Journal of Advances in Medical and Biomedical Research
Volume:22 Issue: 91, 2014

IGFs (Insulin-like growth factors) and some binding proteins can cause occurrence and recurrence of breast cancer. Since the role of combined exercise training on these factors is not clear, therefore, the aim of this study was to look at the changes of IGF axis and some binding proteins in postmenopausal women with breast cancer after 15 weeks of combined exercise training. Twenty- nine women with breast cancer (58.27 ± 6.31 years) who underwent surgery, chemotherapy and radiation- therapy with current hormone therapy were divided into two groups of experimental and control. Subjects of the experimental group performed 15 weeks of combined exercises including walking (2 sessions per week) and resistance training (2 sessions per week that differed from walking days). Data were analyzed by using ANCOVA (p≤ 0.05). Combined exercise training had significant effect on IGF-1 levels (P= 0.001), IGFB-3 levels (P= 0.000) and IGF-1: IGFB-3 (P= 0.000) in postmenopausal women with breast cancer. After 15 weeks, IGE -1 reduced in the experimental group up to 9 percent and IGFB-3 increased by 28 percent. On the other hand, exercise training had no significant effect on the IGFB-1 (P= 0.652) in postmenopausal women with breast cancer. While the IGF axis factors and some binding proteins play an important role in breast cancer and its recurrence, it seems that changes in these factors through combined exercise training programs can delay its recurrence.

Due to inclusion of nano titanium dioxide in substances such as sunscreens and detergents which may be used by pregnant mothers and regarding that the studies on the effects of such substances have not yet been clearly elucidated, therefore, we conducted this study to investigate the effect of TiO2 on forelimb buds in mouse embryos. In this study, five groups of forelimb buds including control, sham, experimental group 1 (using a dose of 30 mg/kg), experimental group 2 (using a dose of150 mg/kg) and experimental groups 3 (using a dose of 500 mg/kg), were investigated. On day 11 of gestation, control group without the effect of TiO2, sham group with injection of deionized water as TiO2 solvent and experimental groups with injection of TiO2 (10 nm particles) with doses of 30, 150 and 500 mg/kg mouse weight were examined. Then, on day 15 of gestation, embryos were removed from the mothers’ body and their forelimb buds were amputated. The findings revealed a significant increase in doses 30 and 150 mg/kg in the total length of limb bud, skin thickness, the number of mesenchymal cells in fingers, degenerating chondrocyte cells in arm, and a significant decrease in the number of proliferating chondrocyte cells in arm, mesenchymal cells in palm and wrist, mitotic dividing mesenchymal cells in fingers and red blood cells in fingers. Meanwhile, it was found that the dose of 500 mg/kg led to a significant decrease in the total length of limb bud, skin thickness of arm, number of proliferating chondrocytes in arm, red blood cells in fingers and mesenchymal cells in palm and wrist. The findings of this study revealed decreasing and increasing effects of cytotoxicity of TiO2 nanoparticles on the growth of forelimb bud in mouse embryos under in vivo conditions.

There is a high prevalence of chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes in most populations. Therefore, interest in use of functional foods for the control of such diseases is of importance. The present study was designed to compare the effects of inulin and oligofructose-enriched inulin on glycemic indices and blood pressure in women with type 2 diabetes. In this clinical trial, 76 women with type 2 diabetes were randomly assigned to one of the three groups. The intervention groups received 10g/d oligofructose-enriched inulin (n=27) or inulin (n=24) and the control group (n=25) received 10g/d maltodextrin for 8 weeks. Dietary intakes, anthropometric measurements, glycemic index and blood pressure were measured at the baseline and after 8 weeks of supplementation. Data were analyzed using SPSS software (version11.5). Paired, ANOVA and ANCOVA were used to compare quantitative variables. At the end of the study significant decrease was observed in energy and carbohydrate intake, anthropometric indices, systolic blood pressure, HbA1c and serum insulin in intervention groups compared with the placebo group (P<0.05). Decrease in carbohydrate intake (16.50%), serum insulin (18.50%) and insulin sensitivity index (QUICKI) (16.70%) was significant in inulin as compared to oligofructose-enriched inulin group. Probably, supplementation of diabetic women with fructans in particular with long chain fructan (inulin) via improving food intake, glycemic indices and blood pressure contributes to the management of type 2 diabetes.

Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory, chronic demyelinating disease of the central nervous system with unknown etiology. Due to the positive effects of exercise in patients with MS, we aimed to compare the effects of three combined exercise methods on serum levels of ghrelin, TNF-α and IL-10 in these patients. Forty- eight MS patients with EDSS 2 to 3 voluntarily participated in this study and were randomly divided into four groups; experimental-1 (one session of resistance training and three sessions of aerobic training per week), experimental-2 (two sessions of resistance training and two sessions of aerobic training per week), experimental-3 (three sessions of resistance training and one session of aerobic training per week) and a control group. The subjects performed four sessions of training protocol per week for eight weeks. Blood samples were collected 5 days before and 72 hours after the training program. The results of the data analysis using ANOVA and post hoc Scheffe test indicated that IL-10 levels significantly increased in the experimental group-3 than in groups one and two, but these changes were not statistically significant in the three experimental groups compared to the control group. The serum levels of TNF-α and Ghrelin were not significantly different among the groups. It seems that concurrent combined training with an emphasis on resistance training leads to increased levels of anti-inflammatory cytokines and reduces pro-inflammatory cytokines. However, decision on the best type of training programs in concurrent or combined training for MS patients calls for further research. As related to the improvement of serum Ghrelin levels in patients with MS, further studies with longer periods of exercises along with a proper diet is required.

