The Effects of Succimer and Penicillamine on Acute Lead Poisoning Patients

Background: Lead poisoning was on the rise in recent years. There exists a lack of easy access to some of the main chelator drugs in developing countries. Thus, this study aimed to explore the comparative effects of Succimer and D-Penicillamine on acute lead poisoning patients from 2013 to 2018. Methods: This descriptive study was conducted in the Clinical Toxicology Department of Khorshid Hospital in Isfahan City, Iran. Adult patients with acute lead poisoning were included in the study. Patients in the 3 treatment groups of D-Penicillamine, D-Penicillamine with succimer, and succimer were compared concerning demographic characteristics as well as clinical and laboratory findings at admission time and two weeks later.Results: In total, 163 patients were evaluated in this research. There was no significant difference between the treatment groups respecting improvement in clinical symptoms. The mean blood lead levels during hospitalization and two weeks after the treatment did not significantly differ between the three groups; however, there was a significant reduction in all study groups after two weeks of treatment (P<0.05). The mean white blood cell count was significantly lower only in the D-Penicillamine group two weeks after hospitalization (P<0.05). In the D-Penicillamine group, the mean platelet, hematocrit, and hemoglobin levels were significantly lower two weeks after hospitalization, although within the healthy range.Conclusion: D-Penicillamine may be an acceptable chelator drug for treating patients with acute lead poisoning, especially in communities without access to drugs, like succimer

The effect of a physical-motor program for the development of (endurance of muscle strength, lengthening of major muscle groups, balance and alignment) for children with mild motor disability (06-02 years)

لعل لكل بحث أهدافه الخاصة به فبحثنا هذا تتجلى أهدافه أساسا في معرفة اثر برنامج حركي  لتنمية (تحمل القوة العضلية، الإطالة للمجاميع العضلية الرئيسية، التوازن والتوافق)  للأطفال ذوي الإعاقة الحركية البسيطة على نمو واكتساب القدرات البدنية والحركية من خلال تطبيق برنامج مقترح على الأطفال ذوي الإعاقة الحركية البسيطة في المراكز الطبية الحركية تتناسب مع استعداداتهم واحتياجاتهم وقدراتهم البدنية لرفع من أداء القدرات البدنية والحركية والإدراك الحسي وبالنظر إلى النتائج والمتمثلة في ارتفاع مستوى مؤشرات الاتزان العضلي بعد تطبيق البرنامج التدريبي المقترح استنتج الباحث: - إن الأطفال ذوي الإعاقة الحركية البسيطة في حاجة ماسة إلى برامج ينمي (تحمل القوة العضلية، الإطالة للمجاميع العضلية الرئيسية، التوازن والتوافق) بغرض الارتقاء بالمستوى البدني والحركي لهذه الفئة. - أهم ما يواجه المدرب من صعوبات أثناء تربية الأعضاء الحركية للأطفال هو طريقة التواصل.Perhaps each research has its own objectives, so our research aims mainly to find out the effect of a kinetic program for the development (endurance of muscle strength, lengthening of major muscle groups, balance and compatibility) for children with mild motor disabilities on the growth and acquisition of physical and motor abilities through the application of a raise the performance of physical, motor and perceptual capabilities. Given the results represented by the high level of muscle balance indicators after implementing the proposed training program, the researcher concluded the following: - Children with slight mobility disabilities are in urgent need of programs that develop (endurance of muscle strength, lengthening of major muscle groups, balance and compatibility) in order to improve the physical and motor leve

Ampicillin-Sulbactam for the Treatment of Aspiration Pneumonia in Patients with Opioid Overdose: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial

Background: Aspiration pneumonia is among overdose complications, requiring timely appropriate treatment. The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of ampicillin-sulbactam, compared to our usual regimen ceftriaxone + clindamycin on aspiration pneumonia in opioid-poisoned patients.Methods: In a randomized-controlled clinical trial, opioid-poisoned patients with aspiration pneumonia were randomly divided into the experimental and control groups to receive ampicillin-sulbactam 3 g Intravenously (IV) every 6 hours (experimental group) and ceftriaxone 1 g IV every 12 hours + clindamycin 600 mg IV every 8 hours (control group) followed by co-amoxiclav 625 mg orally every 8 hours and cefixime 400 mg once daily + clindamycin 600 mg orally every 8 hours in experimental and control groups, respectively, to complete a 7-day course of therapy. White blood cell count and temperature (axillary) at baseline and the third day of the intervention and the treatment outcome on the third day of the intervention, defined as either complete response, partial response, or failure, were evaluated and recorded for all patients.Results: Except for the number of cases of leukocytosis on the third day of the intervention, i.e., lower in the control group (5 patients, 26.30%) than the experimental group (13 patients, 68.40%) (P=0.020), no significant difference was observed between the study groups regarding other outcome variables. Clinical response was similar between the study groups; so that, 10.50% and 63.20% of patients in the experimental group and 21.10% and 47.4% of patients in the control group presented complete and partial responses, respectively (P=0.550). Conclusion: The obtained data suggested that ampicillin-sulbactam is an effective antibiotic for the treatment of aspiration pneumonia in patients with opioid overdose, in which case, it has the same efficacy as the two-drug regimen of ceftriaxone + clindamycin

