Peak bone mass of Iranian population: the Iranian Multicenter Osteoporosis Study.

Osteoporosis is a major public health problem in the Western countries and is projected to have a similar impact in the Middle East. It has been suggested that peak bone mineral density (BMD), a major determinant of osteoporotic fractures later in life, may be lower in this part of the world compared with the Western world. The purpose of the Iranian Multicenter Osteoporosis Study was to determine peak bone mass in a randomly chosen sample of healthy Iranian subjects. A total of 5201 participants (2340 males, mean age 42.7+/-13.8) were recruited based on randomized clustered sampling from all regions of five major cities across the country. In women, peak lumbar BMD (1.182+/-0.127 g/cm2) occurred in the 29- to 33-yr age group, whereas peak total femur BMD (1.006+/-0.126 g/cm2) occurred in the 32- to 36-yr age group. In men, peak lumbar BMD (1.181+/-0.153 g/cm2) and femoral BMD (1.096+/-0.159 g/cm2) both occurred in the 20- to 24-yr age group. When standardized to mg/cm2 units using established formulas, Iranian peak bone mass values are comparable with that of Western countries and are generally higher than that of Eastern Asian and Middle Eastern countries.     

Relationship between pregnancy outcomes and maternal vitamin D and calcium intake: A cross-sectional study.

Poor maternal vitamin D status affects fetal and infant skeletal growth. The aim of the present study was to determine the association between newborn outcomes and maternal calcium and vitamin D intakes. Four hundred and forty-nine pregnant women, healthy at the point of delivery, and their newborns were enrolled in the study, which was performed in three university hospitals in Tehran in March 2004. Maternal anthropometric data and energy, protein, calcium and vitamin D intakes were collected, and newborn outcomes (weight, length, head circumference and 1-min Apgar score) were determined. Almost two-thirds of the mothers (64.3%) took no supplements during pregnancy. Only one-third of the mothers (33.8%) had adequate intakes of calcium and vitamin D (from supplements and foods) compared with the Recommended Dietary Allowances. Mean length at birth and 1-min Apgar score were higher in newborns whose mothers had adequate calcium and vitamin D intake than in newborns whose mothers had inadequate intake (p = 0.03 and p = 0.04, respectively). Significant correlations were found between adequate maternal calcium and vitamin D intake and both appropriate birth weight and 1-min Apgar score of newborns and weight gain of mothers during pregnancy. Informing mothers of the critical importance of consuming adequate amounts of calcium and vitamin D seems necessary.     

Bone mineral density is related to blood pressure in men

The aim of this study was to determine the relationships between bone mineral density (BMD) and blood pressure in 214 men, age 20–76. BMD measurements were done by dual X‐ray absorptiometry using a Lunar DPXMD densitometer at the lumbar spine (L2–L4) and different femoral regions. Systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure were measured using an MPC‐350 sphygmomanometer. Physicians gathered demographic data and participants' dietary intake of calcium were determined by using food frequency questionnaires. After adjusting for age, body mass index, dietary calcium, and exercise history, multiple linear regression models showed that DBP was negatively related to femoral neck BMD (β = ?0.145, P = 0.032) and just shy of significant association with femoral neck BMC (β = ?0.114, P = 0.079). SBP was correlated with femoral neck (r = ?0.171, P = 0.012) and Ward's (r = ?0.186, P = 0.006) BMD but not after adjusting for possible confounders. Further studies are needed to determine whether elevated blood pressure is causally related to the development of low bone mass. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 16:168–171, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Immunohistochemical analysis of survivin expression in thyroid follicular adenoma and carcinoma.

Survivin is one of the 8 members of human inhibitor of apoptosis , which is differentially expressed in cancerous/transformed cells versus normal differentiated tissues. This retrospective study of thyroid histologic samples aimed to assess the clinical usefulness of survivin immunostaining for discrimination between follicular adenoma and carcinoma of thyroid. Immunohistochemical staining for survivin was performed on 41 lesions from patients who had undergone surgery for either follicular adenoma or carcinoma of thyroid. Survivin expression was significantly (P < 0.005) higher in the cases that received a diagnosis of carcinoma in comparison with follicular adenomas cases. Odds ratio of follicular carcinoma for survivin expression was 21.375 (95% CI: 3.283 to 139.177). Our results showed potential value of survivin in discrimination between follicular thyroid adenoma and follicular thyroid carcinoma. We conclude that survivin is a potential candidate for further investigation in the proper histologic diagnosis of thyroid cancers.     

Mice with mutations in Mahogunin ring finger-1 (Mgrn1) exhibit abnormal patterning of the left-right axis.

