Diagnostic performance and discriminative value of the serum ferritin level for predicting preterm labor.

Background: The measuring serum ferritin level as a sensitive inflammatory biomarker might effectively predict preterm delivery, but the power and the best cut-off point of this biomarker for predicting preterm labor in Iranian population has not been substantially identified. Our purpose was to determine what concentrations of serum ferritin could identify patients at risk for preterm delivery in Iranian population for the first time.

Materials And Methods: This case control study involved 222 singleton pregnancies that were referred to referral university hospitals clinics in Isfahan.

Molecular analysis of four cases of chronic granulomatous disease caused by defects in NCF-2: the gene encoding the p67-phox.

Chronic granulomatous disease (CGD), a rare inherited primary immunodeficiency disorder, is caused by mutation in any one of the genes encoding components of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH)-oxidase enzyme. NCF2 gene (encoding P67-phox component) is one of them and its mutation is less common to cause CGD (around 5-6%). Here, we assessed mutation analysis of NCF2 in 4 CGD patients with p67-phox defect in Iran.

Quality of life in the Iranian adults with allergic rhinitis.

Allergic rhinitis (AR) is a common global health problem with approximately one quarter of the world population affected. The quality of life (QOL) of sufferers with AR is significantly affected. The aim of this study was to evaluate the QOL of adults with AR.

Long-term effect of resistant starch on cancer risk in carriers of hereditary colorectal cancer: an analysis from the CAPP2 randomised controlled trial.

Background: Observational studies report that higher intake of dietary fibre (a heterogeneous mix including non-starch polysaccharides and resistant starches) is associated with reduced risk of colorectal cancer, but no randomised trials with prevention of colorectal cancer as a primary endpoint have been done. We assessed the effect of resistant starch on the incidence of colorectal cancer.

Methods: In the CAPP2 study, individuals with Lynch syndrome were randomly assigned in a two-by-two factorial design to receive 600 mg aspirin or aspirin placebo or 30 g resistant starch or starch placebo, for up to 4 years.

Intracerebral injection of low amounts of norharman induces moderate Parkinsonism-like behavioral symptoms in rat.

β-Carbolines (BCs) are considered to be endogenous toxins and have been proposed as possible causative candidates inducing Parkinson's disease (PD). However, there is controversy about the effect and also effective dose of these compounds in the etiology of PD. This study was designed to further examine the effect of norharman (NH), a BC which in mammalian brain occurs at high levels in the substantia nigra, on the development of Parkinsonism-like behaviors in rats.

Prevention and control of infections in patients with severe congenital neutropenia; a follow up study.

Severe congenital neutropenia is one of primary immunodeficiency disorders that characterized by severe neutropenia and is associated with severe systemic bacterial infections from early infancy. Granulocyte colony stimulating factor (GCSF) is clinically used as a treatment for congenital and acquired neutropenia. The aim of this study was evaluation of GCSF (PD- Grastim) in treatment of these patients.

Cow's milk anaphylaxis in children first report of Iranian Food Allergy Registry.

Cow's milk anaphylaxis is the most common food-induced anaphylaxis in Iranian children. The clinical and laboratory findings of cow's milk anaphylaxis are evaluated in this study. All children who had experienced cow's milk anaphylaxis and had been referred to Immunology, asthma and allergy research center during a 5-year period were considered.

Evaluation of factors contributed in nonadherence to medication therapy in children asthma.

Asthma is one of the most common chronic inflammatory disorders in children. Nonadherence to medical therapy is a major cause of poor clinical outcome the objective of this study was evaluating factors, which are resulted in nonadherence to medical therapy in children with asthma.In this descriptive study, 150 children with asthma and nonadherent to medication therapy were enrolled.

Increased production of nitric oxide by neutrophils from patients with chronic granulomatous disease on interferon-gamma treatment.

Chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) is a rare immunodeficiency disorder in which phagocytic leukocytes fail to generate superoxide (O(2)(-)) and antimicrobial oxidants. The therapeutic validity of interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) has been well established in CGD patients but its underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. One probable mechanism has been suggested to be modulation of nitric oxide (NO) release from phagocytic cells.

