Zahedan Journal of Research in Medical Sciences
Volume:19 Issue: 2, Feb 2017

Artemisia are various groups of plants which are used as an herbal medicine in all countries; the present study was designed to evaluate the effects of Artemisia dracunculus (AD) leaves aqueous extract on blood sugar, serum insulin, and triglyceride and liver enzymes in Fructose Drinking water (FDW) male rats.
At the beginning of experiment, 48 Wistar-albino male rats, weighing 200 - 250g were divided into control (C) and FDW groups (n = 24). FDW group received FDW (10%, w/v) for a month but control group did not receive any agents during the trial period. A half of control and FDW groups received AD L aqueous extract daily during trial period. At the end, animals were anesthetized, sacrificed and blood samples were collected from cervical vessels. Serum insulin, Blood glucose, insulin resistance index, triglyceride and liver enzymes were measured by ordinary methods. Obtained data were analyzed using SPSS-17 via one way ANOVA and Tukey tests.
Our results showed that serum insulin, blood sugar, insulin resistance index, triglyceride, Aspartate amino transferase (AST) and Alanine amino transferase (ALT) values in FDW group significantly increased compared to C and C E groups but these values in group FDW E were significantly decreases compared to group FDW (P Our findings demonstrated that AD L aqueous extract improves blood sugar, serum insulin, insulin resistance index and liver enzymes in rat model.

Cardiovascular disease is resulted from malfunctioning’s of heart as well as blood vessels. More than two decades ago it was noted that the number of white blood cells can be an indicated of the existence of such disease. Platelet activation and aggregation are among the include processes. That are considered in pathophysiology of a coronary heart disease. However there seems to be a paucity of research on platelet count in patients suffering from obesity. Moreover although previous studies have indicated a positive correlation between platelet and white blood cells. Counts and mortality from coronary heath disease, how this might correlate with obesity is an issue still in need of more attention.
The present study was designed to evaluate platelet count and white blood cell count in those patients who suffer from obesity as compared with control subjects who were not obese.
In this cross-sectional study, there were a total of 1024 Iranian subjects living in Hamedan include, staff of Islamic Azad University of Hamedan and subjects who referred to Ekbatan hospital in Hamedan during the period of 6 months randomly and staff of Islamic Azad University of Hamedan. The absence of infectious disease was confirmed by a general practitioner. Finally, the samples included 486 subjects, 254 male, and 232were females. Body mass index was calculated. Waist circumference in the Iranian subjects, at least in men 89 (cm) and women 91 (cm) was considered. White blood cell and platelet count was measured. T-test and Pearson’s correlation were run to analyze the collected data through SPSS software version 16.
The average age of the subjects was 34.75 ± 8.1 years. The body mass indexes in 7.6 percent of men and 15.7 of women were greater than 30 (kg/m2). The averages of waist circumference in men and women was 1.04 ± 0.5 and 89.3 ± 10.2 (cm), respectively. Also there seemed to be a significant correlation between waist circumstance and the number of platelets in both male and female subjects (P Our results showed a relationship between central and general adiposity and WBC count as an inflammation factor, and higher count of platelets count in subjects.

The women in pregnancy and postpartum are susceptible to psychological problems such as anxiety and depression. Many studies conducted on postpartum depression, but few studies have examined the depression in pregnancy and have focused on ways to treat it.
The purpose of present study was to detect the fetal movement counting on depression of mother in the third trimester of pregnancy.
In a Randomized controlled trial, 66 women with a singleton pregnancy and mild and moderate depression based on Beck Inventory Scale, were randomly allocated either to perform daily fetal movement counting from 28 week to 37 (n = 32) or control group (n = 34). Analysis was performed with SPSS 16 and a P In the intervention group, the mean of depression scores was 14.56 ± 4.66 at 28 weeks and 13.65 ± 4.00 at 37 weeks and the difference was significant. The mean difference was 0.90 (95% CI: 0.52 - 1.28, P The level of depression was decreased at 37 weeks of gestation in the fetal movement counting and control group and the difference was not significant. The mother concern for reducing of fetal movements was similar in both groups.

The genus Nocardia is Gram-positive, aerobic filamentous bacilli and saprophytic micro-organisms that can be isolated from freshwater, salt water, dust and decaying vegetation especially the soil. This study aimed to investigate the several media for to determine a suitable culture media with the ability to better for the isolation of Nocardia from soil.
In this study, 400 soil samples were collected from different areas from Iran. The soil samples were then cultured on the four culture media such as Humic acid vitamin B agar, Paraffin agar, Sabouraud dextrose agar supplemented whit cycloheximide and carbon-free broth containing paraffin rods and incubated at 35°C. All of culture media investigated every 3 days for a month. Colonies suspicious to Nocardia were stained with Gram-stain, acid-fast and partially acid-fast and evaluated for resistance to lysozyme.
From 400 soil samples, the number of 62, 10, 28 and 19 strains of Nocardia were isolated by paraffin rods, Humic Acid Vitamin B agar, Paraffin agar and Sabouraud dextrose agar whit cycloheximide, respectively. Most Nocardia strains were isolated using paraffin bait technique.
Isolation of Nocardia spp. is enhanced by using the paraffin baiting technique that relies on the selective ability of this micro-organism to metabolize paraffin.

