Zahedan Journal of Research in Medical Sciences
Volume:7 Issue: 2, 2005

Hereditary hearing impairment is a heterogeneous disability showing different pattern of inheritance and involving a multitude of different genes. Mutations in the GJB2 gene, especially the 35delG mutation, have been established as a major cause of inherited and sporadic non-syndromic deafness in various ethnic groups. Because population-specific differences are not uncommon, in this study we sought to determine the prevalence and spectrum of GJB2 mutations in two isolated ethnic groups of Balooch and Sistani in southeastern Iran. Methods and Materials: In this study in 2004 2005 we analyzed one hundred families belonging to the Balooch and Sistani populations suffering from autosomal recessive non-syndromic hearing impairment. Mutation screening of GJB2 was performed by an allele-specific PCR assay to detect the 35delG mutation. The negative or heterozygous cases for the 35delG mutation were screened by denaturing high performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC) and sequencing analysis.

35delG mutation which is the most common GJB2 mutation in the white population as well as other parts of Iran was not found in any of the patients. We identified GJB2 mutant alleles in 18 chromosomes (9%) including R127H, K122I, W24X, 167delT and M93I. Among them W24X had the highest frequency.

Based on these data, the hot-spot mutations in the GJB2 gene in the Balooch population with non-syndromic hearing loss may be different from other ethnic groups in Iran.

Increasing daily development of industry is intimately associated with obligatory use of electric welding process in light and heavy industrial companies. Recent studies showed some deleterious effects of welding fumes generated during electric welding on human bodies in circulatory, blood, gastrointestinal, respiratory and reproductive systems. The aim of the present study was to define the histopathological effects of welding fumes on liver cells and its enzymes in a conditioned medium in gas exposure chamber in Rat as an experimental model. Methods and Materials: A total number of 60 Sprague Dawley Rats were chosen and divided into experimental (40) and control (20) groups. Each group was subdivided into 2, 4, 6 and 8-week subgroups. The number of Rat in each subgroup of experimental and control group was 10 and 5, respectively. Experimental group Rats were exposed to fumes of electric welding for 2 hour/day and 5 day/week. The rate of air turn over in exposure chamber was fixed to 12-15/hour. The amount of O3, CO, CO2, NO + NO2 and particulate matter were measured by Galtec detectors and Cellulose acetate filter, respectively. According to timetable animals were killed and specimens from liver and blood were taken, tissue specimens fixed in formaline buffer solution and processed routinely. Sections with 5-7 micrometer in thickness were stained by H-E, PAS, PNA, WGA and Alcian blue pH=2.5. The enzyme activity was measured and data were analyzed by Kruskall Wallis and Mann Whiney NPAR tests. The results of this study showed the presence of small quantities of Gal/GalNac in the sub endothelial connective tissue of central venule and also sialic acid and GluNac in endothelial cells of sinusoid in liver. PAS staining showed that the amount of glycogen particle in hepatocyte changed in experimental group especially in peripheral cells of classic lobule. Statistical analysis showed that there was no any statistically significant difference for alkaline phosphatase, ALT and AST between all studied groups. It seems that hepatocytes and its own serum enzyme activity changes are time dependent after exposure to welding fumes. The future studies will probably showed the exact role of these fumes in hepatocyte and its relation to pathophysiology of liver diseases.

Therapeutic effects of Azathioprine (AZA) and Doxycycline (DOX) on arthritis Rheumatoid (RA) patients have been recognized. However, there is not much information available about the difference of their effects in the treatment of RA.Methods and Materials: Seventy-one patients finished 16 weeks of the study. (32 patient in AZA and 39patients in DOX group). All patients received less than 10 mg/day prednisolone. Group 1 and 2 received 50 mg AZA and 100mg DOX twice in day respectively. We evaluated clinical (tender & swollen joint counts, Ritchi articular index, morning stiffness, pain score (VAS), gripe strength) and laboratory measurements (hemoglobin, platelets counts, WBC, ESR, CRP, RF) and physician overall assessment. At entry, demographic, clinical and laboratory measurements were similar in both groups. At 16th week both groups showed statistically significant improvement in clinical and laboratory measurements. There were no statistically significant differences between the treatment groups in clinical and laboratory variables (P<0.05) except for ESR and CRP that were better improvement in AZA group (P<0/001,P<0/01respectively). Minor adverse effects (Gastrointestinal, skin) were more frequent in DOX group, but withdrawals because of sever adverse effects were similar in both groups. Therapeutic effects of DOX and AZA on arthritis Rheumatoid patients were alike and there was no significant difference in clinical and laboratory variable of illness recovery as well as overall evaluation of the two drugs, but side effects of DOX were more than those of AZA.