Vitamin D receptor gene variants in Parkinson’s disease patients

Background: Vitamin D plays an important role in neurodegenerative disorders as a crucial neuro-immunomodulator. Accumulating data provide evidences that vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene is a candidate gene for susceptibility to Parkinson’s disease (PD).Aim: To find out whether the risk of the development of sporadic PD might be influenced by VDR gene polymorphisms in an Iranian population or not.Subjects and methods: A genetic study was conducted to investigate the relationship between VDR gene polymorphisms and the severity of PD. Fifty-nine PD patients and 53 matchedhealthy controls were genotyped using polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR–RFLP) analysis. For this purpose, four single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in VDR gene including FokI T > C (rs 10735810), BsmI A > G (rs 1544410), ApaI A >C (rs 7975232), and TaqI C> T (rs 731236) have been evaluated.Results: Our genotyping studies revealed that holding ApaI a allele and FokI f allele could significantly increase the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease 1.85 and 2.46 times, respectively (p= 0.023 and 0.008). Moreover, Aa heterozygous of ApaI also shows a significantly elevated risk of developing PD when compared to AA homozygous (OR = 7.44, p= 0.005). For BsmI and TaqI polymorphisms, no significant difference in genotype or allele distribution was found between PD patients and the controls. Moreover, in this study, no significant association was found between different genotypes and Hoehn & Yahr staging and Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Stage (UPDRS) rating scale.Conclusion: This study demonstrates a possible association between the VDR FokI and ApaI polymorphism and PD, indicating that VDR polymorphisms may change genetic susceptibility to sporadic PD in the Iranian population

Mini-Exon Genotyping of Leishmania Species in Khuzestan Province, Southwest Iran

Background: Leishmaniasis is a protozoan disease cause by Leishmania genus. Anthroponotic and zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis are endemic in Iran. The aim of this study was to identify the causative agent of cutaneous leishmaniasis by mini-exon gene in five regions of Khuzestan Province, southwest of Iran. Methods: From 2007 to 2008 in this cross-sectional study, cutaneous samples were collected from patients referred to Health Centers and Hospitals of the Khuzestan Province for cutaneous leishmaniasis diagnosis and cultured in Novy-MacNeal-Nicolle (NNN) and RPMI 1640. The propagated promastigotes were harvested and Leishmania species of cutaneous leishmaniasis were identified by RFLP and DNA sequencing of the PCR generated fragments. Results: L. major and L. tropica were the causative agents of cutaneous leishmaniasis by predominantly of L. major species. The alignment of the mini-exon sequencing isolates with reported sequencing of L. major and L. tropica revealed 92-99 identity. Conclusion: Our study showed that mini-exon PCR-RFLP was useful method to identify the causative species of cutaneous leishmaniasis

Electrocardiogram Changes in Patients With Acute Ethanol Poisoning

Background: Alcohol consumption leads to a significant number of deaths, mostly in men, worldwide. Considering the effect of ethanol toxicity on the heart, we studied various Electrocardiographic (ECG) changes in patients with acute ethanol poisoning. Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed on patients admitted to Khorshid Hospital (affiliated to Isfahan University of Medical Sciences) due to ethanol poisoning. All 15- to 50-year-old patients with acute ethanol intoxication were included in the study (N=250). The patients’ information, including the demographic characteristics, clinical manifestations, and ECG changes were recorded and analyzed. Different variables were compared between the patients with or without ECG changes.Results: Most of the research patients (n=208) were men (83.82%). The Mean±SD age of the study patients was 26.8±8.87 years. About 54.8% of the patients presented abnormal ECG. The changes in ECG were not significantly different based on the demographic characteristic and clinical manifestations. The time interval between ethanol consumption and admission was significantly higher in patients with abnormal ECG, compared to those with normal ECG (Mean±SD: 7.09±10.67 vs. 4.77± 4.54 hours, respectively) (P=0.03).Conclusion: ECG changes are common in patients with ethanol poisoning. The time interval between ethanol consumption to hospital admission may be an important factor in the occurrence of ECG changes

