Evaluation of anti-inflammatory and analgesic activity of the extract and fractions of Astragalus hamosus in animal models

The objective of this study was to evaluate the anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities of the hydro-alcoholic extract of the pods of Astragalus hamosus (HAAH), a plant used in Iranian traditional medicine, and antinociceptive effects of different fractions in animal models. The anti-inflammatory effect was evaluated by the rat paw edema induced by formalin. Also the analgesic effect was examined by the acetic-acid-induced writhing response and hot plate test. The analgesic effects of chloroform, hexane, ethyl acetate and aqueous fractions were evaluated by the hot-plate method. The hydroalcoholic extract of Astragalus hamosus could reduce the edema in a dose-dependent manner (P<0.05). In the acute phase, the result of 1000 mg/Kg and in the chronic phase, the result of 100 and 300 mg/Kg of the extract were more significant and comparable with the effect of sodium salicylate. Also application of different doses of HAAH had significant anti-nociceptive effects on both animal models. The findings showed that HAAH at doses of 700 and 1000 mg/Kg produced analgesic effects comparable to sodium salicylate. The hexane and ethyl acetate (but not the other fractions) showed significant analgesic activity in hot plate test, when compared to morphine. The results of this study demonstrated the anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects of HAAH extract and hexane and ethyl acetate fractions of the extract in animal models and justify traditional use of this plant in the treatment of pain and inflammatory conditions. More studies to clarify the active components are necessary. © 2015 by School of Pharmacy Shaheed Beheshti University of Medical Sciences and Health Services

Traffic Police Effectiveness and Efficiency Evaluations, an Overview of Methodological Considerations

Context: Every government implements various policies to mitigate road traffic injuries (RTIs). Many of these interventions are performed by traffic police. To evaluate effectiveness and efficiency of police enforcement, numerous studies have been conducted. Potential capabilities of epidemiology could get opportunity to improve these studies. The aim of this study was to extract and discuss some related methodological points of traffic police effectiveness and efficiency from related studies, in view of epidemiology discipline. Evidence Acquisition: Related articles were searched with “traffic police”, “effectiveness”, “efficiency” and “road safety” keywords in ScienceDirect, PubMed and Safetylit databases. Related papers were selected and read carefully to summarize and discuss the epidemiological points with aims of giving clues to improve quality of studies. Results: From a total of 797 articles, 20 were eligible which among them 17 articles were about effectiveness and 3 of them were about efficiency evaluations. Discussed points were the method of study, taking a holistic view to all positive and negative side effects, desired inputs and outputs, relation pattern between police enforcement and outcome and potential confounders. Conclusions: Better understanding of the effectiveness and efficiency mechanism and having valid evaluation required considering specific theories and points in this field. Applying a dynamic approach with considering epidemiological concepts and sophisticated statistical models could improve quality of studies in this field

Anticonvulsant Activity of Hydroalcoholic Extract of Citrullus colocynthis Fruit: Involvement of Benzodiazepine and Opioid Receptors

This study investigated the anticonvulsant activity of Citrullus colocynthis fruit extract used traditionally in the treatment of convulsion. Albino mice were pretreated with extract in different doses (10, 25, 50, and 100 mg/kg), prior to injection of pentylenetetrazole. Animals received pretreatments with naloxone and flumazenil to further clarify the mechanisms of anticonvulsant action. The total flavonoid content of Citrullus colocynthis extract was also determined. Citrullus colocynthis hydroalcoholic extract with doses 25 and 50 mg/kg prolonged the onset of seizures and decreased the duration compared with control group. Pretreatment by flumazenil could inhibit the effect of Citrullus colocynthis on latency of seizure to some extent and administration of naloxone significantly inhibited changes in latency and duration of seizure produced by Citrullus colocynthis. This study showed that Citrullus colocynthis has significant anticonvulsant effect in pentylenetetrazole-induced seizures in mice, and these effects may be related to its effect on γ-aminobutyric acid-ergic and opioid systems. These results confirmed the traditional use of Citrullus colocynthis in Iranian traditional medicine. © 2015, © The Author(s) 2015

Trends in gastrointestinal cancer incidence in Iran, 2001-2010: a joinpoint analysis

