Adiponectin and chronic kidney disease; a review on recent findings.

Adiponectin is a multifunctional cytokine that has a role in regulating inflammation. In patients without chronic renal failure (CRF) and type 2 diabetics, decreased adiponectin levels are associated with insulin resistance. Lower serum plasma adiponectin values are link to larger tumor size and metastasis in clear-cell carcinoma of the kidney too. However, in patients with established chronic kidney disease (CKD), adiponectin levels are elevated and positively predict progression of disease. In addition, increased levels of serum adiponectin of hemodialysis patients were associated with decrease in bone mineral density in hemodialysis patients. Thus, depending on type of renal failure should be adjusted the adiponectin levels in patients. In CKD patients without diabetic, decreasing adiponectin levels by ARB drugs may be appropriate for inhibition of disease progression

Contrast induced nephropathy; recent findings.

Contrast induced nephropathy is one cause of acute renal failure. Contrast induced nephropathy is the third most common cause of hospital-acquired acute renal failure. The incidence of contrast induced nephropathy in the general population is 0.6% to 2.3%, but when focusing on specific high-risk patients the incidence can increase to more than 40%. Studies suggest that intravenous hydration is the most effective strategy to prevent contrast induced nephropathy. Hydration is inexpensive and is usually risk-free. Administration of optimal fluids before and after the contrast procedure allows for increased urine output and improved outcomes

Renin-angiotensin system blockage for reduction of plasma adiponectin level in maintenance hemodialysis patients: A randomized controlled trial

Introduction. Plasma adiponectin level is markedly increased among patients on hemodialysis. This investigation aimed to evaluate the relationship between renin-angiotensin system blockade and serum adiponectin concentration in nondiabetic patients on hemodialysis. Materials and Methods. This randomized double-blind controlled trial was conducted on a group of nondiabetic patients on regular hemodialysis. The first group received losartan, 12.5 mg twice per day for the 1st week, 25 mg twice per day during the 2nd week, and 75 mg/d from the 3rd week to the end of the 16th week. Patients of the control group received placebo. Blood samples from all of the patients were collected at the beginning and at the end of the study to measure serum adiponectin. Results. Seventy-three hemodialysis patients were divided randomly into the losartan group (40 patients) and the control group (33 patients). The mean adiponectin level in all of the patients was 10.6 ± 3.9 μg/mL. A significant decrease of serum adiponectin level was observed after 4 months of treatment with losartan (8.86 ± 3.43 μg/mL for losartan group versus 10.71 ± 3.94 μg/mL for the control group; P = .04). None of the patients had a serum potassium value greater than 5 mg/dL or hypotension during the intervention. There was no significant difference in serum potassium levels between the two groups. Conclusions. The decrease in serum adiponectin level in nondiabetic patients on regular hemodialysis by losartan might offer a potential protective approach in these patients. Mechanisms responsible for this reduction remain to be investigated. © 2016, Iranian Society of Nephrology. All rights reserved

The effect of a set of submaximal aerobic exercise and ginger on pain duration in the college girls with primary dysmenorrhea

Background and aims: Due to the anti-inflammatory properties of the ginger plant, it has attracted researchers’ attentions for treating menstrual problems. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a program which contains submaximal aerobic exercises and ginger on pain duration in the college girls with primary dysmenorrhea. Methods: This quasi-experimental research was performed on 40 female students with primary dysmenorrhea (moderate, severe) who lived in the dormitory of Shahid Rajaei University with average height, weight, age and body mass index of 164.47 ± 4.66 cm, 56.95 ± 6.81 kg, 21.40 ± 1.42 years and 21.07±2.41 kg/m², respectively. The samples were randomly divided into 4 groups (n=10) including exercise, ginger, combined of both exercise and ginger, and control groups. The exercise group performed an eight-week submaximal aerobic exercise. The ginger group used capsules which contain 250 mg ginger, 4 times a day from the third day of bleeding, and both variables were applied for the combined group. The influence of ginger and exercise were evaluated on the duration of dysmenorrheal pain and the data analysis was performed by using one-way ANOVA and Tukey tests. Results: After 8 weeks of ginger usage and sub maximal aerobic exercise, the duration of pain declined in the combined (P=0.001) and practice groups (P=0.04) compared to the control group. Conclusion: Submaximal aerobic exercise along with ginger use is effective in reducing the pain of primary dysmenorrhea

The effects of Nigella sativa L. seed oil on BMI, WC and FBS in overweight men: A randomized controlled clinical trial

Background and aims: In recent years, the wide usage of herbal drugs has encouraged the medical scientists to evaluate its effects on health. Nigella sativa L. seed (N. sativa) as an herbal drug has prescribed in some diseases such as hyperlipidemia and metabolic syndrome. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of N. sativa on weight, BMI (Body Mass Index) and FBS (Fasting Blood Sugar) in overweight men. Methods: In this randomized controlled trial, we enrolled seventy eight subjects in two groups to receive 2.5 mL N. sativa oil (n=37) or 2.5 mL paraffin oil as placebo (n=30) two times a day orally for 2 months. FBS, weight, height, and WC (Waist Circumference) of subjects were measured before and after intervention in both groups. Results: After intervention, in N. sativa group, weight, BMI, FBS, and WC were significantly reduced (P<0.01) compared with baseline and also compared with placebo group. Conclusion: Our results showed that daily intake of 5ml N. sativa oil for two months could significantly reduce weight, WC and FBS in over weight men

