Journal of Research in Medical Sciences
Volume:21 Issue: 6, 2016 June

Aortic valve stenosis (AVS) is the most common cause of left ventricular outflow obstruction, and its prevalence among elderly patients causes a major public health burden. Recently, platelet?to?lymphocyte ratio (PLR) has been recognized as a novel prognostic biomarker that offers information about both aggregation and inflammation pathways. Since PLR indicates inflammation, we hypothesized that PLR may be associated with the severity of AVS due to chronic inflammation pathways that cause stiffness and calcification of the aortic valve.
We retrospectively enrolled 117 patients with severe degenerative AVS, who underwent aortic valve replacement and 117 control patients in our clinic. PLR was defined as the absolute platelet count divided by the absolute lymphocyte count. Severe AVS was defined as calcification and sclerosis of the valve with a mean pressure gradient of >40 mmHg.
PLR was 197.03 ± 49.61 in the AVS group and 144.9 ± 40.35 in the control group, which indicated a statistically significant difference (P We suggest that the level of PLR elevation is related to the severity of degenerative AVS, and PLR should be used to monitor patients’ inflammatory responses and the efficacy of treatment, which will lead us to more closely monitor this high?risk population to detect severe degenerative AVS at an early stage.

Disk herniation is the most common cause of radiating LBP in subjects under 60 years of age. The present study aims to compare the effect of dry needling and a standard conservative approach on the pain and function in subjects with discogenic radiating low back pain.
Fifty-eight subjects with discogenic radicular low back pain were screened and randomized into control (Standard physical therapy, N = 29) and experimental group (Standard physical therapy & Dry needling, N = 29). Radiating pain intensity and disability were measured using Visual Analogue Scale and Oswestry Disability indices at baseline, at the end of treatment and two months after the last intervention session. the changes in pain intensity and disability were studied using a 3×2 repeated measures analysis of variance considering time as the within-subject factor and group as the between-subject.
Pain intensity and disability scores decreased significantly in both experimental and control groups (experimental group: VAS=37.24, ODI=28.48, control group: VAS=45.5, ODI=32.96), following the intervention. The change continued during the follow-up period (P Both intervention strategies seem to significantly improve pain and disability immediately following intervention, where the improvement continued during two months after the last active intervention. Therefore, supplementary DN application may enhance the effect of the standard intervention considerably.

Vitamin D was shown to be related to autoimmune thyroid diseases (AITDs) in the previous studies. We aimed to investigate the relationship between Vitamin D and thyroid autoimmunity.
Eighty-two patients, diagnosed with AITD by the endocrinology outpatient clinic, were included in this prospective study. All of the patients had both AITD and Vitamin D deficiency, defined as serum values Two groups were similar with regard to age, sex, and type of thyroid disease. Whereas TPO-Ab (before; 278.3 ± 218.4 IU/ml and after; 267.9 ± 200.7 IU/ml) and TgAb (before; 331.9 ± 268.1 IU/ml and after; 275.4 ± 187.3 IU/ml) levels were significantly decreased by the Vitamin D replacement therapy in group 1 (P = 0.02, P = 0.03, respectively), the evaluated parameters in the control group did not significantly change (P = 0.869, P = 0.530, respectively). In addition, thyroid function tests did not significantly change with Vitamin D replacement in two groups.
Vitamin D deficiency may contribute to the pathogenesis of AITDs. Since supplementation of the Vitamin D decreased thyroid antibody titers in this study in Vitamin D deficient subjects, in the future Vitamin D may become a part of AITDs’ treatment, especially in those with Vitamin D insufficiency. Further clinical and experimental studies are required to understand the effect of Vitamin D on AITD.

Nonmelanoma skin cancer rates are increasing worldwide. Mohs micrographic surgery and surgical excision (SE) are the two treatment methods for this type of cancer. The current paper aims at determining and comparing the cost-effectiveness of SE and Mohs micrographic surgery.
The current study has a retrospective cohort design. A number of 630 patients suffering from nonmelanoma skin cancer who at some point of time during the years 2007–2014 referred to the Al-Zahra or Seyed Al-Shohada Hospitals in Isfahan. Patients were followed up for 4 years, and then the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of the two methods was calculated.
The average (minimum-maximum) cost of the SE and Mohs surgery methods in Iran was obtained as 18,550,170 (2335,800–260,898,262) and 12,236,890 (6488,340–41,161,700) Iranian Rials, respectively. Recurrence percentage was also reported as 7.9% and 8.7% for SE and Mohs micrographic surgery, respectively (P > 0.05). The ICER of SE in comparison with Mohs surgery was calculated as 7891,600 Iranian Rials per recurrence avoided.
Mohs surgery is less expensive than SE, it seems like Mohs surgery is more affordable, however further studies in different populations of the country are needed.

Laparoscopic appendectomy is a well-described surgical technique. However, concerns still exist regarding whether the closure of the appendiceal stump should be done with a clip, an endoloop, or other techniques. In this study, the effect of stump closure on duration of surgery and complications by endoclips was compared with endoloop in patients under laparoscopic appendectomy. The study was carried out as a prospective randomized clinical trial between 2013 and 2015 in Shariati Hospital of Tehran.
Seventy-six patients under laparoscopic appendectomy were enrolled and randomly assigned to receive either endoclips or endoloop for stump closure. The results in terms of the operating time, length of hospital stay, and the complications were compared and analyzed between two groups. After collecting the essential data by using a checklist and examination of patients, the data were analyzed with SPSS.
The mean age was 23.13 ± 5.07 years and 44.7% of the patients were male. Moreover, in this study, it was seen that the mean duration of surgery was 23.2 min versus 21.5 min in endoloop and endoclips groups, respectively (P = 0.021). There was no difference between hospital stay among two groups (P > 0.05). Furthermore, the complications were same in two groups (P > 0.05).
The effect of stump closure with endoloop versus endoclips is not different for complications, but the duration of surgery was shorter in endoclips method. Both methods could be used based on the opinion of the surgeon without expecting a statistically significant difference in the results.

