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Sanaz Jafarpour Azami,1,* Aref Teimouri,1,2,* Hossein Keshavarz,1 Amir Amani,3,4 Fariba Esmaeili,3 Hamid Hasanpour,1,5 Samira Elikaee,1 Hamid Salehiniya,6 Saeedeh Shojaee1 1Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; 2Students Scientific Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; 3Department of Medical Nanotechnology, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; 4Natural Products and Medicinal Plants Research Center, North Khorasan University of Medical Sciences, Bojnurd, Iran; 5Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, School of Medicine, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran; 6Department of Public Health, School of Health, Zabol University of Medical Sciences, Zabol, Iran *These authors contributed equally to this work Background: The aim of this study was to prepare curcumin nanoemulsion (CR-NE) to solve the problems associated with poor water solubility and low bioavailability of CR and to test its efficiency in the treatment of acute and chronic toxoplasmosis in mouse models. Materials and methods: CR-NE 1% was prepared using spontaneous emulsification by soybean as oil phase; a mixture of Tween 80 and Tween 85 as surfactant; ethanol as cosurfactant and distilled water. Particle size and zeta potential of NE were assessed using Nano-ZS90 dynamic light scattering. Stability testing of NE was assessed after storage for 2 months at room temperature. In vivo experiments were carried out using 50 BALB/c mice inoculated with virulent RH strain (type I) and 50 BALB/c mice inoculated with avirulent Tehran strain (type II) of Toxoplasma gondii and treated with CR-NE (1% w/v), CR suspension (CR-S, 1% w/v), and NE without CR (NE-no CR). Results: The mean particle size and zeta potential of CR-NE included 215.66±16.8 nm and -29.46±2.65 mV, respectively, and were stable in particle size after a three freeze–thaw cycle. In acute phase experiment, the survival time of mice infected with RH strain of T. gondii and treated with CR-NE extended from 8 to 10 days postinoculation. The differences were statistically significant between the survival time of mice in CR-NE-treated group compared with negative control group (P

Background & objectives: Cardiac arrhythmia after CABG surgery is a common complication which results in other side effects. Therapeutic effect of prophylactic magnesium administration is controversial and there are many different ideas in this case. The aim of this study was to evaluate the therapeutic effects of magnesium in reducing cardiac arrhythmia after CABG. Methods: The clinical trial enrolled 140 patients undergoing CABG. Based on the initial blood levels of magnesium, patients were divided into two groups, one group with low serum magnesium and the other group with normal one. The low serum magnesium group treated with magnesium preoperatively and had normal serum magnesium level before operation. Postoperatively, both groups were randomly divided into two sub-groups, one receiving 2 gr. of magnesium sulfate and the other group received placebo. Both groups monitored for occurrence of arrhythmia in the ICU – OH for 3 days. Data were analyzed with statistical methods. P value of 0.05). There was no significant relationship between blood levels of magnesium and arrhythmia at different days (p> 0.05). Conclusions: Blood level of magnesium and prophylactic magnesium administration have not effect on reducing arrhythmia after CABG surgery. The highest incidence of arrhythmias happened in the hypomagnesium group without prophylaxis on the third day after surgery, but this difference was not statistically significant.

Febrile convulsion (FC) is the most common seizure disorder in young children. Different predisposing factors have been suggested to enhance the susceptibility to febrile seizure and its recurrence. The main objective of this study was to identify the adverse effect of electrolytes disturbance in FC and its recur-rence. The medical records of 175 children with convulsive disorders were reviewed. Patients were divided into 3 groups. Group A (n=71) with simple febrile convulsion (FC) and group B (n=54) with recurrent FCs. Fifty children (group C) with non-FC served as control. Serum sodium and calcium concentrations were significantly lower in groups A and B compared to the control group. Serum sodium level was not significantly different between group A and B patients (134.4 vs. 134.7 mEq/l) but was significantly lower in group A than the control group (P= 0.014). Serum calcium concentration did not differ among the 3 groups. Minor abnormal levels of serum sodium concentration were detected in children with febrile convulsions. Thus, routine serum electrolytes screening are not recommended in febrile seizure.