Breast cancer, assumed as a difficult -to –treat disorder across the world, is the most common malignancy among women. Over decades, significant advances in breast cancer immunotherapy and tumor immune biology have been brought about. In vitro studies of the effect of various cytokines have been conducted in breast tumor. Among Interleukins, IL-27 -a novel cytokine- is associated with specific properties. Moreover, IL-27 contributes to the Th1 induction and also acts as a pro- inflammatory cytokine. The aim of this study was to evaluate the IL-27 anti-proliferative effects on 4T1 cell line in vitro.

In this study, 4T1 cells were cultured in RPMI1640. mIL-27 gene was cloned, cells were transfected and recombinant protein was produced. Then, anti-proliferative effect of IL-27 on 4T1 breast cancer cell line was evaluated.

Our results indicated that IL-27 could suppress 4T1 cell proliferation significantly (p<0/01). Cell to cell interactions and also morphology of the cells were remarkably changed in comparison to control cells.

Our results showed that, IL-27 under in vitro conditions, could potentially suppress tumor without any essential cells and biologic factors of tumor matrix. Therefore, rmIL-27 may be a probable candidate protein as an antitumor agent, applicable to breast cancer immunotherapy.

Exact recognition of the needs of patients with leukemia and move to solve them will promote the health standards in the country. The aim of this study was to evaluate the needs and to assess the process of diagnosis and treatment of leukemia and their shortcomings according to experts’ views in this field. This study was a descriptive study and the population under study consisted of 101 specialists in Hemato-oncology and pathology across the country, who were selected by random cluster sampling. Data was collected by valid peer reviewed questionnaires with Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.80. The collected data were evaluated and analyzed using SPSS, and chi-square test. According to specialists, lack of diagnostic facilities in small cities, timely diagnosis, especially in cases of chronic leukemia and inadequate attention to the mental state of patients during the treatment process was considered as the most important problems of health system in the diagnosis and treatment of leukemias. Shifting the health policies towards greater attention to equip the health care centers and reviewing the policies resulting in concentration of services in large cities, providing health care plans acceptable for the patient's mental state by counseling centers during the process of treatment and finally financial support of patients with leukemia (particularly low-income patients) by governmental and non-governmental organizations will certainly pave the way to achieve modern standards.

Despite the great advances, coronary heart disease is a leading cause for death in most countries including Iran. This study develops new combined distribution of probability, validity, and fuzzy to assess the risk factors of coronary heart disease. The study group in this research consisted of 73 patients who referred to the hospitals of South Khorasan Province. After identifying the risk factors through distributing a questionnaire among physicians, they were asked to state their viewpoints about the effect of the risk factors on a scale ranging from the least important to the most important. Then, using this information and based on the proposed fuzzy probability-validity modeling, the risk factors of coronary heart disease were assessed. A strong association was found among blood pressure, gender, and HDL. With decreasing diastolic blood pressure by one unit in males, 4% decrease in the risk was observed; while with increasing HDL and decreasing weight by one unit in females, 5.3% decrease was obtained. With an n increase in the HDL of all 73 cases, the risk of disease was decreased approximately to 22% in females and 13.3% in males. It seems that blood pressure variable in males and blood lipids in females are the most determining factors as compared to other risk factors. Therefore, it seems that a fast and effective way to decrease the risk of such diseases is to control diastolic blood pressure in males and two variables of HDL and obesity in females.

Type 2 diabetes represents an independent risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of vitamin E supplementation on metabolic status and serum lipoprotein (a) level in type 2 diabetic patients.

In this randomized double-blind, controlled clinical trial 83 type 2 diabetic patients (men and woman) were assigned into two groups as the intervention and control groups. The intervention group (n=42) took 400 IU vitamin E per day and the control group (n=41) received placebo for 8 weeks. Anthropometric measurements, dietary intake data and fasting blood samples were obtained from each patient before and after the end of study.

Serum vitamin E and lipid-standardized α-tocopherol significantly increased after vitamin E supplementation in the intervention group (P=0.0001). A significant decrease in fasting blood glucose was observed in the vitamin E group compared with the placebo group at the end of the study (P=0.027). Alterations in body mass index, dietary intakes, levels of lipoprotein (a) and other serum lipids were not significant in any of the groups.

Vitamin E supplementation led to an improvement in the status of serum vitamin E and glycemic control in type 2 diabetic patients. Vitamin E as pertained to the dose and duration throughout this study did not produce any significant difference in other variables. Further studies are suggested to evaluate the possible outcomes of vitamin E on metabolic control in type 2 diabetic patients.

