مجله علمی دانشگاه علوم پزشکی کردستان
سال سی‌ام شماره 1 (پیاپی 136، فروردین و اردیبهشت 1404)

Intestinal parasitic infections are among the major health problems worldwide. The symptoms and signs of these infections can range from mild to severe depending on the type of parasite and host conditions. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of intestinal protozoan infections among HIV+/AIDS individuals and evaluate the impact of certain demographic factors on these infections in Kurdistan Province.

In this cross-sectional study, 161 stool samples were collected using a convenience sampling method from HIV+/AIDS individuals in Kurdistan Province. After obtaining informed consent, demographic information such as age, gender, residence, drinking water source, and history of animal contact was collected through questionnaires for each patient. All samples were examined using direct smear, formalin-ether concentration, and Ziehl–Neelsen staining methods. The obtained data were analyzed using independent t-tests and Fisher's exact test.

Of all samples analyzed, 53 cases (32.9%) were infected with one or more intestinal protozoa. Among the identified protozoa, Blastocystis (19.3%) had the highest prevalence, while Iodamoeba butschlii (1.9%) had the lowest. The overall frequency of protozoan infections did not significantly affect the demographic variables studied (P > 0.05). However, untreated drinking water was significantly associated with Cryptosporidium infection (P = 0.02).

Intestinal protozoan infections are prevalent among HIV+/AIDS individuals in Kurdistan Province. Therefore, the results of this study provide crucial information for healthcare providers to facilitate accurate diagnosis and design intervention programs to improve patient care and reduce the prevalence of these infections in the region.

Epilepsy is a central nervous system disorder in which the activity of nerve cells in the brain is disrupted and leads to seizures. Despite the variety of available anticonvulsant drugs, approximately 30% of patients are resistant to conventional therapies. Nowadays, attention to drugs of natural origin, especially plant sources, has increased. Due to the effects of quinic acid, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective, and immune cell-enhancing properties, this study aimed to determine the anticonvulsant effect of quinic acid in pentylenetetrazole-induced seizures in mice by investigating the possible role of the oxidative stress pathway and nitric oxide.

In this experimental study, 48 male mice were divided into 6 groups of 8. The first group received PTZ at a dose of 90 mg/kg, the second to fifth groups received quinic acid at doses of 5, 10, 20, and 40 mg/kg, and the sixth group received Diazepam at a dose of 10 mg/kg. One week after quinic acid administration, seizures were induced in all mice by intravenous injection of pentylenetetrazole.

Quinic acid at doses of 20 and 40 mg/kg significantly increased seizure threshold compared to the group treated with normal saline (P<0.001). Quinicic acid treatment reduced serum nitrite and malondialdehyde levels of brain tissue (P<0.001). Quinic acid treatment also increased serum and brain tissue antioxidant activity in mice. Quinic acid significantly reduced the expression of iNOS and nNOS genes compared to the normal saline group (P<0.01).

Quinic acid seems to have potential anticonvulsant effects. Its mechanism of action is probably to inhibit neuroinflammation and act through the nitric oxide pathway

Brown adipose tissue (BAT) is a specialized type of adipose tissue that dissipates energy as heat and plays a crucial role in body weight regulation. UCP-1 and PGC-1α are key players in the conversion of white adipose tissue (WAT) to BAT. This study aimed to investigate the effects of aerobic exercise performed at different times of the day on the expression of these genes in the adipose tissue of diabetic mice.

In this experimental study, 30 adult male NMRI mice aged 8-10 weeks with an average weight of 26 ± 2.3 grams were randomly divided into six groups (five mice per group): two healthy control groups (light and dark phases), two diabetic control groups (light and dark phases), and two diabetic groups with exercise intervention (light and dark phases). The diabetic groups were fed a high-fat diet and injected with streptozotocin. Aerobic exercise was performed for eight weeks at a moderate intensity (50-60% of maximum running speed). At the end of the study, the expression of UCP-1 and PGC-1α genes in adipose tissue was measured using real-time PCR. Data were analyzed using GraphPad Prism 10 software and ANOVA with a significance level of 0.05

The findings of this study indicate that aerobic exercise performed in the evening significantly increased the expression of PGC-1α in diabetic mice. This increase in gene expression suggests the potential for improving metabolic status in this animal model.

