Shiraz Emedical Journal
Volume:16 Issue: 1, Jan 2015

Orlistat (Xenical) is an approved medication for treating obesity. Recent studies suggested a new application for orlistat as an antitumor agent.. The aim of this review was to describe the effect of orlistat as an antitumor agent on growth of cancer cells..Patients and Articles were identified in data-bases such as Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus and Proquest. Forty-nine articles were found with key words such as orlistat and obesity, orlistat and neoplasm, orlistat and proliferation, antitumor and orlistat, and fatty acid synthase and orlistat. Finally 25 articles were selected that were published from 2005 until the present and investigated orlistat functions on cancer progression.. Orlistat reduced cancer cells growth in vitro and in vivo. Orlistat inhibited approximately 50% of proliferation and decreased tumor size compared with control groups. It seems that, antitumor effects of orlistat are dose dependent and its high concentrations inhibit proliferation of cells more than low concentrations.. Orlistat inhibited fatty acid synthase, decreased tumor cells proliferation, stimulated tumor cell apoptosis and decreased viability. Thus it can act as an anti-tumor drug. By changing the formulation of oral orlistat, we can produce a novel drug with more bioavailability for absorption from the gastrointestinal tract and more anti-tumor activity..

Urinary screening program for asymptomatic urinary abnormalities among primary school children may facilitate preventing, halting, and deferring the progression of some diseases.. To describe the urine examination findings in healthy primary school beginners in Yazd (Iran)..Patients and A complete physical examination in the morning with a midstream urine sample collection obtained from 3014 students in two educational areas of Yazd, Iran. Students with positive test results in the first screening were retested. The urine samples of those with two abnormal results were analyzed using dipstick and microscope concurrently.. Children (1527 girls, 1487 boys) were screened and urinary abnormalities were detected in 94 (3.1%) subjects at the first screening. Proteinuria was the most common abnormality, detected in 54 (1.79%), and next, hematuria was present in 16 subjects. Of these children, 24 (0.79%) cases were positive in the second screening. In the third analysis of samples, abnormal findings in the patients included one isolated hematuria, eight isolated proteinuria, and two combined hematuria and proteinuria. 19 out of 3014 (0.63%) had a familiar history of renal diseases and three of them had renal disease.. Urinary screening can detect chronic renal disease in its earliest stages that may help to prevent the deterioration of future renal function. In addition, a long-term follow-up of the children with hematuria and proteinuria is suggested..

Leishmania is a protozoa of trypanosomatidae family that leads to a group of disease called leishmaniasis. The pathogenesis of parasite changes during promastigotes growth and proliferation. Proliferation of promastigotes includes two stages: logarithmic, and stationary. The parasite is noninfective at logarithmic stage while is infective during the stationary stage. Acid phosphatase (ACP) is one of the factors that supposed to play a role in preservation and survival of the parasites inside the vertebrate host body cells.. In the present study, ACP enzyme characteristics and its activity during logarithmic and stationary phases of Leishmania major were compared.. The growth curve of L. major (MRHO/IR/75/ER) was plotted by daily counting cultivated parasites and promastigotes of each stage were collected separately. Frozen promastigotes of each stage were homogenized with sodium acetate and Triton-X-100 and ACP was measured by calorimetric assay.. Parasites at logarithmic and stationary phase were collected respectively in the fourth and seventh days. The rate of ACP activity was determined to be 1.18 ± 0.01 in stationary and 0.9 ± 0.03 µM/min/mg protein in logarithmic phases. Moreover, maximum speed of phosphatase enzyme (Vmax) was 98.04 ± 0.96 in stationary phases and 75.76 ± 0.57 in logarithmic. In addition, Michaelis-Menten constant (km) in logarithmic and stationary phase was determined at 142.93 ± 4.08 and 106.39 ± 1.14 µM, respectively (P < 0.05).. In logarithmic phase, km of ACP was 28% higher and the rate of ACP activity and Vmax were 23% lower than that of stationary phase. Changes in the specifications of ACP might be one of the important factors for parasites to attack the macrophages and these variations..

Ischemic heart disease (IHD) is among the most important and top ranked causes of death in the world. An early and accurate diagnosis of IHD is necessary to improve outcomes.. We assessed the prevalence of dermatologic signs associate with the risk of ischemic heart disease among the hospitalized IHD patients.. This descriptive-analytic and cross-sectional study was conducted on IHD patients during 6 months in Kamkar Hospital in Qom and Shaheed Beheshti Hospital in Kashan. Participants were assessed for the presence of male pattern baldness, hair graying, diagonal earlobe crease (DELC), and xanthoma.. A total of 366 patients with IHD (52.5% male and 47.5% female) with a mean age of 58.5 ± 7.5 years were evaluated. IHD was more prevalent between people 60-69 years old. Prevalence and occurrence of alopecia, hair whitening, DELC, and xanthoma were 79.2%, 78.7%, 34.1%, and 18.6%, respectively. Hyperlipidemia was seen in 70.5% of individuals with xanthoma. Alopecia was more prevalent in subjects with family history of baldness (P < 0.0001). Family history of hair whitening had a significant effect on its prevalence (P < 0.0001). Bilateral DELC was more prevalent than unilateral one (22.4% vs 12.5%).. Male pattern baldness, hair graying, xanthoma, and earlobe crease are associated with increased risk of ischemic heart disease. These dermatologic signs can be considered as CVD risk factors for screening..

It has been shown that inflammation and insufficient blood vessel formation delay wound healing, whereas Boswellia serrata, besides anti-inflammatory activity, increases blood vessel formation.. This study was performed to investigate the effect of Boswellia serrata in promoting burn injuries healing in BALB/c mice.. In this experimental study, a burn wound was created by placing a 1.5 cm2 hot plate on the back of animals. Fifty four mice were designated in four equal groups, counting 14 each. Three groups of animals were treated with Boswellia 2%, silver sulfadiazine and vaseline two times per day for 21 days. The fourth group represented the control group. The total percentage of wound healing and time required for complete healing were evaluated and compared between groups, using the ANOVA test.. Results showed that the effect of Boswellia on wound healing was statistically significant compared to the control group (P < 0.01).. Boswellia serrata is clearly effective for burn injuries healing and might be used in patients with burn wound..

Burn donor site care is one of the most important concerns in burn surgery. Traditional dressings for donor sites have some disadvantages, which interfere with epithelial growth and final results.. This study evaluated the role of a novel complex dressing in the management of donor burn site.. Patients and After harvesting skin graft from the donor site, two different methods of dressing were selected. In control group (53 patients), traditional dressing was put on the donor site, but in investigation group (54 patients), a combination dressing consist of an absorbent dressing (Melolin) and a protective transparent film (Flexigrid) was used.. Epithelialization time was approximately 2.5 times shorter in the investigational group (P < 0.05). The infection rates were 4% and 21% (P < 0.05) in the investigation and control groups, respectively. Hospitalization time was decreased significantly, thus decreasing the final cost of about 25%. Cosmetic results were better in the investigation group and more acceptable than the control group.. This new technique of dressing in burn donor sites not only can decrease the epithelialization time, but also can lead to better cosmetic results, lower infection rates and decreased final costs; thus, recommendable for all skin donor sites in burn.

Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) infection in immunocompromised hosts like kidney transplant patients causes more morbidity and mortality than the general population.. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of screening for HSV in donors and recipients of kidney transplantation.. From October 2012 to November 2013, this cross sectional study was conducted on donors and recipients who were referred to our kidney transplant center in Ahvaz city, Iran. A standardized questionnaire was used to collect social and demographic data. The patients and donors were screened for HSV IgG and IgM antibodies by direct fluorescent antibody (DFA).Other routine pretransplant laboratory studies were also performed.. Overall 37 people (22 donors, 20 males and 2 females with mean age of 30 ± 5 years; 15 recipients, eight males and seven females with mean age of 45 ± 6 years) were enrolled in this study. All of the recipients were on hemodialysis. The markers of HBV and HCV infection were negative in 100% of recipients and donors. Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) IgG antibody was positive in 93.33% of recipients (n = 14) and 77.27% of donors (n = 17). Herpes Simplex Virus (HAV) IgM antibody was positive in 33.33% of recipients (n = 5) and 13.63% of donors (n = 3).. Herpes Simplex Virus is a common infection in donor and recipient candidates for kidney transplantation in Khuzestan province of Iran, and it seems that we need to perform screening for this infection to avoid kidney donation from seropositive donors to seronegative recipients..