Parasitic infection is one of the problems that affect human health, especially in developing countries. In this study, all of the fast food shops, restaurants, and roast meat outlets of Khorramabad (Western Iran) and all the staff employed by them, some 210 people, were selected through a census and their stools were examined for the presence of parasites. The parasitological tests of direct wet-mount, Lugol's iodine staining, formaldehyde-ether sedimentation and Trichrome staining techniques were performed on the samples. The data was analyzed with a chi-square test and logistic regression was selected as the analytical model. The results showed 19 (9%) stool specimens were positive for different intestinal parasites. These intestinal parasites included Giardia lamblia 2.9%, Entamoeba coli 4.3%, Blastocystis sp. 1.4%, and Hymenolepis nana 0.5%. There was a significant difference between the presence of a valid health card, awareness of transmission of intestinal parasites, participation in training courses in environmental health with intestinal parasites (p < 0.05). No statistically significant difference was found between the rate of literacy and gender among patients infected with intestinal parasites (p > 0.05). To control parasitic infection in food handlers, several strategies are recommended such as stool examinations every three months, public education, application of health regulations, controlling the validity of health cards and training on parasitic infection transmission. In this regard, the findings of the present study can be used as a basis to develop preventive programs targeting food handlers because the spread of disease via them is a common problem worldwide.
Background: A large number of epidemiological evidence in humans and experimental studies in rodents have hypothesized that Toxoplasma gondii is a potentially relevant etiological factor in some mood disorders. Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate whether latent toxoplasmosis has any role in mood disorders such as schizophrenia and bipolar disease in Western Iran. Patients and Methods: A total of 170 patients including 85 schizophrenia and 85 bipolar patients referred to the only psychiatric hospital in Lorestan province in Khorramabd city, Western Iran, and 170 healthy volunteers were screened for IgG and IgM anti-T. gondii antibodies by the Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). Structured questionnaires were used to obtain information on risk factors for T. gondii infection. Results: Out of the 170 psychiatric patients, 103 (63.5%) patients were seropositive for IgG antibody and 14 (8.2%) were seropositive for IgM antibody. Of the 85 bipolar patients, 54 (63.5%) and 6 (7%) were found positive for anti-T. gondii IgG and IgM antibodies, respectively; whereas among 85 schizophrenia patients, 49 (57.6%) and 8 (9.4%) samples were found positive for anti-T. gondii IgG and IgM antibodies, respectively. From 170 healthy volunteers, 73 (42.9%) tested seropositive for anti-T. gondii antibodies; 65 (38.2%) tested seropositive for IgG antibody and 8 (4.7%) tested seropositive for IgM antibody. There was a significant difference in T. gondii IgG positivity between the psychiatric patients and control groups (P = 0.009). Several risk factors, which were significantly related to T. gondii seropositivity in psychiatric patients are being in contact with cats (P = 0.004), eating unwashed raw vegetables (P < 0.001), raw-milk/egg consumption (P = 0.001), and drinking clean water (P = 0.035). Conclusions: We concluded that psychiatric patients in general and schizophrenia and bipolar cases in particular had a significantly higher relative frequency of T. gondii infection than healthy individuals of Lorestan Province, Western Iran.
This study aimed to identify the effects of olive leaf extract (OLE) on IFNγ, TNFα, TGFβ and nitric oxide (NO) resulted from macrophages infected with Leishmania major (L. major) amastigotes in the culture medium. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to analyse the level of Oleuropein in plant extract. To evaluate the immunomodulatory effects of OLE, the isolated BALB/c mice peritoneal macrophages were infected with L. major promastigotes and treated with 6.25, 12.5 and 25 μg/mL concentrations of OLE. To assess the cytokines, supernatants of cell cultures were harvested after 12, 24 and 48 hours. Cytokine production was evaluated by ELISA. Nitrite accumulation in the culture medium was assessed using the Griess reaction. The level of Oleuropein in the extract was 18.45% by HPLC. According to results, the production of IFNγ and TNFα was significantly increased when the infected and/or not infected macrophages with L. major promastigotes were affected by different concentrations of OLE. Conversely, the production of TGFβ was significantly decreased under the same conditions. Furthermore, the colorimetric determination of NO accumulation in the culture medium indicated that OLE has no effect on NO production. The study corroborates the immunomodulatory effects of OLE on L. major-infected macrophages.