Conjugated linoleic acid stimulates apoptosis in RH and tehran strains of Toxoplasma gondii, in vitro

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) on apoptosis of tachyzoites of T. gondii, RH strain (type I) and the cyst-forming Tehran strain (type II) in vitro. Methods: Toxoplasma strains were injected into the peritoneal cavity of BALB/c mice. The Tehran strain forms cysts in the brain of mice. Bradyzoites within the cysts are reactivated to proliferative tachyzoites, by dexamethasone. Tachyzoites were aspirated from the peritoneum of infected mice, and the percentage of viable parasites was estimated with trypan blue staining. Tachyzoites were inoculated into HeLa cells cultivated in DMEM medium. Different concentrations of CLA were evaluated on T. gondii in HeLa cells by the tetrazolium (MTT) colorimetric assay. Differentiation between apoptosis and cell death was determined by flow cytometry using Annexin V and propidium iodide (PI) double staining. The statistical analysis performed by GraphPad Prism version 6.00. Results: CLA induces apoptosis in virulent (RH) and avirulent (Tehran) strains of T. gondii. The results of MTT indicated that CLA could decrease the proliferation of tachyzoites of both strains in HeLa cells. Conclusion: Conjugated linoleic acid has anti-toxoplasmacidal activity on tachyzoites of T. gondii. Therefore, we recommended further studies on this component in order to achieve a new drug against the parasite. © 2015, Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS). All rights reserved

A Sensitive and Specific PCR Based Method for Identification of Cryptosporidium Sp. Using New Primers from 18S Ribosomal RNA

Background: The main goal of the present study was to develop a new sensitive and specific PCR based method for Identification of Cryptosporidium sp. using novel primers from 18S ribosomal RNA. Cryptosporidi­osis in high-risk host groups particularly in neonates and immuno-compromised individuals may result in death. To the best of our knowledge this is the first study regarding develop a new PCR based method to diagnose the cryptosporidiosis in Iran.Methods: A total of 850 human fecal samples from patients clinically suspected to cryptosporidiosis and 100 healthy and diarrheic cattle stool specimens were collected. The simplified formol-ether concentration method was carried out for all samples. They were then examined microscopically by modified Ziehl-Neel­sen staining method. Total DNA was extracted by QIA amp DNA stool mini kit was carried out by using designed prim­ers.Results: Twenty nine cases of cryptosporidiosis infection in human and 30 samples from cattle microscopi­cally were posi­tive. The described primary and nested PCR method could detect all Cryptospori­dium positive samples from human and cattle. Regards to suspected negative samples in pri­mary PCR examination, the Nested PCR could ap­prove two more positive results. Furthermore, Nested PCR analysis was able to detect one more case which was nega­tive in both microscopically examination and primary PCR. Specificity of the test was 100%. Sensitivity of Nested PCR in comparison to our gold standard; microscopy after Ridley concentration modified ziehl-Neelsen, was 100 %.Conclusion: Our developed PCR based method by using new primers devised from 18S ribosomal RNA revealed the ability for identification of the Cryptosporidium species such as C. parvum and C. huminis with high specificity and sensitivity

Serodiagnosis of fasciolosis by fast protein liquid chromatography-fractionated excretory/secretory antigens

In several studies, different antigenic preparations and diverse immunological tests were applied for serodiagnosis of Fasciola hepatica infections. Most of these preparations showed cross-reactivity with proteins of other parasites. Application of purified antigens might reduce these cross-reactivities. Here, we used fast protein liquid chromatography (FPLC)-fractionated extracts of F. hepatica excretory/secretory antigens (E/S Ags) for serodiagnosis of human and sheep fasciolosis. To develop an improved diagnostic method, we fractionated F. hepatica E/S Ags by anion exchange chromatography on a Sepharose CL-6B column and then tested the serodiagnostic values of the fractions. We used sera from F. hepatica-infected human and sheep as positive controls. Sera from patients with hydatidosis and strongyloidiasis were used for cross-reactivity studies. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) of the second FPLC peak, containing 20, 25, and 70 kDa proteins, discriminated between F. hepatica-infected and uninfected human and sheep samples. Fractionation of F. hepatica E/S Ags by FPLC is a fast and reproducible way of obtaining antigens useful for serodiagnosis of human and sheep fasciolosis with acceptable sensitivity and specificity