Long-Term Exposure of Lead Acetate on Rabbit Renal Tissue

Background: Lead has been widely used in different industries for ages. It is one of the heavy metals, highly poisonous even at low doses, and has biochemical, physiological and behavioral side effects on human and animals. It has been shown that lead has toxic effects on different tissues such as neural and genitourinary tissues, cardiovascular systems and blood. Therefore, high attention has been paid to its environmental pollutions. Objectives: Although many histological and biochemical studies have reported about the effects of lead on the renal tissue, there are a few studies about the ultrastructure and morphometric effects of lead on the kidney. Hence, the aim of this study was the evaluation of morphology and morphometrics of rabbit renal urinary barrier ultrastructure following long-term exposure to lead acetate. Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, 20 male New Zealand rabbits were divided into control and test groups (10 in each). The test group was injected intraperitoneally with chronic dose (8.5 mg/kg of body weight) of lead acetate and for the control group the same volume of normal saline was used, every other day for 10 weeks. After anesthetizing, the biopsies of renal tissues were taken for light and electron microscopic morphometric and morphologic analyses. Results: Long-term exposure to lead acetate caused histopathology effects including dilatation, congestion, nuclei heterochromatic effects, increase in diameter of renal tubules and urinary barrier thickness in rabbit renal tissue. Conclusions: Quantitative and qualitative results of long-term lead acetate exposure showed many histopathology side-effects, especially in the urinary barrier. Keywords: Kidney, Lead Acetate, Morphologic, Morphometric, Urinary Barrier, Glomerul

Effect of Noise Pollution on the Hormonal and Semen Analysis Parameters in Industrial Workers of Bushehr, Iran

Objective: One of the concerns of health officials is noise pollution and in the realm of health, the problems of sterility and infertility resulting from noise pollution greatly attract the interest of experts nowadays. Noise is one of the harmful environmental factors and one of the most cacophonous of the unavoidable phenomena at home and workplace. Considering Bushehr is one of the cities with high infertility rates, we decided to study labor and industrial environments. Materials and Methods: Two groups of men volunteer workers, 27 members in each, who were constantly exposed to noisy 107- or 119-decibel environments, were studied together with one group of 27 workers living in quiet environments serving as the control. These people were referred to the Omid Khalij Fars Infertility Center in Bushehr where blood samples were taken and tested for adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), cortisol, testosterone, prolactin, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), and thyroid hormones T3, T4, and Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and semen samples were taken and sent to the specialized laboratory of the Center. Results: Statistical studies showed that noise stress in the 119-decibel group significantly reduced the concentrations of the testosterone, prolactin, LH, and FSH hormones and of the thyroid hormones T3, T4, and TSH, and significantly increased the concentrations of the ACTH and cortisol hormones, compared to the control group. Moreover, semen analysis indicated major changes in semen parameters, especially under 119-decibel. Conclusion: Noise causes changes in hormones involved in the physiological process of fertility and in semen analysis parameters and, hence, has harmful effects on fertility

Gonadotropins in Infertile Men with Idiopathic Hypogonadotropic Hypogonadism

Abstract Background: Stimulatory therapy with gonadotrpins is an effective treatment to induce spermatogenesis in men with idiopathic hypogonadotroptic hypogonadism (IHH). The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of human chorionic gonadotropin / human menopausal gonadotropin on hypogonadotropic infertile men. Materials and Methods: This study included fifty-six azoospermic infertile men with IHH treated with hCG / hMG. All patients received hCG (5000 IU, IM3 times /week) for three months. After that, treatment was continued combined with hMG (75 IU, IM 3 times/week). Semen analysis was performed every 3 months. After 15 months, fine needle aspiration was performed if the patients were azoospermic. Treatment continued if mature spermatozoa were present in FNA, otherwise treatment was discontinued. In the former cases, semen analysis was requested 24months after thebeginning of treatment. Results: In this study, spermatozoa were present in the ejaculate in 50 out of 56 patients (89.2%) after combined treatment. Average time of sperm appearance was 9.2 months. Mean sperm concentration was 9.12 x 106/ml. FNA carried out after 15 months of treatment in 23(41%) of patients with persistent azoospermia, 91.3% of these latter patients had mature spermatozoa on fine needle aspiration. Pregnancy occurred in 23 (41%) cases. The mean sperm concentration in patients whose spouses became pregnant was 15.56x 10

Comparison of methods for determination of glomerular filtration rate: low and high-dose Tc-99m-DTPA renography, predicted creatinine clearance method, and plasma sample method

The gamma camera uptake method with Tc-99m-DTPA (diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid) is a simple method for determination of glomerular filtration rate (GFR), and is less time-consuming than other methods, but its diagnostic accuracy is debated. Gate’s method (low-dose; LD), the high-dose method (HD), the predicted-clearance method, and the plasmaclearance method with Tc-99m-DTPA are compared in this study. We also performed GFR measurement and diuretic renography simultaneously. Tc-99m DTPA renography was performed in 36 patients aged 18–72 years with a wide range of renal function (serum creatinine 1.37 ± 0.49mg/dl).GFR was determined by four methods: the gamma camera uptake method with low-dose Tc-99m DTPA (Gates, LD); the gamma camera uptake method with high-dose Tc-99m DTPA (HD); the predicted creatinine clearance method (Cockcroft– Gualt, CG); and the plasma sample clearance (PSC) method using a mono-exponential curve. The PSC method was chosen as reference. The regression equations for the CG, Gates (low-dose), and HD methods against the PSC method were 28.68 + 0.80X (r = 0.72; P value\0.0001, RMSE = 21.65 ml/min/ 1.73 m2), 6.19 + 0.79X (r = 0.90; P value\0.0001, RMSE = 10.64 ml/min/1.73 m2), and 6.53 + 0.88X (r = 0.93; P value\0.0001, RMSE = 9.35 ml/min/ 1.73 m2), respectively. In comparison with determination of GFR by the PSC method, the CGmethod tended to overestimate GFR while, perversely, the LD and HD methods tended to underestimate GFR. The three methods were in agreement with the PSC method but the high-dose GFR method resulted in less error in estimation of GFR. Furthermore, GFR measurement and diuretic renography could be performed at the same time when the high-dose method was used. Because of the low cost and negligible radiation burden, this method might be preferred for routine practice in nuclear medicine

Bushehr Elderly Health (BEH) Programme, phase I (cardiovascular system)

Purpose: The main objective of the Bushehr Elderly Health Programme, in its first phase, is to investigate the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors and their association with major adverse cardiovascular events. Participants: Between March 2013 and October 2014, a total of 3000 men and women aged ≥60 years, residing in Bushehr, Iran, participated in this prospective cohort study ( participation rate=90.2%). Findings to date: Baseline data on risk factors, including demographic and socioeconomic status, smoking and medical history, were collected through a modified WHO MONICA questionnaire. Vital signs and anthropometric measures, including systolic and diastolic blood pressure, weight, height, and waist and hip circumference, were also measured. 12-lead electrocardiography and echocardiography were conducted on all participants, and total of 10 cc venous blood was taken, and sera was separated and stored at –80°C for possible future use. Preliminary data analyses showed a noticeably higher prevalence of risk factors among older women compared to that in men. Future plans: Risk factor assessments will be repeated every 5 years, and the participantswill be followed during the study to measure the occurrence of major adverse cardiac events. Moreover, the second phase, which includes investigation of bone health and cognition in the elderly, was started in September 2015. Data are available at the Persian Gulf Biomedical Research Institute, Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, Bushehr, Iran, for any collaboratio