Journal of Disease and Diagnosis
Volume:9 Issue: 4, Dec 2020

The present study was conducted to investigate the potential protective effect of cerium oxide nanoparticles (CeNPs) against lead acetate-induced toxicity.

In this study, 30 adult male Wistar rats were randomly divided into three groups and treated simultaneously, except for the normal control, for 5 weeks with lead acetate in drinking water (1000 mg/L). Control rats and negative control rats received saline intraperitoneally. At the same time, the third group was treated with intraperitoneal injections of CeNPs at the dose of 0.5 mg/kg 1 week before lead administration, and continued with its administration. Finally, serum was obtained by the conventional methods and rats were sacrificed to obtain liver, heart, testis, and kidney tissue for histopathological examinations.

The lead-treated group showed significant increases in blood urea nitrogen (BUN), serum creatinine, serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST), serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels (P<0.01). Lead-intoxicated rats treated with CeNPs showed a significant decrease in serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), AST, and ALT levels compared to the untreated negative control group (P<0.01). The histopathological examination of liver and kidney tissues showed signs of lead-induced injuries, necrotic hepatocytes, and glomerulosclerosis. The CeNPs-treated group showed noticeable reductions in histopathological signs of lead-induced injuries. Lipid peroxidation levels were also lower in CeNPs-treated rats than negative controls (P<0.05).

The current experimental study proved the protective effects of CeNPs in rats exposed to chronic lead-induced toxicity; however, more experiments are required to evaluate the possible side effects and interactions.

A hydatidiform mole or molar pregnancy is the most prevalent gestational trophoblastic disease (GTD). About 55%-60% of women with trophoblastic diseases have overt hyperthyroidism at the time of diagnosis, which may have severe manifestations. This study examined the relationship between gestational hypertension and the level of thyroid hormones with beta human chorionic gonadotropin (β-HCG) in patients with a hydatidiform mole.

This cross-sectional study enrolled 65 patients with a hydatidiform mole admitted to Khalij-e Fars hospital, Bandar Abbas, Iran. Patients were divided into three groups of clinical hyperthyroidism, subclinical hyperthyroidism, and healthy. The serum levels of thyroidstimulating hormone (TSH), T4, T3, and β-HCG were checked in all subjects, and the relationship between gestational hypertension and the level of thyroid hormones with β-HCG in patients with a hydatidiform mole was examined.

The mean age of patients was 29.93 ± 9.04 years, and their mean gestational age was 11.09 ± 4.2 weeks. In this study, 12.3% of the patients had subclinical hyperthyroidism, 41.5% had clinical hyperthyroidism, and 46.2% were healthy. A significant relationship was found between the serum level of β-HCG and thyroid function in patients with clinical and subclinical hyperthyroidism compared to the healthy group (P= 0.001). No significant relationship was found between systolic/ diastolic blood pressure and the serum level of β-HCG.

A significant relationship was observed between the serum levels of β-HCG and TSH, free T3, and free T4 in patients with a hydatidiform mole and thyrotoxicosis. Thus, early diagnosis of hyperthyroidism can help treat these patients more quickly.

An evaluation of certain radiographic factors affecting patient exposure during medical imaging was carried out. Factors considered included selection of tube kilovoltage and time exposure combination. An increase in X-ray tube voltage increases the amount of radiation coming out of the X-ray tube, as well as the amount of skin dose in the image. This study aimed to assess the possibility of reducing the voltage and exposure time in medical imaging centers. The study indeed intended to protect patients from the risk of developing cancer with excessive radiation dose.

This study was performed in Erbil hospitals, Iraq. NOMEX multimeter (Finland, PTW) was used to measure radiation dose (mGy), total voltage, current (mA), exposure time (s), and total filtration in 150 patients undergoing different X-ray examinations.

The results showed that the highest output was obtained in the age group of 42-70 years (dose range: 52.43–19.46 mGy), followed by the age group of 50-70 years (dose range: 39.9–25.63 mGy) and the age group of 10–40 years (dose range: 30.35–10.55 mGy).

The high voltage (kVp) and high exposure time to be important factors to increase patient doses via increasing the exposure dose. Thus, optimization of exposure time and voltage is recommended for all cancer patients undergoing medical imaging with high voltage and long exposure time

Menstrual cycle is one of the important factors to protect women’s sexual health, and it is affected by various factors in different individuals. Disrupting the balance of this cycle imposes numerous impacts on women’s health. The present study aimed to investigate the incidence rate and factors associated with menstrual disorders among high school girls in Bandar Abbas, Iran.

