Effect of melatonin in reducing second-generation antipsychotic metabolic effects: A double blind controlled clinical trial

Introduction The use of second-generation atypical antipsychotics has an increasing role in the development of metabolic syndrome. However, these medications due to metabolic disorders can lead to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and subsequently mortality as well as reduced adherence to treatment. The main objective of current study was to determine the ability of melatonin to reduce the metabolic effects of second-generation antipsychotics. Methods This double blind controlled clinical trial was conducted on 100 patients aged 18–64 years old were treated with the second-generation antipsychotics for the first time. The patients were divided randomly into two groups of 50. The case group received slow-release melatonin at a dose of 3 mg and the control group was given oral placebo at 8 p.m. Results The findings in melatonin group indicated significantly increase of HDL and decreased fasting blood sugar and systolic blood pressure, as well as had statistically significant increase in waist circumference, weight and BMI compared with placebo group. Conclusion According to the findings, it can be claimed that the addition of melatonin to atypical antipsychotics has led to a reduction in some of the metabolic effects of these drugs. In this study, HDL level was increased, and the mean systolic blood pressure and FBS were decreased in the melatonin group. Considering that these factors are contributing to cardiovascular disease as a leading cause of mortality in psychiatric patients, so the use of melatonin can reduce some of the medical effects of long-term treatment of atypical antipsychotics. © 2017 Diabetes Indi

Therapeutic effect of adjunctive N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) on symptoms of chronic schizophrenia: A double-blind, randomized clinical trial

Abstract Background Schizophrenia is one of the most disabling psychiatric syndromes with the prevalence of 1% in the general population. Despite availability of various antipsychotics, negative symptoms and cognitive impairment are difficult to treat. In addition antipsychotic monotherapy is not effective in most of these patients. Current evidence indicates the roles of glutamatergic system in this disorder. N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) also increases extracellular glutamate. This study was conducted to evaluate the clinical effects of oral NAC as an add-on to maintenance medication for the treatment of chronic schizophrenia. Materials and methods This 12-week, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, clinical trial was performed to determine the effectiveness of 1200 mg N-acetyl cysteine as an adjunctive treatment with conventional antipsychotic medications in 84 patients with chronic schizophrenia. The subjects were evaluated with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), and a standard neuropsychological screening test. Data were analyzed with SPSS-16 software. Results NAC-treated patients showed significantly improvement in the positive (F = 5.47, P = 0.02) and negative (F = 0.20, df = 1) PANSS subscale. Also the general and total PANSS score of NAC group declined over times whilst it was increased for placebo group. Regarding cognitive functions, improvement was observed in some explored areas, such as attention, short-term and working memory, executive functioning and speed of processing. There was no significant difference between the 2 groups in the frequency of adverse effects. Conclusion The present study detected improvement in positive, negative, general and total psychopathology symptoms as well as cognitive performance with NAC treatment. It is also well-tolerated, safe and easy-to-use agent as an effective therapeutic strategy to improve outcome in schizophrenia treatment. Keywords N-acetyl cysteine Schizophrenia Cognitive impairment Positive and negative symptoms scale (PANSS) Glutamatergic syste

Multi-drug resistant Escherichia coli in diarrhoeagenic foals: Pulsotyping, phylotyping, serotyping, antibiotic resistance and virulence profiling

Extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli (ExPEC) possess the ability to cause extraintestinal infections such as urinary tract infections, neonatal meningitis and sepsis. While information is readily available describing pathogenic E. coli populations in food-producing animals, studies in companion/sports animals such as horses are limited. In addition, many antimicrobial agents used in the treatment of equine infections are also utilised in human medicine, potentially contributing to the spread of antibiotic resistance determinants among pathogenic strains. The aim of this study was to phenotypically and genotypically characterise the multidrug resistance and virulence associated with 83 equine E. coli isolates recovered from foals with diarrhoeal disease. Serotyping was performed by both PCR and sequencing. Antibiotic resistance was assessed by disc diffusion. Phylogenetic groups, virulence genes, antibiotic resistance genes and integrons were determined by PCR. Thirty-nine (46%) of the isolates were classified as ExPEC and hence considered to be potentially pathogenic to humans and animals. Identified serogroups O1, O19a, O40, O101 and O153 are among previously reported human clinical ExPEC isolates. Over a quarter of the E. coli were assigned to pathogenic phylogroups B2 (6%) and D (23%). Class 1 and class 2 integrons were detected in 85% of E. coli, revealing their potential to transfer MDR to other pathogenic and non-pathogenic bacteria. With 65% of potentially pathogenic isolates harbouring one or more TEM, SHV and CTX-M-2 group β-lactamases, in addition to the high levels of resistance to fluoroquinolones observed, our findings signal the need for increased attention to companion/sport animal reservoirs as public health threats

