Researcher Bulletin of Medical Sciences
Volume:15 Issue: 6, 2011

Poorly treated or untreated maternal overt hyperthyroidism may affect pregnancy outcome. Thyroid dysfunction and hyperthyroidism is present in about 0.3% and 2-3% of pregnancies respectively. Thyroid hyperfunction and hypofunction are more prevalent and usually go unrecognized. If thyroid dysfunction remained undiagnosed and has not been treated appropriately, would result in serious adverse pregnancy outcomes and treat both mother and her fetus. The aim of this review is to mention many aspects of hyperthyroidism in pregnancy and lactation in depth. Literature review was performed using MEDLINE between years 1960 and 2010, with the terms “Hyperthyroidism and pregnancy”, “Anti-thyroid drug and pregnancy”, “Radioiodine and pregnancy”, “Hyperthyroidism and lactation”, “Anti-thyroid drug and lactation”, both separately and in conjunction with the terms “fetus”, “neonate” and “maternal”. We selected Proper study design of survey, case control and cohort studies, and clinical trials and review papers if the authors had at least four articles of their own in the list of references of review paper. The strategy used to search for articles was developed with the assistance of a research librarian. Antithyroid drugs are the main therapy of maternal hyperthyroidism during the lactation. All forms of antithyroid drugs can be used in pregnancy. As there are some reports regarding teratogenicity of methimazole (MMI), Propylthiouracil (PTU) is preferred in the first trimester and should be replaced by MMI after this trimester. Radioiodine is absolutely contraindicated for treatment of hyperthyroidism in pregnancy. Subtotal thyroidectomy in second trimester is indicated if hyperthyroidism is uncontrolled. MMI is the mainstay of the treatment of postpartum hyperthyroidism, in particular during lactation. ‍ Management of hyperthyroidism during pregnancy requires special considerations because maternal thyroid disease could have adverse effects on the mother, fetus and neonate.

Due to abundance of neonatal colic in neonates, there is a need to discover the etiology of this problem by performing etiologic studies. There are some reports that show the anal stenosis has a probable etiologic role in these colics. This study aimed to determine the relationship between neonatal colic and anal stenosis in the neonates presenting to Mofid children hospital during the spring to autumn of 2009 to determine. This is a case-control study. The case group was the neonates at the age of 3 months or less with a documented diagnosis of neonatal colic. The control group was age and sex matched group of neonates with case group, without any neonatal colic. A total of 192 cases were studied and there were 96 cases in each group. Diagnosis of neonatal colic was confirmed by Wessel criteria and that of anal stenosis by bougie. The data were analyzed using Chi-square test, and OR was calculated. With respect to age and sex, the cases in two groups were matched. In case group, 23 patients (24%), and in control group 1 patient (1%) had anal stenosis (OR=23; p<0.000). ‍ It appears that neonatal colic and anal stenosis have statistical relationship. Therefore, we recommend clinical trial to assess the etiologic relationship between neonatal colic and anal stenosis.

Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) is expressed primarily in adipocytes and elevated levels of this cytokine have been linked to obesity and insulin resistance. Therefore, we examined the relationship between the G-308A and G-238A polymorphisms of TNF-α gene promoter variants and obesity in an Iranian population. Subjects of the Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study classified into two age groups under and above 18. Adults classified in three groups according to their body mass index and less than 18 years old subjects classified in two groups (under 85th percentile for their age and sex and above 85th percentile). 244 persons were selected to examine -308 site and 239 persons were selected to examine -238 site. The mentioned polymorphisms were examined with PCR and RFLP methods. The allele frequency of TNF-α polymorphism was in the Hardy Weinberg equilibrium and there was no relation between BMI and the frequency of this allele. ‍Conclusion No association between G-308A and G-238A TNF-α promoter polymorphisms and obesity could probably indicate that it is not an important risk factor for obesity and consequently for cardiovascular disease.

Different factors affect sexual function and satisfaction. Some studies showed no relationship between type of delivery and sexual function and satisfaction, but others showed association of vaginal or cesarean delivery with sexual function and satisfaction. This study aimed to determine the sexual function and satisfaction in women with vaginal delivery and cesarean referring to Health Center of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences in 2008. In this cross-sectioned study, 180 women (90 vaginal deliveries and 90 cesarean deliveries) were selected with multiple sampling. Data collection was performed by questionnaires including socio-demographic characteristics, history of obstetric and sexual function and sexual satisfaction. The questionnaire was completed by interview in private place. Data were analyzed via descriptive and chi square test using SPSS software. There was no signification difference in sexual function including desire, arousal, orgasm and resolution, and sexual satisfaction after delivery between two groups. ‍ We did not find significant difference between women with vaginal delivery and women with cesarean delivery. Therefore it seems that various physical and mental factors affect sexual function.

