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Introduction: Despite the high prevalence of restless legs syndrome (RLS) in hemodialysis patients, few studies have investigated the effect of pramipexole and gabapentin on the severity of RLS in these patients. Objectives: The study aimed to evaluate the effects of pramipexole and gabapentin on the treatment of RLS in end-stage chronic renal failure patients undergoing hemodialysis. Patients and Methods: Using the diagnostic criteria the presence of RLS was investigated in all hemodialysis patients admitted to the dialysis ward of Bu Ali Sina and Velayat hospitals in Qazvin, Iran. Out of 162 patients, 96 patients had RLS and 60 patients with moderate to severe RLS were enrolled in the study. The selected patients were randomly divided into two groups including pramipexole (0.18 mg daily) and gabapentin (100 mg daily). The two groups were treated for 4 weeks. Results: The prevalence of RLS was 59% (96 out of 162 patients). After the intervention, the severity of RLS was significantly decreased in all patients and also in each of the pramipexole and gabapentin groups (P<0.001). Moreover, after the intervention, the rate of improvement in RLS severity in the pramipexole group (16.8 ± 6.5) was significantly higher than that in the gabapentin group (13.0 ± 7.3; P=0.036). Conclusion: The findings of the study showed that the severity of RLS in hemodialysis patients undergoing 4 weeks of treatment with pramipexole or gabapentin was significantly reduced; in addition, the rate of improvement in RLS severity was higher in pramipexole group.

Hemoperfusion is an effective modality in removing certain toxins from the blood, especially those that bind to proteins in the body. Hemoperfusion has shown a therapeutic effect on COVID-19 patients. In this case series, we report four patients without effective results following the use of hemoperfusion on the recovery of COVID-19 patients. This study is a case series which carried out on four patients referred to COVID-19 ward of Velayat hospital in Qazvin, Iran. The mean age of the COVID-19 patients was 52.75 ± 18 years. The mean stay at the hospital was 21.5 ± 15.15 days. This study showed that hemoperfusion cannot show a significant therapeutic effect on COVID-19.

Background: The changes in some epigenetic elements such as microRNAs result in aberrant immune responses leading to production and secretion of nephritogenic autoantibodies as the main fundament of lupus nephritis (LN).Objectives: The present study aimed to assess the miRNA profile of kidney biopsies in patients with LN with the purpose of describing the critical role of these elements in LN creation. Patients and Methods:In this case-control single center study 11 patients who suffered LN (as the case group) and 11 patients with normal kidney function who were candidate for nephrectomy due to cancer or cyst (as the control group) were included. Kidney biopsies were taken from all LN and control subjects. RNA was extracted and converted to cDNA, then the cDNA was evaluated using NANODROP and then intra-renal expression of candidate miRNAs were quantified in the two groups. In the present study, four topranked miRNAs, miR-638, miR-146a, miR-198, and miR-731 were selected for qRT-PCR. Results: Consistent with the microarray data, we found no significant difference in the expression of all miRNAs between LN and control groups. Using REST 2009 software, we did not also reveal any difference in expression of four miRNAs studied between the patients with LN and those without LN in both parametric and nonparametric patterns. Conclusions:The expression of miR-638, miR-146a, miR-198, and miR-731 may not be related to occurrence of LN in Iranian population.

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