Sex-dependent effects of chronic fluoxetine exposure during adolescence on passive avoidance memory, nociception, and prefrontal brain-derived neurotrophic factor mRNA expression

Fluoxetine, a common antidepressant drug, is widely used for mental disorders therapy in adolescents. Previous animal experiments have indicated that exposure to fluoxetine during adolescence leads to persistent behavioral changes and neuroplasticity in the hippocampal formation and cortex which may continue until adulthood. Therefore, in the present experimental study, we examined the effects of chronic fluoxetine exposure (5 mg/kg/day, gavage) throughout adolescence (postnatal day 21–60) on passive avoidance learning and memory, pain sensitivity, and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) level in the prefrontal cortex of young adult male and female rats. Passive avoidance learning, memory, and nociception were assessed by the shuttle box and hot plate tests respectively. Quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was applied to estimate the BDNF mRNA expression. Our data showed that chronic administration of fluoxetine had an increasing effect on passive avoidance memory in female animals. As well as, chronic fluoxetine treatment decreased latency of response to thermal stimulus in male and female rats. The mRNA expression of BDNF in the prefrontal cortex significantly increased in fluoxetine- exposed female rats. In conclusion, chronic fluoxetine treatment has sex-dependent effects on passive avoidance memory and BDNF mRNA expression, but the pain threshold decreases in both sexes. Therefore, passive avoidance memory, pain sensitivity, and the BDNF level are influenced by the manipulation of the serotonergic system

Quality of work life and work-family conflict: a cross-sectional study among nurses in teaching hospitals

Background The nursing profession is known to induce high levels of stress, and being simultaneously engaged in a stressful professional occupation and having a family life can lead to work-family conflict. Healthcare providers require recruitment and retention strategies that preserve nurses’ quality of work-life and mitigate work-family conflict. Aim To investigate the relationship between quality of work-life and work-family conflict among hospital nurses in Iran, as well as the relationships between work-family conflict and quality of work life, and between age, professional experience, type of employment, work shift and marital status. Method This cross-sectional study was conducted among 378 nurses working in six Iranian teaching hospitals, who were selected using random quota sampling. Data on age, professional experience, type of employment, work shift and marital status was collected. The study questionnaire was based on the 53-item Quality of Work Life scale and the 18-item Work-Family Conflict scale. Correlations were established using Pearson’s chi-squared and eta-squared tests. Results A total of 93% of participants experienced moderate or high levels of work-family conflict and 83% had a low or moderate quality of work life. On average, the levels of work-family conflict and quality of work life were moderate. Quality of work life decreased with increasing work-family conflict. Conclusion Healthcare providers can use these results to inform their recruitment and retention strategies. Nurse managers can mitigate any adverse effects of work-family conflict on quality of work life by offering staff interventions such as short training courses on how to manage work-family conflict

Repeated stimulation of the dorsolateral-prefrontal cortex improves executive dysfunctions and craving in drug addiction: A randomized, double-blind, parallel-group study

Background: According to the neurocognitive model of addiction, the development and maintenance of drug addiction is associated with cognitive control deficits, as well as decreased activity of prefrontal regions, especially the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). This study investigated how improving executive functions (EFs) impacts methamphetamine-use disorder, which has been less explored compared to craving, but might be a central aspect for the therapeutic efficacy of DLPFC stimulation in drug addiction. Methods: We assessed the efficacy of 10 repeated sessions of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the DLPFC on executive dysfunctions in methamphetamine-use disorder, and its association with craving alterations. 39 of 50 initially recruited individuals with methamphetamine-use disorder who were in the abstinent-course treatment were randomly assigned to “active” and “sham” stimulation groups in a randomized, double-blind parallel-group study. They received active (2 mA, 20 min) or sham tDCS for 10 sessions over 5 weeks. Performance on major EF tasks (e.g., working memory, inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility, and risk-taking behaviour) and craving were measured before, immediately after, and 1 month following the intervention. Participants reported abstinence from drug consumption throughout the experiment, verified by regular urine tests during the course of the study up to the follow-up measurement. Results: The group which received active DLPFC tDCS showed significantly improved task performance across all EFs immediately after and 1 month following the intervention, when compared to both prestimulation baseline and individuals who received sham tDCS. Similarly, a significant reduction in craving was observed immediately after and 1 month following the intervention in the active, but not sham stimulation group. A significant correlation between cognitive control improvement and craving reduction was found as well