OBJECTIVES: The main purpose of this study was to evaluate changes in the time trends of stomach, colorectal, and esophageal cancer during the past decade in Iran. METHODS: Cancer incidence data for the years 2001 to 2010 were obtained from the cancer registration of the Ministry of Health. All incidence rates were directly age-standardized to the world standard population. In order to identified significant changes in time trends, we performed a joinpoint analysis. The annual percent change (APC) for each segment of the trends was then calculated. RESULTS: The incidence of stomach cancer increased from 4.18 and 2.41 per 100,000 population in men and women, respectively, in 2001 to 17.06 (APC, 16.7) and 8.85 (APC, 16.2) per 100,000 population in 2010 for men and women, respectively. The corresponding values for colorectal cancer were 2.12 and 2.00 per 100,000 population for men and women, respectively, in 2001 and 11.28 (APC, 20.0) and 10.33 (APC, 20.0) per 100,000 in 2010. For esophageal cancer, the corresponding increase was from 3.25 and 2.10 per 100,000 population in 2001 to 5.57 (APC, 12.0) and 5.62 (APC, 11.2) per 100,000 population among men and women, respectively. The incidence increased most rapidly for stomach cancer in men and women aged 80 years and older (APC, 23.7 for men; APC, 18.6 for women), for colorectal cancer in men aged 60 to 69 years (APC, 24.2) and in women aged 50 to 59 years (APC, 25.1), and for esophageal cancer in men and women aged 80 years and older (APC, 17.5 for men; APC,15.3 for women) over the period of the study. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of gastrointestinal cancer significantly increased during the past decade. Therefore, monitoring the trends of cancer incidence can assist efforts for cancer prevention and control

In vivo evaluation of the combination effect of near-infrared laser and 5-fluorouracil-loaded PLGA-coated magnetite nanographene oxide

Magnetite nanographene oxide has exhibited great potential in drug delivery and photothermal therapy (PTT) for cancer treatment. Here we developed 5-fluorouracil-loaded poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid)-coated magnetite nanographene oxide (NGO-SPION-PLGA-5-Fu) to simplify combined PTT and chemotherapy in one complex. The nanocarrier was synthesized using a modified O1/W1/O2/W2 multiple emulsion solvent evaporation method and was characterized for size, zeta potential, drug loading, in vitro and in vivo release. In this paper, in vivo suppression effect of PTT and chemotherapy using this synthesized magnetite nanographene oxide was studied. The in vitro release of 5-Fu from nanoparticles showed that 41.36 of the drug was released within 24�h. In vivo release showed that 5-Fu has a sustained release profile and prolonged lifetime in the rabbit plasma. Remarkably, a single injection of NGO-SPION-PLGA-5-Fu and 808�nm near-infrared laser (NIR) irradiation for 3�min effectively suppressed the growth of tumours compared with 5-Fu alone (p�&lt;�.01). Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) confirmed that the magnetic nanographene oxide was effectively targeted to the tumour site. Therefore, NGO-SPION-PLGA-5-Fu showed excellent PTT efficacy, magnetic targeting property, and MRI ability, indicating that there is a great potential of NGO-SPION-PLGA-5-Fu for cancer theranostic applications. © 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Grou

Incidence of self-reported interpersonal violence related physical injury in Iran

Background: Violence is the cause of death for 1.5 million people in a year. Objectives: Our study aimed to estimate the incidence rate of self-reported interpersonal violence related physical injury (VRPI) and its associated factors in Iran. Patients and Methods: The sample included people ranged from 15 to 64 years old who were residing in Iran. A total of 1525 clusters were selected from the whole country. Six families were selected from each cluster via a systematic random sampling method. Then, the residential units were identified and the interviewers contacted the inhabitants. In the next step, one of the family members was selected by using Kish grid method. The instrument was a researcher-made questionnaire and consisted of two sections; demographics and project related data. Face validity and content validity of our questionnaire were investigated based on expert opinions and the reliability was confirmed by a pilot study, as well. The inclusion criteria were considered for choosing the interviewers. An interviewer was assigned for each 42 participants (7 clusters). An educational seminar was held for the administrative managers (54 persons) and interviewers (230 persons) for a week. The field work was distributed among all 46 Medical Sciences universities in Iran. In each university, administrative issues were related to an executive director. Mann-Whitney U test and odds ratio were used to analyze the data with 95 confidence interval. α value was considered less than 5. Results: The frequency of VRPI among 7886 participants was 24 during the last three months. The incidence rate of interpersonal VRPI was estimated at 3.04 per 1000 population (95 CI: 2.66-3.42) during a three-month interval in Iran. The incidence was 4.72 per 1000 population (95 CI: 4.01-5.43) for males and 1.78 per 1000 population (95 CI: 1.39-2.17) for females during a three-month interval. The mean (SD) of age of the participants with and without a history of VRPI were 26.5 (7.21) and 33.05 (12.05) years, respectively (P = 0.008). Considering the participants� gender, 66.7 were males (OR = 2.66, 95 CI: 1.14-6.23). Khuzestan Province had the most VRPIs (25 of all VRPIs). Streets and roads were the places with the highest frequency of injury (50). The most frequent injured organ was the upper limb (54.17). The most prevalent type of injury was a superficial wound (50). Finally, the most common place of treatment was home (45.83). Conclusions: We determined the incidence rate of self-reported interpersonal VRPI for the first time in Iran based on a national survey. The injuries were more common among young men. We suggest consecutive national surveys with different data gathering methods and more sample sizes. © 2015, Iranian Red Crescent Medical Journal