The oro-dental condition of mentally and physically disabled individuals is one of the important concepts in preventive dentistry. The aim of this study is to evaluate those conditions in these two groups in Zahedan (Iran).Methods and Materials: This survey was compared the oro-dental conditions in 94 mentally handicapped and 104 physically handicapped. The mentally handicapped group subdivided into three groups: educable (10), trainable (45), and isolated (39). The physically handicapped group consists of three groups: physically impaired (28), hearing impaired (44), and visually impaired (32). The oro-dental health index consisted of DMFT, crowding, anterior and posterior teeth attrition, oral health index consisting of debris index (D1-s) and calculus index (C1-s). Mean DMFT in 7-14 year-olds mentally and physically disabled persons were 3.2 and 3.7, respectively in 15-25 year-olds were 2.7 and 3.6 and in 26 year-olds and upper was 5.7 and 3.7 respectively which did not show significant correlation by Mann-Whitney test. It was 5, 4.1 and 1.6 in educable, trainable and isolated mentally handicapped which was significantly meaningful (P<0.05). There was no significant correlation between disability and crowding, anterior and posterior attrition index. The D1-s and C1-s was significantly higher in mentally disabled groups than those in other disabled groups. Specific consideration to oro-dental complications of disabled groups and to set up an efficient managing system is advisable.

Pregnant women who are infected with hepatitis B virus، can infect their children. The risk that newborn infant will develop hepatitis B is 10 to 90%. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of HBsAg in pregnant women in Zahedan. Methods and Materials: In this cross sectional study in a time period of one month in Zahedan a total cases of 200 pregnant women were enrolled in our study. The sera obtained from these pregnant women were measured by ELISA method for HBsAg. Our data showed that 6. 5% of the pregnant women had a positive test for HBsAg. In summary, it seems that hepatitis B infection is highly endemic at least in pregnant women in Zahedan. On the basis of this epidemiologic data, screening of all pregnant women is necessary.

The prevalence rate of Helicobacter pylori in developing country is higher than that in developed country. H. pylori infection one of the common causes of gastritis in adults and children and there is no association between this bacterium and lympoproliferative especially malt lymphoma. The prevalence rate of this infection in children is influenced by their socio-economic status. The aim of our study was to compare the results of invasive tests (endoscopy, gastritis mucosal biopsy histology, urease) with non-invasive tests (serology, stool Ag).Methods and Materials: During the study 100 one-year-old children with acute stomach pain who referred to Tabriz children hospital from north-east of the country were examined by upper gastrointestinal endoscopy, urease serology and stool Ag test. In histologic examination of sample %60 of the patients were found HP positive that urease test with %58 sensitivity and %90 specificity, serology with %55 sensitivity and %87 specificity, stool antigen with %54.8 sensitivity and %79.4 specificity. The results showed serology and stool Ag test low sensitivity and specificity than Gold standard histology. But, these tests can be evaluated potentially as an indicator of H.P status during diagnosis and treatment and eradication of H. pylori.

Streptococci group A is most frequently isolated pathogen in the cases of acute pharyngitis and pharyngotonsilitis in school-aged children. It’s Dangerous complication such as rheumatic fever and glomerulonephritis increase the necessity of diagnosis and timely treatment.The aim of this study was, determination of the frequency of streptococci carriers in group A in junior secondary school in Kerman.Methods and Materials: In this cross-sectional study conducted by random sampling, a total of 200 students aged 11 to 15 were included in the study. These students must have no symptom or sign of upper respiratory tract infection and not used any antibiotics in the previous two weeks. The prevalence of beta hemolytic streptococci group A carriers in all age groups was 28.5%. After doing antibiogram test, it was revealed that all of them were sensitive to Vancomycin, Erythromycin and Cephalotin and reversely, resistance to penicillin. Our data suggest that incorrect use of these antibiotics increases the chronic carrier state of group A Streptococcal pharyngitis in our community.

According to modern approaches to management, quality is described as consumer’s requests. Thus, recognizing consumers’ perceptions of service quality is one of the first basic steps in formulating any quality improvement program. The objective of this study is assessing the consumer's perceptions of quality in Educational Services at Zahedan University of Medical Sciences.Methods and Materials: A sample of 386 students in five medical schools participated in this cross sectional descriptive study which was done in 1383. For this study stratified systematic random sampling was applied. A questionnaire based on the SERVQUAL instrument, which proved to be valid and reliable, was used for data collection. Five dimensions of educational services quality were assessed by this questionnaire. For statistic analysis, descriptive statistic and Friedman and Wilcoxon tests were applied. The findings indicated that only 17.6% respondents perceived quality of service good, 34.2% bad, and 48.2% moderate. The respondents’ choices clearly showed that the reliability dimension of service quality was better and responsiveness dimension was worse. There was a significant difference in quality between five dimensions. Respondents’ perceptions of service quality in each statement of five dimensions indicated that there were opportunities for quality improvement. In these faculties, thus, in order to improve quality of educational services, considering what stated above, it is necessary to initiate strategies and implement those strategies, since there is significant differences of quality in the five dimension, when allocating resources, these differences must be taken into consideration.