Evaluation of serum nitric oxide level in patients with oral lichen planus

Statement of Problem: Oral lichen planus [OLP] is a chronic inflammatory oral mucosal disease with indefinite etiology. In recent researches, free radicals have been deliberated as the possible etiology of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases

Purpose: This study was aimed to evaluate the stress oxidative status with the nitric oxide [NO] index in a sample of Iranian population

Materials and Method: In this descriptive-comparative study, serum NO level was assessed in 20 OLP patients as the case group and 20 healthy individuals as the control group. Collected data were analyzed by adopting two Sample t-test, using SPSS 16 software. The statistical significance level was set at p< 0.05

Results: The mean serum NO levels in OLP patients and healthy controls were 17.1 +/- 3.4 ng/ml and 14.5 +/- 2.7 ng/ml respectively; which revealed a significant statistical difference [p= 0.009]

Conclusion: The results of the current study with its limitation may support the premise that higher serum levels of NO in patients with OLP might activate the process of lymphocytes and cellular immunity system; hence, possibly endorsing the effect of serum NO in pathogenesis of lichen planus

Evaluation of the serum zinc level in erosive and non-erosive oral lichen planus

Statement of Problem: Lichen planus is a chronic inflammatory immunologic-based disease involving skin and mucosa. This disease is generally divided into two categories: erosive and non-erosive. Many etiologic factors are deliberated regarding the disease; however, the disorders of immune system and the role of cytotoxic T-lymphocytes and monocytes are more highlighted. Zinc is an imperative element for the growth of epithelium and its deficiency induces the cytotoxic activity of T-helper2 cells, which seems to be associated with lichen planus

Purpose: This study was aimed to evaluate the levels of serum zinc in erosive and non-erosive oral lichen planus [OLP] and to compare it with the healthy control group to find out any feasible inference

Materials and Method: A total of 22 patients with erosive oral lichen planus, 22 patients with non erosive OLP and 44 healthy individuals as the control group were recruited in this descriptive-comparative study. All the participants were selected from the referees to the department of oral medicine, school of dentistry, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences. Serum zinc level was examined for all the individuals with liquid-stat kit [Beckman Instruments Inc.; Carlsbad, CA]. Data were analyzed by adopting the ANOVA and Tukey tests, using SPSS 16 statistical software

Results: The mean age of patients with erosive and non-erosive LP was 41.7 and 41.3 years, respectively. The mean age of the healthy control group was 34.4 years .The mean serum zinc levels in the erosive and non erosive lichen planus groups and control groups were 8.3 [1.15], 11.15 [0.92] and 15.74 [1.75] micro g/dl respectively. The difference was statistically significant [p< 0.05]

Conclusion: The serum zinc levels were decreased in patients with erosive oral lichen planus. This finding may probably indicate the promising role of zinc in development of oral lichen planus

two-year study of survival rate in children with Wilms tumor treated at Besat hospital of Hamadan [2005-2009]

Wilms tumor is one of the most common renal tumors in children. This type of tumor - accounting for 6 percent of tumors in children - shows a good prognosis if treated in time. This study is to investigate the clinical and pathologic findings as well as response to treatment in Iranian children with Wilms tumor treated at Besat hospital of Hamadan [2005-2009]. In this descriptive cross-sectional study all the 24 children - with confirmed diagnosis of Wilms tumor [by biopsy] treated at hematology ward [Hamadan Besat Hospital] from 2005 to 2009 - were followed up by monthly examination and 3-monthly Para-clinical evaluations after treatment. Patients were at 3 stages of the disease phase at the time of diagnosis. Two patients had unfavorable histology. The most common clinical finding was abdominal mass. 2-year survival of the patients in stages 1 and 2, and stages 3 and 4 was 100% and 83%, respectively. Out of the total number of the patients, 4 cases referred with the recurrence of the tumor [16.7%]. Two of them were expired. The findings of the present study showed that the survival rate observed in this study was better than other studies in this field

Evaluation the effect of swimming time on dental erosion among swimmers

Erosion is a multi-factorial process that occurs during life and it happens by many external or internal factors. The current study aimed to evaluate the relation of swimming time and dental erosion among swimmers. In this descriptive-analytical study, 84women individuals were selected. The case group included 42 swimmers who swam more than 6 hours per week and the control group comprised of 42 swimmers who swam less than 6 hours. The information regarding dental erosions and other data was collected by questionnaires. The dental erosion evaluation was performed using Smith-Knight index. X[2] was utilized for statistical comparisons. The P-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Findings revealed that the dental erosion proportions was similar among two groups and there was no relation between swimming time and dental erosion among swimmers [p-value= 0/6, X[2] 0.26]. There was no relation between swimming time and dental erosion among swimmers. Therefore, the role of swimming time on dental erosion was not proved

Micro-implant: a new time saving device for hair transplantation [A Case report]

Hair transplantation is the main therapeutic method for androgenic alopecia. Improvement of the hair transplant techniques with more acceptable appearance of the transplanted hair has made this method more popular. Nowadays, for more acceptable appearance of transplanted hair, every follicle is transplanted separately or in small groups which is a time consuming procedure and exposes the follicles to environmental stressors. The new device that we introduce here can be time saving and decreases the exposure time to stressors. This device was named Micro-implant and we used it for hair transplantation in a 45 years old man with androgenic alopecia. After informed consent and adequate explanations, necessary laboratory tests were performed which their results were normal. Three 10×2 cm grafts were resected from occipital area. The grafts were placed into sterile physiologic buffer rapidly and then divided by a scalpel into small pieces, each containing 1-4 follicles. These graft units were transplanted into the frontal bald area by means of the Micro-implant. Use of this device will reduce transplantation time notably and maintain the viability of the transplanted follicles which ensure success of transplantation