Galen Medical journal
Volume:2 Issue: 3, 2013

Finding protective agents with fewer adverse effects against toxin-induced liver injuries, as a key detoxifier and excreter organ, have always been a concern for researchers. Carbon tetra-chloride (CCl4)-induced liver damage has been introduced as an experimental model of liver damage. This study aimed to investigate the protective effect of ethanolic extract of Zizyphus vulgaris (ZV) against hepatic injury induced by CCl4 in laboratory rats. Fifty healthy male Wistar rats (200±20 g) were randomly divided into 5 groups (n=10) as following for a 45days study: Base, which received 1 cc/Kg olive oil intraperitoneally (IP) twice a week and 0.5cc distilled water orally; Control, which received 0.5 cc/kg olive oil+0.5 cc/Kg CCl4 IP+0.5cc distilled water orally; experimental groups, which received 0.5 cc/kg olive oil+0.5 cc/Kg CCl4 IP+0.5cc distilled water plus ZV extract in dosages of 200 mg/Kg (group E200),400 mg/Kg (group E400) and 600 mg/Kg (group E600) PO. Levels of aspartate-aminotransferase (AST), alanine-aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline-phosphatase (Alk-P), Albumin, total-protein, and bilirubin were measured as well as pathological assessment of the liver samples for scoring of portal inflammation and hepatocellular necrosis. Results of this study revealed that although there was a significant decrease in liver enzymes of the ZV treated groups (P<0.05) there were insignificant differences in protein and albumin concentrations between the 5 experimental groups. In addition, ZV treatment reduced hepatic necrosis and portal inflammation compared with the control group. ZV showed hepatoprotective impact against CCl4-induced liver injury according to both serological and pathological investigations.

Psychiatric disorders are common in HIV-infected patients and for sure have direct impact on both prevention and management of diseases in these patients. In this research, the prevalence of major psychiatric disorders including mood, anxiety, and psychotic disorders in HIV-infected patients of Rafsanjan and Kerman health care centers were determined. Eighty three HIV-infected patients were interviewed by a psychiatrist in above-mentioned health centers and their information was registered through a standard CIDI questionnaire (version 2.1) and was statistically analyzed. In this study, Out of 83 participants, 71 cases (85.5%) were males and 12 (14.5%) were females. Their age range was from 21 to 62 years old. Sixty-nine cases (83.1%) were diagnosed with at least one major psychiatric disorder and 14 cases (16.9%) with none. Among the HIV-infected patients, 54 cases (65.1%) suffered from a mood disorder, 21 (25.3%) had psychotic and 41 (49.4%) had anxiety disorders. The current study showed that major psychiatric disorders were more common in HIV-infected patients in comparison to normal communities, so on-time diagnosis and therapy and proper management of these problems could be truly a promising step in global control of HIV in this part of Iran.

This study was designed to determine and compare the stress, anxiety and depression levels in Behcet’s disease (BD) patients and a control group of normal individuals. One-hundred and six patients with BD were selected as cases and controls were 106 age- and sex-matched participants referred to the Shiraz Dental school clinics due to dental problems. We collected the information with 3 validated Farsi questionnaires: Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) for stress, Beck Anxiety Index (BDI) for depression and Beck Depression Index (BAI) for anxiety. Stress, depression and anxiety levels were significantly higher in patients with BD in comparison with the control group (p<0.001). A high level of stress and depression in BD patients is frequent and PSS, BDI and BAI are useful for determining these variations. Finally, we suggest a psychiatrist consultation in all periods of disease treatment.

Variceal bleeding is one of the most serious complications of cirrhosis. Up to now different methods are created for predicting the complications and mortality of cirrhosis. Child- Pugh score and MELD score are two methods for this use. In this study we investigated and compared survival prognosis of cirrhotic patients by the Child-Pugh or MELD score in two groups of esophageal and gastric variceal bleeding.In this cross-sectional trial, patients with upper GI bleeding were followed up for a 6 months period. The source of hemorrhage was determined by endoscopy, then patients distributed in two groups of esophageal and gastric variceal hemorrhage. Finally we investigated and compared the relationship between the variables and mortality rates in these two groups by means of the Child-Pugh and the MELD scores. The Student's t-test and Receiver Operating Characteristic were used for statistical analysis.34 patients (12 with gastric varices, 22 with esophageal varices) were investigated. No significant difference between these two groups was observed. In this study mean MELD score was 16.67±8.75 and mean Child-Pugh score was 9.37±2.54. Eight patients (5 with gastric varices and 3 with esophageal varices) expired before 6 weeks and 2 patients (one four each group) expired after 6 weeks. The best cut-off points are 15.5 and 10.5 for MELD and Child-Pugh scores respectively (sensitivity and specificity are 0.75 and 0.98, respectively for both scores).Sensitivity and specificity of both scores were the same in prediction of mortality. However, the chance ratio defined that Child-Pugh score was a better predictor of mortality than MELD score, since the chance of death will increase 2.51 and 1.62 fold per each unit increase in the Child-Pugh and the MELD scores, respectively. However, no significant difference found between Child-Pugh and MELD score between two groups of patients.

