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Evaluating the value-added of the trabecular bone score in patients with rheumatoid arthritis
No full textBackground: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) presents with inflammation in the joints and bony tissues around them. The trabecular bone score (TBS) is a relatively new indicator that predicts fracture risk better than bone mineral density (BMD). The aim of the current study was to measure TBSs and BMD of patients with RA referring to Resalat Hospital, Tehran. Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 129 men and women with RA entered the study through convenient sampling during 2016. TBS and BMD were measured in L1-L4. The relationships between age, sex, body mass index (BMI), duration of disease, and daily corticosteroids dose with TBS and BMD were determined by chi-square test, independent samples t test, Pearson correlation, and linear and logistic regression. Results: The TBS of 34.9, 31.8, and 33.3 of study subjects were higher than 1.35, 1.25-1.35, and lower than 1.25, respectively. The prevalence of TBS lower than 1.25 was 48.7 in women aged age more than 50 years. Age was the only predictor of low TBS in patients with RA. TBS and BMD were positively correlated in vertebral and hip bones. In women older than 50 years, BMI (-1.292) and age (-1.330) were predictors of low TBS. Conclusion: One-third of patients with RA were at risk of fracture. Gender and BMI were two factors which affected the TBS. This index can show the effect of disease on bones, which is related to age. © 2021 The Author (s)
Six new triterpenoids from the root of Potentilla reptans and their cardioprotective effects in silico
No full textTormentic acid ester glucosides derivatives (1, 2 and 4), 3-oxoursane ester glycoside (3) and 11-methoxy-ursane ester glycosides (5, 6) as six new triterpenoids, along with catechin were isolated from the ethyl acetate fraction of Potentilla reptans root (Et) methanolic extract. The structures of the compounds were elucidated by 1D, 2D NMR, IR and MS spectroscopy. Additionally, isolated triterpenoid compounds (1�6) and catechin were evaluated for their cardioprotective effects via glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK-3β) and glucocorticoid regulated kinase-1 (SGK1) protein kinase inhibition by Molecular Docking. Compound 1 and catechin (compound 7) exhibited significant inhibitory effects against GSK-3β and SGK1 protein kinases with a binding energy value �9.1 and �8.8 kcal/mol, respectively. Hence, Et can be a suitable natural candidate to protect cardiomyocytes injury. © 2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
Validation of a short Persian-language version of the temperament evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, Paris and San Diego-Autoquestionnaire
No full textBACKGROUND: The original TEMPs-A is a 110-item self-report instrument assessing affective temperaments. It has been translated into 25 languages and validated in more than 12 languages in countries with different cultures. The objective of this study was to validate the Persian brief, 39-item version of the questionnaire. METHODS: After developing the Persian version of the short TEMPS-A through a five-stage method including translation and back-translation, the final autoquestionnaire was validated in a sample of 331 participants from Golestan University of Medical sciences in Iran. RESULTS: Reliability as measured by Cronbach's a was generally good for all TEMPS-A subscales, ranging from 0.632 (irritable subscale) to 0.811 (cyclothymic subscale). Cyclothymic, depressive and irritable were the subscales with the strongest correlations, while hyperthymic with cyclothymic and depressive, and anxious with hyperthymic showed no correlations. Hyperthymic temperament predominated in all participants, followed by anxious temperament. Hyperthy-mic temperament was also the most frequent temperament in the cases with more than one dominant temperament. CONCLUsIONs: Brief-Persian version of TEMPs-A has a generally good internal consistency and can be a useful self-report measure for clinical and epidemiologic research purposes. However, it seems that further adjustments need to be made in order to make the instrument more appropriate for the Iranian culture. © 2020 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA
Tractor Ambulance: An Initiative of Emergency Medical Services Response to the Flood of Golestan, Iran in 2019
No full textHeavy rains in March 2019 led to severe floods in large parts of Iran, with severe financial and physical casualties (in the Golestan province, 11 districts were trapped in water). An increase in the EMS missions while serving a big portion of the needed population was a big problem for the health system during the flood; Therefore, a new solution was needed to overcome this problem. Using a farm tractor for transporting the patients and injured people was the first relief experience ever documented in the whole country. In the present report, despite the limitations and challenges, the tractor has been shown to be a proper and effective disaster relief vehicle. This report could help other similar countries face disasters, especially floods. © Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc. 2021
