RESUMO
Hypericum perforatum L., is a sprawling, leafy herb that grows in open, disturbed areas, known as St. John's wort, has a variety of secondary metabolites that can be used for medicinal and therapeutic purposes. Heavy metals have become the most dangerous pollutants in the environment. The effect of cadmium chloride, lead nitrate, silver nitrate, methyl jasmonate, and salicylic acid was studied on several morphometric and biochemical features of St. John's wort simultaneously using the Taguchi statistical method. The results showed cadmium chloride and lead nitrate reduced the morphometric and biochemical properties of St. John's wort while salicylic acid compensated for the adverse effects of heavy metals. Simultaneously, use of salicylic acid and silver nitrate with cadmium chloride and lead nitrate reduced the toxic effects of these metals on morphometric properties. Methyl jasmonate improved growth characteristics at low levels and inhibited at higher levels. Also, according to the results, salicylic acid could reduce the effects of heavy metals on the biochemical properties, while silver nitrate acts like heavy metals, especially at higher levels. Salicylic acid reduced the harmful effects of these heavy metals and at all levels was able to create a better induction effect on St. John's wort. These elicitors mainly changed the adverse effects of heavy metals by strengthening the pathways of the antioxidant system in St. John's wort. The research assumptions were validated, which suggests that the Taguchi method could be considered in an optimum culture of medicinal plants under different treatments such as heavy metals and elicitors.
RESUMO
BACKGROUND: One of the major consequences of breast cancer is the recurrence of the disease. The objective of present study was to estimate the 7-year survival without recurrence as well as the effective prognostic factors in recurrence. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This historical cohort survival analysis was conducted on 1329 patients diagnosed with breast cancer in Motahari Breast Clinic, Shiraz, Iran between 2004 and 2011. We estimated the rate of survival without recurrence through the Kaplan-Meier method and the difference between the survival curves was investigated using the log-rank test. Furthermore, Cox regression model was used to model the effective factors in local recurrence as well as metastasis. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 54.8 ± 11.4 years. Estrogen receptor positive, progesterone receptor positive, and human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 positive were observed in 70.6%, 66.6%, and 34.4% of the cases, respectively. The mean of the follow-up period was 3.7 ± 1.8 years in all patients. The results of the Kaplan-Meier method revealed 1-, 3-, 5-, and 7-year rate of survival without recurrence as 96.4%, 78.4%, 66.3%, and 54.8%, respectively. There was a significant relationship between survival without recurrence and histology grade (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.66, P = 0.009), neural invasion (HR = 1.74, P = 0.006), and progesterone receptors (HR = 0.69, P = 0.031). CONCLUSION: In this study, the rate of survival without recurrence in breast cancer was 54.8%. Among factors, histology grade and neural involvement at the time of diagnosis increased the chance of recurrence and progesterone receptors caused a longer interval between diagnosis and recurrence.
RESUMO
Male circumcision, one of the oldest and most frequent operations performed all over the world, removes 33-50% of the penile skin. Like each surgical procedure, circumcision can leads to complications ranging from the insignificant to the tragic. Circumcision methods can be done with different ways. The radiofrequency (RF) scalpel, an innovative instrument, can be used in circumcision. Here, we present three boys who sustained sever burn injuries during circumcision with RF method. In sum, interesting characteristics made RF procedures so popular in different fields of surgery. Although having low incidence, the important complications of this technology such as burns should raise our attentions. Performing radiofrequency circumcision by an experienced operator, selection of proper size of ground pads, and elimination of any interface between the skin and ground pad are the factors that can prevent such tragedies.
RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Insulin-like growth factor is a polypeptide with endocrine, autocrine and paracrine effects which its structure is similar to the insulin molecule. While various tissues secrete IGF-1, 90% of the circulating IGF-1 is secreted by liver. Cirrhosis of liver is a condition accompanied by decreased level of IGF-1, in which the level of IGF-1 may be further decreased thorough the progression of the disease. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the present study was to demonstrate the relation between the IGF-1 levels and severity of liver disease according to Child- Pugh and Model for end stage liver diseases (MELD) Scores. PATIENTS AND METHOD: This was a descriptive-analytic cross sectional study performed on patients with cirrhosis admitted to gastroenterology clinic of Imam Khomeini Hospital in Tehran, Iran during the years 2007-2008. The diagnosis was based on liver biopsy. Initially for all patients, laboratory investigations including IGF-1, CBC, liver Enzymes, Alkaline phosphates, serum Albumin, Creatinine, direct and total Bilirubin were conducted. Also ultrasound and endoscopy were performed for evaluation of ascites and varices. RESULTS: 100 patients with cirrhosis with a male to Female ratio of 63:37 and a mean age of 44.4 ± 15 years were enrolled in the study. Median IGF-1 was 92.95 ± 91.51 ng/mL. 14 patients (14%) had IGF-1 within normal limits while 86 patients (86%) had abnormal IGF-1 levels. In all patients the correlation coefficient between IGF-1 and MELD was -0.317 (P = 0.001) and 0.478 between IGF-1 and Child- Pugh (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings showed that IGF-1 can be used as an index for evaluating the severity of cirrhosis; also it can be used for determining the severity of the disease, when liver biopsy is not possible.
