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Hemothorax as the first manifestation of idiopathic pulmonary arteriovenous malformation
Get PDFBackground: Pulmonary arteriovenous malformations (PAVM) are rare pulmonary vascular anomalies and hemothorax as a presenting feature of PAVM is a very rare occurrence.
Case presentation: A 45-year old woman presented with chest pain and breathlessness. A chest x-ray showed left-sided pleural effusion. An emergency MSCT scan with contrast showed no signs of pulmonary embolism but instead a probable AV malformation was shown. Diagnostic thoracocentesis revealed hemorrhagic exudate with negative cytology and microbiology findings. Thoracic drainage was performed resulting with complete regression of hemothorax. Three months later, patient was treated with transcatheter embolization of PAVM with good clinical outcome.
Conclusions: We have shown that management of PAVM related hemothorax initially by thoracic drainage followed by later on performed catheter embolization of the PAVM could lead to a successful outcome
Obstacles and Challenges in the Use of Probiotics
Get PDFBACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Probiotics are living microorganisms whose adequate intake has shown healthful effects in the host body and have been suggested to have beneficial effects in the prevention and treatment of many diseases. This study was conducted to investigate the obstacles and challenges of probiotic products in the production process and their effects on human health.
METHODS: For data collection in this review article, articles containing one of the terms “probiotic”, “lactobacillus”, “bifidobacterium”, “biogenic amine” and “antibiotic resistance” from 1990 to 2017 were searched and reviewed at Thomson Reuters, Pubmed, Scopus, Science Direct and Islamic World Science Citation Center(ISC).
FINDING: Research has shown that systematic infections and chronic diseases, over-stimulation of the immune system, transfer of antibiotic resistance genes, production of biogenic amines and D-lactic acidosis, lack of survival and sustainability of microorganisms and ultimately the change in the taste and flavor of probiotic products are among the obstacles and challenges facing the production of probiotics. The use of bifidobacterium to transfer antibiotic resistance genes is safer than other microorganisms for the production of probiotic products.
CONCLUSION: Based on the results of this study, probiotics are only safe in healthy people, although they are very useful for human health, but their use in children, pregnant women and people with a weakened immune system causes infection
Type and Rate of Prophylactic Antibiotic Use in the Orthopedic Patients Underwent Elective Surgeries in Shahid Beheshti Hospital in Babol
Get PDFBACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Postoperative infection has been one of the most frequent problems in orthopedics that the prescription of antibiotics to prevent surgical infection is an effective strategy to reduce infections after surgery.The aim of this study was investigating type and amount of prophylactic antibiotics used in the orthopedic cases administered in Shahid Beheshti Hospital in Babol, northern Iran.
METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 450 traumatic and non-traumatic patients underwent elective orthopedic surgeries and received antibiotic prophylaxis during 2015-2016. The necessary data were collected from the patients' records using a predesigned checklist. This checklist consisted of demographic information, type and mechanism of trauma and information related to prophylaxis (name of antibiotic, dosage, administration method, time to start prophylaxis, administration intervals and overall prophylaxis duration).
FINDINGS: Out of 450 patients, 300 (66.7%) were male and others were female. The mean age was 42.37±21.53. The most commonly used antibiotic was cefazolin (n=437, 97.3%) and gentamycin (n=276, 62%), and the lowest was amikacin (n=8, 1.8%). Mean duration of use was 4.92±1.8 days, ranging from 1 to 15 days.
CONCLUSION: The results showed that the use of prophylactic antibiotics is high and they should be administered with more precise control. The most commonly used antibiotic for prophylaxis was cefazolin and the least was amikacin
Optimization of Advanced Oxidation Process Based on Persulfate (Uv/Na2s2o8/Fe2+) for Phthalic Acid Removal from Aqueous Solutions with Response Surface Methodology
Get PDFBACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Phthalic acid has high toxicity and low degradability which has put treatment of wastewater containing this compound prior to prevent its health and environmental hazards. Present study was conducted to Optimization of (UV/Na2S2O8/Fe2+) process for phthalic acid removal from aqueous solutions with response surface methodology.
METHODS: This is an experimental study which was conducted at laboratory scale and synthetically in the cylindrical reactor containing UV-C lamp with 16 Watt power. Effects of variables including pH of solution (3-11), reaction time (0-60 min), concentration of persulfate (0.1-0.5 mmol/L), concentration of Fe2+ (0.1-0.2 mmol/L) and initial phthalaic acid (5-50 mg/L) on efficacy of process were investigated by response surface method (box Behnken method). The residual concentration of phthalic acid was measured by HPLC at a wavelength of 254 nm
FINDINGS: The removal efficiency of phthalic acid increased by increasing pH level and reaction time. The maximum removal efficiency of phthalic acid attained as 98 percent at pH of 11, reaction time of 60 min, 0.15 mmol/L of Fe2+ concentration, persulfate concentration of 0.3 mmol/L and 5 mg of phthalic acid. The process of removing phthalic acid followed from first-order kinetic (R2=0.9766). The effects of all studied independent variables with p<0.05 on removal efficiency of phthalic acid were found significant.
