[ study on metal health status and personality traits of pet owners]

Many Iranian families manage to keep pets at home. Examining psychological consequences and personality traits of pet owners is important. The aim of this study was to examine mental health status and personality traits of pet owners. In this descriptive study, 612 pet owners [143 cat owners, 162 dog owners, 155 bird owners and 152 other pet owners] were asked to complete General Health Questionnaire [GHQ] and IPIP Personality Scale from January to December 2006. Bird owners had the highest [234 cases [38.3%]] and other pet owners had the lowest [129 cases [42.3%]] mental health problems. In general, 188 cases [30.7%] of all groups had mental health problems. 122 cases [20%] of them had somatic compliance, 182 cases [29.7%] had anxiety, 149 cases [24.3%] had social dysfunction and 84 cases [13.7%] had depression. Bird owners had significant high level of social dysfunction than other pet owners. With respect to personality traits, dog owners had low level of agreeableness and openness to experience than other groups. Other pet owners had high level of emotional stability than other groups. Contrary to other countries, it seems that having a pet in home enhances the probability of mental disorders in Iran. It is possible that lower mental health persons were keeping pets in Iran. In personality perspectives, dog owners are more disagreeable people and other pet owners are more emotionally stable ones

[Comparison of serum leptin in major beta -talasemia patients and normal subjects]

Leptin, is a adipocyte-derived hormone. Exogenous leptin allows the recovery of the reproductive function. In humans, leptin correlates positively with body mass index [BMI]. The aim of the study was to investigate the association of leptin with toxic effects of iron overload. In a cross sectional study in 2006, we compared the serum leptin level of thalasemic patients with normal group. Blood samples were collected from 219 patients with Cooley's anemia, [119 males, 100 females] and 137 normal subjects [86 males, 51 females]. Leptin was measured by a commercial ELISA kit. Data were analyzed by SPSS software. Mean serum leptin level was 5.33 +/- 5.02 ng/ml in thalassaemic males. It was significantly lower than controls [9.43 +/- 7.8 ng/ml] [P<0.001]. Thalassaemic females had lower leptin levels [12.12 +/- 11.4 ng/ml] than normal females subjects [14.6 +/- 13.1 ng/ml] [P<0.001]. Furthermore, the physiologically positive BMI/leptin relationship disappeared in thalassaemic patients. It seems that the adipocytes of thalassaemic patients are unable to maintain adequate leptin production. These results suggest that adipose tissue dysfunction can be considered as one of the endocrinepathies affecting thalassaemic patients