Persian Version of the Yale Food Addiction Scale 2.0: Psychometric Analysis and Setting Cutoff Point for the Food Cravings Questionnaire-Trait-Reduced

Objective@#The aims of this study were to evaluate the psychometric properties of Persian translation of the Yale Food Addiction Scale 2.0 (YFAS 2.0) as a widely accepted questionnaire for the first time and to establish a cut off score for Food Craving Questionnaire-Trait-reduced (FCQ-T-r). @*Methods@#In this cross-sectional study, 330 visitors of family physician clinics in Shiraz, a city located in south of Iran, were selected. The English version of YFAS 2.0 was translated into Persian and used in this study as well as the Persian version of FCQ-T-r. @*Results@#Confirmatory factor analysis of YFAS-2 confirmed one dimensional structure and factor loading in all eleven symptoms was above 0.4. Internal consistency for eleven symptoms was 0.813. Prevalence of food addiction in participants was 6.7% (22 participants). BMI and FCQ-T-r questionnaire score both were positively correlated with the number of food addiction symptoms but age was negatively correlated with the number of the symptoms. The ROC curve analysis showed the best suggested cut-off point for FCQ-T-r questionnaire to detect food addiction was 32.5. @*Conclusion@#The present study confirmed validity and reliability of Persian version of YFAS-2. It is suggested that food addiction occurs in different level of food craving behavior in different food cultures or genetics.

Persian Version of the Yale Food Addiction Scale 2.0: Psychometric Analysis and Setting Cutoff Point for the Food Cravings Questionnaire-Trait-Reduced

Objective@#The aims of this study were to evaluate the psychometric properties of Persian translation of the Yale Food Addiction Scale 2.0 (YFAS 2.0) as a widely accepted questionnaire for the first time and to establish a cut off score for Food Craving Questionnaire-Trait-reduced (FCQ-T-r). @*Methods@#In this cross-sectional study, 330 visitors of family physician clinics in Shiraz, a city located in south of Iran, were selected. The English version of YFAS 2.0 was translated into Persian and used in this study as well as the Persian version of FCQ-T-r. @*Results@#Confirmatory factor analysis of YFAS-2 confirmed one dimensional structure and factor loading in all eleven symptoms was above 0.4. Internal consistency for eleven symptoms was 0.813. Prevalence of food addiction in participants was 6.7% (22 participants). BMI and FCQ-T-r questionnaire score both were positively correlated with the number of food addiction symptoms but age was negatively correlated with the number of the symptoms. The ROC curve analysis showed the best suggested cut-off point for FCQ-T-r questionnaire to detect food addiction was 32.5. @*Conclusion@#The present study confirmed validity and reliability of Persian version of YFAS-2. It is suggested that food addiction occurs in different level of food craving behavior in different food cultures or genetics.

Overexpression of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase correlates with regulatory T cell phenotype in acute myeloid leukemia patients with normal karyotype

BACKGROUND: Production of immunosuppressive enzymes such as indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) is one of the strategies employed by hematologic malignancies, including acute myeloid leukemia (AML), to circumvent immune surveillance. Moreover, IDO has the ability to convert CD4+CD25− conventional T cells into regulatory T cells (Tregs). In this study, we evaluated the expression of IDO in cytogenetically normal acute myeloid leukemia (CN-AML) patients and its correlation with the Treg marker, FOXP3, as well as clinical and laboratory parameters. METHODS: Thirty-seven newly diagnosed CN-AML patients were enrolled in our study along with 22 healthy individuals. The expression of the IDO and FOXP3 genes was analyzed by SYBR Green real-time PCR. RESULTS: Both IDO and FOXP3 were highly upregulated in CN-AML patients compared to control groups (P=0.004 and P=0.031, respectively). A positive correlation was observed between IDO and FOXP3 expression among AML patients (r=0.512, P=0.001). Expression of IDO and FOXP3 showed no significant correlation with laboratory parameters such as white blood cell and platelet counts, hemoglobin levels, bone marrow blast percentage, gender, and FLT3 mutation status (P>0.05). CONCLUSION: Higher IDO expression in CN-AML patients may be associated with an increased Treg phenotype which may promote disease progression and lead to poor prognosis of CN-AML patients.

effect of aloe vera solution on chemotherapy-induced stomatitis in clients with lymphoma and leukemia: a randomized controlled clinical trial

Background: Stomatitis is the most common complication of chemotherapy. This study aimed to assess the effect of aloe vera solution on stomatitis and its pain intensity in patients undergoing chemotherapeutic procedures

Methods: In this randomized controlled clinical trial, 64 patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia and Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia undergoing chemotherapy were randomly divided into a control and an intervention group. The intervention group patients were asked to wash their mouths with 5 ml of aloe vera solution for two minutes three times a day for 14 days. The control group patients, however, used only the ordinary mouthwashes recommended in hematologic centers. The patients' mouths were examined by two assistants on days 1, 3, 5, 7, and 14. The intensity of stomatitis was recorded according to WHO stomatitis intensity checklists and pain was evaluated using Visual Analog Scale. The data were analyzed by SPSS statistical software, version 18

Results: The results showed that aloe vera solution mouthwash significantly reduced the intensity of stomatitis and its pain in the intervention group compared to the control group. On the first day, no significant difference was found between the two groups regarding the mean intensity of stomatitis [P=0.178] and pain [P=0.154]. However, a significant difference was observed between the two groups in this regard on other days [days 3-14: P=0.001 for stomatitis intensity, P=0.001 for pain]

