Journal of Iranian Medical Council
Volume:1 Issue: 1, Summer 2018

On May 9, 2018, Trump, contrary to Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and one-sided, issued new sanctions against Iran without consideration of how much this decision would have any legal or international justification. The question is; will this decision slow-down Iran’s scientific growth?

Influenza is an acute respiratory infection with different severity in children. There is a range of upper and lower respiratory tract infections caused by the virus.

Drug repositioning is one of the common strategies of new indications and therapeutic targets for already known drugs.  Drug repositioning is known by various names in textbooks such as drug re-proposing, re-profiling, re-tasking and therapeutic switching. Drugs may act through multiple molecular targets. Although perhaps designed for specificity, modulate several targets. This “Poly-pharmacology” may also be essential for efficacy. This “off-targets” may also lead to side-effect. Repositioning vs traditional drug discovery reduces time, reduces risk, and reduces cost.  Bleeding disorder observation of aspirin (a wonder drug) over the years (1891) was made repeatedly leading to the suggestion by Craven (1953) that aspirin might be used for the prevention of thrombosis. The historically unintentional, serendipitous, or constrained research effort is now being replaced by systematic, high-throughput and rational pursuit of new therapeutic uses for marketed drugs, drugs in development, or as a drug salvaging strategy.

Misuse of opioid painkillers such as tramadol has increased in the world. These painkillers have psychological side effects such as dependence and tolerance. Moreover, the role of Tyrosine-Kinase B (Trk-B) receptor in drug dependence and reward system is not clear. The main objective of the study is to assess the effect of tramadol on the Trk-B receptors within amygdala and nucleus accumbens.

For this purpose, the male Wistar rats received different doses of tramadol (0, 5, and 10 mg/kg). For the assessment of the effect of acute and chronic treatment of tramadol, animals received tramadol one and 14 following days, respectively. The amygdala and nucleus accumbens (NAC) were collected, and Trk-3 protein level was quantified using Western Blotting method. The collected results were subjected into statistical analysis using SPSS software.

Results showed that Trk-B level increased in the amygdala in both acute and chronic treatment. Vice-versa, tramadol treatment decrease Trk-B level in the NAC.

Increasing of Trk-B level in the amygdala might be related to the effect of tramadol on serotonin reuptake transporter, and it proves the anxiolytic effect of tramadol. Decreasing in the level of Trk-B in the NAC might be related to the effect of tramadol on VTA and its rewarding effect via increasing dopamine in the NAC and decreasing Trk-B level in the D1-type Medium Spiny Neurons (MSN) which enhance reward., Increasing level of Trk-B in the amygdala might be related to the anxiolytic effect of tramadol which modulates it via BDNF-Trk-B signaling pathway. More studies are needed to elucidate the effect of tramadol on BDNF-TrkB signaling pathway.

Although smaller studies have shown that the P-wave morphology from different anatomic locations, a detailed algorithm which characterizes the likely location of a tachycardia associated with a P-wave of unknown origin is still lacking. The purpose of this study was: 1) to perform a detailed analysis of the P-wave morphology in Focal Atrial Tachycardia (FAT) and to produce an algorithm for identification of the anatomic site of origin, and 2) to evaluate the clinical and electrophysiological characteristics of FAT.

In this retrospective study 146 patients underwent radiofrequency catheter ablation for right and left FATs and their clinical, electrocardiographic, and electrophysiological characteristics were included.

One hundred forty-six patients with FAT were included in the study (56% of them were female, mean age: 46±15 years, age range: from 15 to 86 years). The distribution of Atrial Tachycardia (AT) was 78% in right atrial and 22% in left atrial region. The most common site for right-sided ATs was crista terminal is while pulmonary vein was the most common origin for the left ATs. A female predominance of 60% was seen in right-sided AT and a male predominance of 60% was among left-sided tachycardias (p=0.04). Lead V1 was the most useful lead to distinguish right tachycardias from the left one. Atrial electrogram-P wave interval at successful ablation site was significantly longer among left-sided ATs (45±7 vs. 41±7 ms, p=0.006).

This study shows a significant gender differences between right and left ATs. Leads V1 and I were the most useful leads to localize the FAT. Proposed P-wave algorithm could determine the likely origin of tachycardia in 95% of the patients.

The use of Amphetamine Type Stimulants (ATS) including amphetamine and methamphetamine is a critical worldwide problem. The development of simple and convenient analytical methods for the detection of amphetamine and methamphetamine is necessary to determine the abuse of illicit drugs in urine. Many useful methods have been developed for qualification and quantification of substance abuse. High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) are applied for detection of drugs and poisons for both biological and non-biological materials. The aim of the present study was to compare the power of HPLC and TLC for the detection of amphetamine and methamphetamine in human urine to suggest an appropriate analytical method considering beneficial aspects of it such as validation, simplicity, sensitivity, applicability and economic cost.