Assessment of background radiation levels in the southeast of Iran

Background: Measuring background radiation (BR) is highly important from different perspectives, especially from that of human health. This study was conducted to measure BR in the southeast of Iran. Methods: BR was measured in Hormozgan and Sistan-Bluchestan provinces using portable Environmental Radiation Meter Type 6-80 detector. The average value was used to calculate the absorbed dose rate and indoor annual effective dose (AED) from BR. In addition, excess lifetime cancer risk (ELCR) was evaluated. Results: The results showed that the maximum and minimum absorbed dose rates were 71.9 and 34.2 nGy.h-1 in Abomoosa and Minab in Hormozgan province and 90.0 and 47.8 nGy.h-1 in Zahedan and Chabahar in Sistan-Bluchestan province, respectively. Data indicated that these areas had a lower BR level compared with the worldwide level. The ELCR from indoor AED was larger compared with the worldwide average of 0.29 × 10-3. Conclusion: This study provided a reference for designing and developing specific regional surveys associated with the measurement of natural BR in the southeast of Iran

Comparison of postoperative complications of pre-anal abscesses in patients who have undergonepenrose drain after drainage with perianal abscesses without drain in patients referred to Fatemi Hospital

Background:Most purulent diseases of the anrectal are caused by infections of the anal glands (cryptococcal infection). These glands are located on the plate between the sphincters, and their ducts are emptied into the anal crypts after passing through the internal sphincter at the level of the dental line. Infection of the anal glands leads to the formation of abscesses. Perianal abscess treatment involves surgical drainage, which in about half of the cases causes fistulas and postoperative pain. Aim: Due to the relatively high prevalence of the complication, the cost of controlling the side effects of these patients on the health system was decided to conduct a study to investigate the embedding of the drain in reducing postoperative complications in the analysis of pre-anal abscesses.. Material and Methods:This study is a cohort study. The statistical population of 80 patients who underwent abscess drainage and 40 patients who managed by penrose drain were compared with 40 patients who managed bypacking and without drain.Basic information such as age, sex was obtained from patients at the beginning of the study, and postoperative pain, postoperative discharge, and fistula evidence were assessed after about 3 months. Results:Out of a total of 80 patients, 78.8% were men and 21.2% were women. In terms of age, 5% were under 20 years old, 21.2% were between 20 and 30 years old, and 16.3% were between 30 and 40 years old, and 23.8% were between 40 and 50 years old. 50 to 60 years and 12.5 percent were over 60 years. Postoperative pain was severe in 1.2% of people after 3 months and recurred. 5% had moderate pain, 28.8% had mild pain, and 65% had no pain. 30% had fistula after 3 months. The study showed a significant difference between the group with the penrose drain and the group without the drain. Postoperative pain was so severe that the pain in the group with drains was much lower (P = 0.008).There was also a significant difference in post-operative fistula formation between the group with the drain and the group without the drain, so that the fistula in the group with the drain was much smaller (P = 0.007). This study showed that in terms of fistula occurrence between sexes There is no significant difference between men and women and different age groups. The study also showed that there was no significant difference between post-operative sex between men and women and different age groups. There were no reports of recurrences with drains, which was not statistically significant.. Conclusion:The results showed that post-drainage penrosedrain of perianal abscesses significantly reduced the incidence of perianal fistula and reduced postoperative pain

Aspirin Sensitivity in Patients with Moderate to Severe Asthma

Asthma induced by ingestion of aspirin occurs when symptoms arise within 30 minutes to three hours after aspirin consumption. Previous data indicate that sensitivity to aspirin may be associated with poorly controlled asthma. This study aims to evaluate the frequency of aspirin sensitivity in patients with moderate to severe asthma receiving conventional asthma therapy. This clinical trial was conducted on 65 patients aged 18 to 65 years with moderate to severe asthma from February 2015 to February 2016 at the Allergy Department, Hazrat-e-Rasoul Hospital, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran. To assess treatment responses in patients, forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1) and asthma control test (ACT) scores were measured at baseline and after 3 months. The results of the oral aspirin challenge revealed a prevalence of 35.38% for sensitivity to aspirin. Hypersensitivity reactions to aspirin were detected in 60.9% of the patients with moderate asthma and 39.1% of the patients with severe asthma. All patients with positive aspirin challenge tests suffered from rhinosinusitis and in 56.5% of cases, history of previous hypersensitivity reactions to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) was detected. No meaningful differences were found between those patients with aspirin sensitivity and those with aspirin tolerance neither in mean prebronchodilator FEV1 nor in ACT scores pre- and post-treatment. To conclude, aspirin sensitivity was not found to have an association with an unfavorable response to conventional treatment in patients with uncontrolled asthma

