Effects of N-acetyl cysteine on serum lipoprotein (a) and proteinuria in type 2 diabetic patients.

BACKGROUND About 30-40% of diabetic patients who developed nephropathy have lipoprotein disorders, especially lipoprotein a [Lp(a)], which is related to atherosclerosis. OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) on the serum levels of Lp(a) and amount of proteinuria in a group of type 2 diabetic patients with diabetic nephropathy. PATIENTS AND METHODS A total of 40, type 2 diabetic (T2D) patients, patients with proteinuria, were randomly divided into two groups. The experimental group was treated by NAC (1200 mg/day) for two months in conjunction with conventional treatment for diabetes and hypertension. Control group received routine medications. RESULTS No significant change was identified in serum Lp(a) during treatment with NAC (P >0.05). However, NAC decreased the amount of proteinuria, serum triglyceride (TG) level and systolic blood pressure in experimental group compared to the control group (P <0.05). CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest that treatment with NAC has no significant effect on the serum level of Lp (a). However, it has beneficial effects on the reduction of proteinuria, serum TG level and systolic blood pressure in T2D patients with nephropathy. Further prospective studies are needed to determine its full role

DIFFUSING CAPACITY FOR LUNG CARBON MONOXIDE (DLCO) IN CHEMICAL LUNG INJURIES DUE TO THE USE OF MUSTARD GAS IN THE POISONED SOLDIERS OF IRAN-IRAQ WAR 2006

Objectives: To assess the Mustard gas exposure effects on pulmonary system, particularly on diffusing capacity for lung carbon monoxide (DLCO) and simple spirometry. Methodology: Sixty-five sulfur mustard-poisoned soldiers from Mostazafan and Janbazan organization were referred to our center in 2005. Complete history, physical examination, chest X ray, Echocardiography, Arterial blood gas, high - resolution computerized tomography, diffusion capacity for lung carbon monoxide and spirometry of these were performed and compared this result with normal value. Results: The mean value of indices in studied injured subjects was: Spirometry: forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) = 70.4, Forced vital capacity (FVC) = 66.5, EFE 25-75=81.1, FEV1/FVC=101.9, Flow 25% = 28.7, Flow 50%=72.9, Flow 75%=100.1, Sample volume: Functional residual capacity of lungs (FRC) = 131.5, residual volume (RV) = 157.3, RV/TLC=169.1, Total lung capacity (TLC) = 91.3, KCO=131.6, TLCO=116.3. No significant correlation was observed between TLCO values with HRCT, echocardiography, ABG and spirometry values (P>0.05). Conclusion: We recommend TLCO & RV/TLV tests to assess severity of Injuries as there is no a suitable criterion to measure the real consequences of mustard gas on affected combatants. and Biological markers are also needed to determine cause-effect relations

Systematic review on safety and drug interaction of herbal therapy in hyperlipidemia: a guide for internist.

Because of reporting high side effects related to biosynthetic drugs, recent attention has been paid to the use of herbs instead of chemical drugs to balance serum lipids. The present systematic review aimed to evaluate the safety of herbal medicines and also to assess drug interaction in herbal therapy in treating hyperlipidemia. The international research databases including MEDLINE; Google scholar, Web of Science SciVerse Scopus (SCOPUS); EBSCO Academic Search; Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL); and a Chinese database (China Network Knowledge Infrastructure [CNKI]) were searched from their respective inceptions up to September 2014 with the search terms of "hyperlipidemia", "herbal medicine", "medicine traditional", "extract plant", "Traditional Medicine" and "Chinese Herbal Medicine" without narrowing or limiting search elements. A total of 85 randomized clinical trials (RCTs) studies were finally assessed on human subjects. A notable number of herbal drugs that are commonly used as an anti-hyperlipidemia agent may be interacted with a variety of biosynthetic drugs. In this regard, the most common reported herb-drug reactions were related to anticoagulants, antidepressants, anti-epileptic, anti-inflammatory, and/or even antihypertension and anti-lipidemic drugs. Also, a considerable number of anti-lipidemic drugs of plants origin may be accompanied with metabolic disturbances and serious complications within pregnancy and breast feeding. The main fundamental principles for administration of these drugs include physicians' complete awareness of the effects and interactions of these drugs, educating people not taking these drugs arbitrarily, and closely monitoring the verification and distribution of the drugs in the society

The first record of Philometra rischta (Nematoda: Philometridae) in Blicca bjoerkna of Anzali wetland, Iran

The aim of the present study was to report Philometra rischta from Blicca bjoerkna from the Caspian Sea. During this study, from August (2008) to April (2009), 78 fish specimens were collected and transferred to the aquatic research laboratory of Shahid Beheshti University and were examined for parasitic infection. Parasites were fixed in formalin (10%). The parasites were indentified according to standard keys (Moravec, 1994, 1998). Prevalence (total of infected fish per total of fish) and mean intensity (number of parasite per total of infected of fish) were calculated for this parasite

Intravenous hypnotic regimens in patients with liver disease; a review article

Context: The liver as an important organ in the body has many essential functions in physiological processes. One of the major activities of liver is drug metabolism. Hepatic dysfunction affecting hepatic physiological activities, especially drug metabolism can cause many problems during anesthesia and administration of different drugs to patients. Evidence Acquisition: Studies on hepatic disorders and hypnotic anesthetics prescribed in hepatic disorders were included in this review. For this purpose, reliable databases were used. Results: Anesthesia should be performed with caution in patients with hepatic dysfunction and drugs with long half-life should be avoided in these patients. Conclusions: A review of the literature on the use of hypnotic drugs in patients with liver dysfunction showed that some hypnotic drugs used during anesthesia could be safely used in patients with impaired liver function. In these patients, certain drugs should be used with caution. © 2015, Iranian Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (ISRAPM)