Improvement in the management of patients who are afflicted with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) has resulted in the increase of their survival after heart attacks. The purpose of this study was to determine the quality of life (QOL) after first AMI among patients who referred to teaching hospitals affiliated with Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences. This cross-sectional study was performed with the participation of 300 patients. The inclusion criteria were age between 32 to 79, first AMI, 6 to 30 months after AMI and consent for participation. These patients had been admitted in Shahid Modares, Loghmane Hakeem, Taleghanee and Shahid Labafeenejad hospitals, affiliated to Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, for AMI and they had written medical records in these hospitals. The participants were enrolled in the study when they referred for routine follow-up visits at outpatient clinics. Data was collected by interviewing the patients. For measuring QOL, The Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) was used. The mean age of patients was 56.6± 9.6 years from which 57.5% were men and 42.3% women. The mean scores of QOL in various aspects were 67.2 for physical function, 52.9 for role limitation due to physical health problems, 71.1 for bodily pain, 48 for general health, 52.6 for vitality, 71.3 for social function, 59.2 for role limitation due to emotional problems and 57.2 for mental health. In comparison with the general population, QOL in this study was reduced in all scales but the amount of reduction was not the same. With increasing age, QOL of patients decreased in all aspects. QOL in women after AMI, 9% to 23% more than men was reduced. ‍ The study showed that QOL of patients 6 to 30 months after the first AMI. The QOL decreased in physical scales more than mental and emotional scales. Decrease in QOL was related to increasing age and in women was more than men.

Sense of coherence is a personal orientation to life that evaluates stress control and psychological well-being is mental component of quality of life. Although sense of coherence and psychological well-being can be a suitable framework for compromise, researchers have not experimentally examined them yet. Thus, the aim of this study was to examine correlation between psychological well-being and sense of coherence in the students of Islamic Azad University -Central Tehran Branch. 400 university students (200 girls and 200 boys) participated in this study and completed the psychological well-being index and sense of coherence questionnaire. Statistical analysis was performed using indicators and statistical methods including mean, frequency, percentage, t-test, Pearson correlation coefficient and simultaneous regression analysis. The results showed that 70% of total variance in sense of coherence is represented by psychological well-being (R2=%70). Forecast coefficient regression shows that the psychological well-being can significantly interpret the students’ variance of sense of coherence. Coefficient influence of psychological well-being (β=0.842) shows that the variable can predict the changes related to sense of coherence with 99% of confidence. The results also showed that in total, female university students had higher psychological well-being than male university students while, male university students had higher sense of coherence compared to the female students. ‍ Research results show the important role that psychological well-being has in the field of sense of coherence. More attention to the psychological well-being that includes happiness and life satisfaction, and is a mental component of quality of life, provides a higher sense of coherence in the university students.

In recent years, the role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) is established and different methods including ischemic preconditioning and postconditioning (POC) are introduced to reduce the damage. One of the possible protective mechanisms of POC is a reduction in ROS formation. According to the significance and prevalence of renal IRI, in the present study, the protective effect of POC on the reduction of IR-induced renal injury was evaluated. After right nephrectomy, male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned into three groups (n= 6). In IR group, with the use of bulldog clamp 45 min of left renal artery was induced followed by 24 hours of reperfusion. In sham group, all of the above surgical procedures were applied except that IR was not induced. In POC group, after induction of 45 min ischemia, 4 cycles of 10 seconds of intermittent ischemia and reperfusion were applied before restoring of blood to the kidney. At the end of the experiments, serum and renal tissue samples were collected for renal functional monitoring and oxidative stress evaluation. POC prevented the IR-induced increase in blood urea Nitrogen and serum creatinine and improved the kidney oxidative status demonstrated by a decrease in malondialdehyde level and an increase in superoxide dismutase. ‍ POC has a protective role on renal function by a reduction in IR-induced oxidative stress.

In recent decades, Pseudomonas aeruginosa has emerged as one of the most important nosocomial pathogens. Due to the clinical importance this bacterium, various methods have been developed to rapidly and accurately identify it. The aim of this research was to detect P. aeruginosa isolated from wound and burn infections on the basis of the amplification of the oprI, oprL and toxA genes, and to determine the prevalence of nan1 and exoS genes among them. A total of 150 P. aeruginosa isolates was collected from patients with burn and wound infections of Imam-khomaini, Tohid and Motahari hospitals in Tehran. The isolates were identified as P. aeruginosa using specific biochemical tests. Chromosomal DNA of the isolates was extracted with phenol chloroform method and used for PCR of oprI, oprL, toxA, exoS and nanI genes by specific primers. Among 150 P. aeruginosa isolates all carried the oprl and oprL genes; 98 (65.3%), 142 (94.7%) and 19 (12.66%) of the isolates were positive for exoS, toxA and nanI genes respectively. The presence of nan1 gene in wound isolates (30%) was significantly higher (p<0.05) than in burn isolates (4%). ‍ Our results indicated that simultaneous use of oprl, oprL and toxA genes provide sufficient sensitivity to detect P. aeruginosa in clinical samples. The high prevalence of exoS in isolates suggests invasive phenotype of wound and burn isolates. The high prevalence of nan1 in wound isolates suggests a possible role of this gene in those infections.