Study of risky behaviors leading to unintentional injuries among high school students in Tehran, Iran.

Objective: To determine risky behaviors leading to unintentional injuries among Tehrani high school students in 2009.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out berween October and December 2009. Out of 237,300 (185151 governmental, 52149 non governmental) Tehrani high school students in both genders, 727 subjects were selected by multistage randomized sampling.

Long-term effect of aspirin on cancer risk in carriers of hereditary colorectal cancer: an analysis from the CAPP2 randomised controlled trial.

Background: Observational studies report reduced colorectal cancer in regular aspirin consumers. Randomised controlled trials have shown reduced risk of adenomas but none have employed prevention of colorectal cancer as a primary endpoint. The CAPP2 trial aimed to investigate the antineoplastic effects of aspirin and a resistant starch in carriers of Lynch syndrome, the major form of hereditary colorectal cancer; we now report long-term follow-up of participants randomly assigned to aspirin or placebo.

Inheritance pattern and clinical aspects of 93 Iranian patients with chronic granulomatous disease.

Background: Chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) is a rare immunodeficiency due to a genetic defect in one of the NADPH-oxidase components. We studied CGD inheritance forms (autosomal recessive (AR) or X-linked (XL)) and AR-CGD subtypes in Iran.

Methods: Clinical and functional investigations were conducted in 93 Iranian CGD patients from 75 families.

Reduced-intensity conditioning hematopoietic SCT for pediatric patients with LAD-1: clinical efficacy and importance of chimerism.

Pediatric patients with leukocyte adhesion deficiency type-I (LAD-I) experience severe and recurrent life-threatening bacterial infections with failure of pus formation and delayed wound healing. LAD-I is a rare inherited disease caused by mutation in the leukocyte CD18 integrin expression, resulting in defective adherence and migration of leukocytes, in particular neutrophilic granulocytes through the intravascular space. Hematopoietic SCT is the only curative treatment option available to patients with LAD-I.

Regulatory mechanism controlling stomatal behavior conserved across 400 million years of land plant evolution.

Stomatal pores evolved more than 410 million years ago [1, 2] and allowed vascular plants to regulate transpirational water loss during the uptake of CO(2) for photosynthesis [3]. Here, we show that stomata on the sporophytes of the moss Physcomitrella patens [2] respond to environmental signals in a similar way to those of flowering plants [4] and that a homolog of a key signaling component in the vascular plant drought hormone abscisic acid (ABA) response [5] is involved in stomatal control in mosses. Cross-species complementation experiments reveal that the stomatal ABA response of a flowering plant (Arabidopsis thaliana) mutant, lacking the ABA-regulatory protein kinase OPEN STOMATA 1 (OST1) [6], is rescued by substitution with the moss P.

Comparison between sensitivity of autologous skin serum test and autologous plasma skin test in patients with Chronic Idiopathic Urticaria for detection of antibody against IgE or IgE receptor (FcεRIα).

Intradermal injection of autologous serum and plasma elicit a cutaneous reactivity in almost 45-60% of patients with Chronic Idiopathic Urticaria (CIU). This reactivity is associated with the presence of auto antibodies against IgE or IgE receptors. This study was carried out to compare the cutaneous reactivity of autologous serum and plasma skin tests in a series of patients with CIU for diagnosis of auto antibodies against IgE or IgE receptor.

Significant effects of 4-aminopyridine and tetraethylammonium in the treatment of 6-hydroxydopamine-induced Parkinson's disease.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterizing by degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the nigrostriatal pathway. The discovery of levodopa revolutionized the treatment of PD however, after several years of treatment most patients develop involuntary movements which significantly impair the quality of life. 4-Aminopyridine (4-AP) and tetraethylammonium (TEA) are wide-spectrum potassium channel blockers which based on the animal model studies and clinical trials have beneficial effects in treatment of several neurological disorders such as ataxia, Alzheimer disease and multiple sclerosis.