CONCLUSION: Obtained results indicated that the UV/Na2S2O8/Fe2+ process for removing phthalic acid from the aquatic environments has high efficiency. This issue confirms the acceptable efficiency of mentioned method for the removal of phthalic acid
An Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Water, Milk and Natural Lemon Juice in Hepatic Biliary Secretion of 99mtc-Mibi Radiopharmaceutical in Myocardial Perfusion Imaging
Get PDFBACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Interfering sub-diaphragmatic activity in the liver, bile ducts and intestines is one of the complications of myocardial perfusion imaging in the diagnosis of coronary artery disease. The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of water, milk and natural lemon juice on liver secretion and reduction of 99mTc-sestamibi radiopharmaceutical radiation in this type of imaging.
METHODS:This clinical study was performed on 100 female patients referred to the Shahid Beheshti Hospital in Babol for myocardial perfusion imaging using SPECT method. These patients were randomly divided into 4 groups: patients receiving no drink (group 1), patients receiving 250 ml water (group 2), patients receiving 250 ml high-fat milk (group 3), and patients receiving 250 ml diluted lemon juice was (group 4). After measuring heart and liver absorption, their ratio was calculated (heart/liver). The rate of reduction of interfering sub-diaphragmatic activity after the use of these drinks in different groups was evaluated based on visual and semi-quantitative assessments.
FINDING:The four studied groups did not differ significantly in terms of age, weight, and body mass index. The H/L ratio in group 1 was 0.13±0.038, in the group 2 was 0.15±0.039, in the group 3 was 0.17±0.055 and in the group 4 was 0.15 ± 0.039. Statistical analysis showed that interfering sub-diaphragmatic activity was only significant in group 3 in comparison with group 1 (p=0.027). In addition, based on visual and semi-quantitative assessments of raw data, only in group 3, 18 out of 25 patients had less interfering sub-diaphragmatic activity, which was significant compared to group 1 (p=0.001).
CONCLUSION: The results of the study showed that drinking at least 250 ml high-fat milk can reduce the interfering sub-diaphragmatic activity
Effect of Ursodeoxycholic Acid on Pentylenetetrazole Kindling and Kindling Induced Memory Impairment in Rat
Get PDFBACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Epilepsy is one of the common diseases of the brain that about 30-40% of patients with epilepsy experience recurent attacks due to drug resistance. Recently, the beneficial effects of Ursodeoxycholic acid on brain disorders have been considered. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of Ursodeoxycholic acid(UDCA)on the Pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) induced kindling, and related learning and memory impairments on Morris water maze.
METHODS: This experimental study was done on 32 male Winstar rats divided into 4 groups. The first(n=7)and the second(n=9)groups have received three injections of 0.5 ml NaCl or 50 mg/kg of UDCA respectively and third(n=7) and fourth(n=9) groups have received fifteen injections of 0.5 ml NaCl or 50 mg/kg of UDCA respectively. All injections were given intraperitoneally(ip)(every 48 hours). In all groups, chemical kindling were started after third injections. Twenty-four hour after the last injection, spatial memory was investigated in the Morris water maze.
FINDING: Fifteen injections of UDCA significantly reduced the seizure stage from 3.5±0.17 to 3.08±0.11 and duration of stages five from 12.37±1.21 to 8.43±1.09 and increased time to reach the stage five seizures from 1021.65±72.07 to 1252.41±49.63 as compared to control group. However, three injections of UDCA have no effect on the kindling process. However, three time administration of UDCA significantly increased reference memory from 18.72±1.2 s to 26.11±1.8 s.
CONCLUSION: Ursodeoxycholic acid inhibits chemical kindling and improves kindling induced memory impairment
Investigation of the effect of educational program based on the health belief model on preventing behaviors exposure to polluted air among pregnant women
Get PDFBACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Air pollution creates a wide range of acute and chronic effects in pregnant mothers. This study was carried out to determine the effect of education using Health Belief Model on improving the prevention of exposure to polluted air in pregnant women.
METHODS:This quasi-experimental study was carried out in two cross-sectional and interventional sections. In the cross-sectional study, 208 pregnant women were randomly selected and data were collected based on Health Belief Model questionnaire (sensitivity, severity, benefits, barriers, practice guidance and perceived self-efficacy, while calculating the scores of each section based on 100). In the intervention study, a total of 114 pregnant women (6 to 24 weeks) were selected by multistage sampling and randomly divided into two groups of case and control. The intervention was performed according to the Health Belief Model and the subjects were followed for three months and then the data were collected and analyzed.