Both HPLC and TLC were used to analyze urine samples of 50 self-reported individuals, whom were referred to Bahar Medical Laboratory and Iranian National Center for Addiction studies.

Screening test showed 22 (amphetamine) and 17 (methamphetamine) percent were false-positive tests in comparison with TLC findings. The results of TLC analysis were consistent with the results from HPLC method.

Based on our results; this study increases the potential validity of TLCas a rapid, inexpensive and simple screening procedure for the detection of amphetamine and methamphetamine in human urine, especially in deprived regions with inexperienced technicians and no advanced laboratory equipment.

Phenobarbital (PHB) is an anticonvulsant drug that poisoning with it leads to stupor or coma and in higher doses may induce severe respiratory depression and cardiovascular collapse. Intravenous Lipid Emulsion (ILE) has been used to treat drug toxicity and for parenteral nutrition. Ten male rats that had been intoxicated by 100 mg/kg of PHB were treated intravenously by 18.6 ml/kg of ILE20 or similar dose of normal saline. Subject rats were checked before PHB injection (zero time), 0.5 hr before ILE20% (or normal saline infusion) and 1, 3, and 6 hr after PHB toxic injections. On each check point, we tested the blood pressure, muscular power score and mortality rate. There were no significant differences between blood pressures of two groups at all. ILE was able to increase rats’ muscular power scores at the 3rd and 6th hours check points (p=0.007 and 0.0371, respectively). ILE also increased the survival period of intoxicated rats; however it did not change the mortality rate. ILE was able to reverse the muscles power reduction and could improve the survival period among intoxicated rats.

Ulcerative Colitis (UC) is an Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) that causes long-lasting inflammation and ulcers in digestive tract. The current study aimed to evaluate the protective effects of gallic acid on the 2,4,6-trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid (TNBS)-induced UC in rats.

Forty-two adult Wistar rats were divided into seven groups (n=7) and UC was induced in six groups using TNBS solution. They received different daily doses of gallic acid (25, 50, 75 and 100 mg/kg/day, p.o). On the 11th day, the colon tissues were removed and examined regarding the macroscopic and histopathology lesions. Also, Disease Activity Index (DAI) and Myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity were measured in the colon homogenate.

Pretreatment with this natural agent remarkably reduced the macroscopic scores of colon in rats with UC in comparison with the control group. DAI was also reduced by gallic acid significantly. Histopathological findings confirmed the beneficial effects of gallic acidonthe animal model of UC. Gallic acid induced a significant decrease in the levels of inflammatory mediators like MPO.

We may conclude that gallic acid can be used as an effective medicine for treatment of UC in animal model, however it needs to be confirmed by human models.

An 18-year-old boy with type 1 diabetes mellitus, presented to our dermatology clinic with a 3-year history of enlarging asymptomatic plaques on his legs, dorsum of hands and his abdomen. On physical examination two atrophic, yellowish plaques on left leg, one larger plaque on left ankle, an erythematous atrophic plaque on left hand and a smaller annular lesion on the abdomen were observed that had telangiectasias in the center and also peripheral elevated erythematous papules. The patient’s diabetes was well-controlled and he did not show any sign of retinopathy, neuropathy or nephropathy. The patient was treated with topical tacrolimus 0.1% and intralesional steroid in the margin.

Mental disorders and the related symptoms such as depression, anxiety, and aggression are related to increased mortality and higher risk of chronic diseases. The number of people with depression and anxiety as two common mental disorders has increased by 18.4 and 14.9%, respectively between 2005 and 2015 1. Therefore appropriate strategies to prevent psychological disorders and decrease their burden to the society and healthcare system is an important issue 2,3. Diet as a lifestyle factor can contribute to developing mental disorders. Most studies that examined the relationship between mental disorders and nutritional factors are more on B vitamins, folate and omega-3 fatty acids 4,5. It has been shown that focused a diet high in olive oil and monounsaturated fatty acids was negatively associated with depression 6. Also, the inverse linear association was detected between fruit and nut consumption and the prevalence of depression. It has been seen that the Mediterranean diet was associated with lower risk of depression 7. Previous studies have shown positive effects of dietary approaches to stop hypertension (DASH) on various diseases such as diabetes, metabolic syndromes, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases 8-12. There are limited studies on association of such diet and mental disorders.