Zahedan Journal of Research in Medical Sciences
Volume:21 Issue: 2, Apr 2019

Congenital heart diseases (CHD) constitute a wide range of heart abnormalities. Major advances in surgical treatments have led to a rapidly growing number of surviving individuals. Living well to most people is as important as living longer. Currently, there are few studies on this group of patients regarding their satisfaction with life. This study attempts to compare satisfaction with life among CHD patients. In this cross-sectional study, patients with cyanotic and acyanotic CHD were enrolled. Satisfaction with Life was assessed using SWLS. Eighty patients (52.05% females) with cyanotic (21.3%) and acyanotic CHD were enrolled. The patients with cyanotic CHD were as satisfied with their life as the patients with acyanotic CHD. There were no statistical significant differences between cyanotic and acyanotic patients regarding satisfaction with life. Younger age was associated with a higher degree of satisfaction with life. Women and patients with a history of corrective cardiac surgery were more satisfied with their life. Correlations between satisfaction with life and age and sex were not statistically significant. We found that the patients with cyanotic CHD were as satisfied with their life as acyanotic patients. The results of our study indicate that life satisfaction was not associated with age, sex, and the history of corrective cardiac surgery.

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is known as a worldwide growing metabolic disorder which reduces fertility. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effect of alcoholic root extract of Anacyclus pyrethrum (AP) on FSH, LH, testosterone and sperm count in diabetic male rats. This study was conducted on 60 Wistar-Albino male rats divided into six groups: control group (C), and diabetic groups including: control group (DC), placebo receiver (P) which received 50 (DA1), 100 (DA2) and 150 (DA3) mg/kg alcoholic AP root extract during trial period. Diabetes was induced with an intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ, 60mg/kg). At the end, animals were anesthetized and blood samples were collected from cervical vessels. Serum FSH and LH were determined by ELISA methods. Serum testosterone was measured by standard laboratory method. Sperm count in epididymis and vas deferens was determined using a hemocytometer. The data were analyzed using SPSS V.11 via ANOVA and Tukey tests. Results were expressed as mean ± SD. Statistical differences were considered significant at P < 0.05. Results showed that the serum FSH, LH, testosterone, epididymis, testis, and body weight in all groups which received AP alcoholic root extract significantly increased compared to groups DC and P. AP alcoholic root extract improved FSH, LH and testosterone hormones and body weight gain in STZ diabetic male rats.

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are usually used to alleviate pain and Inflammation. The widespread use of NSAIDs has caused the risk and side effects of these drugs commonly increase. This study aimed to examine the anti-inflammatory and antinociceptive activities of ethanolic extract of propolis (EEP) in male mice and rats. In this experimental study, EEP was prepared and administered in doses of 100, 200, and 400 mg/kg of body weight. The anti-inflammatory potential was assessed by inflammatory models of xylene-induced ear edema and cotton pellet granuloma tests, whereas the antinociceptive potential was assessed by formalin and acetic acid-induced writhing methods. The EEP at doses of 100 (P < 0.05), 200 (P < 0.001) and 400 mg/kg (P < 0.001) significantly diminished the foundation of edema caused by xylene. A significant decrease was seen in granuloma weight in EEP at doses of 200 (P < 0.001) and 400 mg/kg (P < 0.001). The extract caused a significant decrease in licking time at first phase in EEP at 100 (P < 0.01), 200 (P < 0.001), and 400 mg/kg (P < 0.001). A significant decrease was observed (P < 0.001) in licking time at the second phase in EEP at doses of 100, 200, and 400 mg/kg. In the writhing model, a significant decrease was observed in the number of writhes in EEP at doses of 100 (P < 0.05), 200 (P < 0.001), and 400 mg/kg (P < 0.001). The findings of this research showed that the ethanolic extract of propolis has considerable anti-inflammatory and antinociceptive activities.

Heterotopic pregnancy is the existence of both intrauterine pregnancy and ectopic pregnancy simultaneously. Heterotopic pregnancy (HP) has been a rare type of multifetal pregnancy. Heterotopic abdominal pregnancy (HAP) is a very rare diagnosis with very few reported cases. We reported a rare case of HAP in a 32-year-old woman (G2L1) with a history of 13 weak amenorrhea and mild pelvic pain presenting with two live fetuses in the 13th week. The patient also did not mention any risk factor of ectopic pregnancy such as pelvic inflammatory disease, assisted reproductive techniques, endometriosis, and multiparity. Diagnosis of HAP was performed with the use of sonography and magnetic resonance imaging. We managed the patient with emergency laparotomy due to acute abdominal pain a few hours after admission. Laparotomy revealed the rupture of the left fimbria with 500 cc hemoperitoneum. The excision of the ectopic gestational sac in the cul-de-sac and left salpingectomy with preserving the intrauterine fetus was performed. The patient finally gave birth to one live term birth. Physicians should consider the possibility of HP in women with spontaneous pregnancy and abdominal pain. Both sonography and MRI should be performed to help timely diagnosis.

