ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Many studies have been done on the epidemiology of Hepatitis E on general population, but the data among patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD) are few and give conflicting results. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection and its relationship in ESRD patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis (HD). PATIENTS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was carried out on ESRD patients treated with HD in Imam Khomeini Hospital, Ahvaz city, Southwest of Iran. Blood sampling of patients was collected immediately before the dialysis session and the serum were evaluated for anti-HEV IgG titers by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. The statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 15 software was used for data analysis. RESULTS: Out of 47 ESRD patients, 27 were male (57.4%) and 20 were female (42.6%), with mean age of 55.27 ± 8.1 years. The prevalence of anti-HEV antibody was 10.6 % (five patients, four male and one female). The mean age of HEV positive and negative patients were 58 ± 5.52 and 53.82 ± 15.55 years, respectively without any significant difference (P = 0.058). There also was no significant association between HEV and gender (P = 0.28). The mean time of HD in HEV positive and negative patients were 1224.2 and 1168.5 days, respectively with no significant association (P = 0.88). In addition, there also was no association between HEV and HCV (P = 0.61). CONCLUSIONS: According to the present study, the prevalence of anti-HEV IgG antibody was 10.63 % among chronic HD patients and there was no association between HEV, age, gender, duration of HD and HCV antibody titer.
ABSTRACT
Cisplatin is a potent and a major anti-neoplastic drug in the treatment of a broad spectrum of malignancies. However, its clinical use is limited by renal tubular dysfunction that occurs in a significant percent of patients. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the possible protective effect of theophyline in the prevention of cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity. The trial design was prospective, randomized, double-blinded and placebo controlled. Chemotherapeutic patients who received cisplatin at a dosage of at least 50 mg/m 2 alone or in combination with other chemotherapy agent(s) were included in the study. There were a total of 76 patients who were randomly divided into two groups. In group 1 (n = 38), placebo was advised; in group 2 (n = 38), patients received 4 mg/kg aminophyline as an intravenous loading dose, followed by theophyline in a dose of 200 mg three times daily orally for four consecutive days. The placebo group had 22 males and 16 females and the theophyline group had 26 males and 12 females. The mean age was 51 ± 17.6 years and the mean dose of cisplatin was 86.71 ± 43.18 mg. The prevalence of cisplatin nephrotoxicity in groups 1 and 2 was 7.9 and 5.3%, respectively, and the difference was not significant (P = 1). In addition, there was no significant association of cisplatin nephrotoxicity with age (P = 0.1), gender (P = 0.64) and mean dose of cisplatin (P = 0.8). These results indicate that prophy-lactic application of aminophyline and theophyline does not have a protective effect against cisplatin nephrotoxicity.