Increased Adiposity, Dysregulated Glucose Metabolism and Systemic Inflammation in Galectin-3 KO Mice

PMCID: PMC3579848This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

Comparison between biomarkers of kidney injury, inflammation, and oxidative stress in patients with diabetic nephropathy and type 2 diabetes mellitus

Introduction. This study was conducted to compare parameters of kidney injury, oxidative stress and inflammation in people with diabetic nephropathy (DN) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods. In a cross-sectional study, 57 cases with DN and 57 cases with T2DM were included in the study. Fasting blood samples were obtained to determine parameters of kidney injury, oxidative stress and inflammation. Results. The current study showed that patients with DN had higher tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) (167.0 ± 40.1 vs. 151.4 ± 37.4 ng/L, P .05). Furthermore, advanced glycation end products (AGEs) levels in patients with DN were higher than that of patients with T2DM (8511.7 ± 1799.9 vs. 7660.7 ± 1711.9 AU, P <.05), but the difference in malondialdehyde value was not significant. Finally, we found that total protein levels in cases with DN were enhanced compared with individuals with T2DM (7.1 ± 0.5 vs. 6.9 ± 0.6 mg/dL, P <.05); however, other markers of kidney injury did not change. Conclusions. In conclusion, the results of present study revealed that few markers of inflammation and oxidative stress including TNF-α, MMP-2, AGEs levels and total protein levels in patients with DN were significantly higher than that of patients with T2DN. Further studies are necessary to confirm these findings. © 2020, Iranian Society of Nephrology. All rights reserved

A comparative study of characteristics and risky behaviors among the iranian opium and opium dross addicts

Background: Iran ranks first per capita in the use of opiates, but we have little information about possible differences regarding the 2 most commonly used illicit drugs, namely opium and its dross (residue). Design: This is a cross-sectional study. Setting: A cross-sectional study about drug abuse and drug dependence in Iran was conducted from April 2006 to August 2008 in the prisons of 28 Iranian provinces, in the treatment centers, and in the streets. Participants: To pursue the objectives of this research, participants included 2979 opiate addicts including opium users (n = 2636) and dross users (n = 343), who were not significantly different by gender (P = 0.269) or age (P = 0.452). Measurements: An anonymous questionnaire was completed through an interview that gathered sociodemographic characteristics and information about some high-risk behaviors. Result: By the end of the study, we concluded that dross addicts, in comparison with opium addicts, were mostly immigrants from rural areas to urban areas (P = 0.031 X2 test, 95 confidence interval CI), mostly uneducated, illiterate, or semiliterate (P = 0.04 X2 test, 95% CI), had illegal occupations (P = 0.048 X2 test, 95% CI), were cigarette smokers (P &lt; 0.000 X2 test, 95% CI), and had experienced drug injections (P = 0.032 X2 test, 95% CI) and drug overdose (P = 0.007 X2 test, 95% CI). They also had a history of hospital admission within the preceding year because of drug overdose (P &lt; 0.000) and a record of being arrested and jailed in the past year (P = 0.028 =2 test, 95% CI). Conclusion: These results indicated the need for more intensive and effective care for the opioid addicts in Iran. © 2011 American Society of Addiction Medicine

1990年イラン北西部ルードバール地震(M7.3)の余震分布とそのテクトニクス的意味

One of the largest earthquakes in Iran occurred on June 20, 1990, at 21:00 UT at around Rudbar and Manjil Cities in Gilan Province, northwest Iran. An aftershock observation has been conducted around the source region from 30 days after the mainshock and has been continued for more than 5 months. The epicenters of the aftershocks are extending as long as 90km striking WNW-ESE in parallel with the trend of the northern and southern marginal longitudinal faults of the Qezel-Owzan basin along the Talesh-Alborz seismo-tectonic zone. A strike-slip fault, running along the aftershock zone on the uplifted side of the northern marginal fault, is proposed judging from the topographic map and the Landsat image. The part of the aftershock area southeast of the main shock epicenter is more active than the northwestern part. Particularly, microseismic activity is very high in the southeastern end close to Pakdeh, where remarkable surface fissures were observed. The Vp/Vs ratio is inferred as 1.88±0.60 for the region covered by the seismic network. The aftershock decay rate was such that p=1.5 for the modified Omori formula, although the p value for a short period of 4 days at the beginning of the observation was around 4.0.1990年6月20日21時00分13.12秒(世界時),イラン北西部ギーラーン州のルードバール市付近でM7.3の浅発地震が発生した.地震の30日後から余震観測を実施した. 60kmのスパンの3点観測網(Saravan, Abbar, Abtorsh)による観測は5ヶ月以上の期間続けられた.ほかに3ヶ所において2～5日間の短期観測(Masuleh, Bivarzin, Jirandeh)をおこなった