Effect of althaea officinalis on cough associated with ACE inhibitors

Nowadays Angiotensin- converting enzyme inhibitor drugs are the leading drugs for the treatment of hypertension, heart failure and some of nephropathy. But One of the most frequent side effect of these drugs is cough. A dry, tickly and often bothersome cough that may develop in around 15 to 39 percent of these patients and may lead to discontinuation of treatment. So we decided to use herbal drug of althaea officinalis for the treatment of this cough. For this study in the year 1385 and by using of method of double-blind clinical trial 60 patients with hypertension who were from the province of Chaharmal va bakhtiarei and had been developed cough during taking of angiotensin - converting enzyme inhibitor drugs were selected. Then for all of them were filled a paper of questionnaire. In these papers the scores of severity of their cough on a scale between 0 to 4 and the advantages of their spirometery tests were noted. Then all of these patients were divided in 2 groups. The first group was treated by herbal drug of althaea officinalis and the second group by placebo by 20 drops for every 8 hour (TDS). These patients used these drugs for treatment period of 4 weeks. At the end of 4 weeks the scores of severity of their cough with the advantages of their spirometery tests were noted again. The Mean scores of the severity of the cough in the first group which have been treated by althaea officinalis had a significant change from the score of) 2/66+0.958 (to) 1/23+1.006 (Eight patient in the althaea officinalis group showed almost complete cough abolition. No significant change in laboratory data related to spirometery tests were observed in either group. The mechanism of this type of cough maybe is related to the stimulation of tracheae-bronchial tree and the herbal drug of althaea officinalis can have important role in decreasing and treatment of the cough of ACEI drugs. © Asian Network for Scientific Information, 2007

Analyzing Target-Based Cryptocurrency Pump and Dump Schemes

As the number of cryptocurrencies has exploded in recent years, so too has the fraud. One popular strategy is when actors promote coordinated purchases of coins in hopes of temporarily driving up prices. Prior work investigating such pump and dump schemes has focused on the immediate impact to prices following pump signals, which were largely interpreted as following the same strategy. The reality, as with most cybercrimes, is that the operators of the schemes try out a much more heterogeneous mix of tactics. From a population of 12,252 pump signals observed between July 2017 and January 2019, we identify and examine 3,683 so-called target-based pump signals that announce promoted coins alongside buy and sell targets, but without a coordinated purchase time. We develop a strategy to measure the success of target pumps over longer time horizons. We find that around half of these pumps reach at least one of their sell targets, and that reaching their peak price often takes days, as opposed to the seconds or minutes required in pumps studied previously. We also examine the various groups promoting coins and present evidence that groups try a variety of distinct strategies and experience varying success. We find that the most successful groups promote many coins and issue many pumps, but not for the same coins. As decentralized finance becomes more popular, a deeper understanding of price manipulation techniques like target pumps is needed to combat fraud

Effects of ginger on the improvement of asthma The evaluation of its' treatmental effects

High prevalence of asthma require more attention and effective therapies since the current therapeutic approaches have high side effects nowadays new therapies like homeopathy and herbal drugs are more delighted. The study was performed on 92 patients with pure Asthma. The patients were similar concerning the age, wheezing, weekly use of spray and the drug weed. At the beginning, spirometry was done for all the patients. Then of the 1-month the patients were divided into two groups. The first group was given ginger (150 mg) every 8 hours whereas the second group received placebo. After 2 months the patients were tested for spirometry and changes on FEV1, FVC, FEF25-75, stage and clinical symptoms. In the patients (test) group which received ginger with their drugs, 19.5 showed wheezing relief and 52 showed chest tightness relief. Dyspnea was not completely disappeared in the patients. In 8.7 of the patients' higher stage to lower stage change was observed. Also the mean nocturnal coughs (3.87 to 2.6 times), the mean spray usage (6.34 to 5.04 times weekly) and the mean dyspneic attacks (3.41 to 2.41 weekly) showed clear reduction (P<0.05). After treatment the test and control groups were analyzed. Dyspnea was 80.4 in test group and 95.6 in control group, wheezing was 78.3 in test group and 100 in control group and chest tightness was 26.1 in test group an 89.1 in control group (P<0.05). Concerning the stage them was no clear difference between the two groups (p N.S.). After treatment, the coughing attacks in the control group was 3.21/week and in the test group was 2.61/week. Also the mean dyspneic attach 100 the control group was 1.89/week and in the test group was 1.32/week (P<0.05). The mean FEV1, FVC and FEF25-75 in the test and control groups were not meaningful statistically (p N.S.). Therefore although the ginger dose and in out study was 1/2 it's the therapeutic dose (1-4 gr) the ginger showed effective in reducing the asthmatic symptoms but not effective in changing the stage of the disease and spirometry findings. © Asian Network for Scientific Information, 2006

An examination of the cryptocurrency pump-and-dump ecosystem

The recent introduction of thousands of cryptocurrencies in an unregulated environment has created many opportunities for unscrupulous traders to profit from price manipulation. We quantify the scope of one widespread tactic, the “pump and dump”, in which actors coordinate to bid up the price of coins before selling at a profit. We joined all relevant channels on two popular group-messaging platforms, Telegram and Discord, and identified thousands of different pumps targeting hundreds of coins. We find that pumps are modestly successful in driving short-term price rises, but that this effect has diminished over time. We also find that the most successful pumps are those that are most transparent about their intentions. Combined with evidence of concentration among a small number of channels, we conclude that regulators have an opportunity to effectively crack down on this illicit activity that threatens broader adoption of blockchain technologies