A major quality assurance target is minimizing error rates to enhance patient safety. Clinical laboratories have long focused their attention on quality control methods and quality assessment programs. The current study aimed to investigate the completeness of specimen labeling in the histopathology department.

In this cross-sectional retrospective study, we analyzed labels of tissue samples sent from Orthopedics, Neurosurgery, Internal medicine, Urology, ENT, Surgery, ICU, and Endoscopy wards over three months in Urmia Imam Khomeini hospital from January 2023 to March 2023. All information including the patient's name, age, patient file number, tissue type, anatomical location, sampling date, name of the referring physician, legibility of written information, two patient identifiers (full name, date of birth or file number), and affixing the label on the body of the container was checked.

Of the 2178 pathology samples examined, the largest numbers of samples (53.58%) were sent from the surgery department and the least (0.69%) from the neurosurgery Ward. The lowest number of errors was related to the patient's age, which ranged from 0% in the internal medicine, neurosurgery and, endoscopy to 8.5% in the urology Ward. There was a statistically significant difference between the criteria obtained in different wards, except for the patient's name and illegibility of written information.   P-value was <0.001 for patient age, file number, tissue type, sampling date, doctor's name, label on container body and two-identifier registration, and 0.049 for the anatomical position of the sample.

This study showed that there is a variety of errors in labeling pathology samples. This shows that the high volume of work and a large number of samples cannot be the reason for the error in the labeling. Due to the similarity of names, two samples may be mistaken for each other, but the presence of the second identifier solves this problem. Newer technologies such as bar coding may reduce the frequency of specimen labeling errors.

Breast cancer has been identified as the most common cancer and the fifth leading cause of cancer death in the world. Non-clinical risk factors such as socioeconomic status can lead to inequality in the outcomes of the disease. This study aimed to analyze the provincial socio-economic inequality in the incidence of breast cancer in the country.

This cross-sectional study was performed using Iranian provincial data. The required data are obtained from the statistical yearbook report, the report of the Statistics Center and, the national report of the National Cancer Registration Program of the Ministry of Health of Iran in 1397. Extraction of density curves was performed by statistical analysis using STATA 14.

The results of the study showed that provincial per capita income caused the most inequality (CI = 0.113) in cancer incidence (P <0.05). Provincial literacy rate with CI = 0.112 was in the next rank of inequality (P <0.05). The value of the concentration index (CI) of the province's socio-economic development index was also estimated to be 0.110 (P <0.05). The effect of health insurance coverage on inequality in cancer incidence (CI = -0.094) was also statistically significant (P <0.05).

It is suggested that policymakers facilitate early detection of cancer in provinces with lower socioeconomic status by providing insurance coverage for screening services, distribution of screening credit cards, payment exemptions, and public awareness.

 The role of BCG vaccination in childhood on the outcomes of Covid-19 infection is still unclear. This study aimed to examine the association between BCG vaccination status and the severity, ICU admission, and mortality of Covid-19 pneumonia patients. 

This was a cross-sectional study of Covid-19 pneumonia patients admitted to Bo Ali Sinai Medical Education Center in Qazvin, Iran, from April 2022 to January 2023. Data on demographic characteristics, comorbidities, BCG vaccination status, and in-hospital outcomes, including severity of illness, ICU admission, and mortality, were collected and analyzed. 

Of 203 patients (mean age 56 years, 43.8% male), 52.7% had a history of BCG vaccination. Logistic regression analysis showed that the number of comorbidities, lymphocyte percentage, and oxygen saturation at admission were inversely associated with ICU admission (odds ratio [OR] = 1.6, 0.9, and 0.8, respectively). Age and respiratory rate were positively associated with mortality (OR=1.2, 1.5). BCG vaccination and respiratory rate were positively associated with severity of Covid-19 (OR=8.5, 4.8), while oxygen saturation was negatively associated with severity of Covid-19 (OR=0.009). BCG vaccination status did not have a significant effect on ICU admission and mortality. 

This study did not find evidence that BCG vaccination in childhood alters the prognosis of Covid-19 pneumonia. Age and respiratory rate were the main predictors of in-hospital mortality in Covid-19 pneumonia patients.

One of the first educational needs is to adapt new methods to empower and improve the performance of learners. Teaching clinical skills to students is a challenging task, and professors must prepare students in a more effective way to play a role in the field of health care services. The purpose of the study was to “determine the effect of integrated breast examination training on the learning and skills level of Undergraduate midwifery students of Kurdistan University of Medical Science”.

This research was a Quasi-experimental before and after study in 2022.The community of this research was made up of all second and fourth semester midwifery students. 30 students were included in the study by census method. The data collection tool in this study included a demographic profile form, the researcher’s questionnaire for learning breast examination, and the checklist for observing the clinical skills of breast examination. STATA software version 12 was used to analyze the study data. For descriptive purposes, frequency distribution table and mean and standard deviation were used. For the learning and skill variables before and after the intervention, Wilcoxon’s non-parametric test was used, and the significance level was considered less than 0.05.

The median and interquartile ranges of the learning rate before and after the intervention in participants were 8 and 4 to 19 and 7, respectively, which showed a significant statistical difference. Also the median and interquartile range of breast examination skills before and after the intervention in participants were 8.45 and 5.97 to 114.34 and 25, respectively, which showed a statistically significant difference (P= 0.001).

This study showed that the use of Integrated Learning in Breast Examination can increase learning and skill in Midwifery students.

Toxocariasis is a parasitic disease caused by the round worm Toxocara. Dogs are the definitive host for this parasite and, also several pathogens could be transmitted by dogs to humans as zoonotic diseases.

This study was conducted in 2016-2017 with 111 stool samples collected from stray dogs in Sanandaj. Sanandaj was divided into five parts: north, south, east, west, and center. The coordinates of the sampling site were determined on the map by online GPS and ArcGIS software. Samples were examined by formalin-ether concentration method. The rate of toxocariasis in dogs was obtained by descriptive statistical methods and expressed as a percentage.

Out of 111 samples, 7 samples (6.306%) were positive. Four positive cases were related to the samples collected in the spring, one was related to the samples collected in the winter, and two were related to the samples collected in the autumn.

The contamination rate of Toxocara in stray dogs in Sanandaj is lower than in comparison to the other areas studied in Iran. Given the high number of stray dogs in Sanandaj, it is essential to conduct further eco-epidemiological studies with a focus on dog-borne diseases to determine the importance of stray dogs in transmitting these diseases to humans.

In many countries of the world, Human Papilloma Virus is known as the most common sexually transmitted disease and the most common cause of cervical cancer. This study aimed to evaluate the intervention based on social marketing on the screening of the human papilloma virus.

In this semi-experimental study, the design, implementation, and evaluation of social marketing-based intervention on HPV screening in women living in Mashhad using the SMART model in the years 2020-2022 were discussed. After carrying out the intervention's formative and design study, a semi-experimental study on 70 women aged 30 to 50 living in Mashhad was used to implement the intervention. A health center was chosen as the test center and another center, which was similar to the first center in terms of demographic characteristics, was chosen as the control center. The intervention was implemented for three weeks in the test group and three months after the end of the intervention.

The results showed that after the implementation of the intervention, changes in knowledge score and scores of perceived severity, perceived benefits and perceived barriers, self-efficacy and guidance for action immediately after and two months after the intervention in the test and control groups were significant (p<0.0001). The results of the implementation and evaluation of the intervention showed that after the intervention, 29 people in the test group (82.8%) referred to the center for the screening test. In the control group, no case of referral for HPV screening test was reported.

According to the findings of the present study, using social marketing model and paying attention to the opinions and viewpoints of the target group and removing barriers and using facilitators can be used to encourage people to perform screening. HPV screening to make facilitators and to remove barriers is suggested.