Preterm infants need to be hospitalized in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and receive specific systematic care in order to survive. Nonetheless, long hospital stay leads to parents’ separation from the infant and disturbance in the family life. It also has many undesirable effects on the infant. The present study aimed to determine the effect of family-centered empowerment program on the weight and duration of hospital stay of the infants in NICU. In this clinical trial, 100 mothers with preterm infants hospitalized in NICU were divided into an intervention and a control groups. The mothers in the empowerment group took part in a multi-stage training program and received the necessary information regarding preterm infants and how to cooperate in taking care of them through face-to-face training, working at the bedside, educational film, and illustrated booklet. Then, the weight of the infants in the two groups and duration of hospital stay were compared. The mean length of hospital stay was 10.5±7.7 and 17.4±11.2 days in the intervention and the control group, respectively, and the results of independent T-test showed that the difference was statistically significant (P=0.001). The mean of weight changes was -42.4±172.9 grams in the control group and -22.6±162.0 grams in the intervention group; no significant difference was found between the two groups (P=0.556). The family-centered empowerment program in the NICU significantly reduced the infants’ length of hospital stay, but had no effects on their weights.

Intelligence is the ability of using the different powers and effective behaviors or adapting to new situations or diagnosing conditions and qualities of the environment. It seems that a considerable damage to the brain as a result of premature birth in the last weeks of pregnancy in the maturational - structuring process of the brain can be correlated with Intelligent Quotient (IQ). Due to the high incidence of preterm birth and its associated disorders and its impact on the society and according to a few studies in this field, this study was conducted with the aim of determining the association between IQ and preterm birth. This cohort study was performed on 303 children of school age. All subjects randomly allocated to cohort groups (n=147) or controls (n=156) with or without any history of preterm birth, respectively. In this study, in addition to demographic characteristics such as age, sex, gestational age at the delivery and parents’ educational levels, the standard Raven test was used by trained interviewers to measure the IQ in children. Then data were analyzed by Statistical software SPSS version 16.0 by central statistical indicators of independent T tests and Chi-square test. Significant difference was set at P<0.05. The mean IQ of the children in the study, obtained the score of 99.75±9.26 regarding which the independent T-test results showed no significant difference between two groups. In this study, no significant relationship was found between age and gestational age and IQ (P=0.499 and P=0.255, respectively). But this study showed a significant positive correlation between IQ and weight and head circumference at birth (r=0.179, P=0.002 and r=0.299, P=<0.001, respectively). Unlike results of a few previous studies on this issue, no significant differences were found between the two groups. It is recommended that future studies to be done on broader populations, and behavioral and psychological dimensions should be considered.

Syphilis is an infectious disease caused by Treponema pallidum and transmitted via sexual contact, infected discharge and blood as well as vertical transmission. It causes various impacts on women during pregnancy and their newborns which results in various complications. Thus, screening of syphilis is routinely performed during pregnancy. Choosing to perform a specific screening test is based on the prevalence of the disease in the target population which needs adequate information in this regard. The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence of syphilis among pregnant women in Shiraz, South-west of Iran. in this 15 month prospective study, 1100 pregnant women aged between 15 – 42 years, referred to University affiliated hospital in shiraz, Iran were included Blood samples were obtained from all of our study population for performing RPR test. FTA-ABS serologic test was carried out on positive cases of RPR test. 15 suspicious cases with weakly positive RPR test were detected but in all of them FTA-ABS tests were negative. The prevalence and incidence of syphilis was low in our area which may be due to variable reasons, such as reduction in the rate of unsafe and unprotected sex, improving knowledge, and adequate health care services. More studies are still needed to decide whether syphilis screening is beneficial in our area and should be considered as a routine test in pregnancy.