Efficacy and safety of Iranian made deferasirox [Osveral]in Iranian major thalassemic patients with transfusional iron overload: a one year prospective multicentric open-label non-comparative study

To determine the efficacy, adverse effects and safety of a new Iranian generic product of deferasirox [Osveral] in Iranian transfusion dependent major thalassemic [TD-MT] patients. In 9 main thalassemia treatment centers, all of TD-MT patients [aged >/= 2 yrs] with serum ferritin [SF] levels >/= 1000 ng/ml, or >100 ml/kg of RBC transfusion, who could not tolerate parental iron chelating were recruited regardless of their previous iron chelation therapy. Periodical clinical and laboratory evaluations were conducted for adverse effects [AEs]. Primary efficacy end point was Mean of Relative Change of Serum Ferritin [MRC-SF] from the baseline level during one year. Analysis of variance [ANOVA], t test, chi-square or Fisher exact test were used for statistic analysis appropriately [P values <0.05 were considered as statistical significant]. In 407 cases the male/female ratio was 0.98. Mean age was 11.5 +/- 7.4 [2-58] years. The mean of initiating dose of Osveral and mean usage dose during the study was 23.5 +/- 4.9 mg/kg and 24.9 +/- 4.9 mg/kg respectively. MRC-SF was -11.44% +/- 38.92 and it showed significant decline in SF [P value<0.001] one hundred and forty eight patients out of 407 patients experienced at least one. AE, the most common of them were transient increase in serum creatinin [97;24.1%] and > 5 time increase in transaminases [24;5.89%].The causes of discontinuation of treatment were non-satisfactory treatment [24; 5.8%], poor or non-compliance of patients [21;5.1%], and adverse effects [13; 3.1%]. A detailed comparison with similar studies on deferasirox [Exjade] shows a promising efficacy and safety for its Iranian generic product [Osveral]

[ correlation between waist-circumference, BMI and conicity and cardiovascular risk factors in postmenopausal women]

Changes in body fat distribution during menopause lead to increasing risk of cardiac and metabolic diseases. Considering the importance of predicting of cardiovascular diseases using related anthropometric indices, the aim of this study was to determine the correlation of waist circumference[WC], BMI and Conicity with cardiovascular risk factors [serum glucose, insulin[diabetes], blood pressure[BP] and dyslipidaemia]. In a cross-sectional study, 250 non-smoking postmenopausal women, with BMI<30 were randomly selected. We measured WC, BMI and conicity and a 3 day food dietary recall and a food frequency questionnaire were completed for each participant. Fasting serum glucose, triglycerides, HDL-C, LDL-C and insulin were measured. There were significant correlations between WC and systolic BP[r=0.255, p=0.002], WC and conicity [r=0.67,p=0.0001], BMI and conicity[r=0.31, p=0.0001], conicity and systolic BP[r=0.31, p=0.009] and BMI systolic BP[r=0.21,p=0.009]. There were also significant correlations between systolic BP and diastolic BP[p=0.002], serum insulin and systolic BP[r=0.21,p=0.008] and serum total cholesterol with systolic BP[r=0.2,p=0.13]. Waist circumference was significantly associated with systolic BP and diabetes, BMI had a significant association with systolic BP and Conicity was significantly associated with systolic BP, serum triglycerides and glucose, but not with diabetes

[Association between serum leptin and adiponectin and bone mineral density in 40-60-year-Old postmenopausal women]

Osteoporosis is the most common metabolic bone disease, which leads to a decrease in bone mass and disorders in its structure. Leptin and adiponectin are hormones secreted from the adipose tissue. The objective of this study was to determine association between serum leptin and adiponectin and bone mineral density in postmenopausal women 40-60 years old. This cross-sectional study included was 85 postmenopausal women, 40-60 years old. Samples of fasting blood were taken from the women in order to determine the serum concentrations of leptin and adiponectin, and bone mass density [BMD] was measured by the DXA method in two areas, i.e., L2-4 and the femoral neck. 4.5 kg/m2, respectively. There was a significant inverse relationship between +/- 5.4 years and +/- 29.4. The means +/- SD of age and body mass index [BMI] of the subjects were 52.4 the serum leptin level and BMD in the L2-4 area [p=0.02]. The data also showed a negative association between the serum adiponectin level on the one hand, and the BMD of the femur [p=0.03] and the bone mineral content [BMC] of the vertebral column [p=0.03] on the other. Leptin and adiponectin have inverse associations with the bone mineral density

[Comparison of the effects of lecture and booklet methods on awareness and attention of parents of children with Thalassemia major]

Thalassemia is one of the most important genetic diseases in Iran. Warning of their parents about their children's disease prevents the related problems and reduces its complications. This study was aimed at comparing the influence of lecture and booklet methods on enhancement of awareness and attentions of parents of children with Thalassemia major. In this interventional study, a total of 90 parents of children with Thalassemia who referred to Hajar hospital for medical treatments, were selected using simple sampling and were randomly divided in three groups of 30 parents. The parents in lecture group attended for seasons of lecture for 30 min. each with 3 weeks interval. A booklet with the same contents as the lecture group was given to the booklet group without any intervention. A questionnaire was designed to gather some information about the disease from parents of all three groups. To determine the statistical relationships, student t-test, Spearman's correlation and of ANOVA tests were used. No significant differences were found among the three groups tested in terms of the mean age, gender, level of education, job, number of affected children, and age of the children. The results showed that the mean of knowledge before and after the education in the lecture group was 10.53 +/- 4.37 and 16.5 +/- 4.73 [P<0.05] and in the booklet group was 10.7 +/- 3.06 and 14.6 +/- 2.7 [P<0.05], respectively. There was no significant difference between lecture and booklet groups based education. After the education, the knowledge in the two groups was significantly more than that in control group [P<0.05]. The results showed that lecture and booklet methods have positive effects on increasing of the parent's knowledge about the disease. Thus, providing of the booklet for the parents, particularly in the region with high prevalence of the disease, is recommended

[Assessment of relationship between serum leptin and adiponectin and bone mass with energy intake and nutrients in postmenopause women of 40-60 years old]

Adequate nutrition is crucial for growth and maintenance of the body skeleton health. Nutrients consumed affect leptin and adiponectin levels and bone mass. This study was done to determine the relationship between serum leptin, adiponectin and bone mass with energy intake and nutrients in postmenopausal women, 40-60 years old. The present cross-sectional study was done on 85 postmenopausal women, aged 40-60 years. Samples of fasting blood were taken to determine concentrations of leptin and adiponectin of serum and bone mineral density was measured by the DXA method in the two areas of L2-4 and the femoral neck. Food intake was documented using questionnaires including frequency of food and was analyzed by FP2 Software. Leptin had a negative relationship with energy intake, protein and magnesium and a positive relationship with carbohydrate; there was a positive relationship between adiponectin and energy and carbohydrate. BMD of femur had a negative relationship with energy and carbohydrate, while it had positive relationship with calcium, and there was direct and significant relationship between BMD of the spine and zinc. Increase in consumption of carbohydrate and decrease in consumption of protein lead to increase in leptin. Consumption of calcium and zinc can have a protective effect on bones