Journal of Studies in Medical Sciences
Volume:35 Issue: 6, 2024

The present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the changes in chest CT scans of COVID-19 patients 3-6 months after discharge.

The current study is a descriptive-analytical one that was conducted in a cross-sectional manner. Samples from patients with COVID-19 were randomly selected, and the necessary information was extracted from the patients' files. Then, the findings of CT scans were reviewed upon admission and 3-6 months after discharge. The data was analyzed using SPSS 23 software.

101 patients were investigated, with 60 of them being women and 41 being men. The samples were aged from 20 to 89 years, with an average age of 10.55 ± 14.347. In the CT scans, 65 had GGO appearance, 12 had Consolidation, 3 had Fibrosis, 2 had Crazy Paving, and 2 had Interstitial Thickening. In the CT scans 3-6 months after discharge, 33 had GGO views, 20 had Consolidation, 17 had Fibrosis, 3 had Crazy Paving, and 9 had Interstitial Thickening.

The findings showed that GGO and Consolidation were more prevalent than other findings, while these findings were reduced in the follow-up CT scans of the patients. Fibrosis and Interstitial Thickening were also increased in the CT scans 3-6 months after discharge compared to the first CT scans, and the GGO view was significantly reduced in people with underlying disease in the follow-up CT scans. Fibrosis and Interstitial Thickening were significantly increased in patients with underlying disease in the follow-up CT scans. Interstitial Thickening was also more common in men than women in the follow-up CT scans. Crazy Paving and Fibrosis were more prevalent in older age groups. Consolidation was also higher in patients with diabetes and hypertension in the second CT scans. Additionally, fibrosis was more prevalent in patients with high blood pressure. The appearance of Interstitial Thickening was significantly higher in diabetic patients.

The injuries of hollow organs are less known than the injuries of solid organs and delay in their diagnosis can increase mortality and complications in patients. The diagnostic value of CT scan in hollow organ damage has been less investigated. Therefore, the present study was conducted with the aim of determining the diagnostic value of abdominal and pelvic CT scan with intravenous contrast in the diagnosis of hollow viscera damage in blunt trauma patients.

In this cross-sectional study, 90 blunt trauma patients were included in the study. Clinical data of patients with blunt abdominal trauma who underwent CT scan and laparotomy were collected. The diagnostic value of CT scan compared to the results of laparotomy as a gold standard was analyzed by calculating sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value and accuracy.

69 patients (76.7%) were male and 21 patients (23.3%) were female. The mean age of the patients was 29.82 ± 17.51 years. Based on laparotomy, there was no injury in 60% of patients (54 patients) and in 36 patients (40%) damage to hollow organs was diagnosed. In general, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy of CT scan were 22.2%, 100%, 100%, 65.8% and 68.9%, respectively. The sensitivity of CT scan was 12% for bowel damage and 62.5% for bladder damage. The sensitivity of CT scan for intra-abdominal/pelvic fluid (31.25%) was the highest and the specificity and positive predictive value for other CT scan findings were similar (100%).

While the sensitivity of CT scan in detecting hollow viscera injuries is low, its specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and accuracy are high and acceptable. Therefore, CT scan can be used as a complementary tool along with other diagnostic methods to diagnose hollow organ injuries in blunt trauma patients.

Eye plaque brachytherapy is a suitable method for choroidal melanoma treatment. In eye tumors brachytherapy, 131Cs radioisotope has the potential to reach the highest dose to the cancerous tissue and the lowest dose to the healthy tissues. This study's aim is to investigate the received dose of choroidal melanoma tumor and right and left eye tissues in eye and water phantoms from a COMS plaque containing 131Cs seeds by simulation in MCNPX code.

First, two human eyes with full details, an 8-mm-high choroidal melanoma tumor in the right eye, and a 16-mm COMS eye plaque with 13 seeds of 131Cs that is perpendicular to the tumor were simulated in MCNPX code in an environment with dimensions of 30×30×30 cm3. Then, the absorbed dose resulting from one decay in the tumor and other tissues of the right and left eye were simulated in the eye and water phantoms, and based on that, the cumulative dose during the treatment in these tissues was calculated.