Single-pill sofosbuvir and daclatasvir for treating hepatis C in patients co-infected with human immunodeficiency virus
No full textBackground: The current recommendation for treating hepatitis C virus (HCV) in HIV patients includes the combination of sofosbuvir (SOF) and daclatasvir (DCV). DCV should be used at different doses to compensate for interactions with antiretroviral therapy (ART). Up to three pills a day might be required which will significantly add to the pill burden of these patients. In this study, we have used a single-tablet approach to treating HCV-HIV coinfection. Methods: Patients coinfected with HIV and HCV were prospectively enrolled from 10 centers throughout the country. Patients received a single once-daily fixed dose combination (FDC) pill containing 400 mg SOF and 30, 60 or 90 mg DCV depending on the type of ART they were receiving for 12 or 24 weeks. (ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT03369327). Results: Two hundred thirty-three patients were enrolled from 10 centers. Twenty-three patients were lost to follow-up and two patients died from causes unrelated to treatment. Two hundred eight patients completed the treatment course of which 201 achieved SVR (96.6). Conclusion: Single-tablet combination of DCV and SOF is an effective and safe treatment for patients coinfected with HIV and HCV. The combination works well in patients on ART in which dose adjustment is required. Patients with cirrhosis, previous treatment failure and various genotypes respond identically. The expenses of genotyping can be saved. © 2021 John Wiley & Sons Lt
Morphological and Molecular Identification of Emerged Lophomonas blattarum Infection in Mazandaran Province, Northern Iran: First Registry-Based Study
No full textBackground: In the last decade, several cases of bronchopulmonary lophomoniasis (BPL) have been recorded. Little information is available about epidemiological aspects on Lophomonas infection among BPL patients. The present study was aimed to investigate the prevalence of Lophomonas spp. infection in patients who were referred to the Iranian National Registry Center for Lophomoniasis (INRCL), using morphological and molecular tests. Subjects and Methods: We examined patients enrolled in the INRCL from 2017 to 2019 at the Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, northern Iran. All bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and two nasal discharges of the patients were examined by both microscopic and small-subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA) PCR methods. To confirm the species of Lophomonas, two positive samples were sequenced. Results: In this study, 321 specimens (including 319 BALF and 2 nasal discharges) were microscopically examined. Lophomonas spp. was found in 45(14) (n = 44 BAL; n = 1 nasal discharge). The mean age of infected patients was 54.9 ± 17.1 years. The following morphological characteristics were observed in both fresh and Papanicolaou-stained smears to identify Lophomonas spp. All microscopically positive specimens were confirmed with genus-specific PCR technique. The obtained sequences were deposited in Gen Bank under the accession numbers (MN243135-36). The BLAST analysis of our two sequences with the only available sequence in the Gen Bank of the Thailand strain of L. blattarum, showed identity of 99�100 and 98.51, respectively. Conclusion: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first registry-based study regarding lophomoniasis worldwide. According to our study, the conventional PCR test is an available and reliable tool for confirming the Lophomonas parasite in clinical samples. Moreover, the results confirmed that L. blattarum is circulating at least in our region. © 2021, Witold Stefa�ski Institute of Parasitology, Polish Academy of Sciences
Druggability of cavity pockets within SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein and pharmacophore-based drug discovery
No full text</inline-graphic. © 2021 All rights reserved. Aim: Virus spike glycoprotein of SARS-CoV-2 is a good target for drug discovery. Objective: To examine the potential for druggability of spike protein for pharmacophore-based drug discovery and to investigate the binding affinity of natural products with SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. Methods: Druggable cavities were searched though CavityPlus. A pharmacophore was built and used for hit identification. Autodock Vina was used to evaluate the hits' affinities. 10 chemical derivatives were also made from the chemical backbone to optimize the lead compound. Results: 10 druggable cavities were found within the glycoprotein spike. Only one cavity with the highest score at the binding site was selected for pharmacophore extraction. Hit identification resulted in the identification of 410 hits. Discussion: This study provides a druggable region within viral glycoprotein and a candidate compound to block viral entry. © 2021 All rights reserved
Higher hepatic sterol-binding protein-2 gene expression and serum triglyceride level in methimazole induced subclinical hypothyroid animal model