Synbiotics could not reduce the scoring of childhood atopic dermatitis (SCORAD): a randomized double blind placebo-controlled trial.

Despite preliminary evidence, the role of probiotic and synbiotic in treatment of the atopic dermatitis has shown varying results. We aimed to evaluate whether synbiotic supplementation decrease severity of atopic dermatitis (AD) in childhood. In a randomized double blind-placebo controlled trial, we evaluated the synbiotic supplementation efficiency on the treatment of atopic dermatitis.

Study on fungal flora of tap water as a potential reservoir of fungi in hospitals in Sari city, Iran.

Objective: The aim of the present investigation was to evaluate the fungal flora of tap water from university hospitals of Sari city, Iran.

Materials And Methods: During a 1-year period, 240 water samples were collected from four university hospitals. All water samples were collected in sterile polystyrene bottles.

Rapid synthesis of flower-like ZnO nanostructures.

Flower-like ZnO nanostructures were prepared via microwave assisted heating in the presence and absence of ionic liquid (IL). X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy SEM and room temperature photoluminescence (PL) spectra have been employed for characterization of the products. The SEM image illustrates the surface of flower-like ZnO prepared in the presence of IL is not smooth and consists of nanoparticles with grain size of about 48 nm.

Parity and breastfeeding are preventive measures against breast cancer in Iranian women.

Background: Breast cancer (BC) is the most prevalent cancer in Iranian women and the fifth most common cause of cancer-related death in Iran. Among predicting factors and preventive measures for BC, the parity and breastfeeding (BF) are controversial issues. We therefore conducted this case-control study to find out the relation of parity and BF to incidence and risk of BC.

Polymorphisms in IL4 and iLARA confer susceptibility to asthma.

Background: Asthma is a complex disease that is caused by genetic and environmental factors. The production of interleukin (IL)-4, which can influence mast cell responsiveness to immunoglobulin (Ig) E--mediated signaling, could be modified by genetic variants in the IL-4 promoter.

Objective: To investigate the association between the IL-4 and IL-4RA promoter polymorphisms and asthma in a sample of Iranian patients.

Common causes of anaphylaxis in children: the first report of anaphylaxis registry in iran.

Background: : Anaphylaxis is an acute, systemic, and potentially fatal allergic reaction. Many things can cause anaphylaxis potentially but some agents are more common like some foods (milk, egg, soy, wheat, peanut, tree nut, shellfish, and fish), insect stings, medications, latex, and food-dependent exercise-induced anaphylaxis. The goal of this study is to show the common causes of anaphylaxis among the children with anaphylaxis history who were referred to the Immunology, Asthma and Allergy Research Institute (IAARI) during a 4-year period (2005-2009).

Successful allogeneic stem cell transplantation with a reduced-intensity conditioning in a leukocyte adhesion deficiency type I patient.

LAD-I is a rare, autosomal recessive, primary immunodeficiency in which phagocyte adhesion and chemotaxis are impaired. Multiple infections in the absence of pus accumulation and persistent elevated peripheral blood neutrophil counts are the hallmark of LAD-I. Allogeneic HSCT is the only treatment proved to be potentially curative for phagocyte adhesion impairment in LAD-I.

Survival rate of gastric cancer in Iran.

Background: Stomach cancer is one of the most common malignancies worldwide. In Iran, the mortality of stomach cancer is the first cause of death due to cancer in both sexes. This study was designed to estimate survival rate of stomach cancer at national level.

Comparing performances of logistic regression and neural networks for predicting melatonin excretion patterns in the rat exposed to ELF magnetic fields.

Various studies have been reported on the bioeffects of magnetic field exposure; however, no consensus or guideline is available for experimental designs relating to exposure conditions as yet. In this study, logistic regression (LR) and artificial neural networks (ANNs) were used in order to analyze and predict the melatonin excretion patterns in the rat exposed to extremely low frequency magnetic fields (ELF-MF). Subsequently, on a database containing 33 experiments, performances of LR and ANNs were compared through resubstitution and jackknife tests.