To deliver a cumulative dose of 85 Gy to the top of the tumor in 7 days, the activity of the 13 seeds of ¹³¹Cs for the eye and water phantoms should be equal to 21.86 and 23.32 mCi, respectively. In the water phantom, this activity results in the absorption of a 17.36 and 1.44 Gy cumulative dose more than in the eye phantom, in the tissues of the right and left eyes, respectively.

In this study, the cumulative dose of healthy tissues around the tumor in the eye phantom is lower than that in the water phantom, which is in agreement with the results of other studies. Therefore, by calculating the activity or treatment time using a phantom that is defined based on the actual dimensions of the patient's eye and the tumor inside it, it is possible to prevent more irradiation of the healthy tissues adjacent to the tumor, which also leads to the reduction of stochastic and nonstochastic effects.

Multidrug resistance is a major challenge in cancer treatment. This study investigated the role and potential mechanisms of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors gamma (PPARγ) in 5-FU-resistant colon cancer cells (SW480/5-FU).

SW480 and SW480/5-FU cells (2x10⁴ cells/well) were treated with different concentrations of 5-FU (0.01-100 μM) and fenofibrate (1-25 μM) for 24, 48, and 72 hours. Cell viability was evaluated by the MTT test. The accumulation of Rh123 (5 μM) was measured during 120-30 minutes to investigate the activity of P-gp and MRP-1. Gene expression and protein expression were evaluated by RT-PCR and western blot.

Fenofibrate (10 μM) increased the cytotoxicity of 5-FU significantly (P<0.05) and decreased the IC50 from 30 μM to 10 μM. Fenofibrate decreased the expression and activity of P-gp in SW480/5-FU cells by 40% (P<0.01) and increased the intracellular accumulation of 5-FU by 2.5 times. PTEN expression increased 3-fold after fenofibrate treatment in a PPARγ-dependent manner (P<0.001).

Fenofibrate reverses multidrug resistance in colorectal cancer cells by increasing PTEN expression and inhibiting PI3K/Akt pathway. This study suggests targeting PPARγ as an effective approach to overcome multidrug resistance in cancer chemotherapy.

Angiogenesis is the biological process of sprouting new vessels from existing vessels in the tissue. The main factors in the molecular guidance of this process are vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGF) and fibroblast growth factor (FGF). Considering the importance of plant medicine sciences and also, the role of angiogenesis in processes such as wound healing, menstrual cycles, placental growth, and ovulation, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of aqueous extract of Crocus sativus (as one of the prominent medicinal plants in traditional medicine) on changes in the gene expression of VEGF and FGF in the angiogenesis pathway of the chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) of chick embryos.

In this research, 40 Ross fertilized eggs were randomly divided into 4 groups including the control group, laboratory control (PBS), and 2 experimental groups. On the eighth day of incubation (temperature 38 degrees Celsius and humidity 55 to 60 percent), the laboratory control group was treated with normal saline, and the experimental groups were treated with doses of 50 and 100 µg/ml of the aqueous extract of Crocus sativus. On the twelfth day, a photo was taken of the chorioallantoic membrane, and a sample was taken for RNA extraction and cDNA production. The collected data were analyzed using Excel and SPSS 20 statistical software.

The average number of vessels (6.25 ± 0.25) and vessel length (15.58 ± 1.11) in the treated group showed a significant decrease (P < 0.05) compared to the control group. Also, the expression level of VEGF (0.3235) and FGF (0.3875) genes in the treated group was significantly (P < 0.05) lower than the control group.

Aqueous extract of Crocus sativus can reduce the expression of VEGF and FGF genes and the angiogenic process of the chorioallantoic membrane of chicken embryos.

Diabetes is a metabolic disorder characterized by high blood glucose levels and insulin resistance. Pioglitazone can lower insulin resistance and has anti-inflammatory properties. The aim of this work was to develop pioglitazone-loaded nanofibers and to evaluate their effect as a dermal implant device to lower blood glucose levels. The effect of pioglitazone-loaded nanofiber was investigated as a wound dressing in diabetic Wistar rats.