Ameliorative effect of melatonin against contrast media induced renal tubular cell injury

Background and Objective: Reactive oxygen species (ROS) is a mediator of renal damage. Melatonin is a potent-free radical scavenger. Our objective was to test whether melatonin would protect against the nephrotoxicity of contrast media. Methods: In an experimental study 40 adult male Wistar rats were randomly divided into four equal groups including: 1) Control group (No drug), 2) Contrast media group (10 ml/kg iodixanol i.v. single dose), 3) Contrast media and melatonin (first 10 ml/kg iodixanol then 10 ml/kg/day melatonin by i.p. injection on days 3,4 and 5) and 4) Contrast media and melatonin pretreatment group (melatonin 10 ml/kg/day by i.p. injection on 1, 2 and 3 days, then 10 ml/kg iodixanol by i.v. injection on third day. The blood creatinine and BUN as well as the histological changes were evaluated for severity of renal injury (degeneration, vacuolization of tubular renal cells, dilatation of tubular lumen and presence of debris in the lumens), by scoring from one to four. Results: Contrast media significantly increased the creatinine and BUN and renal injury (p < 0.05). Melatonin prevented and reversed the injury induced by contrast media (P < 0.05). Pretreatment with melatonin reduced the renal injury induced by contrast media (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Melatonin is an effective drug to prevent contrast-induced renal injury. Therefore its usage (especially pretreatment) might be beneficial in patients who are planning to use contrast media agents

Turmeric: A spice with multifunctional medicinal properties

Curcuma longa (Turmeric), belonging to Zingiberaceae family is one of the most useful herbal medicinal plants. Extensive researches have proven that most of the turmeric activities of the turmeric are due to curcumin. It has various useful properties with antioxidant activities and is useful in conditions such as inflammation, ulcer and cancer. It also has antifungal, antimicrobial renal and hepatoprotective activities. Therefore, it has the potential against various cancer, diabetes, allergies, arthritis, Alzheimer&rsquo;s disease and other chronic and hard curable diseases. The purpose of this review was to provide a brief summary of the new and current knowledge of the effects of curcumin. The recently published papers in international cites such as PubMed/Medline, Science Citation Index and Google Scholar about turmeric were searched. Recent studies have authenticated the use of turmeric for various diseases especially oxidative stress induced ones such as cancer, diabetes mellitus and inflammatory disorders. It also is used as hepatoprotective, nephroprotective, anticoagulant and anti-HIV to combat AIDS. Curcumin, as a spice, exhibits great promise as a therapeutic agent. It has very low toxicity, too. As the global scenario is now changing towards the use of non-toxic plant products having traditional medicinal use, development of modern drugs from turmeric should be emphasized for the control of various diseases. Further evaluation needs to be carried out on turmeric in order to explore the concealed areas and their practical clinical applications, which can be used for the welfare of mankind

On-admission versus in-hospital thromboembolism due to COVID-19 infection. What is the particular characteristic of those with early thrombotic events?

Introduction: Increasing evidence has declared a hypercoagulable state in the coronavirus 2019 infection (COVID-19), while the etiology has remained a question. For the first time, the current study has aimed to compare the contributors of thromboembolism among those whose primary manifestations of COVID-19 were thrombosis vs the patients with a thrombotic event during the period of hospitalization.Material and methods: This case-control study has been conducted on 267 COVID-19 patients, including 59, 48, and 160 ones with an on-admission, in-hospital, and without a thrombotic event, respectively. The events were defined as deep vein thrombosis (DVT), ischemic cerebrovascular accidents (CVA), pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE), or acute myocardial infarction (AMI). The demographic, physical examination, clinical and laboratory assessments of the groups were compared.Results: The DVT (OR: 5.18; 95% CI: 1.01–26.7), AMI (OR: 11.1; 95% CI: 2.36–52.3), and arterial thrombosis (OR: 5.93; 95% CI: 0.63–55.8) were significantly associated with an on-admission thrombosis compared to those who presented in-hospital events. Lower levels of oxygen saturation were the only significant predictor index inversely associated with on-admission thrombosis compared to those with an event during the hospital admission period.Conclusion: PTE development was the most common in-hospital thrombotic event, whereas other thromboembolism types were remarkably more often among cases with on-admission events. Oxygen saturation was the only predictor of premature thrombosis that was inversely associated with outpatient events

The impact of M-ary rates on various quadrature amplitude modulation detection

The 5G system-based cognitive radio network is promised to meet the requirements of huge data applications with spectrum. However, the M-ary effect on the detection has not been thoroughly investigated. In this paper, an M-ary of quadrature amplitude modulation detection system is studied. Many rates are used in this study 4, 16, 64, and 256 constellation points. The detection system is applied to cooperative spectrum sensing to enhance the performance of detection for various rates of M-ary with low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Further, three kinds of signals based 5G system are sensed: filtered-orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (F-OFDM), filter bank multi-carrier (FBMC), and universal filtered multi-carrier (UFMC). The best detection performance is obtained when the M-ary=4 and number of SUs=50 user, whereas the worst detection performance is obtained when the M-ary=256 and number of SUs=10 user, as revealed in the simulation results. In addition, the detection performance for the F-OFDM signal is better than that of UFMC and FBMC signals for SNR &lt;0 dB