Search

Objective: To evaluate the effect of bone mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) with or without platelet‐rich plasma (PRP) carriers on sutural new bone formation after rapid palatal expansion (RPE). Settings and sample population: Sixty male Wistar rats were used in this study. Material and Methods: All samples were subjected to 50cN of palatal expansion force for 7 days followed by 3 weeks of the retention period. The experimental groups received a single‐dose injection of the specified solution at the time of retainer placement (BMSCs, PRP, BMSCs+PRP, normal saline). BMSCs used in this study were marked with the green fluorescent protein (GFP). New bone formation (NBF) in the sutural area was evaluated by µCT and occlusal radiography. In addition, semi‐quantitative analyses were performed on histology images to analyse the quality of sutural bone, connective tissue and vascularization. Immunohistochemistry analyses were conducted for osteocalcin and collagen type I proteins. Results: After the 21‐day retention period, limited GFP marked cells were detected around the sutural area. Samples treated with BMSCs + PRP had the highest NBF and showed higher expression of collagen type I and osteocalcin. Conclusion: Injecting BMSCs + PRP may increase sutural bone density significantly. However, injecting BMSCs or PRP carriers alone did not affect sutural bone density. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Dental Press Journal of Orthodontics is the property of Dental Press International and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: Tooth agenesis is one of the most common developmental anomalies in human and the main reasons for its occurrence are still unknown. Mutations of several genes such as PAX9, MSX1, AXIN2, KDF1 and WNT10A have been reported which are associated with non-syndromic tooth agenesis. However, PAX9, MSX1 and WNT10A are commonly reported in the literature. Hence, the aim of this study was to investigate the mutations of these genes in 4 Iranian families with non-syndromic tooth agenesis. Methods: DNA extractions from peripheral blood cells of patients with non-syndromic tooth agenesis from 4 unrelated Iranian families were performed by salting out method, and the candidate genes were amplified then followed by Sanger sequencing method. Results: One missense variant (rs4904210) and 4 Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) (rs2236007, rs12883298, rs12882923 and rs12883049) were found in PAX9 gene. Five variants (rs149370601, rs8670, rs186861426 and rs774949973) including a missense variant (rs36059701) were detected in MSX1 gene and no variants were found in WNT10A gene. Conclusion: All variants were analyzed based on bioinformatics websites and Iranian gene databases, and as a result, it was revealed that variants of PAX9, MSX1 and WNT10A may not play a role in non-syndromic tooth agenesis among Iranian cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Studies show that fluoride (F) and nano-hydroxyapatite (nano-HA) would result in remineralization of white spot lesions (WSLs), which are among the most prevalent consequences of fixed orthodontic treatment. The present study evaluates and compares the clinical effects of an Iranian toothpaste containing nano-HA with F-containing one on early enamel lesions. Materials and Methods: In this randomized clinical trial study, 50 patients who had received fixed orthodontic treatment were recruited immediately after debonding. Three photographs, including frontal, lateral right and left views of occlusion, were obtained. Moreover, surfaces with WSLs were recorded using DIAGNOdent. Plaque index of each patient determined using disclosing agents. At first visit, each patient was asked to select one type of toothpaste (nano-HA containing vs. F containing named A or B), randomly and were instructed how to brush their teeth (25 patients in each group). Examination was done at 1, 3, and 6 months' intervals. Finally, photographs were analyzed by Digimizer (V5) software, and the lesion extent was recorded in pixels. SAS 9.4 was used to analyze data and was set at 0.05. Results: According to data, lesion extent showed a significant decrease (P < 0.001). At baseline, the difference between the two groups regarding the lesion extent was 268 pixels while it dropped to 89 pixels after 6 months. DIAGNOdent results showed that at baseline, fluorescence difference was 0.3 while it reached the number of 0.8 after 6 months, indicating the outperformance of nano-HA containing toothpaste. Conclusion: The Iranian nano-HA containing toothpaste performed better than F-containing one in terms of the amount of remineralization and diminishing the lesion extent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Research evaluation is a systematic and objective process to measure relevance, efficiency and effectiveness of research activities, and peer review is one of the most important tools for assessing quality of research. The aim of this study was introducing research evaluation indicators based on peer reviewing. Methods: This study was implemented in 4 stages. A list of objective-oriented evaluation indicators were designed in 4 axes, including; governance and leadership, structure, knowledge production and research impact. Results: The top 10% medical sciences research centers (RCs) were evaluated based on peer review. Adequate equipment and laboratory instruments, high quality research publication and national or international cooperation were the main strengths in medical sciences RCs and the most important weaknesses included failure to adhere to strategic plans, parallel actions in similar