In this work, nanofibers were developed using the electrospinning method. The structure and characteristics of the fibers were evaluated using scanning electron microscopy and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy. The effect of nanofiber implants was evaluated on blood glucose levels , and their wound healing effect was investigated in diabetic wounds in a Wistar rat model.

The developed formulations did not show any effect in lowering blood glucose when used as an implant; however, they were able to accelerate the wound healing rate when used as a dressing in the wound model. This effect might be due to the anti-inflammatory properties of the drug. The developed wound dressing was able to accelerate the formation of the epidermis and dermis layers in the wound model.

Histological studies indicate that wounds treated with pioglitazone-loaded nanofibers exhibit an anti-inflammatory effect and therefore can increase the wound healing rate. These drug-loaded nanofibers enhanced the development of collagen and improved the formation of the epidermis and dermis while reducing the number of inflammatory cells. The developed drug delivery system was not able to significantly decrease blood glucose levels in the animal model. This effect may be due to the low drug loading capacity as well as its poor aqueous solubility.

Type 2 diabetes is associated with increased inflammation in various tissues, including the heart. Examining the factors related to the increase in inflammation caused by diabetes , and its consequences , can be controlled to some extent through the application of non-invasive therapeutic interventions. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of high - intensity interval training and L-cysteine consumption on the levels of COX2 and IL-1B in the heart tissue of rats with type 2 diabetes.

In this experimental study, 30 male Wistar rats were divided into five control and experimental groups by simple random sampling. After the induction of diabetes in the experimental and diabetic control groups, the intervention groups of exercise and L-cysteine supplement consumption performed intense intermittent exercise and supplement consumption for eight weeks. To determine the difference between groups, one-way analysis of variance and LSD post hoc test were used.

The results of this study showed that the implementation of intense interval training resulted in a significant decrease in IL-1B level (p=0.001) and the use of L-cysteine supplement led to a non-significant decrease (p=0.087). In contrast, intense interval training caused a non-significant increase (p=0.14) in Cox2 levels compared to the diabetic control group in the heart tissue of rats. It seems that the decreasing changes in Cox2 levels in the L-cysteine supplement group worsened the diabetic inflammation conditions.

Performing HIIT for eight weeks led to significant changes in the levels of IL-1B in the heart tissue of rats. Also, single and combined L-cysteine supplementation with this type of exercise did not cause obvious changes in IL-1B and COX-2 levels. One of the main limitations of this study was the lack of simultaneous sampling in all samples.

Mood-behavioral disorders are highly prevalent in patients with epilepsy and have significant effects on the quality of life of these patients. Mood-behavioral disorders in patients with epilepsy have received less attention due to the focus on seizure management. This study was conducted with the aim of investigating the prevalence of mood-behavioral disorders in patients with epilepsy in Iran.

An electronic search was conducted in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Science Direct, SID, and Magiran databases until August 2024. Also, a manual search was performed in the sources of primary review and key studies. The language of studies was limited to Farsi and English. Assessment of study bias was done with the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale checklist. Data analysis was done using Comprehensive Meta-Analysis version 3 software.

A total of 18 studies, including 2919 patients, were included in the study. The results of the meta-analysis showed that the prevalence of depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, phobia, bipolar disorder, stress, and panic in patients with epilepsy is 36% respectively (confidence interval 95% [0.24-0.49], P=0.03), 27% (95% [0.17-0.41], P<0.001), 27% (95% [0.24-0.30], P<0.001), 18% (95% [0.11-0.28], P<0.001), 3% (95% [0.01-0.08], P<0.001), 13% (95% [0.07-0.19], P=0.71), and 5% (95% [0.04-0.07], P<0.001).

The prevalence of mood and behavioral disorders in patients with epilepsy is high. This situation not only affects the mental health of patients but can also lead to a decrease in the quality of medical care and an increase in treatment burden. Therefore, timely identification and treatment of mood-behavioral disorders in these patients is essential.