RESUMEN
Objective: epididymo-orchitis [EO] potentially results in reduced fertility in up to 60% of affected patients. The anti-inflammatory effects of Korean red ginseng [KRG] and its ability to act as an immunoenhancer in parallel with the beneficial effects of this ancient herbal medicine on the reproductive systems of animals and humans led us to evaluate its protective effects against acute EO
Materials and Methods: this animal experimental study was conducted in the Department of Anatomical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences [ZUMS], Zanjan, Iran during 2013-2015. We divided 50 Wistar rats into five following groups [n=10 per group]: i. Control-intact animals, ii. Vehicle-phosphate buffered saline [PBS] injection into the vas deferens, iii. KRG-an intraperitoneal [IP] injection of KRG, iv. EO-an injection of uropathogenic Escherichia coli [UPEC] strain M39 into the vas deferens, and v. EO/ KRG-injections of both UPEC strain M39 and KRG. The treatment lasted seven days. We then evaluated sperm parameters, number of germ cell layers, Johnson's criteria, germ cell apoptosis, body weight and relative sex organs weight
Results: acute EO increased the relative weight of prostate and seminal vesicles [P
Conclusion: consequently, KRG ameliorated the devastating effects of EO on the sperm retrieved from either epididymis or testicle in rats
RESUMEN
This study used a quasi-experimental method in the pretest-posttest to evaluate the efficacy of cognitive-existential group therapy on hopefulness in parents of children with cancer. Thirty parents [24 to 54 years old] of children with cancer were divided randomly into experimental and control groups. Both groups were assessed with Miller Hope Scale [1988], as pre-test. The experimental group received cognitive-existential group therapy in 12 sessions, each lasting 90 minutes [2 sessions per week], but no psychological intervention was applied to the control group. At the end of the intervention, both groups were reassessed through post-test. Data were analyzed by SPSS through analysis of covariance. Significant differences in hopefulness between the two groups [p<0.01] were observed in favor of the experimental group. Cognitive-existential group therapy can be effective in increasing hopefulness in parents of children with cancer
RESUMEN
The purpose of the study was to determine whether maternal serum levels of androgen and progesterone, are higher in patient with preeclampsia than in matched control subjects. Serum progesterone, total testosterone, free testosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone levels were measured in 19 subjects in third trimester of pregnancy with documented preeclampsia and 17 healthy normotensive women with similar maternal and gestational ages. All subjects were primigravida women with singleton pregnancy who were visited in Kosar Medical center in Uromiyeh. There were no significant differences between two groups in maternal age, gestational age and body mass index. Progesterone and free testosterone levels were significantly lower [p=0.01] in patients with preeclampsia [75.1 +/- 8.6 ng/dL and 2.27 +/- 1.71 pg/dL, respectively] than in control group [111.6 +/- 9.71 ng/dL and 3.73 +/- 1.31 pg/dL, respectively]. There were no significant differences in total testosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone levels between cases [1.02 +/- 0.10 ng/dL and 0.99 +/- 0.13 micro g/dL, respectively] and controls [1.37 +/- .019 ng/dL and 0.98 micro 5.15 micro g/dL, respectively]. Accentuated sex hormone binding globulin increase in preeclampsia is the cause of significant decreased free testosterone of preeclamptic cases. Levels of progesterone were pathologically and significantly lower in preeclamptic cases than control women with similar age, gestational age and body mass index. This difference raises the possibility for a role of progesterone in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia