Association of Anticardiolipin Antibodies and Extent of Coronary Artery Disease in Military Personnel and Non Military Population With Acute Coronary Syndrome

Introduction: Cardiac involvement is one of the chief complications considerably contributing to the morbidity and mortality of patients with systemic autoimmune diseases. Anticardiolipin antibody is a marker of elevated myocardial infarction risk and it also predicts post cardiac intervention risk. In the current study, we aimed to evaluate the association between anticardiolipin IgM and IgG levels and atherosclerotic involvement of coronary arteries.Methods: Patients with acute coronary syndrome admitted to a military hospital were included in the study. Patients were categorized to military personnel and non-military personnel. Laboratory data including lipid profile, blood sugar, anticardiolipin IgM and anticardiolipin IgG were verified. Existence and the extent of Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) were defined according to angiographic findings. The relationship between anticardiolipin antibody levels and the number of vessels were evaluated.Results: According to our sample population calculation, we performed the study on a total of 92 patients. Measurement of both anticardiolipin antibodies (IgM and IgG) in military personnel and non personnel patients showed no significant difference. In both military personnel and non personnel groups, there was a significant association between anticardiolipin IgM and IgG levels and number of coronary arteries with significant stenosis. The C Reactive Protein (CRP) level was significantly higher in military personnel.Conclusions: According to the study results, anticardiolipin antibody levels were the same in both military personnel and non personnel. Also systolic and diastolic blood pressures were not significantly different in both groups. Increased CRP level in military personnel may be a warning signal about the possibility of premature CAD in this population, hence aggressive risk factor modification is recommended. Paradoxically lipid profile and FBS levels were more favorable in military personnel, which indirectly reflects their higher state of physical activity

Antibiotic resistance pattern of Klebsiella pneumoniae isolated from nosocomial infections in Aleshtar hospital, Lorestan province

Introduction: Klebsiella pneumoniae is one of Klebsiella species. K. pneumoniae is one of the most important bacteria causing nosocomial infections. This bacterium threatens public health and leads to increased hospital costs and mortality rate. The purpose of this study was to determine the pattern of antibiotic resistance in K. pneumoniae in nosocomial infections.Methods: This study was performed on 51 samples of Klebsiella isolates from 500 patients in three units of Aleshtar hospital in 9 months. The antibiotic resistance of K. pneumoniae to 18 antibiotics was performed by Kirby Bauer disk diffusion method.Results: The frequency of K. pneumonia among 500 samples was determined 51 cases (10.2%). The largest number of K. pneumoniae was isolated from the infectious unit (49.02%). The frequency of K. pneumoniae based on the source of infection for urine was 22 cases (43.14%), sputum 17 (33.33%), stool 6 (11.77%), wound 4 (7.84%), blood 2 (3.92%), and cerebrospinal fluid 0 (0%), respectively. K. pneumoniae resistance to antibiotics included: ceftriaxone (94.12%), ciprofloxacin (90.20%), ofloxacin (86.27%), cefotaxime (78.43%), nalidixic acid (58.82%), nitrofurantoin (56.86%), aztreonam (54.90%), ampicillin/sulbactam (50.98% ), ticarcillin (45.09%), cefepime (43.14%), colistin (43.14%), gentamicin (41.18%), azithromycin (41.18%), polymyxin B (39.22%), piperacillin/tazobactam (19.61%), amikacin ( 15.69%), imipenem (5.88%), and meropenem (3.92%).Conclusion: Meropenem and imipenem with the lowest resistance were the most effective antibiotics against K .pneumoniae. Ceftriaxone, and ciprofloxacin antibiotic had the lowest effect on the treatment of K. pneumoniae

Solitary Synchronous Pancreatic Metastasis from Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma: A Rare Case Report

Pancreas is an organ that is hardly affected by metastasis from other primary cancers; also, pancreatic metastasis from esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is an extremely infrequent entity. Metastatic esophageal cancer has a poor prognosis and the five-year survival rate is less than 5%. Here, we described a rare case of a 78-year-old woman presented with abdominal bloating, intermittent mild nausea, and loss of appetite and weight. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy revealed ESCC in the upper part of esophagus. A mass lesion between the head and body of pancreas was detected during metastatic work-up. Endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration was performed, morphologic features and immunohistochemistry confirmed metastatic squamous cell carcinoma from esophagus. Definitive chemoradiotherapy with curative intent was done on both oesophageal and pancreatic lesion. Interestingly, after nine months of treatment, the patient had no issues either in esophagus or in abdomen. In conclusion, local therapy could be considered as one of the best choices to improve the overall survival in ESCC with single metastasis to pancreas

Signaling Molecules Governing Pluripotency and Early Lineage Commitments in Human Pluripotent Stem Cells

