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In recent decades, the relation of carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT) as a marker of atherosclerosis with snoring and sleep disorders has been drawing attention. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relation of carotid arteries IMT with snoring in type 2 diabetic patients. This cross-sectional study was performed on type 2 diabetes patients referring to Mashhad University of Medical Sciences' clinics. The stop Bang, Epworth sleepiness scale, and Stanford questionnaires were used for evaluation of daily sleepiness and snoring. For assessment of carotid artery thickness, Madison X8 ultrasound with 10 MHz superficial probes was utilized. The data were entered into SPSS software, and then the ANOVA test with Turkey, chi-square comparison technique, and Kruskal Wallis with Mann-Whitney U technique was used. The level of significance was considered P≤0.05. In total 80 patients (37 snorers and 43 non-snorers) entered the study. The mean carotid artery IMT in the group of snoring patients (0.72±0.17) was significantly higher than non-snorers (0.56±0.17) (P<0.001). Frequency of daily based on Stanford and ESS questionnaires was 23.8% and 39.2%. The association of sleepiness and snoring was confirmed by Stanford and ESS questionnaires with P=0.026 and P=0.007. Patients with higher risk of apnea had higher thickness of the mean carotid artery IMT (P<0.001). The mean carotid artery IMT had a positive significant relation with age (P=0.002), serum creatinine level (P<0.002), blood cholesterol (P=0.02) and HbAIC level (P=0.04). Findings of this study provides evidence on the relation of carotid artery IMT in diabetic patients with snoring independent of other effective factors. Also, results showed that snoring is associated with increased daily sleepiness and patients with higher risk of apnea had higher thickness of the mean carotid artery IMT.

Unlabelled: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most prevalent neurodegenerative disorder. It is characterized by formation of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in the brain, degeneration of the cholinergic neurons and neural cell death. This study was aimed to investigate the effect of a triazine derivative, C16H12Cl2N3S, on learning in an Alzheimer's rat model. Animals were divided into seven groups; each group contained seven animals., Control Group: animals received no surgery and treatment; saline group: animals received normal saline after recovery; sham group: animals received 10% DMSO after recovery; STZ group (Alzheimer's model): animals received streptozotocin (STZ) in four and six days after recovery; T5, T10 and T15 groups: animals were treated with triazine derivative, C16H12Cl2N3S, at doses of 5, 10 and 15 µM, respectively. All drugs were injected intracerebroventricular. The spatial learning and histological assessment were performed in all groups. Animals in STZ group had more deficits in spatial learning than the control group in Morris water maze. C16H12Cl2N3S improved spatial learning significantly compared to STZ group. The CA1 pyramidal layer thicknesses in STZ group were reduced significantly compared to control group. C16H12Cl2N3S increased the CA1 pyramidal layer thickness in T15 group compared to STZ group. Current findings suggest C16H12Cl2N3S may have a protective effect on learning deficit and hippocampal structure in AD.

Staphylococcus aureus causes a wide variety of infections worldwide. Methicillin-resistant S. aureus is one of most common causes of nosocomial and community acquired infections. The fluoroquinolones are an important class of antibiotics that used to treat infections caused by S. aureus. Today, a significant increase in the rate of ciprofloxacin resistance in methicillin-resistant S. aureus strains is concerning. The norA efflux pump is considered as contributors to antibiotic resistance. Here, we aimed to evaluate the expression of norA efflux pump in the presence of hexahydroquinoline derivative in methicillin and ciprofloxacin resistant S. aureus. We were determined minimum inhibitory concentration of ciprofloxacin and hexahydroquinoline derivative and their combination by broth microdilution method against ciprofloxacin resistant S. aureus. The expression of the norA efflux pump gene was evaluated by quantitative Real-time PCR. This study showed that minimum inhibitory concentrations of ciprofloxacin in the presence of hexahydroquinoline derivative in comparison to ciprofloxacin were decreased. Quantitative Real-time PCR identified the increased expression of norA efflux pump gene in methicillin and ciprofloxacin resistant S. aureus strain. The increased expression of norA efflux pump gene may have resulted in the effort of S. aureus to survive. The results showed that the hexahydroquinoline derivative enhanced the antibacterial effect of ciprofloxacin against methicillin and ciprofloxacin resistant S. aureus. Therefore, the derivatives may be used as inhibitors of antibiotic resistance for combination therapy.

We examined the effect of potential interfering factors that play major roles in the outcome of our patients with stomach cancer. 100 consecutive patients diagnosed with gastric cancers were prospectively observed, treated and followed from November 2009 to January. Absence of Helicobacter pylori infection (P=0.027), absence of vascularisation (P<0.001), and undetermined histopathological type of adenocarcinoma (P=0.003) were factors significantly associated with higher grade of gastric lesions. Life tables were used to define survival of gastric cancers. Survival rates of these patients at 1st week, 1st month, 2nd month, 3rd month, and 6th month were 97%, 96%, 91%, 90%, and 82%, respectively. The only determinant of 6 months of survival was age over 68 (P=0.039). Our study confirms our previous knowledge that gastric cancers have unfavorable outcome in Iran.

In the present study, we examined the relationship between family history of cardiovascular diseases (CVD), dyslipidemia, hypertension, and diabetes with laboratorial abnormalities and syndromes in Iranian patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). A total of 332 NAFLD patients from our outpatient clinic were consecutively entered into analysis. Exclusion criteria were having diabetes mellitus and fasting blood glucose over 126, active hepatitis B virus infection, having HCV positive serology, and to be under corticosteroid therapy. Family history of CVD, diabetes, dyslipidemia, and hypertension were taken from patients and related to the study variables. Family history of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) was associated with low HDL levels (P=0.05). Patients with positive family history of diabetes mellitus were significantly more likely to have AST/ALT levels proportion of higher than one (P=0.044). Family history of dyslipidemia was a predictor for hypertriglyceridemia (P=0.02), higher prothrombin time levels (P=0.013), lower albumin (P=0.024) and T4 (P=0.043) levels. Family history of hypertension was associated with dysglycemia/diabetes (P=0.038), high ALT (P=0.008), and low TIBC (P=0.007) and albumin levels (P=0.001). Family history for CVD, diabetes, dyslipidemia, and hypertension were of clinical importance in the Iranian patients with NAFLD. We therefore recommend that physicians should precisely get family history of main disorders in all NAFLD patients; and to pay more attention to those having the mentioned family histories. Further studies with larger patient population and prospective approach are needed for confirming our findings.