RESULTS: The variables of external action, sensitivity and barriers, predicted a total of 25% of behavioral changes. In the intervention study, the mean awareness score of mothers in the intervention group increased significantly from 43.18±15.50 before the intervention to 71.39±16.68 after the intervention and the mean performance score increased significantly form 73.14±11.29 to 84.75±8.54 (p<0.001).
CONCLUSION: The results of this study showed that the implementation of training program based on Health Belief Model with emphasis on predictive behaviors can be effective in reducing exposure to air pollution in pregnant women
Sarcoidosis and spondyloarthritis: A coincidence or common etiopathogenesis?
Get PDFBackground: Sarcoidosis is a multisystem granulomatous disease. Co-existence with spondyloarthritis (SA) has been more described as an adverse effect of anti-TNF α therapy than an association. We report herein a case of a typical sarcoidosis confirmed by histological proofs and an advanced SA with a bamboo column.
Case Presentation: A 48-years-old woman presented with inflammatory back pain for 5 years and ankle swelling for 1 year. On physical examination, she had an exaggerated dorsal kyphosis and disappearance of lumbar lordosis with limitation in motion of the cervical and lumbar spine. Laboratory tests did not show an inflammatory syndrome or hypercalcemia. Plain radiographies of the spine and pelvic revealed a triple ray appearance with sacroiliitis grade 4. Chest radiography and CT confirmed the presence of bilateral hilar lymph nodes and parenchymal nodes. Bronchoscopy and biopsies were performed showing non-calcified granulomatous reaction without cell necrosis. The diagnosis of SA was performed based on 9 points of Amor criteria associated with pulmonary sarcoidosis. She was treated with 15 mg per week of methotrexate and 1mg/kg/day of prednisone for pulmonary disease with good outcomes.
Conclusions: Sarcoidosis may be associated to SA besides paradoxical drug effect. The same physio pathological pathways mediate by TNF α are arguments for association than hazardous coincidence
The Modulatory Effects of Aqueous Extract of the Plant Biebersteinia Multifida on the Gastric Acid Level and Intestinal Cytokines in Ulcerative Colitis Model
Get PDFBACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Inflammatory bowel disease is a chronic disease of the gastrointestinal tract with unknown etiology, which includes crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis (UC). Because an effective treatment has not been found so far, the present study was designed to investigate the effects of aqueous extracts of Biebersteinia multifida plant on inflammatory changes of the colon following acetic acid- induced ulcerative colitis in male rats.
METHODS: In this experimental study, 32 male wistar rats weighing 200-250 g were used in vivo. Animals were randomly assigned into four groups (each group consisting of 8 rats): 1- Intact; 2- Acetic acid-induced ulcerative colitis; 3- Biebersteinia multifida aqueous extract (200 mg /Kg); 4- Sulfasalazine treatment group (500 Mg /kg). In each group, the amount of gastric acid and intestinal TNF-α and IL-10 cytokines were measured at 8 days after of ulcerative colitis induction.
FINDINGS: The concentration of gastric acid in the induction group of colitis was 2/4533 ± 0.95 mEq / 15 min, which in the treatment group with Biebersteinia multifida extract decreased the level of gastric acid to 0.4400 ± 0.17 (p = 0.000). Also, TNF-α changes in the colitis and extract group were 279.68±42.71 and 160.35±28.79, respectively, which was significant (p=0.000). The concentration of IL-10 in the colitis group was 349.75±31.89, which increased to 353.75±66.46 after injection of the extract (p=0.015).
CONCLUSION: The results showed that aqueous extract of Biebersteinia multifida in a dose of 200 mg / kg has an effect on colon inflammation and it can be improved
The Effect of Eight Weeks of Water Training on Sirt1, Pgc-1α and Body Fat Percentage in Obese Men
Get PDFBACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: SIRT1 and PGC-1α are two factors that increase the body's antioxidant capacity, which can improve inflammation and free radicals in obesity. The present study was conducted to determine the effect of eight weeks of water training on SIRT1, PGC-1α and body fat percentage in obese men.
METHODS: In this quasi-experimental study, obese men (BMI = 30, waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) > 0.5) were selected voluntarily and were randomly divided into two groups of water training (n = 11) and control (n = 11). The training program included three sessions per week for eight weeks with training intensity of 60 to 80% of maximal heart rate. BMI, body fat percentage and weight of subjects were examined before and after the intervention. Arterial blood samples were used to measure SIRT1 and PGC-1α during the pre-test and post-test stages.
FINDINGS: The assessments showed that PGC-1α levels increased from 7.7 to 8.7 and SIRT1 levels increased from 11.3 to 12.6, and this increase was significant in the training group compared to the control group (p < 0.001). The results showed that body fat percentage decreased from 30.2 to 27.83 and weight decreased from 94.7 to 92.2, which was significant compared to the control group (p<0.001).
CONCLUSION: Based on the results of this study, water training can increase the levels of SIRT1 and PGC-1α and decrease weight and body fat percentage