Hepatitis B vaccination coverage among Iranian children aged 15-26 months in 2006

This study in 2006 estimated the hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccination coverage in the Islamic Republic of Iran at the national and district levels in urban, rural and remote populations of 41 university health service areas. Of 21 905 children recruited to the study, vaccination coverage based on vaccination card records was 100% in 14, 15 and 10 of the 41 university areas for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd doses of HBV respectively. National levels of HBV1, HBV2 and HBV3 coverage were 98.9%, 98.8% and 98.4% respectively. The lowest HBV vaccination coverage rate was 90.7% (in a remote district). HBV vaccination coverage was at an acceptable level in Iranian children

Primary immunodeficiency disorders in Iran: Update and new insights from the third report of the national registry

Background: Primary immunodeficiency disorders (PID) are a group of heterogeneous disorders mainly characterized by severe and recurrent infections and increased susceptibility to malignancies, lymphoproliferative and autoimmune conditions. National registries of PID disorders provide epidemiological data and increase the awareness of medical personnel as well as health care providers. Methods: This study presents the demographic data and clinical manifestations of Iranian PID patients who were diagnosed from March 2006 till the March of 2013 and were registered in Iranian PID Registry (IPIDR) after its second report of 2006. Results: A total number of 731 new PID patients (455 male and 276 female) from 14 medical centers were enrolled in the current study. Predominantly antibody deficiencies were the most common subcategory of PID (32.3 %) and were followed by combined immunodeficiencies (22.3 %), congenital defects of phagocyte number, function, or both (17.4 %), well-defined syndromes with immunodeficiency (17.2 %), autoinflammatory disorders (5.2 %), diseases of immune dysregulation (2.6 %), defects in innate immunity (1.6 %), and complement deficiencies (1.4 %). Severe combined immunodeficiency was the most common disorder (21.1 %). Other prevalent disorders were common variable immunodeficiency (14.9 %), hyper IgE syndrome (7.7 %), and selective IgA deficiency (7.5 %). Conclusions: Registration of Iranian PID patients increased the awareness of medical community of Iran and developed diagnostic and therapeutic techniques across more parts of the country. Further efforts must be taken by increasing the coverage of IPIDR via electronically registration and gradual referral system in order to provide better estimation of PID in Iran and reduce the number of undiagnosed cases. © 2014 Springer Science+Business Media

Evaluating the ability of hospital information systems to establish evidence-based medicine in Iran

Evidence-based medicine (EBM) is the correct use of the best evidences in clinical decision making for patient care. Hospital Information Systems (HIS) can act as a bridge between medical data and medical knowledge through context-sensitive merging and filtering of patient data, individual clinical knowledge and external evidence. The aim of this study was to determine the ability of HISs to establish EBM in Iran. This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out on HISs of 30 hospitals from March 2011 to October 2011. Data were collected using a researcher-constructed checklist including applicant's background information as well as information based on research objectives: clinical decision support system (CDSS), reference databases, contextual and case-specific information, clinical and administrative data repositories and Internet-based health information. Face and content validity of the checklist were assessed by the qualified specialists and then the data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and SPSS 16 software. The results of the study revealed that the HISs lacked the essential components to providing access to CDSS, reference databases and Internet-based health information in 19, 16 and 20 hospitals were 63.3 , 53.3 and 66.7, respectively. Twenty-two hospitals (70 ) had more than two-thirds of the essential components to access clinical and administrative data repositories; 23 hospitals (76.7 ) had at least one essential component to access contextual and case-specific information. It can be concluded that the ability of the HISs to establish EBM in providing access to the clinical and administrative data repositories is better than other research objectives. Furthermore, more attention should be paid to other related objectives. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York

BVDV induced gastro-neuropathy outbreak in a feedlot calves around Tehran (Iran)

