Background & objectives: Diabetes mellitus is one of the prevalent metabolic disorders in the world and mostly it is related to Obesity. Central obesity results in higher risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease and hyperinsulinemia. Hyperinsulinemia is the main reason of central obesity disorders. Studies have been shown that the fruits, vegetables and drinks are rich in phenolic and antioxidants components may alleviate diabetes diseases. One of these fruits is pomegranate that is rich in flavonoids. Therefore, this study was designed to determine the effect of unsweetened pomegranate juice consumption on insulin resistance, inflammatory factor and anthropometric measures in diabetic patients.

  Methods : In this clinical trial, 50 patients with type 2 diabetes aged 30-50 years were recruited into the study and randomly assigned into two groups: (1) intervention group (n=25) who drank 240 ml unsweetened pomegranate juice daily and (2) control group (n=25) who drank 240 ml water daily for two months. Fasting blood glucose, inflammatory factors including hs-CRP, anthropometric measures including weight, height, waist and hip circumference, BMI were determined at the baseline and after 8 weeks. Nutritionist IV program, Independent sample t-test, Paired sample t-test were used for data analyses.

  Results : Comparison of fasting blood glucose, HbA₁C, body mass index, hs-CRP between the two groups before intervention did not reveal a significant difference. The result of the study showed a significant decrease in insulin resistance, body weight, hip circumstance, waist circumstance in intervention group ( p <0.05 ، p <0.01 ، p <0.05 ، p <0.05 respectively) w hereas no significant changes were found for serum glucose, HbA1C, hs-CRP in this group .

  Conclusion : These findings indicate the beneficial effect of the daily consumption of unsweetened pomegranate juice on insulin resistance, body weight, waist and hip circumstances.

Background & objectives: Candidiasis is a fungal infection which is caused by Candida spp. Candida albicans is the most common agent of candidiasis. This infection may cause various side effects during pregnancy including prematurity, chorioamnionitis, candidal pneumonia, and systemic candidiasis of infants. This research was conducted for determining the prevalence and antibiotic resistance pattern of Candida spp, collected from pregnant women admitted to health centers in Ardabil, Iran.

Methods: Totally, 408 subjects were included in this study. Demographic data and risk factors were recorded using a questionnaire. Two swab samples were taken from vulvovaginal mucus. One swab was used for preparing smear and direct microscopic examination and the second one used for cultivating the specimen. After identification of Candida spp., antimicrobial resistance pattern was determined by disk diffusion method against Fluconazole, Ketoconazole, Clotrimazole, Nystatin and Amphotericin B. Results were interpreted according to CLSI guidelines. The data were analyzed by χ² and t-test using SPSS-19.

Results: Out of 408 subjects, 143 cases (35%) were positive for candida spp. The Candida albicans with 119 (83.2%) cases was the most prevalent species followed by Candida glabrata, Candida krusei, Candida parpsilosis and Candida tropicalis.According to disk diffusion test, overall 116 (81.1%) isolates were resistant to Fluconazole, 100 (69.9%) to Ketoconazole, 67 (46.9%) to Clotrimazole and 25 (17.5%) to Amphotericin B. Candida spp. had a highest sensitivity (118, 82.5%) to Nystatin. For Candida albicans 97(81.5%) isolates were resistant to Fluconazole and 99(83.2%) isolates to Nystatin. For Candida glabrata 10 (90.9%) isolates were resistant to Fluconazole, and 9(81.8%) sensitive to Nystatin.

Conclusion: According to the results of this study, vulvovaginal candidiasis is prevalent among pregnant women in Ardabil and isolates were significantly resistant against commonly used antifungal drugs. Nystatin was the most effective against Candida spp. As antibiogram for fungal agents is not routinely performed, the similar periodical studies could be useful for choosing appropriate antibiotics in treatment of vulvovaginal candidiasis.