ObjectiveThe aim of this study is to evaluate the laparoscopic method in gastric cancer staging before surgery in patients undergoing Neo-adjuvant chemotherapy.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional study on patients with T3-T4 and node positive non-metastatic gastric adenocarcinoma who was candidates for neo-adjuvant chemotherapy. The patients were excluded from the study when they were not in the condition to continue the study. All eligible patients underwent metastases work up by abdominal, pelvic and chest CT scans and then received neo-adjuvant chemotherapy. Pre-operative laparoscopy was performed before definitive surgery. The collected data was analyzed using SPSS software. The statistical significance, sensitivity, specificity and predictive values were calculated from this data.ResultsIn this study, out of 50 patients, 26 (52%) were male. The mean age of the patients was 62.44 ± 12.136 years. Most tumors were located in one-third distal of stomach (21 patients, 42%). The accuracy of the laparoscopic method, to determine the degree of involvement of the lymph nodes, revealed that the method had a sensitivity of 84%, a specificity of 47.62%, a positive likelihood ratio (PLR) of 1.6, a negative likelihood ratio (NLR) of 0.33%, a positive predictive value of 65.62% and a negative predictive value of 71.43%. The accuracy of the laparoscopic method, regarding determining the presence or absence of metastasis, revealed that the method had a sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and a negative predictive value of 100%.ConclusionBased on the evidence of this study, and other studies in this field, it seems that the use of a step-by-step combination methods in gastric cancer staging would be logical. Alone, no singular method would be sufficient in providing the physician with sufficient information to successfully stage the tumor and thus determine the appropriate treatment. Therefore, the combination of methods should be used which, in view of the economic constraints of health systems, would be recommended for high-risk patients for metastasis (N+/ T3-T4), diagnostic pre-operative laparoscopy.
Background: This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of long-acting versus short-acting methylphenidate on the symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children and adolescents aged 6–18 years. Materials and Methods: This single-blind, randomized clinical trial was conducted on 150 children and adolescents aged 6–18 years with ADHD based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder-5 criteria. The patients were randomly assigned to two groups (Matoride or Ritalin). In the first group, Ritalin was prescribed 2/3 times a day, and in the second group, Matoride was prescribed once a day for 3 weeks. The Conner’s questionnaire was completed by the parents of the participants for evaluation of the performance and symptoms of ADHD in both groups at the beginning and 3 weeks after treatment. In addition, the incidence of any drug complications at the end of 3-week treatment period was evaluated. Results: There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups before the intervention ( P > 0.05) in the dimensions of attention deficit, emotional reaction, behavioral disorder, learning disorder, and impulsivity. At the postinterventional periods, behavioral disorder of the Ritalin group was statistically significantly lower than that of the Matoride group ( P = 0.001). This treatment did not have a statistically significant effect on the total score of Conners ( P = 0.255). Complications were seen in 58 cases (77.3%) of Matoride group and 49 ones (67.1%) of the Ritalin group. Weight loss in the Ritalin group was higher than that of the Matoride group ( P = 0.019). Compared to the Ritalin group, anxiety was higher in the Matoride group ( P = 0.022). Conclusion: Given the similar effect of Matoride and Ritalin and no significant difference in drug complications, it seems that Matoride (slow release) can be used as an alternative to Ritalin (short acting).
10.30699/jambs.30.143.471 Background & Objective: Oral cancer is one of the 10 most common cancers in the world and its global outbreak is increasing. Saliva assessment is one of the noninvasive diagnostic methods for this cancer. The aim of the study was to achieve a comprehensive conclusion about changes in salivary antioxidants in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the mouth (OSCC). Materials & Methods: In the present study, as a systematic review and metaanalysis study, information extracted by searching in external databases (PubMed, Science Direct, Scopus, Web of Science, google scholar) and internal databases (IranMedex, Scientific Information Database, Magiran) between the years 1980 to 2020. Comprehensive meta-analysis version 2 software was used to analyze the data (P <0.05).Results: Of 497 articles, 271 duplicate articles were deleted, and then, after reviewing the titles and abstracts of the articles, another 197 articles were removed. The full text of 26 articles were reviewed and evaluated. Finally, based on the STROB checklist, the data of 10 articles were entered into the meta-analysis. Salivary malondialdehyde (MDA) index levels were much higher in patients with OSCC than in healthy people (P = 0.0001). All salivary antioxidant indexes (TAC) (P=0.003) and GSH glutathione (P=0.008) saliva was significantly lower in patients than in the healthy group and regarding the salivary superoxide dismutase (SOD) index was no significant. Conclusion:In general, antioxidant supplements may be able to help prevent, treat, and improve the prognosis of this disease, which requires further research in this area.
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