The thermo-hygrometric index (THI) represents the combined effects of two quantities of air temperature and relative humidity on living organisms and the occurrence of environmental stress, which is expected to change in the coming decades due to the consequences of global warming. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the thermal image of Iran using THI in the summer season of Iran during a statistical period of 30 years.

The data related to the average of two variables of air temperature (Celsius) and relative humidity (percentage) daily from 60 synoptic meteorological stations for a statistical period of 30 years (1985-2014) from the summer season of Iran were obtained from the Iranian Meteorological Organization. The THI was calculated for the summer season. The Mann-Kendall statistical test was used to investigate the changes in air temperature, relative humidity and THI.

The trend of temperature parameter changes for the summer season has been increasing in 88.38 percent of Iranian cities, and this increasing trend has been statistically significant in 66.03 percent of these monitored stations. Considering the Sens slope, the most significant increase in the temperature parameter was seen at Yasouj station (+1.050 °C/decade). The trend of changes in temperature-humidity index has been increasing in 75% of the cities, and this increasing trend has been statistically significant in 71.43% of these stations. The most significant increase in THI was seen at Qaemshahr station (+0.449°C/decade). Also, the trend of changes in relative humidity has decreased in 88.3% of cities, and this decreasing trend has been statistically significant in 58.5% of these stations. The most significant decrease in relative humidity was seen in Zabul station (-5.700 °C/decade).

For a statistical period of 30 years in Iran, in the summer season, the trend of changes in THI has been generally increasing and the trend of changes in relative humidity has been decreasing. Considering the phenomenon of climate change and global warming, heat stress evaluation using the THI seems necessary for the general awareness of people and the adoption of prevention policies in the country.

Infection caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) with multiple drug resistance is one of the most important problems in patients suffering from cystic fibrosis. The purpose of this research is to investigate the prevalence of P. aeruginosa isolated with multiple drug resistance in patients suffering from cystic fibrosis.

Articles between 2008 and 2022 were searched. To perform the meta-analysis, STATA 14 software was used both in the fixed model and in the random effects model. To check the heterogeneity of the data, the Q-test (p<0.10) was used with the chi-square χ2 distribution at the 95% confidence level. Two-sided statistical tests were performed with α=0.05.

The highest (100%, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.99-1.00) and the lowest (4%, 95% CI: 0.02-0.09) prevalence was in 2021. In cross-sectional studies, the prevalence of 44% (95% CI: 0.21-0.68, odds ratio (OR) = 1.55), and in the cohort, 52% (95% CI: 0.26-0.77, OR = 1.68) was observed. Prevalence of both age groups; <20 (95% CI: 0.09-0.97, OR = 1.7, p = 0.000) and ≥ 20 (95% CI: 76. 0.30-0.76, OR = 1.7, p = 0.000) was 53%.

Multiple drug resistance was observed in P. aeruginosa during different years and ages. The findings of this research and the increasing antibiotic resistance of this bacterium indicate the leading challenges in the treatment of patients with cystic fibrosis, which must be properly managed and treated.

Anomaly scan is one of the most important findings that can be followed up during pregnancy. Abdominal masses of the fetus, which have different origins depending on the location and sex of the fetus, can be recognized in these examinations. One of the rarest masses that are seen in 0.1% of term female babies is hydrometrocolpos. 

A 38-year-old female patient with a gestational age of 36 weeks and 5 days, with a history of previous caesarean section and membrane ruptured, is undergoing cesarean section. Due to the previous child suffering from mental retardation and microcephaly in this pregnancy, a delayed anomaly ultrasound is recommended and an abdominal mass with the possibility of hydrometrocolpos is diagnosed. After birth, the abdominal mass is aspirated due to respiratory distress and drained several times during care. Due to frequent fevers and the diagnosis of sepsis, the child dies after one month.

During the visit of pregnant mothers, the history, family history of parents and other children should be taken into account. In some genetic disorders checking the karyotype of the parents and the fetus does not help, and depending on the specific disorder, the genetic status must be checked. Findings in the family should be checked, which requires cooperation with genetic experts and examination of the patient from that point of view