Conclusions: Aloe vera solution can improve the patients' nutritional status, reduce stomatitis and its pain intensity, and increase the patients' satisfaction

Induction of Spermatogenesis by Bone Marrow-derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Busulfan-induced Azoospermia in Hamster

BACKGROUND: Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) have potential of differentiation and they secrete anti-inflammatory cytokines and growth factors which make them appropriate for cell therapy. AIM OF THE WORK: Were to evaluate the healing effect of BM-MSCs transplantation on germinal cells of busulfan-induced azoospermic hamsters. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In the present experimental case control study, BM-MSCs were isolated from bone marrow of donor albino hamsters. Five mature male recipient hamsters received two doses of 10 mg/kg of busulfan with 21 days interval to stop endogenous spermatogenesis. After induction of azoospermia, right testis of hamsters was injected with 106 BM-MSCs via efferent duct and the left one remained as azoospermia control testis. Five normal mature hamsters were selected as normal intact control. After 35 days, testes and epididymis of three groups were removed for histological evaluation. RESULTS: Histomorphological analyses of BM-MSCs treated testes and epididymis showed the epithelial tissue of seminiferous tubules had normal morphology and spermatozoa were present in epididymis tubes. Spermatogenesis was observed in most cell-treated seminiferous tubules. The untreated seminiferous tubules were empty. CONCLUSION: Transplanted BM-MSCs could successfully induce spermatogenesis in seminiferous tubules of azoospermic hamster. Therefore, BM-MSCs can be an attractive candidate in cell transplantation of azoospermia.

effects of decreasing maternal anxiety on fetal oxygenation and nucleated red blood cells count in the cord blood

Vasoconstriction during anxiety reduces fetal oxygenation and leads to hypoxia. Hypoxia in turn results in increase of the number of nucleated red blood cells [NRBCs] in the cord blood. The present study aimed to assess the effect of decreasing maternal anxiety on fetal oxygenation and NRBCs count in the cord blood. In this study, 150 women were randomly divided into two intervention groups [supportive care and acupressure in BL32 [bladder] acupoint] and a control group [hospital routine care]. The infants' cord blood was investigated regarding the number of NRBCs and the intensity of hypoxia after birth. Then, the data were entered into the SPSS statistical software [v. 16] and analyzed using ANOVA, Chi-square test, and logistic regression analysis. The significant difference was found between the two groups regarding the number of NRBCs counted in the peripheral blood smear [P<0.001]. Besides, a significant relationship was observed between the length of the first and second stages of labor and the number of NRBCs in the cord blood [P=0.01]. Also, a significant association was observed between the type of delivery and the number of NRBCs in the cord blood in both intervention [P<0.001] and control groups [P=0.03]. Doula supportive care and acupressure at BL32 point reduced the length of labor stages as well as the anxiety level. Also, nucleated red blood cells were less in the 2 groups of intervention than in control group. Regarding the fact that nucleated red blood cells cannot be the only factor for hypoxia predicting, for affirmation of this theory study with higher sample size and survey of mothers at high risk are needed

Autologous transplantation of bone marrow-derived mononuclear and cd133+ cells in patients with decompensated cirrhosis

Background: cirrhosis, the end stage of progressive hepatic fibrosis, is characterized by distortion of the hepatic architecture and the formation of regenerative nodules. Liver transplantation is one of the few available therapies for such patients. However, due to a severe shortage of organ donors, surgical complications, transplant rejection and the high cost of this procedure much interest has focused on research to find new treatment modalities for this disease. There is accumulating evidence for the contribution of bone marrow stem cells to participate in liver regeneration

Methods: here we report on six patients with end stage liver disease who were subjected to intraportal administration of autologous bone marrow-derived CD133+ in comparison to mononuclear cells in short-term [6 months] and long-term [24 months] follow up

Results: there were no adverse effects in any of the patients during the short- and long-term follow up period. Moreover, there were no significant alterations of liver function parameters, liver enzymes, serum albumin, creatinine, serum bilirubin and/or liver volume after transplantation of both types of autologous cells in these patients

Conclusion: our study has shown both the safety and feasibility of this type of liver cell therapy and may be a bridge to liver transplantation. The trial was registered with NIH clinical trials [www.clinicaltrials.gov] as identifier: NCT00713934

Development of a sensitive quantitative competitive PCR assay for detection of human cytomegalovirus DNA

Accurate and rapid diagnosis of human cytomegalovirus [HCMV] disease in immunocompromised patients has remained as a challenge. Quantitative competitive PCR [QC-PCR] methods for detection of HCMV in these individuals have improved the positive and negative predictive values of PCR for diagnosis of HCMV disease. In this study we used QC-PCR assay, using a co-amplified DNA standard, to quantitate the HCMV glycoprotein B [gB] gene in different samples. A DNA internal standard [IS] was designed by replacing HCMV primer binding site at 5' ends of primers that amplifies a 156-bp fragment of lambda genome, and a 200 bp amplicon was produced. Two DNA fragments of 257 bp wild type and 200-bp [IS] were co-amplified with the same oligonucleotide primer sets, analyzed by gel electrophoresis and used for construction of a standard curve. From this, the copy number of the gB gene present in different samples could be determined. Co-amplification with 1,000 copies of IS, allowed quantitation of 10-100,000 of HCMV DNA in a single PCR. This rapid assay avoids using radioactive components and other less efficient quantitative systems. It has the potential for early identification of patients at high risk of development of HCMV disease, and is useful for therapeutic monitoring