Mahogunin Ring Finger 1 (Mgrn1) encodes a RING-containing protein with ubiquitin ligase activity that has been implicated in pigment-type switching. In addition to having dark fur, mice lacking MGRN1 develop adult-onset spongy degeneration of the central nervous system and have reduced embryonic viability. Observation of complete situs inversus in a small proportion of adult Mgrn1 mutant mice suggested that embryonic lethality resulted from congenital heart defects due to defective establishment and/or maintenance of the left-right (LR) axis. Here we report that Mgrn1 is expressed in a pattern consistent with a role in LR patterning during early development and that many Mgrn1 mutant embryos show abnormal expression of asymmetrically expressed genes involved in LR patterning. A range of complex heart defects was observed in 20-25% of mid-to-late gestation Mgrn1 mutant embryos and another 20% were dead. This finding was consistent with 46-60% mortality of mutants by weaning age. Our results indicate that Mgrn1 acts early in the LR signaling cascade and is likely to provide new insight into this developmental process as Nodal expression was uncoupled from expression of other Nodal-responsive genes in Mgrn1 mutant embryos. Our work identifies a novel role for MGRN1 in embryonic patterning and suggests that the ubiquitination of MGRN1 target genes is essential for the proper establishment and/or maintenance of the LR axis.     

Molecular survey of ITS1 spacer and Rickettsia infection in human flea,Pulex irritans

Parasitology Research - The human flea is an important ectoparasite causing serious public health problems worldwide. Planning and monitoring the control programs against this vector require the...     

Estimation of effective brain connectivity with dual Kalman filter and EEG source localization methods

Effective connectivity is one of the most important considerations in brain functional mapping via EEG. It demonstrates the effects of a particular active brain region on others. In this paper, a new method is proposed which is based on dual Kalman filter. In this method, firstly by using a brain active localization method (standardized low resolution brain electromagnetic tomography) and applying it to EEG signal, active regions are extracted, and appropriate time model (multivariate autoregressive model) is fitted to extracted brain active sources for evaluating the activity and time dependence between sources. Then, dual Kalman filter is used to estimate model parameters or effective connectivity between active regions. The advantage of this method is the estimation of different brain parts activity simultaneously with the calculation of effective connectivity between active regions. By combining dual Kalman filter with brain source localization methods, in addition to the connectivity estimation between parts, source activity is updated during the time. The proposed method performance has been evaluated firstly by applying it to simulated EEG signals with interacting connectivity simulation between active parts. Noisy simulated signals with different signal to noise ratios are used for evaluating method sensitivity to noise and comparing proposed method performance with other methods. Then the method is applied to real signals and the estimation error during a sweeping window is calculated. By comparing proposed method results in different simulation (simulated and real signals), proposed method gives acceptable results with least mean square error in noisy or real conditions.     

Plasma homocysteine concentration and blood pressure in healthy Iranian adults: the Tehran Homocysteine Survey (2003-2004)

Hypertension is a modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease, but its aetiology has not been fully elucidated. Recently, attention has been focused on the direct relations of plasma homocysteine (Hcy) to blood pressure (BP). The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship of Hcy with BP and other cardiovascular disease risk factors. This population-based study was a part of the Cardiovascular Risk Factors Survey and has been designed and conducted based on the methodology of the MONICA/WHO Project. A total of 1214 people aged 25-64 years were recruited using cluster sampling and assessed regarding standardized methods. BP was measured in seated position after a 10-min rest period. Blood samples were gathered and analysed according to standard methods. Variables were assessed in 1191 participants (416 men; 775 women). Mean age was higher in hypertensives compared to normotensives (P < 0.001). Mean Hcy was higher in hypertensives, but significant only in men (P < 0.031). Concurrent effects of Hcy, folate and vitamin B12 on hypertension indicated that Hcy acts as a risk factor and folate and vitamin B12 as protective factors; however, after adjustment, just vitamin B12 remained as a protective factor. Although we detected a simple correlation of Hcy with BP in Iranian adults, this relationship was no longer significant after applying an adjustment. In light of our observations, it is likely that the increased Hcy levels reported in hypertensive persons are concomitant rather than a precursor of hypertension.     

Flixweed vs. Polyethylene Glycol in the Treatment of Childhood Functional Constipation: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Background:

Polyethylene glycol (PEG) is often considered as the first-line treatment for functional constipation in children. Descurainia sophia (L.) Webb et Berth (D. sophia) is a safe recommended medicine in Iranian folk and Traditional Persian Medicine for the treatment of constipation.

Objectives:

To clinically compare D. sophia with PEG 4000 (without electrolyte) in pediatric constipation and to assess its efficacy and side effects.

Patients and Methods:

120 patients aged 2 - 12 years with constipation for at least 3 months were included in an 8 weeks lasting randomized controlled trial within two parallel-groups. Children received either PEG, 0.4 g/kg/day, or D. sophia seeds, 2 grams (for children aged 2 - 4 years) and 3 grams (for those aged > 4 years) per day.

Results:

A total of 109 patients completed the study (56 in D. sophia and 53 in PEG group). At the end of the study, 36 (64.3%) patients in D. sophia group and 29 (54.7%) in PEG group were out of Rome III criteria (P = 0.205). Median weekly stool frequency in 0, 1, 2, 3 weeks of the treatment was found to be 2, 5, 5, 5 in D. sophia and 3, 4, 4, 5 in PEG group (P = 0.139, 0.076, 0.844, 0.294), respectively. The number of patients who suffered flatulence was less (5, 8.9%) in D. sophia group as compared to PEG group (6, 11.3%) at the end of the trial (P = 0.461). D. sophia taste was less tolerated.

Conclusions:

D. sophia is introduced as a cheap and available medication which can be applied as a safe alternative to conventional PEG in the management of pediatric chronic functional constipation.