Association of dietary patterns and risk of cardiovascular disease events in the MASHAD cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the principal cause of mortality and disability in Iranian adults. We aimed to evaluate the relationship between dietary patterns and CVD incidence in a large sample of adults in northeastern Iran. METHODS: The present study comprised a prospective study of 5706 CVD-free men and women aged 35-65 years who participated in a cohort study. All of the participants were followed up for a 6-year period. Dietary patterns were derived from a 65-item validated food frequency questionnaire and the factor analysis method was used to determine dietary patterns. RESULTS: We identified two major dietary patterns: (i) a Balanced dietary pattern (a high intake of green leafy vegetables, other vegetables, fruits, dairy products, red meats, poultry, seafoods, legumes and nuts, as well as a low intake of sugar) and (ii) a Western dietary pattern (a high intake of sugar, tea, egg, snacks, fast foods, potato, carbonated beverages, pickled foods, organs meat and butter) by factor analysis. The hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of total CVD in the highest versus lowest tertiles of the Balanced pattern were 1.29 (95% CI = 0.67-2.47; P = 0.44). The HR and 95% CIs of CVD in the highest versus lowest tertiles of Western pattern were 2.21 (95% CI = 1.08-4.45; P = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS: During the 6-year follow-up, we found that adherence to a Balanced dietary pattern was not significantly associated with CVD events. However, adherence to a Western dietary pattern was associated with a significantly increased risk of CVD events and its associated risk.

The impact of p16 and HER2 expression on survival in patients with ovarian carcinoma.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of p16 and HER2 expression on survival in patients with ovarian carcinoma.This descriptive-analytic, cross-sectional study, was conducted on 47 paraffin blocks of epithelial ovarian tumors. Suitable slides were prepared to evaluate HER2 and p16 by immunohistochemistry using HercepTest kit (DAKO) and p16INK4A kit (DAKO, code 5334). Clinical information and pathology data were extracted from patients' medical and pathology records. Data entry and analysis was done by SPSS (version 16) software. Chi-square test, Mann-Whitney test, t-test, Kruskal-Wallis test, log rank test and Kaplan-Meier method were used. The mean age of the patients was 51.6 years (range 19-71 years). The most common histological type of epithelial ovarian cancer was serous adenocarcinoma (68.1%). P16 expression was detected in 34% of epithelial ovarian tumors. P16 expression was significantly associated with stage of disease (P = 0.04) and overall survival (P = 0.001), but HER2 expression was not associated with overall survival, stage of disease and tumor histological type.Expression of p16 may be used as a prognostic factor of overall survival and stage of disease, while HER2 expression may not be used as a prognostic factor of overall survival.

Dietary intake of patients with angiographically defined coronary artery disease and that of healthy controls in Iran.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between dietary intake and biomarkers of cardiovascular risk in individuals with and without angiographically defined coronary artery disease. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Coronary angiography was undertaken in 445 individuals who were divided into those with significant disease (>50% occlusion) (Angio+ (n=273)) and those with <50% coronary artery occlusion (Angio- (n=172)). Apparently healthy, non-symptomatic individuals (n=443) were considered as the control group. Dietary intake was assessed using a 24-h dietary recall method and dietary analysis was performed using Diet Plan 6 software. RESULTS: Concentrations of starch, saturated fatty acids, polyunsaturated fatty acids, magnesium, iron and copper in the control group were less than those in the other groups (P<0.05), but after adjusting for total energy intake these differences were no longer apparent. The mean intake of protein, cholesterol, phosphorus, zinc, zinc/copper ratio, selenium, iodine, carotene, vitamin E, niacin, pantothene and pyridoxine was less in the control group compared with the other two groups (P<0.05), and the mean of sugar, fiber, transfatty acids, manganese, folate and vitamin C was higher in the control group than in other groups (P<0.05). Lipid profile values between the three groups did not differ significantly. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that the amount of intake of various nutrients can be considered as an independent risk factor for CAD. Further research on the relationship between CAD and nutrient intake, especially intake of essential micronutrients, is needed.

The causes for lack of interest to blood donation in eligible individuals, mashhad, northeastern iran.

BACKGROUND: Donor recruitment and retention are significant problems in blood collection agencies around the world. The Aim of this study was to determine the causes of lack of interest to blood donation in eligible individu-als in Mashhad, Northeast of Iran. METHODS: This was a descriptive study. Cases were 1130 non-donor individuals. Participants were selected from eligible individuals in different regions of Mashhad. In this study, surveys included information about age groups, gender, residence area, marriage, education; living situation and job as background variables. RESULT: Less than 30% of the cases had enough knowledge about blood donation. There was a significant rela-tionship between location, age, education, occupation and social status with knowledge of blood donation, but there was not a correlation between gender and marital status. CONCLUSION: There are some factors which affect the decision for blood donation. There is a need to change the negative attitude by increasing the knowledge considering the individual and the social status.