Organic cation transporter 3 (OCT3) is an excellent transporter for metformin, which is used as first-line therapy for type 2 diabetes (T2D). OCT3 genetic variants may influence the clinical response to metformin. This study aimed to determine the genotype and allele frequency of OCT3-564G>A (rs3088442) variant and its role in the glycemic response to metformin in patients with newly diagnosed T2D.
Based on the response to metformin, 150 patients were classified into two groups: Sixty-nine responders (decrease in glycosylated hemoglobin [HbA1c] values by more than 1% from the baseline) and 81 nonresponders (decrease in HbA1c values A was genotyped using polymerase chain reaction - based restriction fragment length polymorphism.
The genotypes frequencies were 51.3% GG, 36% AG, and 12.7% AA. Allele frequency of major allele (G) and minor allele (A) in OCT3-564G>A variant was found to be 0.69 and 0.31, respectively. Fasting glucose, HbA1c, body mass index, and lipid profile in both GG genotypes and GA AA group decreased significantly after 3 months of metformin therapy compared with baseline (P 0.05).
The A allele frequency (which may be a protective allele against coronary heart disease) in the Iranian diabetic patients was lower than Iranian, Caucasian and Japanese healthy populations. Metformin is useful in improving the lipid profile, in addition to its impacts in glycemic control, and these effects are regardless of OCT3-564G>A variant.

This study aimed to explore the cellular morphology of respiratory epithelium in Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia patients.
The cast-off cell morphological findings from bronchoscopic brushings in M. pneumoniae pneumonia and community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) caused by typical pathogens were reviewed.
Compared with the CAP group, cellular dysplasia in respiratory tract epithelial brushings was significantly greater in M. pneumoniae pneumonia patients (P = 0.033).
Unique biological characteristics and mechanisms of pathogenesis of M. pneumoniae may result in dyskaryotic changes in respiratory epithelium in adult M. pneumoniae pneumonia.

Ebola hemorrhagic fever is a lethal viral disease transmitted by contact with infected people and animals. Ebola infection represents a worldwide health threat causing enormous mortality rates and fatal epidemics. Major concern is pilgrimage seasons with possible transmission to Middle East populations. In this review, we aim to shed light on Ebola hemorrhagic fever as regard: virology,transmission, biology, pathogenesis, clinical picture, and complications to get the best results for prevention and management. We also aim to guide future research to new therapeutic perspectives to precise targets. Our methodology was to review the literature extensively to make an overall view of the biology of Ebola virus infection, its serious health effects and possible therapeutic benefits using currently available remedies and future perspectives. Key findings in Ebola patients are fever, hepatic impairment, hepatocellular necrosis, lymphopenia (for T?lymphocyte and natural killer cells) with lymphocyte apoptosis, hemorrhagic manifestations, and complications. Pathogenesis in Ebola infection includes oxidative stress, immune suppression of both cell?mediated and humoral immunities, hepatic and adrenal impairment and failure, hemorrhagic fever, activation of deleterious inflammatory pathways, for example, tumor necrosis factor?related apoptosis?inducing ligand, and factor of apoptotic signal death receptor pathways causing lymphocyte depletion. Several inflammatory mediators and cytokines are involved in pathogenesis, for example, interleukin?2, 6, 8, and 10 and others. In conclusion, Ebola hemorrhagic fever is a serious fatal viral infection that can be prevented using strict health measures and can be treated to some extent using some currently available remedies. Newer treatment lines, for example, nigella sativa may be promising.

Metabolic syndrome (MetS), a cluster of cardiovascular risk factors, is one of the most common metabolic disorders, which lead to many chronic diseases. The link between childhood MetS and occurrence of atherosclerosis and its sequels in adulthood are well documented. This study aims to systematically review the prevalence of MetS among Iranian children and adolescents.
An electronic search was conducted on studies published from January 1990 to January 2015.The main international electronic data sources were PubMed and the NLM Gateway (for MEDLINE), Institute of Scientific Information (ISI), and SCOPUS. For Persian databases, we used domestic databases. We included all available population-based studies and national surveys conducted in the pediatric age group aged 3-21 years old.
In this review, 2138 articles were identified (PubMed:265; Scopus:368; ISI:465; SID: 189; IranMedex: 851; Irandoc: 46). After quality assessment 13 qualified articles were evaluated. The number of total population and points of data were 24772 and 125, respectively. Regarding the geographically distribution, we found 2 national-, 6 provincial- and 5 district level points of data. The prevalence range of MetS among children was 1-22% using different definitions. Reported range of pediatric MetS defined by different criteria were as follows: National Cholesterol Education Program-Adult Treatment Panel III ( ATPIII); 3-16%,International Diabetes Federation( IDF); 0-8%, American Heart Association(AHA); 4-9.5%, The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey(NHANES III); 1-18%, Deferranti; 0-22%.
MetS is a common metabolic disorder among Iranian children and adolescents, with increasing trends during the last decades. This finding provides baseline useful information for health policy makers to implement evidence based- health promotion for appropriate controlling of this growing health problem for the pediatric population.