice of the reconstruction protocols. Overall, the choice of reconstruction algorithm combined with compensation method needs to be determined carefully.

Ethnopharmacology is a very diverse approach to drug discovery that involves the observation, description, and experimental study of native drugs and their biological activities based on botany, chemistry, biochemistry, pharmacology, and other disciplines such as anthropology, archeology, history, and linguistics that helps discovering of natural products with biological activity. The aim of this study was to identify medicinal plants that have a traditional use in the north and west of Dashtestan county, Bushehr in the north of Persian Gulf.

The medical uses of medicinal plants were gathered from 25 local informants by face-to-face interviews. The relative frequency of citation (FRC) and cultural importance (CI) indices were calculated.

A total of 117 medicinal plants related to 63 families were identified in the north and west of Dashtestan region. Zataria multiflora, Cuminum cyminum, Aloe vera, Achillea eriophora DC, Matricario chamomilla, Echium amoenum, Trachyspermum copticum, Foeniculum vulgare, Plantago psyllium,
Fumaria parviflora and Nigella sativa had the highest cultural importance index. The highest medical uses were for gastrointestinal discomforts, infectious diseases, respiratory diseases, pediatric problems, kidney and urinary tract diseases, OB & Gyn problems, psychiatric and neurological diseases, dermatologic and the metabolic disorders, respectively. The native people used some of these medicinal plants for some diseases which these usages were unique for this region. For example, they used Achillea eriophora DC for ulcers, abscesses, and carbuncles, Matricario chamomilla for fever and abdominal discomfort, Echium amoenum for promotion of labor pain, Plantago psyllium for purulent infections, Fumaria parviflora for neonatal jaundice and Nigella sativa for musculoskeletal pains.

There is a vast variety of medicinal plants in the north and west of Dashtestan region. Although most of the therapeutic applications of these plants in this area are the same as Iran’s traditional medicine, the people in this region use some of these plants for some diseases which these usages are unique for this region. Thus, investigation about these plants should be initiated to discover novel drugs for clinical applications.

Thyroid cancer is the most common endocrine malignancy in the world; however, these patients usually experience a high survival rate if they receive appropriate and timely treatment. Meanwhile, patients classified as having differentiated thyroid cancer with high thyroglobulin and negative iodine scan [Differentiated thyroid cancer with thyroglobulin elevation and negative iodine scintigraphy (TENIS)] are always considered a diagnostic-therapeutic challenge.

We conducted a comprehensive literature search of published papers in the PubMed/MEDLINE database regarding nuclear imaging in differentiated thyroid cancer with thyroglobulin elevation and negative iodine scintigraphy. We included all human studies in this field.

In this review, we examined four major groups of imaging studies aimed at identifying GLUT, SSTR, PSMA and FAP receptors in patients with TENIS. The diagnostic rate of 2-[18F]FDG PET/CT in these patients has been reported as 63-81% based on various studies. Also, [68Ga]Ga-DOTATATE PET/CT, [68Ga]Ga-PSMA PET/CT and [68Ga]Ga-FAPI PET/CT scans have shown good results in these patients.

[68Ga]Ga-FAPI PET/CT imaging has the highest diagnostic rate among these patients. Given the theranostic capability of FAPI and the numerous complications and limited inclusion criteria for treatment with tyrosine kinase inhibitors, it has been the next step in the treatment of patients with TENIS. Therefore, more extensive studies in this field are warranted.