Immunotherapeutic approaches to curtail COVID-19

COVID-19, the disease induced by the recently emerged severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has imposed an unpredictable burden on the world. Drug repurposing has been employed to rapidly find a cure; but despite great efforts, no drug or vaccine is presently available for treating or prevention of COVID-19. Apart from antivirals, immunotherapeutic strategies are suggested considering the role of the immune response as the host defense against the virus, and the fact that SARS-CoV-2 suppresses interferon induction as an immune evasion strategy. Active immunization through vaccines, interferon administration, passive immunotherapy by convalescent plasma or synthesized monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies, as well as immunomodulatory drugs, are different immunotherapeutic approaches that will be mentioned in this review. The focus would be on passive immunotherapeutic interventions. Interferons might be helpful in some stages. Vaccine development has been followed with unprecedented speed. Some of these vaccines have been advanced to human clinical trials. Convalescent plasma therapy is already practiced in many countries to help save the lives of severely ill patients. Different antibodies that target various steps of SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis or the associated immune responses are also proposed. For treating the cytokine storm induced at a late stage of the disease in some patients, immune modulation through JAK inhibitors, corticosteroids, and some other cognate classes are evaluated. Given the changing pattern of cytokine induction and immune responses throughout the COVID-19 disease course, different adapted approaches are needed to help patients. Gaining more knowledge about the detailed pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2, its interplay with the immune system, and viral-mediated responses are crucial to identify efficient preventive and therapeutic approaches. A systemic approach seems essential in this regard

Synthesis and evaluation of antileishmanial effects of new1,4-dihydropyridin derivatives

Introduction Leishmaniasis is an infectious disease caused by different species of Leishmania. To treatment of this disease is used from drugs such as glucantime, amphotericin B and paromycin that their side effects and drug resistance attracts attention to find new drugs against the parasite. In this study, in order to develop the pharmacological treatment of leishmaniasis, designed and synthesized a series dihydropyridine derivative by Hantzsch's reaction and investigated their anti-leishmania activity against the forms of Promastigot and Amastigot parasite of Leishmania major. Material and Method In the present project, designed, synthesized and purified a series of 1,4-dihydropyridine derivatives. Then, their structural identification was performed by 1H-NMR, FT-IR and MS spectra. Their antiparasitic effects were investigated on standard strain (MRHO/IR/75/ER) of major Leishmaniasis. Results Compounds 2 and 7 showed the highest activity among 1,4-dihydropyridine derivatives against amastigot and promastigot forms (IC50= 5.25 µg / ml) and (IC50= 5.43 µg / ml), respectively. Also, almost screened compounds showed slight toxicity against macrophages. Conclusion According to the results, the type of groups in para-phenyl ring of C4 position of dihydropyrimidine, lipophilicity character and the length of the easter chain of C3 and C5 postions of dihydropyridine ring had positive effect against forms of Promastigot and Amastigot parasite. Although the effectiveness of these compounds is lower than standard anti-leishmaniasis drugs, it can provide the way for designe of compounds with more effec

Evaluation of Mothers' Self-efficacy in Caring of Children with Asthma Referred to the Subspecialty Clinic and Ardabil Educational-Medical Center of BuAli in 2018

Background & Aim: Asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases in childhood and the first causes of admission of children in the emergency room and hospitalization. Families, especially mothers, play a key role in improving the child with asthma, and high self-efficacy of mothers is associated with improved control of asthma symptoms. Therefore, main aim of this study was to Assessment of self-efficacy of mothers of children with asthma referred to Ardebil-Bu-Ali educational center in 2018 and its relation with demographic variables. Methods: This descriptive-correlational study was performed on all children with asthma (6-11 years old) referring to Ardabil Ardabil University of Medical Sciences and Health Services, a non-random and non-randomized sampling method. In a year 2018 was done. The instrument for data collection was a two-part questionnaire including demographic characteristics, and maternal self-efficacy questionnaire. Data analysis was performed using descriptive statistics and analytical statistics using spss18 software. Results: The results of the study showed that 51.9% (n = 138) of mothers had good self-efficacy and 48.1% (128) of mothers had undesirable self-efficacy. Also, there is a significant relationship between the high self-efficacy of mothers and their educational level, job, history and frequency of admission of their child and mothers’ education source (p<0.001). Conclusion: The findings of the present study indicate that mothers of asthmatic children have high self-efficacy. Therefore, mothers' self-efficacy should be considered with regard to their demographic variables in order to improve and control asthma symptoms. Key words: self-efficacy, asthma, mother, chil