The population of current cross-sectional study was selected through a multi-stage cluster sampling method. Data were collected through a questionnaire. We entered the data of 370 individuals into SPSS software (version 23, SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) and analyzed them using descriptive statistics and Mann-Whitney U test. The significant level was considered as 0.05.

The mean age of the subjects was 16.29 ± 0.89 years. In addition, the mean menarche age and BMI were 12.82 ± 1.09 years and 20.67 ± 4.17. The incidence rates of hypomenorrhea, hypermenorrhea, amenorrhea, oligomenorrhea, and polymenorrhea were 24.6%, 8.4%, 9.7%, 5.7%, and 13.0%, respectively. There was a significant relationship between age trend with disorders like amenorrhea, oligomenorrhea, and polymenorrhea. However, there was no significant relationship between age trend with hypomenorrhea and hypermenorrhea. Generally, the prevalence of menstrual disorders increased with the increase in BMI, though this relationship was not significant.

Due to the relatively high incidence of menstrual disorders in the present study and since numerous major illnesses such as infertility originate from these disorders, we suggest that effective measures be taken to promote the culture of menstrual health among adolescent girls and correct the misconceptions of families.

Proper adherence to the medication regimen in hypertensive elderly patients is important. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between polypharmacy with adherence to the medication regimen in hypertensive elderly patients.

Using stratified random sampling method, the present descriptive-analytical study was performed on 384 hypertensive elderly patients in Gonabad, Iran in 2016. The study population included males and females aged over 60 years who were covered by Gonabad urban and rural community health centers. Data were collected using demographic questionnaire and the eight-item Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS-8).

The mean daily medications in participants was 6±2.43, and a high medication adherence was observed among 36.7% of the subjects. Chi-square test showed a significant relationship between polypharmacy and medication adherence (P = 0.006).

Physicians and nurses can play an important role in preventing the risks of polypharmacy, as well as non-adherence to medication regimen by educating the hypertensive elderly patients or their caregivers

Diaper dermatitis (DD) is a prevalent skin disease in children, which causes child discomfort and parental concern. This study aimed to compare the effects of aloe vera ointment with routine treatment on the severity of DD in hospitalized children.

This double-blinded randomized clinical trial was carried out on 60 children aged less than two years admitted to Tabriz pediatric hospital in Iran from February to June 2017. Using convenience sampling method, the patients were assigned into two equal groups (n=30 in each) of intervention and control. The intervention group received routine combination treatment, whereas the control group received aloe vera ointment. The patients were examined on the first, third, and sixth days of the study. Data analysis was performed using SPSS software (version 22) and descriptive and analytical statistics.

The severity of DD in both groups improved on the sixth day compared to the first day. In comparison, no significant difference was observed between the two groups regarding the severity of dermatitis (P>0.05).

Herbal products cause fewer side effects than chemical products and seem to have significant pharmacological effects on the skin. Thus, aloe vera ointment appears to help treat DD and, with further studies, may emerge as a possible therapeutic option

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a new pathogen which has become an uncontrollable pandemic. On the other hand, the humoral immune system, as a defensive line, protects the body by producing antibodies. Immunoglobulin M (IgM) and G (IgG) are considered as the most important antibodies that are produced by the immune system of the host. Previous evaluations on the production of IgM and IgG antibodies by patients suffering from severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection specifies that IgM is an acute phase antibody and increases on the first days of infection. Then, as the chronic phase begins, the level of the IgM decreases and switches to the production of IgG. In addition, the durability of the IgG antibody shows the duration of the immunity against COVID-19. Thus, the present review article focused on the antibody production mechanism in studies conducted on COVID-19 patients, the protection role of antibodies, and their stability.

The outbreak of a novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) began in China in December 2019 and spread worldwide. The current review summarized clinical, radiological, and laboratory findings of patients infected with COVID‐19. Based on many studies, the main symptoms of the disease include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, and dyspnea; there is also a wide range of biochemical, hematological, and radiological changes in the patients. The signs (or symptoms) and other variables in the early stage or the mild stage of the disease appear in a highly heterogeneous and non-specific manner. Identifying the clinical and paraclinical symptoms of COVID-19 can be effective in controlling it.