Sensitivity or resistance to steroid therapy in children with idiopathic nephrotic syndrome is not associated with polymorphism of angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE)

It's about years that the relation between renin angiotensin aldosterone system (RAS) and involving enzymes such as angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) with nephrotic syndrome is under the focus of researchers and also there are a lot of meta-analyses. However there were few studies investigated the relation of ACE polymorphism and sensitivity or resistance to steroid therapy in children. So we intend to do that. In the current study the sample size was 40 children. Among them, 22 patients were sensitive and 18 patients were resistant to steroid therapy. The samples were collected from Ali-Asghar pediatric hospital in Tehran, Iran. We used polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the genotyping. After that, we used Chi-squared test for statistical analysis. The statistical analysis showed no significant correlation between ACE polymorphism and sensitivity or resistance to steroid therapy (P = 0.77). Although the frequency of DD genotype was higher in the resistant group, but this difference was not statistically significant. Finally we found that although based on previous studies, D allele and DD genotype are more frequent in children with idiopathic nephrotic syndrome in comparison to healthy children, but the resistance or sensitivity to steroid therapy in children is not associated with ACE polymorphism. Further meta-analysis on the studies done on children is suggested. � 2016 Parisadat Ahmadi et al

Accuracy of Visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) for early detection of cervical dysplasia in Tehran, Iran

Objective: To evaluate the accuracy of visual inspection with 5 acetic acid (VIA) when used to detect cervical cancer and its precursors. Methods: The study population included women attended Family Planning and Gynecological Clinic in Bagher Abad Health Center and Mirza Koochak Khan Hospital for regular cervical screening tests. After obtaining informed consent from each woman, VIA was performed. One hundred with a positive VIA test and 100 women with a negative VIA test were randomly selected for this study. Cytology and colposcopy examination were performed for all 200 cases and cervical biopsies were conducted for those individuals showing abnormal colposcopic findings. Results: Nine cases in VIA-positive group and two cases in VIA-negative group had an abnormal cytology. Ninety five women in the VIA-positive group and 25 in the VIA-negative group had abnormal colposcopic findings. From biopsy examination, 67 (71) of cases in the VIA-positive group and 3 (12) cases in the VIA-negative group had a final diagnosis of dysplasia. Among biopsied samples, only 7 cases of VIA-positive group showed abnormal result and the remaining were normal. Based on these results, VIA test sensitivity and specificity were 95.7 and 44.0 respectively, while they were 10 and 92 for cytology tests. Conclusions: The results of this study indicate that although VIA is a sensitive screening test for detection of cervical dysplasia, it can not be used by itself. Applying VIA along with Pap smears helps to detect a higher number of cases with cancer precursor lesions

Malignant mixed mullerian tumor of the uterus associated with tamoxifen therapy in a patient with a history of breast cancer

Tamoxifen is the drug of choice in the treatment of breast cancer. Recent reports show an increased incidence of endometrial carcinoma in patients taking tamoxifen. In this article, we report a case of malignant mixed mullerian tumor after tamoxifen use. Copyright © 2006 by Razi Institute for Drug Research (RIDR)

Comparison of metronidazole and ceftizoxime in prophylaxis of post-hysterectomy infections

Ceftizoxime is a common agent used in prophylaxis of infections after abdominal hysterectomy. Metronidazole could be used instead of ceftizoxime for this matter. To compare these two drugs, in a randomized clinical trial, 30 patients received metronidazole suppositories (1g) and 33 patients received intravenous ceftizoxime (1g) before surgery. There were not any significant demographic (age, weight, parity, hospitalization duration, pre-operation hemoglobin) differences between two groups. Also, the incision type and post-operation bleeding were the same in two groups. The complications after abdominal hysterectomy such as febrile morbidity, urinary tract infections and wound infections were not significantly different between two treatment groups. These results indicate that a single dose metronidazole has the same effect as ceftizoxime in infection prophylaxis of post-hysterectomy infection. Copyright © 2006 by Razi Institute for Drug Research (RIDR)

The association between adiponectin (+45T/G) and adiponectin receptor-2 (+795G/A) single nucleotide polymorphisms with cirrhosis in Iranian population

Adiponectin which possesses anti-inflammatory and insulin-sensitizing properties is elevated in blood circulation of liver cirrhosis patients. The genetic variations in the adiponectin gene can affect the circulating adiponectin level and stimulation of adiponectin receptor that may affect the activity of adiponectin. We investigated the effect of adiponectin single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) 45 T/G and adiponectin receptor-2 gene SNP 795G/ A in cirrhotic Iranian population. A total of 97 cirrhotic patients and 128 healthy controls from Iranian population were genotyped for the adiponectin and adiponectin receptor 2 gene (?45TG and 795G/A) by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism. G frequency was 21.1% versus 12.89% (P = 0.001) for SNP45, and G frequency was 75.8% versus 76.2% (P = 0.526) for SNP795G/A in the patients and control group, respectively. Based on our findings, the expression of the G allele at SNP45 is higher in the patient group compared with healthy subjects, suggesting that it may affect liver injury through changes in the plasma adiponectin level.© Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011

