Zn/Cu Levels in the Field of Autism Disorders: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

How to Cite This Article: Sayehmiri F, Babaknejad N, Bahrami S, Sayehmiri K, Darabi M, Rezaei-Tavirani M. Zn/Cu Levels in the Field of Autism Disorders: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Iran J Child Neurol. Autumn 2015;9(4):1-9.AbstractObjectiveThere is probably a relationship between zinc/cupper concentration in individualswith autism. The present review was written to estimate this probability by using meta-analysis method.Martials & MethodsIn this meta-analysis of Fixed Effect Model, by searching PubMed, Scopusand Google scholar databases, 11 articles were selected and verified publishedin 1978 to 2012. I² statistics were calculated to examine heterogeneity. Theinformation was analyzed by R and STATA Ver. 11.2.ResultsDue to non-uniform measurement methods of Zn/Cu concentrations, theconcentration of these elements was measured in various subgroups (plasma,hair and general) in both study cases and controls. There was a significantstatistical difference between plasma OR=0.252 (95% CI: -0.001-0.504) andhair OR=0.27(95% CI: 0.059-0.481, P=0.01) concentrations of Zn/Cu statusesbetween controls and autistic patients. Using a Fixed Effects Model, the overall integration of data from the two groups was significant as risk factorOR=0.31(95% CI:0.16-0.46, P=0.001).ConclusionSignificant correlation existed between Zn/Cu levels and the development ofautistic disorders in general analysis. Therefore, Zn/Cu levels could be mentioned as a pathogenesis reason of autism spectrum disorders

Efficacy of Hepatitis B Vaccination in Under Five-Year-Old Children in Iran: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Study

Context: Hepatitis B viral infection, specially in children, is an unsolved global health issue. National and international vaccination programs, as the main means to prevent this infection, have been operating for years. This meta-analysis study was launched to investigate the vaccination efficacy in under five-year-old children in Iran. Evidence Acquisition: In this research, all national databases including, SID, Magiran, Iran medex, Iran doc, and Medlib, as well as international databases, including PubMed, Medline, and ISI were searched for published articles associated with evaluation of seroconversion rates after hepatitis-B vaccination in Iranian children. The search was performed in the Persian and/or English language and in under five-year-old children in Iran. The variance of each study was calculated using the binomial distribution formula. The results of studies were combined using random-effects meta-analysis model. Data were analyzed using STATA version 12. Results: In the present research, 11 studies, performed from 2000 to 2017, were investigated. The number of samples in these 11 studies were 3063 children (1592 males and 1471 females). In the studies, the efficacy range of the hepatitis-B vaccine in under five-year-old children in Iran was 89 (95 CI: 86 -93) with high heterogeneity (P value for heterogeneity was 0.001, I-2 = 92.9). Range of efficacy for males and females was 85 (95 CI: 78 to 91) and 88 (95 CI: 83 to 93), respectively. Conclusions: The hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccination program in Iran seems to be highly effective although some questions, such as the effect of gender on responsiveness to vaccine and heterogeneity of different data, remain unclear

The Relationship Between the Level of Copper, Lead, Mercury and Autism Disorders: A Meta-Analysis

Background and Objectives: There is a likelihood of a possible relationship between the concentrations of copper, lead, and mercury and autism. The present review was carried out to determine the relationship between the concentrations of these elements and autism by meta-analysis. Methods: In this study, searching Scopus, PubMed, and Science Direct databases, 18 articles conducted in different countries from 1982 to 2019 were collected. Studies' heterogeneity was investigated using the 1 2 index. The data were analyzed using R and STATA software. Results: In these 18 studies, 1797 patients (981 cases and 816 controls) aged 2 to 16 years were examined. Concentration of the samples (blood, hair, and nails) for both case and control groups was evaluated. There was no significant relationship between copper concentration and autism (SMD (95 CI): 0.02 (-1.16,1.20); I-2=97.7; P=0.972); there was a significant relationship between mercury concentration and autism (SMD (95 CI): 1.96 (0.56,3.35); I-2=98.6; P=0.006); there was also a significant relationship between lead concentration and autism (SMD (95 CI): 2.81 (1.64,3.98); I-2 =97.8; P=0.000). Conclusion: There is, nevertheless, a significant relationship between mercury concentration and autism. Thus, the concentration of mercury can be listed as a pathogenic cause (disease-causing) for autism

Prevalence of Anaerobic Bacteria (P.gingivalis) as Major Microbial Agent in the Incidence Periodontal Diseases by Meta-analysis

Statement of the Problem: Periodontal diseases are complex oral diseases characterized by bacterial-induced inflammatory destruction of tooth-supporting tissues. Porphyromonas gingivalis (P. gingivalis) is a common gram-negative anaerobic oral bacteria strongly associated with periodontal disease. Purpose: The present study was conducted to estimate prevalence of P. gingivalis in patients with periodontal diseases by using meta-analysis method. Martials and Method: Different databases including PubMed, EmBase, Scopus, the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library were searched to identify original English-language studies addressing prevalence of P. gingivalis in periodontal diseases up to December 2014. The random effects model was applied in the meta-analysis and the heterogeneity between studies was assessed using a Cochran test and the I(2) index. Funnel plots and Egger test were used to examine publication bias. Statistical analyses were performed using STATA version 12. Results: Forty-two eligible studies published during 1993- 2016 were selected for meta-analysis. Considering all the included studies, the total sample size was 5,884 individuals containing 2,576 healthy people with a mean age of 37.21+/-7.45 years and 3,308 periodontal patients with a mean age of 44.16+/-8.35 years. Overall, the prevalence of P. gingivalis was 78 95% CI: 74-81 in periodontal diseases group and 34% 95% CI: 26-41 in healthy individuals. There was a significantly higher prevalence of P.gingivalis in individuals with periodontal diseases compared to healthy subjects 78% versus 34%, respectively. Conclusion: This study indicates that P. gingivalis is highly present in subjects with periodontal diseases and it also appears in periodontally healthy people, although to a lesser extent. Thus, the presence of P. gingivalis increases the chance of periodontal disease and it can be considered as a main potential risk factor

Prevalence of Entamoeba histolytica in Iran during 1988 to 2009: Systematic review and meta-analyses

Intestinal parasitic infections are very important for health system in many countries. No published meta-analyses have been assessed in Iran about determination of prevalence of Entamoeba histolytica. Using the main keywords of amebiasis including E. histolytica, prevalence, Iran and intestinal parasites, we searched databases such as Iranmedex, Magiran, Irandoc, Pubmed and Google scholar, and 64 articles were screened. Thirty-two (32) studies were eligible in methodology selected and entered into the statistical test. Variants of each study were obtained using binomial distribution. Heterogeneity of study was checked using I-2 index and data were analyzed using random effect model. In total of 32 papers, 234570 people have been surveyed and the prevalence rate of E. histolytica obtained 1.3 (95 confidence interval, 1.1 to 1.4) in Iran. Prevalence rate of 2.5 and 0.8 in rural and urban area were obtained, respectively. The highest prevalence rate was obtained as 3 in sought of Iran for E. histolytica. The prevalence rate of amebiasis was 1.1 and 1 among women and men, respectively. Therefore, prevalence rate of E. histolytica in some regions of Iran is high; controlling and preventing applications are necessary and improvement of society hygiene level using education can reduce incidence rate

Influence of B cells in liver fibrosis associated with hepatitis B virus harboring basal core promoter mutations

The development of the liver disease in chronic hepatitis B with common viral variants can be determined through the interaction between the virus and the host immune response. B cells constitute half of the intrahepatic lymphocyte population with an impact on fibrosis. A proliferation-inducing ligand (APRIL) has been shown to have a co-stimulatory activity on B cells. For this study HBV DNA was amplified and then sequenced to show the presence of the basal core promoter (BCP) mutations in the serum from 57 patients with chronic hepatitis B. The range of IgD-positive B cells was detected by immunohistochemistry in liver biopsies; and patients serum was assayed for APRIL levels by enzyme immunoassay. Twenty-seven patients (47.4) harbored the A1762T-G1764A BCP mutations. Coefficients of logistic regression showed that the effect of increasing IgD-positive B cells in rising odds of the liver disease is the same in the patients with BCP mutation A1762T-G1764A and in the patients without mutation, nevertheless the effect of APRIL is not similar in these two groups of patients. Logistic regression in patients with BCP A1762T-G1764A mutations demonstrated that increasing one score of APRIL decreased the odds of fibrosis stage about 8. These results suggest that in infection with viral variants of hepatitis B virus, the population of IgD-positive B cells may play a decisive role in later stages of the liver disease which is reduced by APRIL in chronic hepatitis patients with BCP mutations. J. Med. Virol. 84:18891896, 2012. (c) 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc

Melatonin in the treatment of fibromyalgia symptoms: A systematic review

The available pharmacological modalities for the treatment of fibromyalgia (FM) are associated with a variety of adverse effects and limited benefits. In this study, we systematically reviewed the impact of melatonin in the treatment of FM. Interventional studies, either controlled or uncontrolled and randomized or non-randomized, were included. PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library were searched without time limitation. Primary outcome measures were the effect of melatonin on the disease impact, pain, sleep quality, tender point count, fatigue, anxiety, stiffness, and depression in FM patients. Four studies, reporting the effect of melatonin on 98 patients, were eligible to include. All the studies reported the positive effect of melatonin on the FM symptoms. No major adverse event was reported. A significant level of heterogeneity was observed between the studies. Therefore, further high-quality controlled clinical trials are needed to understand the role of melatonin in FM treatment fully. © 2019 Elsevier Lt