We conclude that the DOX-STR combination should remain the first-line regimen for the treatment of brucellosis in our region; we recommend DOX-RIF and OFX-RIF combinations as the second-line regimens.
Background: Body iron status has been implicated in atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. The main hypothesis is that high iron status is associated with increased oxidation of LDL. We investigated the potential role of ferritin as an additional risk factor promoting atherosclerosis among a young population with coronary artery disease (CAD).
Methods: Four hundred consecutive patients (218 males, 182 females) referred for diagnostic coronary angiography were examined, and risk factors for CAD, lipids, C-reactive protein (CRP), and ferritin concentrations were recorded for all participants.
Results: Ferritin was higher in the male patients with CAD (121 μg/L; range, 56–258 μg/L) than in the men without significant CAD (73 μg/L; range, 32–138 μg/L; P <0.002). Multiple logistic regression analysis, after adjustment for the established coronary risk factors, showed ferritin as an independent discriminating risk factor for CAD (P <0.01). Men in the highest quartile of ferritin had an odds ratio (OR) of 1.62 [95% confidence interval (95% CI), 1.12–2.42; P <0.01] compared with men in the lowest quartile of ferritin. The association between ferritin and CAD was more pronounced in male patients ≤50 years (OR = 2.65; 95% CI, 1.35–5.51; P <0.003). Ferritin was significantly higher in diabetic male patients in comparison with nondiabetic male patients [168 μg/L (range, 74–406 μg/L) vs 106 μg/L (range, 44–221 μg/L), respectively; P <0.002]. No association was observed between ferritin and CAD among the female patients.
Conclusion: Our data suggest that increased ferritin might be an independent predictor of premature CAD in male Iranian patients.
Migraine is considered to be a polygenic multifactorial disease with various environmental and genetic etiologies. Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), a potent immunomodulator and pro-inflammatory cytokine, has been implicated in many pathological processes in brain. The hypothesis of this study was that migraine without aura (MWA) might be associated with TNF-alpha (-308) polymorphism, resulting in increased TNF-alpha production. Genotyping was performed on DNA extracted from peripheral leukocytes by PCR-SSP method in 221 patients with WMA and 183 healthy control subjects from Iranian population. The results showed that the frequency of -308 A variant allele was higher in MWA than in the control group (40.6% versus 22.3%, OR 3.73, 95% CI 2.4-5.82, p<0.0001). TNF-alpha GA heterozygous genotype, high producer, was significantly more prevalent in patients with MWA than controls (74% versus 44.7%, p<0.0001) whilst the low producer GG homozygous genotype was less frequent in patients compared with controls (22.4% versus 55.3%, p<0.0001). The logistic regression analysis showed a significant association for TNF-alpha (-308A) female allele carriers with MWA at reproductive ages (OR 2.56; 95% CI, 1.57-4.16, p<0.0001) when compared with their matched control subjects. In conclusion, this study demonstrates an association of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (-308A) carriage with MWA, suggesting that carrying a high responder TNF-alpha-308A allele may be a genetic factor in increasing the susceptibility to develop MWA.
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