Signaling in pluripotent stem cells is a complex and dynamic process involving multiple mediators, finely tuned to balancing pluripotency and differentiation states. Characterizing and modifying the necessary signaling pathways to attain desired cell types is required for stem-cell applications in various fields of regenerative medicine. These signals may help enhance the differentiation potential of pluripotent cells towards each of the embryonic lineages and enable us to achieve pure in vitro cultures of various cell types. This review provides a timely synthesis of recent advances into how maintenance of pluripotency in hPSCs is regulated by extrinsic cues, such as the fibroblast growth factor (FGF) and ACTIVIN signaling pathways, their interplay with other signaling pathways, namely, wingless- type MMTV integration site family (WNT) and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), and the pathways governing the determination of multiple lineages

Serological investigation on the incidence of Leptospira serovars among rice farmers in Veysian, Lorestan province

Background: Leptospira is belonged to phylum spirochaetes, which causes leptospirosis disease. Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease with highly variable symptoms. The purpose of the study was to determine the serological incidence of Leptospira serovars among rice farmers in Veysian, Lorestan province. Materials and Methods: 200 rice farmers of Veysian were sampled (blood sample) clinically in 2014. Blood samples were transfered to the laboratory. The sera were transferred to -20° C until performance of MAT test. The serum samples were examined by the Microscopic Agglutination Test (MAT) method. The final dilution of leptospiral infection was determined by 1:200, 1:400 and 1:800 dilutions. Results: 60 serum samples (30%) out of 200 samples were positive in 1:100 dilution. 38 (63.33%) L. grippotyphosa and 22 (36.67%) L.canicola antigens reacted positively . The infection rate was 65% for males and 35% for females. P value according to gender was 0.02. There is a significant correlation between leptospiral infection and gender based on statistical analysis. The highest and the lowest frequency of positive samples were related to age group over 50 and 21-30 years groups, respectively. Conclusion: Leptospirosis is a common disease among rice farmers, and in Veysian according to the rice farms, and planting and harvesting which are in traditional way is introduced as an impotant infectious disease; therefore to prevent the spread of this disease, health and safty should be developed. Also, using mechanized methods of farming, planting and harvesting, leptospirosis can be prevented largely in the region

Oxygen-rich Environment Ameliorates Cell Therapy Outcomes of Cardiac Progenitor Cells for Myocardial Infarction

To some extent, cell therapy for myocardial infarction (MI) has supported the idea of cardiac repair; however, further optimizations are inevitable. Combined approaches that comprise suitable cell sources and supporting molecules considerably improved its effect. Here, we devised a strategy of simultaneous transplantation of human cardiac progenitor cells (CPCs) and an optimized oxygen generating microparticles (MPs) embedded in fibrin hydrogel, which was injected into a left anterior descending artery (LAD) ligating-based rat model of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Functional parameters of the heart, particularly left ventricular systolic function, markedly improved and reached pre-AMI levels. This functional restoration was well correlated with substantially lower fibrotic tissue formation and greater vascular density in the infarct area. Our novel approach promoted CPCs retention and differentiation into cardiovascular lineages. We propose this novel co-transplantation strategy for more efficient cell therapy of AMI which may function by providing an oxygen-rich microenvironment, and thus regulate cell survival and differentiation

Clinical Breast Cancer Registry of IR. Iran (CBCR-IR):Study Protocol and First Results

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer (BC), as a significant global health problem, is the most common cancer in women. Despite the importance of clinical cancer registries in improving the quality of cancer care and cancer research, there are few reports on them from low- and middle-income countries. We established a multicenter clinical breast cancer registry in Iran (CBCR-IR) to collect data on BC cases, the pattern of care, and the quality-of-care indicators in different hospitals across the country.METHODS: We established a clinical cancer registry in 12 provinces of Iran. We defined the organizational structure, developed minimal data sets and data dictionaries, verified data sources and registration processes, and developed the necessary registry software. During this registry, we studied the clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients with cancer who were admitted from 2014 onwards.RESULTS: We registered 13086 BC cases (7874 eligible cases) between 1.1.2014 and 1.1.2022. Core needle biopsy from the tumor (61.25%) and diagnostic mammography (68.78%) were the two most commonly used diagnostic methods. Stage distribution was 2.03% carcinoma in situ, 12% stage I, 44.65% stage II, 21.32% stage III, and 4.61% stage IV; stage information was missing in 1532 patients (19.46%). Surgery (95.01%) and chemotherapy (79.65%) were the most common treatments for all patients.CONCLUSION: The information provided by this registry can be used to evaluate and improve the quality of care for BC patients. It will be scaled up to the national level as an important resource for measuring quality of care and conducting clinical cancer research in Iran.</p