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Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected millions globally, and still continues to do so. Regarding the cardiovascular influences of COVID-19, this study aimed to investigate the relationship between cardiac indices, particularly cardiac output (CO), and severity of disease. Methods: This retrospective cohort study was conducted on intubated COVID-19 patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). The study involved analyzing data from mechanically ventilated patients, excluding those with preexisting cardiovascular or pulmonary comorbidities. Hemodynamic parameters were evaluated by ultrasonic cardiac output monitoring (USCOM), and the severity of disease was evaluated by acute physiology and chronic health evaluation (APACHE II) and sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) scoring systems. Results: The study included 41 patients, predominantly male with an average age of 63.1 years. Hemodynamic parameters and scores were reported for 6 days. This showed significant changes in CO, SOFA, and APACHE II over time (with P = 0.02, 0.04, 0.03, respectively). A negative correlation was found between CO and both SOFA and APACHE II scores (P < 0.05), indicating that as CO increased, the severity scores decreased. Conclusion: This study emphasizes the importance of continuous hemodynamic monitoring in ICU settings for COVID-19 patients. The correlation between CO and severity scores suggests that USCOM, along with APACHE II and SOFA, can be crucial in assessing the dynamic clinical state of patients, contributing to better management and potentially improving outcomes.

Introduction: Identifying obesity risk factors as a health problem facing communities is crucial given its complexity. The vitamin D receptor gene has been reported as a possible cause of this disease. Objective: To study the association of the VDR gene ApaI, BsmI, and TaqI polymorphisms with obesity in an Iranian population. Material and methods: We analyzed the genotypes of 348 obese (BMI≥30 kg/m2) and 320 non-obese people (BMI: 18.5-24.9 kg/m2) using PCR-RFLP. We measured FBS, TG, total cholesterol, and HDL and LDL cholesterol levels in an automatic biochemical analyzer. Results: We found significantly higher BMI, FBS, and TG levels in the obese group compared to the control. In the obese individuals, the frequency of genotype AA was 47.1% and that of the combined Aa+aa genotype, 52.9% while in the control group they were 30% and 70%, respectively (p=0.024, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.100-3.933, odds ratio (OR)=2.08). A and a alleles frequencies for the ApaI polymorphism were statistically significant in the two groups (allele A vs. a; p=0.017). No significant relationship was observed between TaqI genotypes and alleles in the control and obese subjects. Conclusion: We found that VDR ApaI (rs7975232 C/A) polymorphism appeared to be a risk factor for obesity. Especially, the A allele and the AA genotype in ApaI were associated with the obesity phenotypes.

In renal transplant patients, increased ferritin is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, transplant rejection, and mortality. Serum ferritin elevates in renal transplant patients due to blood product transfusion, inflammation, and malignancies. Hepcidin is also a peptide hormone produced in the liver in response to anemia, hypoxia, or inflammation. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between ferritin, hepcidin, iron, TIBC, and serum inflammatory markers in renal transplant patients. The cross-sectional descriptive-analytical study was conducted on 60 renal transplant patients referred to Hazrat-Rasool and Imam-Ali clinics and Al-Mahdi Laboratory of Shahrekord selected by convenience sampling method. Serum ferritin, hepcidin, iron, TIBC, and inflammatory markers levels were determined by standard kits by ELISA. Data were analyzed by SPSS software. Serum iron had a significant negative correlation with erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) (r= -0.418, P=0.001) and a negative correlation with C reactive protein (CRP) (r= - 0.243, P=0.061). TIBC had a significantly negative association with ferritin (r= - 0.27, P=0.037). Ferritin, hepcidin, and TIBC were not significantly correlated with inflammatory factors. The results of the study showed no significant relationship between ferritin, hepcidin, and TIBC with inflammatory factors in renal transplant patients.

Background: Genetic information is necessary to devise strategic plans aimed to improve the genetic merit of buffalos. Objective: To assess the effect of genetic polymorphisms in GH, Pit-1, GHR, GHRHR, and KCN3 genes on milk production and body weight of Khuzestan water buffaloes. Methods: Blood samples were collected from 60 buffaloes from the Khuzestan province, Iran. Using the PCR-RFLP technique, the amplified and digested fragments of GH/AluI, GHR/AluI, GHRHR/ HaeIII, Pit1/HinfI, and KCN3/HindIII were genotyped. Results: All animals were monomorphic for GHRHR. The frequency of mutant alleles for GH, GHR, KCN3, and Pit1 was 47.5, 74.2, 49.2, and 51.7%, respectively. There were significant differences (p

In this review article, inhalational anesthetics agents and their pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamics and effects on the central nervous, cardiovascular, and respiratory systems are discussed. There is a wide spectrum of inhalational anesthetic agents with different characteristics. As some examples, in this study, recovery times of sevoflurane and halothane are reviewed. Overall, gas drugs have extensive usage in Intensive Care Unit. For example, a combination of oxygen and helium may be utilized in patients with obstructive airway disorders, endotracheal tubes, acute lung damage, diphtheria, respiratory distress syndrome, asthma, bronchiolitis, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Xenon would be effective in reducing memories after traumatic events.

