ABSTRACT
Objectives: Polycystic ovarian syndrome [PCOS] phenotypes in different races and ethnicities present with various features. This study aimed to investigate the anthropometric, clinical and biochemical differences according to the four Rotterdam phenotypes of PCOS
Design: A cross-sectional study was conducted
Setting: Two private infertility clinics and a public endocrinology clinic in Rasht, Iran
Subjects: One hundred and sixty one women with PCOS aged between 15 and 41 years from March 2010 to July 2012 were included. Polycystic ovarian syndrome was diagnosed by irregular menstruation [IM], polycystic ovary [PCO] and hyperandrogenism [HA]
Intervention: Demographic data, and fertility features were collected and anthropometric, clinical and biochemical characteristics were measured
Main outcome measures: There were significant differences in mean levels of 17-hydroxyprogesterone [P = 0.010], luteinizing hormone [P = 0.047], and ratio of luteinizing hormone / follicle stimulation hormone [P = 0.017] among the four phenotypes
Results: Most of the subjects were categorized into the IM + PCO + HA phenotype [54%], followed by IM + HA [28%], IM + PCO [13%], and PCO + HA [5%]. Among the four phenotypes, there were no significant differences in terms of demographic characters, fertility features and anthropometric measurements [P > 0.05], but there were significant differences in the prevalence of hirsutism, alopecia and morphology of PCO [P < 0.05]
Conclusion: Phenotypes of PCOS in women from Rasht are similar in most anthropometric, clinical and biochemical features
ABSTRACT
QT interval parameters have been suggested as a predictor of lethal arrhythmia and mortality in patients with myocardial infarction. The aim of the present study was to compare the value of QT interval indices in patients presenting with non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction [NSTEMI] between a group of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and a nondiabetic group of patients. This case-control study evaluated QT interval parameters in 115 patients [47 diabetic and 68 nondiabetic patients] diagnosed with NSTEMI between September 2011 and July 2012. The following QT interval indices were analyzed: maximum [max] and minimum [min] QT interval; max and min corrected QT interval [QTc]; QT dispersion [QTd]; and corrected QT dispersion [QTcd]. All the patients were observed for ventricular arrhythmia during their hospital course and underwent coronary angiography. They were selected to undergo coronary artery bypass surgery [CABG] or percutaneous coronary angioplasty [PCI] based on their coronary anatomy. The mean age of the patients was 60.8 +/- 11.4 years. The patients were 40.0% female and 60.0% male. There were no significant differences in clinical characters between type 2 diabetic and nondiabetic patients with NSTEMI. Compared with post-myocardial infarction patients without diabetes, those with type 2 diabetes had higher QTc max, QTd and QTcd [p value < 0.05]. There was a significant difference in QTd and QTcd in the patients needing coronary revascularization with diabetes as opposed to the nondiabetics [p value = 0.035 and p value = 0.025, respectively] as well as those who had ventricular arrhythmia with diabetes [p value = 0.018 and p value = 0.003, respectively]. QTcd was higher in the patients who had higher in-hospital mortality [p value = 0.047]. The QTc max, QTd and QTcd were significantly [all p values < 0.05] associated with ventricular arrhythmia, QTcd with need for revascularization and QTc max with in-hospital mortality in the diabetic patients. Based on the findings of this study, it seems that type 2 diabetics with NSTEMI have greater QTc max, QTd, and QTcd and these QT parameters may have a relationship with worse cardiac outcomes and poorer prognoses
ABSTRACT
Nowadays, cell -based and tissue engineered products have opened new horizons in treatment of incurable nervous system disorders. The number of studies on the role of Schwann cells [SC] in treating nervous disorders is higher than other cell types. Different protocols have been suggested for isolation and expansion of SC which most of them have used multiple growth factors, mitogens and fetal bovine sera [FBS] in culture medium. Because of potential hazards of animal-derived reagents, this study was designed to evaluate the effect of replacing FBS with human autologous serum [HAS] on SC's yield and culture parameters. Samples from 10 peripheral nerve biopsies were retrieved and processed under aseptic condition. The isolated cells cultured in FBS [1st group] or autologous serum [2nd group]. After primary culture the cells were seeded at 10000 cell/cm[2] in a 12 wells cell culture plate for each group. At 100% confluency, the cell culture parameters [count, viability, purity and culture duration] of 2 groups were compared using paired t-test. The average donors' age was 35.80 [SD=13.35] and except for 1 sample the others cultured successfully. In first group, the averages of cell purity, viability and culture duration were 97% [SD=1.32], 97/33% [SD=1.22] and 11.77 [SD=2.58] days respectively. This parameters were 97.33% [SD=1.00], 97.55% [SD=1.33] and 10.33 days [SD=1.65] in second group. The difference of cell count, purity and viability were not significant between 2 groups [P>0.05]. The cells of second group reached to 100% confluency in shorter period of time [P=0.03]. The results of this study showed that autologous serum can be a good substitute for FBS in human SC culture. This can reduce the costs and improve the safety of cell product for clinical application