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Background & Objective: Depression is a debilitating disorder with high prevalence especially in child-bearing women. This study was done to determine relationship between postpartum depression and its various risk factors.
Methods: This was a descriptive-analytic study on 600 women referring to health centers in Tabriz. Data were gathered using a questionnaire including 5 parts: demographic characteristics, mother-newborn characteristics, Rosenberg self-esteem scale, Holms stress scale, Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. These data were analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistical methods in SPSS 14/win software.
Results: In this study 34.7% of mothers were depressed (scores>12). Significant risk factors for postpartum depression were: Marital dissatisfaction, relationship with mother, mother-in law and husband's family, job dissatisfaction, house condition, having an unpleasant
pregnancy experience, unplanned pregnancy, baby care stressors, infant feeding method, nursing problems, mother's self-esteem and stress level.
Conclusion: Concerning high prevalence of postpartum depression in this study and other similar studies and effects of some factors in this disorder, it seems to be necessary to improve the knowledge of mothers and health care staff about this risk factors for reducing effects of this disorder on physical and psychological health of newborns, mothers and
community.

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  Background & Objectives: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the protective effects of Crocin on rat high fat diet-induced hepatic steatosis model.

  Methods: For this purpose, male rats were given either standard diet as control, high fat diet for induction of hepatic steatosis and high fat diet plus Crocin through gavage at different doses (25, 50 and 100 mg kg^-1/day) for protection of liver steatosis, at a period of 4 weeks in different experimental groups and compared considering serum lipid profile, serum biomarkers of liver tissue injury, hepatic antioxidant activity and liver histopathological changes. The serum levels of triglyceride, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein, very low-density lipoprotein, high-density lipoprotein for determination of deleterious metabolic effects, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase for determination of hepatocyte injury, alkaline phosphatase, bilirubin for assessment of biliary function, malondialdehyde and reduced glutathione content for assessment of liver free radical activity, the enzymatic activities of glutathione peroxidase, superoxide dismutase and catalase as indicators of antioxidation in liver tissue, were measured. Finally, the biochemical findings were matched with histopathological verifications.

  Results: After 4 weeks, high fat diet caused deleterious metabolic effects, including hypertriglyceridemia, hypercholesterolemia and liver dysfunction. Rats fed high fat diet alone showed increased activities of hepatocellular enzymes in plasma, significant decline in antioxidants, and elevated lipid peroxidation indices in liver. Crocin treatment significantly reduced elevated markers of liver tissue injury and malondialdehyde , and brought back the liver antioxidants and the over accumulation lipids in serum towards normal. Histopathology of the liver confirmed the changes induced by high fat diet and the heptoprotective effect of Crocin.

  Conclusions: Crocin exerts protective effects against hepatic steatosis in rats fed with high fat diet possibly through its antioxidant actions.

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  Background & Objectives: Giardia duodenalis is the most common intestinal parasite with cosmopolitan distribution. This parasite has been found in the intestine of humans and other mammalian hosts including cats, dogs, cattle, sheep, deer, pigs and muskrats. It is postulated that animals maybe reservoir for human infection and viceversa. In present study, the possible genetic similarity between cat and humans Giardia and its probable zoonosis were investigated.

  Methods: Direct examination and formalin-ether concentration techniques were performed on stray and semi stray cat fecal specimens. Gradient sucrose method was applied for collection and purification of cysts and DNA extraction was performed by phenol-chloroform and CTAB (Cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromid ( methods. DNA of cysts could hardly be extracted after repeated freezing and thawing. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed for DNA amplification. In this study triosephosphate isomerase (tpi) gene was selected as a molecular marker. Two sets of primers (PM 290 and PM 924) were considered. Two restriction enzymes RsaI and AvaI were also used to determine restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) for PCR fragments amplified by both primer sets.

  Results: Ten samples were positive for Giardia cysts which were examined for molecular investigation. Four cat isolates were amplified by PM 290. PCR-RFLP patterns were found to be similar to human isolates AC≠AF 069556 (subgroup of AC≠U 57897) with possibility of cross-transmission.

  Conclusion: Therefore the similarity of genomic characters of isolates of cat and human Giardia implies possibility of zoonosis and transmission of these protozoa from cat to human and vice versa.

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  Background & Objectives : Poisoning is a common cause of hospital emergency visits in many countries. Incidence of poisoning is different based on cultural and economic characteristics. The aim of this study was to investigate the epidemiology of poisoning in pediatrics.

  Methods: This cross sectional study was performed on 336 patients under 13 years of age referring to Bu-Ali hospital during five years (2007-2011). Variables such as age, sex, residency place, hospitalized duration, cause of the poisoning, clinical signs, treatment and outcome were obtained by a checklist. Collected data analyzed by statistical methods in SPSS v16.

  Results : Among the subjects, 197 patients (58.6%) were male. The average age of the children was 4.1 years and the most common age range was 1 to 4 years with (210 patients, 62.5%). The mean duration of hospitalization of children was 1.7 day (SD= 0.2), 77.7 % of the children were living in the city and the summer was accounted as a common season in which the patients referred to the hospital (32.7 %). The most used materials were drugs with 60.71% and in 86.6% of patients the cause of poisoning was accidental.

  Conclusion : Results showed that the most common cause of poisoning among children are drugs and methadone was the most commonly abused substance. It requires that parents should be trained about keeping their children away from drugs somewhere.