Bone morphogenetic protein receptor-1B is one of the major genes significantly affect ewe ovulation rate. The aim of this study was to screen exon 8 of BMPR1B in single- and twin-birth ewes of Iranian Lori-Bakhtyari, Shal, Ghezel, and Afshari breeds. DNA was extracted from blood of ewes and rams from numerous sheep flocks and the genotype patterns were screened by PCR-SSCP approach. Results of SSCP analysis showed that there are three genotypic patterns in the four above-mentioned breeds. The highest abundant pattern and the lowest pattern were pattern 1 (73 %) and pattern 2 (8 %), respectively, in the whole flocks. There was a significant difference between these three genotypic patterns in terms of litter size attribute, so that ewes harboring Pattern 2 had the highest litter size average (1.7 lamb per parturition) while ewes carrying Pattern 3 had the lowest litter size average (1.4 lamb per parturition). Furthermore, the PCR amplicon from exon 8, containing these genotypic patterns, were sequenced. The sequencing results of candidate samples from different classes of SSCP showed that there were four new mutations in BMPR1B of Iranian sheep. Three of these mutations were nucleotide conversions, including G812T, T854A, and C855A mutations which caused to tryptophan to lysine (W219L), phenyl alanine to tyrosine (F233Y), and phenyl alanine to lysine (F233L) conversions, respectively. More importantly a C nucleotide insertion mutation corresponding to 855 nt of BMPR1B CDs was also observed which can cause to producing a stop codon at 266 amino acid position and consequently a dysfunctional polypeptide. In conclusion, these results clearly indicate the presence of important mutation in BMPR1B in Iranian sheep breeds which can significantly affect ewe fecundity attributes.

Background: Obesity is one of the biggest public health challenges of the century. Genetic studies show that proteins associated with vitamin D, such as vitamin D receptor (VDR) are effective in the pathogenesis of obesity. This study aimed to investigate the relationship of FokI polymorphism in VDR gene and the body mass index (BMI), as an indicator of obesity, and other risk factors. Methods: In this case-control study, 91 patients with obesity (BMI > 30 kg/m2) and 100 healthy controls (BMI: 18.5-24.9 kg/m2) participated. The levels of fasting blood sugar (FBS), total cholesterol and triglyceride were measured and the BMI was determined. The genomic DNA was extracted from the peripheral blood of participants. VDR gene amplified using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique and FokI polymorphism was investigated via the restriction fragment lengths polymorphism (RFLP) method. The odds ratio was used to examine the relationship between the risk factors and the disease; 95% of confidence interval was used for these calculations. Findings: The frequency of F allele of FokI polymorphism was 95.00% and 88.46%, while the frequency of f allele was 5.00% and 11.53% in control and obese groups, respectively. The difference between F and f alleles in the control and obese groups was significant (P = 0.005). In the obese group, there was no significant relationship between the levels of fasting blood sugar, total cholesterol, and triglyceride and the genotypes. In the control group, significant relationship was observed between the level of fasting blood sugar and genotypes (P = 0.010). Conclusion: Our findings showed that protection against the obesity was conferred significantly when F allele existed. For this reason, the individuals with FF genotype in the control group had lower fasting blood sugar levels compared to the other genotypes.

This study was carried out to screen the GDF9 gene and evaluate the polymorphism effect on litter size of four Iranian sheep breeds using the PCR-RFLP and PCR-SSCP methods. First, sequencing of the GDF9 gene in 16 twin-birth, 4 triplet-birth, and 2 infertile ewes showed that, in addition to G2, G3, G4, G5, and G6 mutations that have been previously reported in other breeds, a new G0 mutation, called C25T, exists in the GDF9 sequence of 1 out of 22 ewes and causes L9F substitution in the signal peptide region. None of the triplet-birth or infertile ewes carried G1, G4, G7, FecGE, G8, or FecGT mutations. In the second experiment, a large dataset was used: 605 individuals including 496 ewes (145 Afshari, 54 Shal, 126 Ghezel, and 171 Lori-Bakhtyari sheep), and 109 rams (26 Afshari, 23 Shal, 10 Ghezel, and 50 Lori-Bakhtyari sheep. There were no sheep carrying the G7, G8, or Thoka mutations. Among all 109 rams that were used in this study, none of them were homozygous for the G1 mutation. Moreover, abundance of heterozygote rams (G1/G+) varied from 0.0 (Afshari) to 28.6 % (Lori-Bakhtyari and Ghezel). The highest and the lowest frequencies of the G4 mutation were 30.6 and 3.0 % in Shal and Afshari breeds, respectively. Moreover, G4 abundance varied from 0.0 to 42.3 %, from 3.0 to 26.9, and from 3.0 to 30.6 % in rams, ewes, and overall, respectively. There was a significant difference in the abundance of G1 and G4 mutations between breeds. However, neither the G1 nor the G4 mutation was associated with litter size in Afshari, Ghezel, Lori-Bakhtyari, or Shal sheep breeds. In conclusion, the results of this study showed that GDF9 G1 and G4 mutations are not the reason for higher litter size in Iranian sheep. Moreover, the GDF9 G0 and G6 mutations do not cause triplet births or infertility in Iranian ewes. Therefore, it is unlikely that variant GDF9 mRNA induces larger litter size or infertility in Iranian ewes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]