No full textSubclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) is a thyroid disorder characterized with elevated TSH level. Recent investigations indicate association of SCH with cardiovascular complications and dyslipidemia. Here, we aimed to evaluate the dyslipidemia in rat model of SCH induced with methimazole (MM) administration. For SCH induction, MM was administrated using gavage or ad libitum in drinking water to rats. Serum TSH and T4 levels were measured using ELISA method. The cholesterol and triglyceride were measured in serum samples using colorimetric assays. Lipid accumulation in the liver tissue was assessed histologically using oil red-o staining method. Gene expression alteration of the lipid hemostasis associated genes including acetyl CoA carboxylase (ACC), fatty acid synthase (FASN), and sterol-binding protein 2 (SREBP-2) were measured using qRT-PCR method in hepatocyte of treated animals. Our findings showed that MM can successfully induce SCH in rats by gavage; however, MM administration in drinking water was not efficient. The serum samples from SCH rat showed higher triglyceride (P value = 0.005) and total cholesterol (P value > 0.05) level. The accumulation of lipid droplets found in larger size (P value < 0.0001) in hepatocyte of the SCH rat comparing to the control. The gene expression of ACC, FASN, and SREBP-2 (~1.5 fold change) was upregulated in SCH rats; however, the changes of SREBP-2 expression were significant (P value = 0.04). It can be concluded that MM delivery through drinking water is not efficient enough for SCH modeling when comparing to gavage delivery. Altogether, we found MM-gavage-induced SCH rats have higher triglyceride level in circulation with increased lipid droplets size and elevated SREBP-2 transcription factor gene expression in hepatocytes. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag London Ltd., part of Springer Nature
Associations between biomarkers of exposure and lung cancer risk among exclusive cigarette smokers in the golestan cohort study
No full textBiomarkers of tobacco exposure are known to be associated with disease risk but previous studies are limited in number and restricted to certain regions. We conducted a nested case�control study examining baseline levels and subsequent lung cancer incidence among current male exclusive cigarette smokers in the Golestan Cohort Study in Iran. We calculated geometric mean biomarker concentrations for 28 matched cases and 52 controls for the correlation of biomarker levels among controls and for adjusted odds� ratios (ORs) for lung cancer incidence by biomarker concentration, accounting for demographic characteristics, smoking quantity and duration, and opium use. Lung cancer cases had higher average levels of most biomarkers including total nicotine equivalents (TNE-2), 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanol (NNAL), and 3-hydroxyfluorene (3-FLU). Many biomarkers correlated highly with one another including TNE-2 with NNAL and N-Acetyl-S-(2-cyanoethyl)-L-cysteine (2CYEMA), and N-Acetyl-S-(4-hydroxy-2-buten-1-yl)-L-cysteine (t4HBEMA) with N-Acetyl-S-(3-hydroxypropyl-1-methyl)-L-cysteine (3HMPMA) and N-Acetyl-S-(4-hydroxy-2-methyl-2-buten-1-yl)-L-cysteine (4HMBEMA). Lung cancer risk increased with concentration for several biomarkers, including TNE-2 (OR = 2.22, 95 CI = 1.03, 4.78) and NNN (OR = 2.44, 95 CI = 1.13, 5.27), and estimates were significant after further adjustment for demographic and smoking characteristics for 2CYEMA (OR = 2.17, 95 CI = 1.03, 4.55), N-Acetyl-S-(2-carbamoylethyl)-L-cysteine (2CAEMA) (OR = 2.14, 95 CI = 1.01, 4.55), and N-Acetyl-S-(2-hydroxypropyl)-L-cysteine (2HPMA) (OR = 2.85, 95 CI = 1.04, 7.81). Estimates were not significant with adjustment for opium use. Concentrations of many biomarkers were higher at the baseline for participants who subsequently developed lung cancer than among the matched controls. Odds of lung cancer were higher for several biomarkers including with adjustment for smoking exposure for some but not with adjustment for opium use. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland
Inhibitory effects of berberine on ovarian cancer: Beyond apoptosis
No full textOvarian cancer is one of the main causes of women�s mortality worldwide. A variety of biological mechanisms are involved in ovarian cancer pathogenesis, including epigenetic alterations, mutations (especially in tumor suppressor genes), upregulated oncogenes, decreased apoptotic pathways, and dysregulation of other signaling pathways. Surgery and chemotherapy are two common approaches for treating ovarian cancer. Chemoresistance to common therapeutic drugs results in a lack of significant improvements in ovarian cancer therapy. In this regard, finding and developing new therapeutic platforms are required. Utilizing medicinal plants has emerged as a new horizon in the treatment of various cancers, such as ovarian cancer. Berberine is a yellow extract obtained from different plants and shows various antitumor activities. Also, clinical studies indicated that berberine is a safe and nontoxic compound. Herein, we reviewed the role of berberine in different aspects of ovarian cancers, such as apoptosis. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature