Contovir - A new adjuvant therapy in recurrent respiratory papillomatosis: A case study

Background: Contovir is a mixture of herbal extracts (Tanacetum vulgare, Rossa canina, Urtica dioica) that is supplemented with selenium. Objectives: This study aimed to add Contovir to the classic treatment of recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP) in order to decrease the severity and extent of the disease, elongate the surgical intervals and improve the sense of patient well-being. Furthermore, we had to adjust the prescribed drug dosage, since there were no previous findings available. Patients and Methods: This is a case study of RRP patients treated with Contovir as an adjuvant to the classic treatment, from March 2011 to February 2013, at an academic tertiary hospital (Rasoul-e-Akram hospital). All patients underwent surgical removal of papilloma and then were prescribed Contovir. Disease severity was quantified based on Derkay�s staging system. Results: Eight patients were enrolled in this study. The extent and severity of the disease improved in six cases. One had no response, and the severity of disease increased in one patient. Patients with supraglottic lesions had better responses to Contovir adjuvant therapy. No immediate or long-term side effects were reported. Conclusions: Although Contovir has been found to be an advantageous adjuvant for RRP treatment, further studies are called for to verify these findings. © 2016, Iranian Red Crescent Medical Journal

Contovir - A new adjuvant therapy in recurrent respiratory papillomatosis: A case study

Background: Contovir is a mixture of herbal extracts (Tanacetum vulgare, Rossa canina, Urtica dioica) that is supplemented with selenium. Objectives: This study aimed to add Contovir to the classic treatment of recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP) in order to decrease the severity and extent of the disease, elongate the surgical intervals and improve the sense of patient well-being. Furthermore, we had to adjust the prescribed drug dosage, since there were no previous findings available. Patients and Methods: This is a case study of RRP patients treated with Contovir as an adjuvant to the classic treatment, from March 2011 to February 2013, at an academic tertiary hospital (Rasoul-e-Akram hospital). All patients underwent surgical removal of papilloma and then were prescribed Contovir. Disease severity was quantified based on Derkay�s staging system. Results: Eight patients were enrolled in this study. The extent and severity of the disease improved in six cases. One had no response, and the severity of disease increased in one patient. Patients with supraglottic lesions had better responses to Contovir adjuvant therapy. No immediate or long-term side effects were reported. Conclusions: Although Contovir has been found to be an advantageous adjuvant for RRP treatment, further studies are called for to verify these findings. © 2016, Iranian Red Crescent Medical Journal

Network topology of NaV1.7 mutations in sodium channel-related painful disorders

Background: Gain-of-function mutations in SCN9A gene that encodes the voltage-gated sodium channel NaV1.7 have been associated with a wide spectrum of painful syndromes in humans including inherited erythromelalgia, paroxysmal extreme pain disorder and small fibre neuropathy. These mutations change the biophysical properties of NaV1.7 channels leading to hyperexcitability of dorsal root ganglion nociceptors and pain symptoms. There is a need for better understanding of how gain-of-function mutations alter the atomic structure of Nav1.7. Results: We used homology modeling to build an atomic model of NaV1.7 and a network-based theoretical approach, which can predict interatomic interactions and connectivity arrangements, to investigate how pain-related NaV1.7 mutations may alter specific interatomic bonds and cause connectivity rearrangement, compared to benign variants and polymorphisms. For each amino acid substitution, we calculated the topological parameters betweenness centrality (Bct), degree (D), clustering coefficient (CCct), closeness (Cct), and eccentricity (Ect), and calculated their variation (value= mutantvalue-WTvalue). Pathogenic NaV1.7 mutations showed significantly higher variation of |Bct| compared to benign variants and polymorphisms. Using the cut-off value \uc2\ub10.26 calculated by receiver operating curve analysis, we found that Bctcorrectly differentiated pathogenic NaV1.7 mutations from variants not causing biophysical abnormalities (nABN) and homologous SNPs (hSNPs) with 76% sensitivity and 83% specificity. Conclusions: Our in-silico analyses predict that pain-related pathogenic NaV1.7 mutations may affect the network topological properties of the protein and suggest |Bct| value as a potential in-silico marker

The global burden of cancer attributable to risk factors, 2010–19: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

BACKGROUND: Understanding the magnitude of cancer burden attributable to potentially modifiable risk factors is crucial for development of effective prevention and mitigation strategies. We analysed results from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019 to inform cancer control planning efforts globally. METHODS: The GBD 2019 comparative risk assessment framework was used to estimate cancer burden attributable to behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risk factors. A total of 82 risk–outcome pairs were included on the basis of the World Cancer Research Fund criteria. Estimated cancer deaths and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) in 2019 and change in these measures between 2010 and 2019 are presented. FINDINGS: Globally, in 2019, the risk factors included in this analysis accounted for 4·45 million (95% uncertainty interval 4·01–4·94) deaths and 105 million (95·0–116) DALYs for both sexes combined, representing 44·4% (41·3–48·4) of all cancer deaths and 42·0% (39·1–45·6) of all DALYs. There were 2·88 million (2·60–3·18) risk-attributable cancer deaths in males (50·6% [47·8–54·1] of all male cancer deaths) and 1·58 million (1·36–1·84) risk-attributable cancer deaths in females (36·3% [32·5–41·3] of all female cancer deaths). The leading risk factors at the most detailed level globally for risk-attributable cancer deaths and DALYs in 2019 for both sexes combined were smoking, followed by alcohol use and high BMI. Risk-attributable cancer burden varied by world region and Socio-demographic Index (SDI), with smoking, unsafe sex, and alcohol use being the three leading risk factors for risk-attributable cancer DALYs in low SDI locations in 2019, whereas DALYs in high SDI locations mirrored the top three global risk factor rankings. From 2010 to 2019, global risk-attributable cancer deaths increased by 20·4% (12·6–28·4) and DALYs by 16·8% (8·8–25·0), with the greatest percentage increase in metabolic risks (34·7% [27·9–42·8] and 33·3% [25·8–42·0]). INTERPRETATION: The leading risk factors contributing to global cancer burden in 2019 were behavioural, whereas metabolic risk factors saw the largest increases between 2010 and 2019. Reducing exposure to these modifiable risk factors would decrease cancer mortality and DALY rates worldwide, and policies should be tailored appropriately to local cancer risk factor burden

Language sampling for children with and without cochlear implant: MLU, NDW, and NTW

Objectives: Cochlear implants (CIs) can considerably improve the oral language of prelingual hearing-impaired children. However, because most studies have been performed with English speaking children, available information regarding Persian-speaking children is scarce. Therefore, this study compared measures of lexical diversity (numbers of different words and total words), and syntactic complexity (mean length of utterance) in Persian-speaking children with and without CIs. Methods: A cross-sectional study with 20 children with CIs and 20 typically developing children was conducted. To collect the data, the children's language samples were gathered via picture descriptions. The first 50 utterances were analyzed. Results: All measures were significantly different between children with CIs and their typically developing age-matched peers, whereas no differences between children with CIs and their typically developing hearing age-matched peers were detected (p<. 0.05). Conclusions: CIs have been recognized to be one of the most beneficial rehabilitation prostheses because they help children to acquire speech and language abilities similar to their typically developing hearing age-matched peers. After implantation, the performance of children with CIs is similar to the performance of normal children with the same hearing experience. The duration of the hearing experience after the implantation is an important factor for determining the development of speech and language abilities. © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd

Evaluation of appropriate and inappropriate admission and hospitalization days according to appropriateness evaluation protocol (AEP)

Background: Inappropriate admission and hospitalization days are the factors that impose more costs to hospitals. By considering current condition of hospitals, it is vital to have an insight into the data on inappropriate admission and hospitalization days in order to eliminate obstacles to the proper and appropriate hospitalization. Methods: In this study, 198 patients who were admitted to receive surgical or non-surgical treatment in Sina public hospital were selected. An appropriateness Evaluation Protocol (AEP) was used for data collection. The validity of AEP is well established by the preceding studies. In order to achieve the study objectives, binary logistic regression test was used. Results: According to our findings, 39.4 of hospitalization days and 16.2 of admissions are inappropriate. In this study, inappropriate admission was observed among married patients eight times more than among single ones. Inappropriate hospitalization days were 12 times more prevalent among patients from provinces than among those from Tehran. With increasing age of the patient the probability of inappropriate admission decreases slightly, i.e. the probability of inappropriate admission decreases 10 as the age increases one year. The number of hospitalization days was significantly correlated to the following parameters: type ofadmission, patient's city ofresidence, type oftreatment, and length ofstay (P<0.05). Conclusion: Regarding the results of this study, a large number of admissions and specially hospitalization days are inappropriate. According to other studies, with suitable programming many inappropriate admissions and hospitalization days are preventable. © 2015, Academy of Medical Sciences of I.R. Iran. All rights reserved

Extracellular matrix protein 1 gene (ECM1) mutations in nine Iranian families with lipoid proteinosis

Background & objectives: Lipoid proteinosis (LP) is an autosomal recessive disease. Clinical characteristics of this disease are hoarse voice, scarring of the skin, brain calcifications, and eyelid papules (moniliform blepharosis). Mutations in the ECM1 gene on 1q21.2 are responsible for this disease. This study was conducted to investigate the mutation spectrum of ECM1 gene in nine Iranian families having at least one LP patient diagnosed clinically. Methods: The entire ECM1 gene was screened using PCR and direct sequencing in nine Iranian families with 12 suspected LP patients who were referred to the clinic, along with their parents and siblings. Thirty healthy individuals were included as controls. Results: In only one patient a homozygous G>A transition at nucleotide c.806 in exon 7 was detected. A G>A substitution at nucleotide 1243 in exon 8 that changes glycine (GGT) to serine (AGT) was observed in most of our patients. Furthermore, in one patient there was a change in the sequence of intron 8, the A>T transition in nucleotide 4307. In addition, in two cases (one patient and one healthy mother with affected child) there was a C (4249) deletion in intron 8. Interpretation & conclusions: Our results indicate that although mutation in ECM1gene is responsible for lipoid proteinosis, it is likely that this is not the only gene causing this disease and probably other genes may be involved in the pathogenesis of the LP disease. © 2016, Indian Council of Medical Research. All rights reserved