fields, problems in manpower recruitment, knowledge translation & exchange (KTE) in service providers and policy makers' levels. Conclusion: Peer review evaluation can improve the quality of research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: During the last 3 decades, Iran has experienced a rapid population growth and at the same time the health of Iranian people has improved greatly. This achievement was mainly due to training and availability of health manpower, well organized public health network and medical science and research improvement. In this article, we aimed to report the relevant data about the medical science and research situation in Iran and compare them with other countries. Methods: In this study, after reviewing science development and research indicators in medical sciences with participation of key stakeholders, we selected 3 main hybrid indexes consisting of "Research and Development (R&D) expenditures," "Personnel in Science and Technology sector" and "knowledge generation" for evaluation of medical science and research situation. Data was extracted from reliable databases. Results: Over the past decade, Iran has achieved significant success in medical sciences and for the first time in 2015 based on Scopus index, Iran ranked first in the number of published scientific papers and number of citations in the region and among all Islamic countries. Also, 2% of the world's publications belong to Iran. Regarding innovation, the number of Iranian patents submitted to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) was 3 and 43 in 2008 and 2013, respectively. In these years, the number of personnel in science and technology sectors including post graduate students, researchers and academic members in universities of medical sciences (UMSs) have increased. The female students in medical sciences field account for about twothirds of all students. Also, women comprise about one-third of faculty members. Since 5 years ago, Iran has had growth in science and technology parks. These achievements were attained in spite of the fact that research spending in Iran was still very low (0.5% of gross domestic product [GDP]) due to economic hardships and sanctions. Conclusion: Medical science and research development has been at least partially due to health technological development, training and availability of health manpower and improvement of overall health status in Iran compared to other Islamic countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The aim of this study is to evaluate the association of TGFA TaqI polymorphism with nonsyndromic cleft lip and/or palate (NSCLP) in an Iranian population. Methods: In this case--control study, 113 children with NSCLP and 209 controls were included. Genotyping of the TaqI polymorphism was performed by polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism methods. A p-value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: For the TGFA TaqI polymorphism, the distributions of genotypes in the NSCLP (p = 0.810) and control group (p = 0.422) were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. There was no statistically significant difference in the genotype distribution (p = 0.059) and allele frequency (p = 0.065) of the TGFA TaqI polymorphism in the NSCLP and control groups. Conclusion: TGFA TaqI polymorphism was not associated with the risk of NSCLP in Iranian children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Researchers, practitioners, and policymakers call for updated valid evidence to monitor, prevent, and control of alarming trends of health problems. To respond to these needs, health researches provide the vast multidisciplinary scientific fields. We quantify the national trends of health research outputs and its contribution in total science products. Methods: We systematically searched Scopus database with the most coverage in health and biomedicine discipline as the only sources for multidisciplinary citation reports, for all total and health-related publications, from 2000 to 2014. These scientometrics analyses covered the trends of main index of scientific products, citations, and collaborative papers. We also provided information on top institutions, journals, and collaborative research centers in the fields of health researches. Results: In Iran, over a 15-year period, 237,056 scientific papers have been published, of which 81,867 (34.53%) were assigned to health-related fields. Pearson's Chi-square test showed significant time trends between published papers and their citations. Tehran University of Medical Sciences was responsible for 21.87% of knowledge productions share. The second and the third ranks with 11.15% and 7.28% belonged to Azad University and Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, respectively. In total fields, Iran had the most collaborative papers with the USA (4.17%), the UK (2.41%), and Canada (0.02%). In health-related papers, similar patterns of collaboration followed by 4.75%, 2.77%, and 1.93% of papers. Conclusions: Despite the ascending trends in health research outputs, more efforts required for the promotion of collaborative outputs that cause synergy of resources and the use of practical results. These analyses also could be useful for better planning and management of planning and conducting studies in these fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective(s): We investigated the influence of genetic variation of the transforming growth-factor alpha (TGFA) locus on the relationship between smoking and oral clefts. Materials and methods:In this study 105 Iranian infants with non-syndromic cleft lip/palate and 218 controls with non-cleft birth defects