Paraoxonase phenotype distribution in a healthy Iranian population

Human serum paraoxonase (PON1) is a high-density lipoprotein-associated esterase that protects against organophosphate neurotoxicity, and is proposed to play a role in lipid metabolism and the onset of cardiovascular disease. In the present study, paraoxonase activities and phenotype distribution in serum of 132 healthy Iranian individuals aged 17-68 years were assessed using dual substrate method. In the study population, a wide interindividual variability (up to 15-fold) of paraoxonase activity was found. The mean of basal, salt-stimulated paraoxonase and arylesterase activities were 81.8 ± 57 U/ml, 153.1 ± 117.5 U/ml and 80.7 ± 12.8 kU/l, respectively. The ratio of salt-stimulated paraoxonase activity to arylesterase activity was used for definition of phenotypes. Based on the observed ratios, three distinct phenotypes AA (low activity), AB (intermediate activity) and BB (high activity) were determined. The PON1 ratio varied from 0.5 to 6.8. The paraoxonase phenotype frequencies were approximately 48 (AA), 41 (AB) and 11 (BB). In this work, serum triglycerides had significant positive correlation (r = 0.334, P < 0.05) with paraoxonase activity, whereas high-density lipoprotein did not. No significant decrease in paraoxonase activity by smoking was observed. Age and sex had no influences on PON1 activities. In conclusion, the distribution of paraoxonase phenotypes in this Iranian population was trimodal and comparable to that of Caucasians from North America; however, overall enzyme activity was lower than that reported for Caucasians. © 2007 The Authors

Can we substitute brush cytology for biopsy in the evaluation of cervical lesions under the guidance of colposcopy?

In cervical cancer screening, colposcopically directed biopsy is the gold standard method for identifying intraepithelial and occult invasive lesions of the uterine cervix. As biopsy needs special expertise and the procedure is not convenient for the patients, we sought to evaluate colposcopically directed brush cytology as a substitute for biopsy of cervical lesions. We studied a series of 150 women who were referred for colposcopic evaluation. Colposcopically directed brush cytology and biopsy were performed for all patients with abnormal colposcopic findings. A total of 40 samples were excluded due to unsatisfactory report of brush cytology. Of the remaining 110 samples, 34 abnormal pathologies were reported in biopsy evaluations, while only 9 abnormal cytologies were reported in brush cytology specimens. Brush cytology sensitivity and specificity were 26 and 97, respectively. We conclude that colposcopically directed brush cytology is not a safe substitute for biopsy in the evaluation of cervical lesions. © 2005 IGCS

In vitro effects of ketotifen and cromolyn sodium on promastigotes and amastigotes of leishmania major

Background: The first line treatment against cutaneous leishmaniasis is meglumine antimoniate. This drug is expensive and has serious side effects, including development of drug resistance. Objectives: In this research, because of paucity of information, the apoptotic and leishmanicidal effects of ketotifen and cromolyn sodium, as cell membrane stabilizer drugs, were investigated on standard strain of Leishmania major. Methods: In this experimental study, L. major parasites were first cultured in RPM1 1640 media, supplemented with 10 fetal bovine serum (FBS) and antibiotics at 24 ± 1°C. Drug concentrations of 5, 10, 15, and 20 µg/mL were then added to L. major culture at 24-, 48- and 72-hour intervals. The 3 - (4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl) -2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) tetrazolium assays were performed to determine parasite viability and drug toxicity. Leishmania major promastigotes were augmented to the in vitro cultured macrophages (J774 cells) and then incubated for 72 hours. Halfmaximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) were ascertained by counting the parasites. The inhibitory effect of the drugs were compared with that of glucantime. Flow cytometry was performed in the next step, to evaluate apoptosis. Each test was repeated three times. Results: IC50 values of ketotifen and cromolyn sodium after 72 hours were calculated to be 2.04 and 17.67 µg/mL for promastigotes and 0.12 and 14.79 µg/mL for amastigotes, respectively. The results of MTT assays showed 20 and 35 promastigote viability after 72 hours of exposure to ketotifen and cromolyn sodium at 20 µg/mL concentration. Apoptosis in ketotifen and cromolyn sodium was quantified to be 11.52 and 9.96 in promastigotes and 99.5 and 98.6 in amastigote-infected macrophages, respectively. The results indicated that the drugs induce early and late apoptosis in parasites. All treatments produced results, which differed significantly from the control groups (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Drugs used in this study, especially Ketotifen, showed lower toxicity yet similar anti-leishmanial effectsonboth forms, as cromolyn sodium did. It could be suggested that further investigations about the in vivo effects of these drugs, as candidates for cutaneous leishmaniasis treatment, are required. © 2018, Author(s)