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UTI (urinary tract infection) is a leading case of renal scarring. Most of nephrons are found in kidney cortex, so it is important for early diagnosis of scarring. In this study, we investigated if scarring affects GFR (glomerular filtration rate) and serum level of creatinine through dual multipurpose 99mTc-GH (99mTc-Glucoheptonate) scintigraphy in patients with UTI. Methods: During this study 21 patients with UTI were studied by 99mTc-GH scan. For performing scintigraphy, the patient was injected by 370-555 MBq of 99mTc-GH and studied through two steps including dynamic (immediately after injection) and static (2-3h after injection) phases. The results were evaluated by appropriate analytical methods. Moreover, five patients were studied by both 99mTc-DMSA/GH (99mTc-dimercaptosuccinic acid and 99mTc-Glucoheptonate) to show 99mTc-GH scan is beneficial for detection of additional problems. Results: The results showed that there is an association between right/left kidney scarring and related GFR. Furthermore, the odds of decreased right and left kidney GFR with scarring is 12.64 and 11.89 times more than normal kidney respectively. Also, there is a significant association between renal scarring and serum level of creatinine. The study showed that the odds of increased serum level of creatinine in patients with scarring are 6.75 times more than patients without scarring. Moreover, the survey of five patients with both 99mTc-DMSA/GH scans showed 99mTc-GH could be helpful with diagnosis of some renal problems as well as scarring. Conclusion: Through this study by 99mTc-GH, it was demonstrated that kidney glomerular filtration rate and serum level of creatinine are associated with renal scarring. Furthermore, it was shown that 99mTc-GH scintigraphy could detect dilatation and abstraction of collection system in addition to renal scarring through static/dynamic renal scintigraphy.

Objectives: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) represents a clustering of metabolic abnormalities that are associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. We aimed to evaluate the effects of sesame oil enriched with vitamin E (vit E), sesame oil alone and sunflower oil on lipid profile, fasting blood glucose (FBG), malondialdehyde (MDA), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (Hs-CRP), homeostatic model assessment (HOMA-IR), and blood pressure (BP) in patients with MetS. Subjects: Overall, 75 individuals with MetS (aged 30–70 years) participated in this randomized, single-blind controlled trial. Patients were randomly allocated to: (1) Group A (n = 25): sesame oil (30 ml/day) enriched with vit E (400 mg/day), (2) Group B (n = 25): sesame oil (30 ml/day), (3) Group C (n = 25): sunflower oil (30 ml/day). Anthropometric data, dietary intake, blood pressure, and biochemical markers, including fasting serum lipids, FBG, serum insulin, MDA, and hs-CRP were measured at baseline and at week 8. Results: In individuals in the sesame oil enriched with vit E group (Group A), there were significant reductions in serum total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), FBG, HOMA-IR, MDA, hs-CRP, high-density lipoprotein (HDL-C) systolic and diastolic BP (for all the comparison p < 0.02). Similarly, in Group B (taking sesame oil alone), TC, TG, FBG, HOMA-IR, MDA, systolic and diastolic BP were significantly improved (for all the comparison p < 0.025), while there were no significant changes in serum HDL (baseline = 35.9 ± 7.2 mg/dL vs. 36.4 ± 6.2 mg/dL, p = 0.432) and hs-CRP (baseline = 4.38 ± 1.34 mg/dL vs. week 8 = 3.96 ± 1.7 mg/dL, p = 0.057) in second group. No significant changes in any of the studied clinical and anthropometric data were found in Group C (on sunflower oil). Conclusion: Sesame oil (±vit E) was shown to beneficially affect several cardiometabolic indices (including lipids, FBG, BP, HOMA-IR, and MDA) in patients with MetS.

Background: Analysis of aluminium (Al) in urine samples is required in management of a number of diseases including patients with renal failure. This work aimed to present dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) and ultrasound-assisted emulsification microextraction (USAEME) methods for the preconcentration of ultra-trace amount of aluminum in human urine prior to its determination by a graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS). Methods: The microextraction methods were based on the complex formation of Al3+ with 8-hydroxyquinoline. The effect of various experimental parameters on the efficiencies of the methods and their optimum values were studied. Results: Under the optimal conditions, the limits of detection for USAEME-GFAAS and DLLME-GFAAS were 0.19 and 0.30 ng mL−1, respectively and corresponding relative standard deviations (RSD, n=5) for the determination of 40 ng mL−1 Al3+ were 5.9% and 4.9%. Conclusion: Both methods could be successfully used to the analysis of ultra trace concentrations of Al in urine samples of dialysis patients.

Over the last decade, numerous removal methods using solid-supported magnetic nanocomposites have been employed in order to remove arsenic from aqueous solution. In this report, removal of arsenic from aqueous solution by an organo silica, namely, magnetic mobile crystalline material-41 (MCM-41) functionalized by chlorosulphonic acid (MMCM-41-SO3H), was investigated using atomic absorption spectroscopy. The synthesized magnetic mesoporous materials have satisfactory As (V) adsorption capacity. Linearity for arsenic was observed in the concentration range of 5–100 ppb. In addition, the coefficient of determination (R2) was more than 0.999 and the limit of detection (LOD) was 0.061 ppb. Considering these results, MMCM-41-SO3H has a great potential for the removal of As (V) contaminants and potentially for the application in large-scale wastewater treatment plants.

Over the last decade, numerous removal methods, especially removal of arsenic using solid-supported magnetic nanocomposites, have been employed in order to removal of arsenic from aqueous solution. In this report, removal of arsenic from aqueous solution by organo silica, namely, magnetic mobile crystalline material-41 (MCM-41) functionalized by chlorosulfonic acid (MMCM-41-SO3H) was investigated using atomic absorption spectroscopy. The synthesized magnetic mesoporous have satisfactory As (V) adsorption capacity. Linearity for arsenic was observed in the concentration range of 5-100 ppb. In addition, coefficient of determination (R2) was higher than 0.999 and limit of detection (LOD) was 0.061 ppb. Considering these results, MMCM-41-SO3H has a great potential for the removal of As (V) contaminants and potentially for the application in large-scale wastewater treatment plants.