were examined to test for associations among maternal exposures, genetic markers, and oral clefts. Maternal and parental smoking histories during pregnancy were obtained through questionnaire. DNA was extracted from newborn screening blood samples, and genotyping of the BamHI polymorphism in the TGFA gene was performed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) methods. A number of factors including gender of the newborns, type of oral cleft, consanguinity of the parents, as well as the mother's age and education were evaluated as potential confounders and effect modifiers. Results: Maternal smoking, in the absence of paternal smoking, was associated with an increased risk for CL/P (OR = 19.2, 95% CI = [(6.2-59.5)]) and cleft palate only (OR =48.7, 95% CI = [(8-29.3)]). If both parents smoked, risks were generally greater (OR = 55.6, 95% CI = [12-20.25]). Analyses for the risk of clefting from maternal smoking, stratified by the presence or absence of the TGFA/BamH1variant, revealed that the risk of clefting among the infants with the TGFA/BamH1 variant when their mothers smoked cigarettes was much greater than the infants who had non-smoker mothers (P=0.001, OR=10.4,95% CI=[3.2,33.6]). Conclusion:The results of this study indicate that first-trimester maternal smoking and infant TGFA locus mutations are both associated with nonsyndromic cleft lip and/or palate (CL/P). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CL/P) is one of the most common congenital anomalies and the etiology of orofacial clefts is multifactorial. Transforming growth factor alpha (TGFA) is expressed at the medial edge epithelium of fusing palatal shelves during craniofacial development. In this study, the association of two important TGFA gene polymorphisms, BamHI (rs11466297) and RsaI (rs3732248), with CL/P was evaluated in an Iranian population. Methods: The frequencies of BamHI and RsaI variations were determined in 105 unrelated Iranian subjects with nonsyndromic CL/P and 218 control subjects using PCR and RFLP methods, and the results were compared with healthy controls. A p-value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The BamHI AC genotype was significantly higher (p=0.016) in the patients (12.4%) than the control group (5.0%). The BamHI C allele was significantly higher (p=0.001; OR=3.4, 95% CI: 1.6-7.4) in the cases (8.0%) compared with the control group (2.5%). Conclusion: Our study showed that there was an association between the TGFA BamHI variation and nonsyndromic CL/P in Iranian population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The purpose of this study was to describe the association of MTHFR gene single nucleotide polymorphisms (C677T and A1298C) and maternal supplementary folate intake with orofacial clefts in the Iranian population. Methods: In this case-control study, peripheral venous blood was taken from 65 patients with orofacial clefts and 215 unaffected controls for DNA extraction and kept in EDTA for further analysis. The genotyping was carried out using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) followed by Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP) and gel electrophoresis. Data were analyzed using Chi square test and logistic regression tests. Results: Genotype frequencies of 677TT were reported to be 13.5 and 36.1% in controls and CL/P patients, respectively, which showed a significant difference compared to CC as reference (OR=4.118; 95% CI=1.997-8.492; p=0.001). Conversely, 1298CC with frequencies of 10.8 and 12.7% in controls and patients, respectively, showed no significant difference compared to AA (OR=2.359; 95 % CI=0.792-7.023; p=0.123). Comparing patients whose mothers did not report the folate supplement intake during pregnancy, to controls, it was observed that lack of folate intake was a predisposing factor for having a child with oral clefts (OR=5/718, p=0.000). Conclusion: Children carrying the 677TT variant of the MTHFR gene may have an increased risk of CL/P. In addition, the finding that the risk associated with this allele was obviously higher when the mothers didn't use folic acid, supports the hypothesis that folic acid may play a role in the etiology of CL/P. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intravenous laser blood irradiation was first introduced into therapy by the Soviet scientists EN.Meschalkin and VS.Sergiewski in 1981. Originally this method was developed for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. Improvement of rheologic properties of the blood as well as improvement of microcirculation and reduction of the area of infarction has been proved. Further, reduction of dysrhythmia and sudden cardiac death was achieved. At first, only the Helium-Neon laser (632.8 nm) was used in this therapy. For that, a power of 1-3mW and a period of exposure of 20-60 minutes were applied. The treatments were carried out once or twice a day up to ten appointments in all 1. In the years after, many, and for the most part Russian studies showed that helium-neon laser had various effects on many organs and on the hematologic and immunologic system. The studies were published mainly in Russian which were little known in the West because o f decades of political separation, and were regarded with disapproval. Besides clinical research and application for patients, the cell biological basis was developed by the Estonian cell biologist Tiina Karu at the same time. An abstract is to be found in her work "The Science of Low-Power Laser-Therapy" [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Vaccines are the most effective way to prevent Coronavirus 2 severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV-2). This