Wound herbal therapy is common in traditional medicine and many studies have illustrated pomegranate’s wound healing properties, yet its pure constituents were not studied extensively. Since the use of electrospinning as a wound dressing is on the rise, this study aimed at evaluating the effect of punicalagin nanofibrous wound dressing on anti-oxidant capacity index through wound healing in rats. Punicalagin with nanofibers of polyvinyl alcohol was produced by electrospinning and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and proved its integrity. A 900 mm2 (3 cm × 3 cm) full-thickness rectangular wound in dorsal inter-scapular skin was incised through aseptic operations in two groups of 10 rats each. In the first group, rats were treated with nanofiber punicalagin dressing for seven consecutive days, and in the second group, rats received nanofiber dressing without punicalagin, as the control. Then, half of them were euthanized on day seven and the rest at day 20 to collect topical cutaneous samples for measuring total antioxidant capacity (TAC) index by using commercial kits. The data were analyzed with SPSS statistics software by comparing total antioxidant capacity between these two groups. Samples from treated rats showed significant increases in tissue extract total antioxidant capacity in the inflammatory stage of wound healing on day seven compared to the control group. The results suggest that treatment with punicalagin nanofibers may lead to help anti-inflammatory effects due to the increase in anti-oxidant activity in the tissue. Based on this augmentation, the formulated nanofibers containing pomegranate peel component might be useful as skin repair dressing without hazard to human or animal health.

Obesity is a common health concern, especially in females. Although prominent effects of the participation in sports on females’ physiological and motor outcomes have been widely investigated, comparative evidence among female athlete and non-athlete students in a Ghana University is needed. This pilot study compared the physiological and motor performance parameters of female athlete and non-athlete students in a Ghana University. Thirty-one female students aged 17 to 26 years (21.18 ± 1.79) assigned to the two groups (athletes and non-athletes) participated in this cross-sectional study. The athletes participated in university sports for three years, while non-athletes were monitored for the same period. The evaluated parameters consisted of blood pressure, heart rate, body mass index (BMI), %body fat, muscle mass, visceral fat, VO2max, muscle endurance, arms’ and shoulders’ power, the power of legs, agility, and speed. Athletes significantly had better VO2max (P = 0.004), the power of arms and shoulders (P = 0.005) and speed (P = 0.014) compared with non-athletes. Differences in heart rate, blood pressure (systolic and diastolic), BMI, %body fat, muscle mass, visceral fat, the power of legs, and agility were not significant (P > 0.05). There was no significant difference between female athletes and non-athletes in physiological and motor performance attributes. It suggests that the participation of these female students in sports did not affect healthy physiological and motor performance outcomes. Training of university female athletes should emphasize health outcomes, while motor performance attributes are prioritized

Acute and chronic ethanol consumption causes oxidative stress in the liver and Zingiber officinale Roscoe (ginger) ginger improves the function of the liver. In the present study, the hepatoprotective effects of ginger extract on liver enzymes, lipid profiles, and indices of oxidative stress, including antioxidant enzymes activity and Malondialdehyde (MDA) against hepatotoxicity induced by ethanol in male rats was evaluated. Twenty-eight adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly allocated to four groups and were treated daily for 28 days as follows: group I: control (received normal saline), group II: ginger (1 g/kg/day ginger extract solution in saline by oral gavage), group III: ethanol (4 g/kg/day ethanol by oral gavage), and group IV: ginger + ethanol. At the end of the experimental period, obtained sera from blood samples were used for assessment of liver enzymes and lipids, and liver tissue homogenate was used for estimating oxidative biomarkers. Furthermore, total phenolics content and in vitro antioxidant potential of ginger extract was determined to correlate hepatoprotective activity with phytochemical and antioxidant activity. In the ethanol group, the results showed a significant increase in biomarkers of oxidative stress and liver function biomarkers compared to other groups (P < 0.05). The level of altered enzyme markers was ameliorated significantly in the ginger co-treatment (ginger + ethanol) group (P < 0.05), while no significant difference in biochemical parameters were observed in ginger alone and control groups. It can be concluded that ginger extract has protective effects against toxicity induced by ethanol in the liver of male rats. The protective effect may be attributed to the presence of phenolics and flavonoids components

Most children with asthma start to have symptoms in early life; socio-demographic and environmental factors can play an important role in the development and clinical expression of asthma. The aim of this study was to determine risk factors in children with asthma from southwestern Iran. This cross-sectional study included children with asthma, aged five to 15 years, who frequently referred to the allergy outpatient clinics affiliated to Shiraz University of Medical Sciences during year 2016. Information about the participants’ demographic characteristics and social and environmental factors was collected using a questionnaire during year 2016. A total of 737 children (494 males and 243 females) with asthma with mean age of 8.1 ± 2.7 years were recruited. Various factors, including male gender, low birth weight, being the first child, low number of siblings, no vaccination against influenza, adenoidectomy, and young age of mother were found to be associated with an increased risk of asthma during childhood. About 50% of children ate little fish and drank too much cola in a week. The current study showed that influenza vaccination and consumption of fish should be encouraged; also, the rate of adenoidectomy was high in asthmatic patients. The results of this study can help plan strategies for preventing asthma.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune debilitating disease affecting the central nervous system. Dysphagia can be seen in 58% of patients with MS. The present research investigates dysphagia rehabilitation strategies in a case study analyzing a 43-year old man suffering from MS. This individual was evaluated using a clinical bedside swallowing assessment (CBSA) test enduring multiple problems at swallowing phases. Rehabilitation interventions consisted of improvement of respiratory support and strengthening the oral musculoskeletal function. Therefore, rehabilitation services may provide an effective approach to improve dysphagia.