[Comparison of the thyroid autoantibodies and urinary iodine concentration in hypothyroid and normal individuals in Rafsanjan city in 2006]

Thyroid disorders are among the most prevalent autocrine diseases. The aim of this study was to compare the prevalence of thyroid autoantibodies and iodine consumption in hypothyroid patients and healthy subjects. This cross-sectional study was performed through simple non-probability sampling on 75 hypothyroid subjects [TSH >5 mIU/ml, T4 <60 nmol/L and T3RUP=30 -40%] age 20-75 [M/F=28/47] as cases, and 75 normal individuals [TSH and T4 normal, sex and age matched with the case group] as control. Urinary iodine concentration, antithyroperoxidase [Anti-TPO] and antithyroglobulin [Anti-Tg] were measured in all individuals. Statistical analysis was done in SPSS, using t-test and Fisher's exact test. P-value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant. In hypothyroid individuals urinary iodine concentration was less than the control group [p<0.0001], whereas Anti-TPO and Anti-Tg were significantly higher [p<0.0001 and p<0.0001 respectively]. Fifty percent of the subjects, above 60 years old, had urinary iodine deficiency. Thyroid autoimmunity is one of the main causes of hypothyroidism in Rafsanjan city and it seems that autoimmunity is not due to the increase of iodine consumption. In addition, iodine deficiency is a health problem in elderly individuals in this study and considering the special conditions of these individuals it must be replaced with other manners

Testicular cells apoptosis in opium-addicted rats: [short report]

Apoptosis is a physiological mechanism of cell death and it can be triggered by a variety of internal and external stimuli. It has been shown that some opium derivatives promote cell apoptosis. This study was designed to examine the influence of opium addiction on testicular cell apoptosis in Wistar rats. This experimental study was performed on 7 opium-addicted as case group and 7 normal rats as control group. In the case group, animals treated with peritoneal injections of opium twice a day at 8 a.m and 8 p.m for 8 days based on the following regimen; at the first day 30 mg/kg, second day 60 mg/kg, third day 90 mg/kg, fourth day 120 mg/kg, and from fifth to eighth day 150 mg/kg. The control group received only normal saline. Apoptosis was then evaluated by TUNEL and DNA fragmentation assays. The results of this study showed that the rate of testicular cells apoptosis in opium-addicted rats were significantly higher than the normal rats [p<0.001]. These results indicated that opium addiction may play an important role in testicular cells apoptosis and as a result can cause testicula dysfunction and reduced testosterone production which may culminate in infertility