Knowledge translation in Iranian universities: Need for serious interventions

Background: The aim of this study was to assess the status of knowledge translation (KT) in Iranian medical science universities in order to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the most important organizations responsible for producing knowledge in the country.Methods: The KT activities were assessed qualitatively and quantitatively in nine universities using the Self-Assessment Tool for Research Institutes.Results: The strengths and weaknesses of universities were determined using seven main themes: priority setting; research quality and timeliness; researchers' KT capacities; interaction with research users; the facilities and prerequisites of KT; the processes and regulations supporting KT; and promoting and evaluating the use of evidence.The quantitative and qualitative results showed that the Iranian universities did not have an appropriate context for KT. There were significant shortcomings in supportive regulations, facilities for KT activities, and the level of interaction between the researchers and research users.Conclusions: The shortcomings in KT were mostly in the area of stewardship and policymaking (macro level), followed by planning and implementation at the universities. In order to strengthen KT in Iran, it should occupy a prominent and focused role in the strategies of the country's health research system. © 2013 Gholami et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd

CYP2C19 pharmacogenetics in advanced cancer: compromised function independent of genotype

CYP2C19 is a drug-metabolising enzyme involved in the metabolism of a number of chemotherapeutic agents including cyclophosphamide. Variants of the CYP2C19 gene result in a loss of function polymorphism, which affects approximately 3% of the Caucasian population. These individuals are poor metabolisers (PM) of a wide range of medications including omeprazole (OMP). In healthy subjects PM can be identified through homozygous variant genotype. However, a discordance between CYP2C19 genotype and phenotype has been reported previously in a small study of cancer patients. To investigate whether CYP2C19 activity was decreased in patients with advanced cancer, CYP2C19 genotype was determined in 33 advanced cancer patients using PCR-RFLP analysis for the two important allelic variants (*2,681G>A and *3,636G>A) and the activity of the enzyme was evaluated using the CYP2C19 probe drug OMP. The activity of the drug-metabolising enzyme CYP2C19 was severely compromised in advanced cancer patients, resulting in a PM status in 37% of the patients who had normal genotype. This is significantly (P<0.0005) higher than that would be predicted from the genotypic status of these patients. There was no evidence of a correlation between compromised CYP2C19 activity and any of the proinflammatory cytokines or acute phase response proteins studied. However, there was preliminary evidence of an association between PM status and low body mass (P=0.03). There is increasing interest in using pharmacogenetics to ‘individualise medicine', however, the results of this study indicate that in a cancer population genotyping for CYP2C19 would significantly underestimate the number of phenotypic PM of drugs, such as cyclophosphamide, which may be metabolised by this enzyme

Detection of Echinococcus multilocularis in Carnivores in Razavi Khorasan Province, Iran Using Mitochondrial DNA

Echinococcus multilocularis causes alveolar echinococcosis, a serious zoonotic disease present in many areas of the world. The parasite is maintained in nature through a life cycle in which adult worms in the intestine of carnivores transmit infection to small mammals, predominantly rodents, via eggs in the feces. Humans may accidentally ingest eggs of E. multilocularis through contact with the definitive host or by direct ingestion of contaminated water or foods, causing development of a multivesicular cyst in the viscera, especially liver and lung. We found adult E. multilocularis in the intestine and/or eggs in feces of all wild carnivores examined and in some stray and domestic dogs in villages of Chenaran region, northeastern Iran. The life cycle of E. multilocularis is being maintained in this area by wild carnivores, and the local population and visitors are at risk of infection with alveolar echinococcosis. Intensive health initiatives for control of the parasite and diagnosis of this potentially fatal disease in humans, in this area of Iran, are needed

The epidemiology of geriatric burns in Iran: A national burn registry-based study

Defining the epidemiology and outcome of geriatric burn patients is critical for specialized burn centers, health-care workers, and governments. Better resource use and effective guidelines are some of the advantages of studies focusing on this aspect. The outcome of these patients serves as an objective criterion for quality control, research, and preventive programs. We used data from the burn registry program in our country. For 2 years, >28,700 burn patients were recorded, 1721 of whom were admitted. Among them, 187 patients were �55 years old. Sixty-nine percent of patients were male and 31 female, with a male to female ratio of 2.22:1. The mean ± standard deviation (SD) of age was 63.4 ± 8.1. The cause of burns was flame (58.2) and scalds (20.3). Most of the burns were sustained at home. The mean duration of hospital stay was 19.5 days (range 3�59 days). The mean (SD) of the total body surface area (TBSA) was 20.3 (8.4). The median hospital stay (length of stay (LOS)) was 11 days (SD = 14). The increase in TBSA was related to a longer LOS (p < 0.02). Burn wound infection developed in 44.3 of patients. The presence of inhalation injury was significantly related to mortality (p < 0.001). Among the patients, 9 recovered completely, 74.9 recovered partially (requiring further treatment), 1 underwent amputation, and 12.8 died. The lack of insurance coverage did not affect the survival of our geriatric burn patients. However, being alone or single, ignition of clothing, cause of burn, comorbid illnesses, complications following the burn, TBSA, age, and sepsis were positively correlated with mortality. The mean cost of treatment for each patient was about 7450. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd and ISB