Activation of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis has been shown in acute ischemic stroke. Some recent studies suggest that serum cortisol level may have prognostic value in patients with ischemic stroke. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic value of cortisol in patients with acute ischemic stroke.
In this prospective observational study, 51 patients with acute ischemic stroke were evaluated. Cardioembolic and lacunar strokes were excluded. In the first 24 hours of admission, serum cortisol level, national institutes of health stroke scale (NIHSS), diabetes and hypertension were assessed to determine their value to predict mortality within 90 days. The results were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, chi-square test and logistic regression.
In this study, 26 patients (51%) were female and the rest were male. Serum cortisol level was normal in 37 patients (72.5%). 14 patients died (27.5%) during the follow-up period. The mean serum cortisol level of dead patients were 33.48 ± 15.14 μg/dL and for alive patients was 35.10 ± 19.74. This difference was not statistically significant. After statistical analysis using logistic regression, no significant correlation between serum cortisol level and mortality was seen.
Although ischemic stroke is associated with change in serum cortisol level but this change has no prognostic value.

Scabies is one of the most common itching contagious skin disorder in the world. The agent of disease is Sarcoptes scabiei.
This study was conducted to determine the frequency and clinical manifestations of S. scabies in suspected patients referred to health centers of Kashan during 2010 - 2014.
This cross-sectional study was performed on 129 patients suspected to Sarcoptes scabiei. The demographic and clinical symptoms for each of patients were recorded in questionnaire by interview. A deep skin scrap was prepared and wet smear were prepared using 10% KOH. By observation of each form of Sarcoptes was identified as positive sample. The data were recorded in Spss. ver 16.5 and analyzed by X2 and fisher exact tests.
The results of this study showed that 28 (21.7 %) were Sarcoptes positive. The frequency of sarcoptes was higher in males (23%) than females (20.6%). The difference was not statistically significant. The most cases were isolated in spring and winter. Sarcoptes infestation was the most in elderly and patients undergone dialysis. There is significant difference between disease and age group and underlying disease (P = 0.03, P = 0.014; respectively). Erosion or pustule was the most clinical signs in positive cases.
The results of study showed that the rate of scabies infestation in Kashan is relatively high, and the most cases were in elderly patients. Health education to increase awareness of the families for prevention of scabies was recommended.

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory disease with undefined pathogenesis. Some evidence suggests that telomerase is involved in the pathogenesis of this disease. This study was done to evaluate the therapeutic potency of Camellia sinensis stew (CSS) which rich in polyphenolic compounds with anti-inflammatory properties in experimental model of rheumatoid arthritis.
In this experimental study, collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) was induced by immunization of Lewis rats. The paws and knees were then removed for histopathology analysis. Moreover, Roentgenogram analysis of normal and arthritic hind paws was performed. Synovial cell harvested from biopsies of synovial tissue were used for measuring telomerase activity. The results were analyzed using SPSS version 16 software.
Our data showed that CSS induced a significant reduction in paw edema. Histopathological findings showed reduced inflammatory responses and bone erosion in joints of treated rats. Moreover, CSS showed a significant reduction of telomerase activity compares with control group.
Our findings revealed that CSS should be considered as a therapeutic agent in experimental model of rheumatoid arthritis based on its telomerase activity suppression.

Diabetes is a chronic disease that its prevalence will double in the world by 2030. According to the report of world health organization (WHO) in 2014, diabetes is the fourth main disease contributing to premature death among Iranians.
According to the third national program of care system for risk factors of non-communicable diseases, the prevalence of diabetes is reported to be more than 8 percent. Given the high prevalence of diabetes and its importance, the aim of this study was compare the quality of life in patients with type II diabetes and healthy people in Kerman.
This study was a cross-sectional. Two hundred diabetic patient and 200 healthy people participated in this study. The WHOQOL-BREF was used to collect data.
This study showed that score of quality of life in all dimension in diabetic patients were fewer than healthy people impressively (P To recapitulate, since chronic diabetes disease is not fatal, the patients will not be recovered and they practically have the disease and its complications over their entire life, it is recommended to address the quality of life among these patients’ especially physical and psychological domains.