Ethanol and nicotine increase dopamine release in different parts of the brain such as the nucleus accumbens and the hippocampus. Dopamine D1 receptors have been detected in dorsal hippocampus known as a key brain region that seems to mediate some behavioral effect of ethanol and nicotine. The present study was carried out to determine the influence of dopamine D1 receptors of dorsal hippocampus as to the effect of Nicotine on ethanol-induced amnesia. In this experimental study, 192 adult male NMRI mice were anaesthetized and cannulae implanted bilaterally in the CA1 regions of the dorsal hippocampus using stereotaxic method. Seven days after recovery from surgery, the behavioral testing was started using inhibitory avoidance task. In this study, ethanol, nicotine and SCH23390 (D1 receptor antagonist) were used. Pre-training or pre-test injection of ethanol induced amnesia (P<0.001). The amnesia induced by pre-training ethanol restored with pre-test administration of same doses of ethanol (P<0.001). Pre-test injection of nicotine restored amnesia induced by pre-training ethanol (P<0.001). Pre-test intra-CA1 injection of SCH23390 by itself impaired memory and prevented the nicotine reversal effect on ethanol- induced memory impairment (P<0.001). These results suggest that dopamine D1 receptor of dorsal hippocampus may play an important role in improving effect of nicotine on the ethanol-induced amnesia.

Sinonasal polyposis is a chronic disease in the nose and paranasal sinuses caused by chronic inflammation. Nasal septum deviation (NSD) is a common anatomical abnormality which can cause chronic sinonasal polyposis. The aim of the present study was to investigate the correlation of this abnormality with pathologic, clinical findings and primary diseases in sinonasal polyposis patients.

This case series study was undertaken based on the available data. The clinical history of 122 patients with sinonasal polyposis was studied. The patients were divided into two different groups, namely, with and without NSD and their clinical data were carefully reviewed. The patients’ tissue samples were also reviewed pathologically.

60.6% of the patients were without NSD while 39.3% were with NSD. Inflammatory cell infiltrations, severity of edema, fibrosis and epithelium structure were the same in both groups. There was a significant correlation between the snoring and NSD (p=0.03), but no further significant correlations were found in other clinical symptoms. The radiological findings revealed no significant correlation with NSD. Patients with aspirin intolerance were relatively more in the group without NSD (p=0.02), but no other significant correlation was found between presence or absence of nasal septal deviation and allergy or bronchial asthma.

Based on this study, NSD has no effect on the pathologic findings of sinonasal polyposis. There is also no correlation between polyp type and affected sinuses; though, it has been proved that it can cause nighttime snoring. It seems that this anatomical abnormality can increase the occurrence of sinonasal polyposis, but has no determinative role in the occurrence of inflammatory processes and clinical symptoms.

Vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) are the major causative agents of urinary tract infections (UTIs) in hospitalized patients. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of urinary tract infections caused by enterococcus faecium and the level of resistance to vancomycine and other antibiotics which are effective in enterococcal infection therapy of hospitalized patients in four university teaching hospitals of Tehran. This study was carried out between September 2011 and May 2012. Urine samples were collected from hospitalized patients in Taleghani، Loghman، Mofid and Labaffi nejad Hospitals in Tehran. Enterococcus species were detected by biochemical and molecular tests. Antimicrobial susceptibility and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of vancomycine were determined by disk diffusion and micro agar dilution methods. The presence of vanA and vanB genes were investigated in VRE strains by PCR. 86 enterococci were isolated from urine samples of which 45 (52%) were E. faecium. 42. 2% of E. faecium isolates were resistant to vancomycin (VRE) and showed vanA genotype. All VRE isolates were resistant to ampicillin، gentamicin، ciprofloxacin and erythromycin، and 78% were resistant to nitrofurantoin. Furthermore، all VRE isolates were sensitive to linezolide and quiopristin-dalfopristin. MIC50 ≥ 128 and MIC90 ≥ 256 were detected in the VRE strains. The increase in the prevalence of vancomycin resistant E. faecium with high risk resistance profiles is a serious threat for some Iranian hospitals and limits the therapeutical options for patients infected with E. faecium.

Recently، periodontal disease is considered as a risk factor for chronic renal disease in addition to well- established common risk factors such as level of education، and extent of access to medical health services. Since oral health problems can jeopardize the general health of patients with renal failure، this study was conducted with the purpose of evaluating the effect of dialysis duration on periodontal and dental indices.

In this cross-sectional study، 65 patients under hemodialysis were examined in terms of periodontal and dental indices including: gingival index (GI)، plaque index (PI)، pocket depth (PD)، and decayed، missing and filled teeth index (DMFT). Patients were classified into two subgroups: receiving hemodialysis ≤ 3 years or more than 3 years. Chi-square test (in case of qualitative variables) and t-test (in case of quantitative variables) were used to analyze the data between the two groups.

All of periodontal indices were deteriorated in patients under long-term hemodialysis، and the difference between the two groups was significant (p<0. 05). However، DMFT index did not show any significant difference between the two groups.

Periodontal health is poor and imperfect in patients with hemodialysis of long duration. Therefore، dental preventive measures along with medical treatment are recommended.