study examines and compares the efficiency of AstraZeneca, Sinopharm, and Sputnik vaccines and the correlation of antibody response with age, sex, and history of corona disease in employees of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences. Methods: 202 participants were included, of which 82 were administered the Astra-Zeneca, 59 were given the Sinopharm, and 61 were given the Sputnik vaccine. SARS-CoV-2 IgM and IgG antibody levels were checked four weeks after passing the second dose of all three vaccines using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique. Results: There was no significant difference between the amount of IgM and IgG antibodies among three vaccines (p=0.056). For all three vaccines, gender and age did not significantly affect the amount of IgM and IgG antibodies. The history of infection with COVID-19 increased the antibody response (p>0.5). Conclusion: The titer of IgM and IgG antibodies were not statistically significantly different. The IgM and IgG antibodies produced by vector-based vaccines are higher than the Sinopharm vaccine. Gender did not affect the produced antibody titer. No significant linear relationship was found between age and antibody titer. In people from this study who received two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine and had a corona history, the average amount of both IgM and IgG antibodies was measured more than the other participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Research centers, defined as organized research units having research as their primary mission, are positioned as an organizational solution to tighten the knowledge to do gap in health research system (HRS). Therefore, this study aims to explore the roles of medical research centers (MRCs) in promoting HRS. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we reviewed the evaluation results of research performance of MRCs from 2001 to 2014. Data of evaluation indicators (in knowledge production and capacity building domains) were gathered and finally compared for these years. Results: In the mentioned period, the number of medical research centers has grown by more than 11 folds. In the domain of knowledge production, the total number of published articles and published articles in ISI, Web of Science per researcher rose from 0.5 and 0.05 to about 3.5 and 1.2, respectively. The number of indexed articles in scientific international databases has increased more than 66 times and the total number of citations of MRCs' articles has increased to more than 80 000. In the domain of capacity building, the trend of workshops and held congresses is ascending. Conclusion: MRCs are well empowered in knowledge production in national HRS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Nonsyndromic cleft lip and/or palate (NSCL/P) is the most common orofacial birth defect, often attributed to ethnic and environmental differences. Up to now, linkage analyses and genome-wide association studies have identified several genomic susceptibility regions for NSCL/P. The WNT genes including WNT3 are strong candidates for NSCL/P, since they are involved in regulating mid-face development and upper lip fusion. This study tested association of the WNT3 polymorphisms, rs- 3809857 G/T and rs9890413 G/A, with the risk of NSCL/P in a population of Iranian in- fants. Methods: The allelic and genotypic frequencies for each participant were determined in 113 unrelated Iranian subjects with NSCL/P and 220 control subjects using PCR and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) methods. A p-value of ≤0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The WNT3 rs3809857 GT genotype was significantly lower (p=0.039, OR=0.55, 95% CI=0.30-0.97) in the NSCL/P (21.2%) than the control group (30.42%). For the WNT3 rs9890413 G/A polymorphism, neither genotype nor allele frequencies were sig- nificantly different between the case and control groups. Conclusion: Our results indicated that the WNT3 rs3809857 GT genotype may have a protective effect against NSCL/P in Iranian population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In recent years, international ranking systems have been used by diverse users for various purposes. In most of these rankings, different aspects of performance of universities and research institutes, especially scientific performance, have been evaluated and ranked. In this article, we aimed to report the results of research ranking of Iranian universities of medical sciences (UMSs) based on some international indicators in 2015. Methods: In this study, after reviewing the research indicators of the majority of international ranking systems, with the participation of key stakeholders, we selected eight research indicators, namely research output, high-quality publications, leadership, total citations, citations per paper in 2015, papers per faculty member and h-index. The main sources for data gathering were Scopus, PubMed, and ISI, Web of Science. Data were extracted and normalized for Iranian governmental UMSs for 2015. Results: A total of 18023 articles were indexed in 2015 in Scopus with affiliations of UMSs affiliation. Almost 17% of all articles were published in top journals and 15% were published with international collaborations. The maximum h-index (h-index = 110) belonged to Tehran University of Medical Sciences. The average paper per faculty member was 1.14 (Max = 2.5, Min = 0.13). The mean citation per published articles in Scopus was 0.33. Conclusion: Research ranking of Iranian UMSs can create favorable competition among them towards knowledge production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]