Behcet’s disease: is there a gender influence on clinical manifestations?

Aim: In Behcet’s disease (BD), it is customary to believe that men are more affected than women, major organs are more involved in men, and they have worse outcomes. The male‐to‐female ratio is reported from 5.37 to 1 (Egypt), to 0.38 to 1 (US). If in the majority of reports BD was seen more frequently in men, in some others it was more frequent in women. The aim of this study was to examine a large cohort of patients, in whom manifestations were gender related, and to examine the strength of associations and their clinical relevance. Patients and Methods: All patients of the BD registry, Rheumatology Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, entered the study (6702 patients). The percentage of 95 items was calculated in both genders (with their 95% confidence intervals), and were compared together by the chi‐squared test. Odds ratio (OR) and relative risk (RR) were also calculated. Results: Forty‐three out of 95 items were gender‐related (29 for males, 14 for females) with a statistically significant difference by chi‐squared. Significant OR (confidence interval not reaching 1) was found for 79 items. However, clinically significant OR (2 or more for men and 0.5 or less for women) showed an association only with 16 items; five with females and 11 with males. The most important was vascular involvement. Conclusion: No strong association (OR of 2 or more) was found between the male gender and major organ involvement, except for vascular lesions.     

Supporting adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus: A qualitative study

Without sufficient support, type 1 diabetes mellitus often disturbs patients' normal lives. This study describes and explores the support that Iranian adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus experienced. Semistructured interviews were conducted with ten adolescents, seven family members, one dietitian, one nurse, and one school nurse. Participants were chosen using purposive sampling from two teaching hospitals and one high school in two urban areas of Iran. Using standard procedures for content analysis, three main themes were identified: maintaining a normal life; receiving tangible, informational, and emotional support from the family and society; and advancement of life toward normalization. The cornerstone of maintaining a normal life for adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus is to adopt an active role in taking care of themselves within their systems of support.     

Study of Viral Infections in Infants with Biliary Atresia

Viral infections may have an important role in the pathogenesis of biliary atresia, and related clinical outcomes. In this research for determination of the possible role of HBV, HCV, HCMV, adenovirus, and BK virus infections in biliary atresia related clinical complications, the molecular and antigenic prevalence of these viral agents were studied. In this retrospective study, 34 formalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) biopsy and autopsy liver tissue samples of neonates with biliary atresia were evaluated. The molecular prevalence of these viral infections was assayed by different PCR and RT-PCR methods. The antigenic prevalence of HBV, HCV, and HCMV infections was also studied in these liver tissue samples by immunohistochemistry (IHC) method. HBV, HCV, and adenovirus genomes were detected in 9%, 6%, and 6% of liver autopsy and biopsy tissues of infants with biliary atresia, respectively. HBV and HCV co-infection was confirmed in 6% of FFPE samples. The genome of other investigated viruses was not detected in FFPE liver tissues. Detection of viral infection in FFPE liver tissue samples of newborns with biliary atresia, suggests the need for complete studies for the determination of accurate role of these viral infections in pathogenesis of biliary atresia.     

The predictors of quality of life in women with polycystic ovarian syndrome

Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common endocrine disorder that may be effective in reducing the quality of life. This study aimed to determine the predictors of quality of life in women with PCOS. This cross‐sectional study was conducted on 174 women with PCOS who attended in public and private fertility clinics in Urmia (West Azerbaijan, Iran), 2015. The data were collected through the questionnaires of sociodemographic and obstetrics characteristics, quality of life and Beck depression inventory‐II. Multivariate linear regression was used to estimate the effect rate of the independent variables (depression and sociodemographic characteristics) on the dependent variable (quality of life). In this study, the mean (standard deviation) of total score of the quality of life was obtained, 45.8 (11.3) in the range 0‐100. The highest and lowest mean scores were in the subdomains of weight and hirsutism. The variables of depression, body mass index, woman's job, menstrual cycle intervals, and sexual satisfaction were predictors of the quality of life in women with PCOS. Because of various effective factors on quality of life in these women such as depression, necessary strategies must be implemented to control these factors and improve the quality of life.     

Seroepidemiology of hepatitis C and its risk factors in Khuzestan Province, South-West of Iran： A case-control study

AlM:To evaluate possible risk factors for the spread of hepatitis C infection and to analyze the characteristics of the epidemiological and clinical patterns among the patients with hepatitis C infection. METHODS: During a five-year period a cross-sectional study was conducted among HCV positive individuals referred to the Ahwaz JundiShapour University Hospitals (AJSUH) and Hepatitis Clinic from 1 Sept 1999 to 1 Sept 2003. The control group consisted of first time blood donors referred to the Regional Blood Transfusion organization. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and recombinant immunoblot assay anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV) tests were performed for two groups. Positive serum specimens were retested using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for HCV RNA. Risk factors were evaluated using a questionnaire. Reported risk factors among infected subjects ("HCV-positive") were compared to those of subjects never exposed ("HCV-negative") to HCV. RESULTS: A total of 514 subjects were studied for HCV, of which 254 were HCV-positive and 260 HCVnegative donors comprised the control group. Mean age of the patients was 28.4 (Std 15.22) years. HCV-positive subjects were more likely to be of male gender (63% versus 37%). Transfusion 132 (52%), non-intravenous (n-iv) drug abuse and iv drug abuse 37 (14.5%), haemodialysis 25 (10%), receiving wounds at war and extramarital sexual activities (2.4%), tattooing (3.6%) were found to be independent risk factors of being HCVpositive. No apparent risk factors could be demonstrated in 29 (11.2%) of the positive cases. CONCLUSION: Our data indicate that a history of transfusion and iv drug abuse and haemodialysis are important risk factors for HCV infection in our area and that more careful pretransfusion screening of blood for anti-HCV must be introduced in our blood banks. Improvements in certain lifestyle patterns, and customs in this area may be essential to prevent transmission of the infection.     

Association of sleep duration with metabolic syndrome and its components in children and adolescents; a propensity score-matched analysis: the CASPIAN-V study

Objective

This study aims to evaluate the association of sleep duration with metabolic syndrome (MetS) and its components in a pediatric population.

Methods

This multi-centric cross-sectional study was conducted in 2015 in 30 provinces of Iran. Participants consisted of 4200 school students aged 7–18 years, studied in a national school-based surveillance program (CASPIAN-V). Physical examinations and laboratory tests were performed using standard protocols. The analysis was conducted based on the propensity score matching and conditional logistic regression was used to evaluate the association of short sleep (less than 8 h a day) and the onset of sleep with MetS and its components. Results of conditional logistic regression was reported as odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI).

Results

Overall, 3843 of participants completed the survey (response rate: 91.5%). Their mean (SD) age was 12.3 (3.2) years and 50.6% were boys. In the multivariate model, individuals who slept less than 8 h a day had significantly higher odds of MetS (OR 2.05, 95% CI 1.19–3.63) and high blood pressure (BP) (OR 1.46, 95% CI 1.04–2.06). Association between short sleep duration with other MetS components (including abdominal obesity, hypertriglyceridemia, hyperglycemia, and low levels of high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol was not statistically significant (P?>?0.05). Moreover, association between the onset of sleep with MetS and its components was not statistically significant (P?>?0.05).

Conclusion

Short sleep duration is associated with increased risk of MetS and high BP in children and adolescents. The clinical impact of current findings should be assessed in future longitudinal studies.