An outbreak of a lethal disease was reported in 4–6-month-old Holstein calves in a feedlot around Tehran. The signs of central nervous system and gastrointestinal system (GI) involvement were observed in the diseased animals. Necropsy samples of GI, liver, kidney, spleen and lung from 3 died animals were prepared for histopathological examination. Blood and formalin-fixed ear notch samples of 6 calves were submitted for RT-PCR, antigen-capture ELISA (ACE) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) for the detection of BVDV. The results of ACE on buffy coats were negative but RT-PCR of all 6 cases and IHC of 4 cases were positive for BVDV infection. Based on the clinical signs and pathological findings in the GI system and brain, we strongly suggest that the BVDV may represent a gastro-neuropathogen strain. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first outbreak of gastro-neuropathogenic BVDV infection in Iran, which may beacquired postnatally.Bazargani T. T., Hemmatzadeh F., Nadjafi J. and Sadeghi Nasab A.http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/3881577

Isolation and cytotoxic activity of buchariol from Salvia leriifola Benth

The search of natural products for cancer therapy represents an area of great interest in which plants have been the most important source. In the continuing search for cytotoxic compounds from plants in the present investigation we reported the cytotoxic activity of sesquiterpenoid 4,10-epoxy-6alpha-hydroxyguaiane, named buchariol, isolated from S. leriifolia Benth. The genus Salvia (Lamiaceae) comprises about 700 herbs and shrubs, growing in the temperate and warmer zones of the world [1]. Plants belonging to this genus show high diversity in their secondary metabolites [2] as well as in pharmacological effects. Salvia leriifolia aerial parts collected in Sabzewar (Iran) were extracted with MeOH at room temperature. The extract was dissolved in H2O and partitioned with n-hexane, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate and n-butanol. Fractionation of dichloromethane extract led the isolation of buchariol (20.06mg).The cytotoxicity was evaluated using the sulforodamine B (SRB) assay [3]. The test is based on the estimation of cell number indirectly by providing a sensitive index of total cellular protein content which is linear to cell density. Buchariol exhibited a strong cytotoxic activity against COR-l23 and C32 cell lines with IC50 value of 0.5 and 0.6µg/mL, respectively. Moreover, the sesquiterpenoid buchariol inhibited the proliferation of A549 cell line with an IC50 value of 4.6µg/mL

In vitro biological activity of Salvia leriifolia benth essential oil relevant to the treatment of Alzheimer’s disase

In this study the chemical composition, cholinesterase inhibitory property and anti-inflammatory activity of S. leriifolia Benth. essential oil was evaluated for the first time. GC and GC-MS analysis revealed the presence of camphor (10.5%), 1,8-cineole (8.6%), camphene (6.2%) and alpha-pinene (4.7%) as main constituents. S. leriifolia oil exhibited a promising antioxidant activity by DPPH assay with an IC(50) 2.26 microL/mL. Interesting cholinesterase inhibitory activity was also found with IC(50) values of 0.32 and 0.29 microL/mL for acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrrylcholinesterase (BChE), respectively. Moreover, this oil inhibited LPS-induced NO production with an IC(50) value of 165 microg/mL. The absence of cytotoxicity at 1000 microg/mL was evaluated by MTT assay in 142BR cells

Economic burden of medication-overuse headache in Iran: direct and indirect costs

Background and objective: Medication-overuse headache (MOH) as a secondary chronic headache imposes a considerable burden on both individuals and societies. Nevertheless, little is known about the burden of MOH in Iran. Therefore, in the current study, we aimed to quantify the annual cost of MOH among Iranian patients. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 84 patients were recruited. Demographic data, headache attack characteristics, related disability, and information about the economic burden of MOH were collected through face-to-face interview. Direct medical and nonmedical costs as well as indirect costs were included in our cost analysis. The prevalence-based approach was applied to estimate the economic burden of MOH. Results: We found that MOH patients in Iran spend averagely 1046 for medical services, 132 for nonmedical services, and 1432 due to lost productivity per year. The per-person annual cost of MOH was US2610, and the total annual cost for Iran was 10,179,000,000, with direct and indirect cost accounting for 45 and 55, respectively. Conclusion: MOH leads to substantial healthcare costs and significant loss of productivity in Iran. Therefore, raising awareness in this area especially for policymakers can use in future health planning and lead to resource allocation in the field of disabling type of headache disorders such as MOH. Our findings also provide a different insight into the burden of MOH, which are likely closer to the actual costs in middle- and low-income countries, and also it could be a sample of such a study in western Asia. © 2020, Fondazione Società Italiana di Neurologia