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Background & objective: Despite of significant advances in medicine, infectious diseases still threaten the health of society. A new type of Coronavirus called Covid-19 has become increasingly common in the world.  Because of quarantine, the interactive patterns between family members, especially couples with Corona was affected and changed. The main goal of this research is to study the factors affecting interactive patterns between couples in the Corona period according to the conditions of the disease and home quarantine.
Methods: This study is a qualitative research and was done by Phenomenological method. The Participants included 15 men and women coronavirus survivors in 2020 that were selected by targeted sampling method. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data.
Results: This research findings indicated that 5 main themes included: Changing roles, experiencing negative emotions, Coping behaviors, Support and Communication problems and 22 sub-themes.
Conclusions: The results showed that the performance of couples can play an effective role in the transition from crisis and disease and the type of their behaviors in this period can affect marital satisfaction or dissatisfaction.

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Background & objectives: Endurance activity affects muscles through changes in hormone- secretion and related receptors. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of endurance training on Thrap1 gene expression in cardiac tissue and fast and slow twitch skeletal muscles in male Wistar rats.
Methods: The subjects of this experimental study were 14 male rats with a mean and standard deviation of 234±34g, all of which were kept in natural conditions (free access to water and food, cycle of darkness and light, suitable temperature and humidity). They were randomly divided into two groups of control (n=7) and experimental (n=7). The experimental group had endurance activities 6 sessions per week at the speed of 30 meters per minute for 14 weeks. 48 hours after the last training session, they were anesthetized and dissected under sterile conditions, and Real- time RT-PCR method was employed to determine the gene expression. Finally,a t-test was used to evaluate the data.
Results: The results of this study showed that the expression of the Thrap1 gene in the soleus muscle (p=0.001) and heart (p=0.001) of experimental rats increased significantly, while there was not a significant change in the expression of the Thrap1 gene in fast twitch muscles (p=0.508) due to endurance activity.
Conclusions: It seems the expression of the Thrap1 gene in slow twitch muscles is more affected than fast twitch muscles by endurance activity.
 

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Background & objectives: Evidence suggests that microRNAs (miRNAs) are essential for immune cell differentiation and function. In addition, miRNAs play an essential role in regulating the expression of pro-inflammatory genes in neurons. Therefore, we investigated the relationship between miRNA expression and inflammatory markers in the CSF of patients with multiple sclerosis.
Methods: RT-PCR analysis was performed on CSF samples from patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and a control group to measure the expression level of miRNA-21, miRNA-155, miRNA-182, and miRNA-437. In addition, the levels of the inflammatory cytokines including IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α in CSF were measured using ELISA. A quantitative turbidimetric method was also used to measure high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP).
Results: A significant difference was found in the expression level of miRNAs and inflammatory factors in the CSF of patients with MS compared with the control group (p<0.05). The results of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis showed the area under the curve for miRNA-21 (AUC=0.97, p<0.0001), miRNA-182 (AUC=0.97, p<0.0001), and miRNA-155 (AUC=0.96, p<0.0001). The miRNA-155 level in CSF played a very important role in the accurate diagnosis of MS. Significant correlations were found between inflammatory cytokines and miRNA-21, miRNA-155, and miRNA-182, as well as an indirect and moderate correlation between miRNA-437 and hs-CRP.
Conclusion: In MS patients, CSF levels of IL-1, IL-6, TNF-α, hs-CRP, and selected miRNAs can be used as biomarkers of CNS inflammation and neurodegenerative processes.
 

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Background & objectives: The increase of Bnip3 and Parkin plays an important role in maintaining mitochondrial function and inhibiting ROS. A correlation was observed between the mitochondrial respiratory capacity and the subjects' mRNA levels of Bnip3 and Parkin proteins as a result of exercise, which shows the significant role of mitochondrial dynamics on the improvement of respiratory capacity. This study aimed to investigate the effect of eight weeks of high-intensity interval training and curcumin supplementation on Bnip3 and parkin mitochondrial gene expression levels in cardiomyocytes of male heart attack model rats.
Methods: In this experimental study, 32 male Wistar rats were subjected to myocardial infarction using  intraperitoneal injection of isoproterenol (100 mg/kg for two consecutive days) and, after confirmation of infarction (troponin measurement), randomly divided into four groups; Control, high-intensity interval training, curcumin (pure curcumin 15mg and dimethyl sulfoxide with a concentration of 10% per kg of body weight five days a week by gavage) and combination group (supplement+exercise).The exercise and combination groups were subjected to high-intensity interval training (10 bouts of four-minute activity with an intensity of 85-90% VO2max) for eight weeks. Bnip3 and Parkin gene expression levels were obtained using the Real-time PCR method. The data were analyzed using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and one-way analysis of variance.
Results: The results showed that there is a significant difference between the mean of the groups in Bnip3 and parkin gene expression levels. The results of Tukey's test showed that the expression level of Bnip3 and Parkin genes was higher in the intense interval training and exercise-supplement groups than in the control and supplement groups. There was no significant difference between the supplement and control groups; in fact the use of curcumin without training did not affect Bnip3 and PARKIN gene expression levels compared to the control group.
Conclusion: This study shows that intermittent exercise and curcumin consumption have a protective effect on mitochondrial quality during infarction.