Tabari Biomedical Student Research Journal

The Physician-Psychologist as a Model to Train Physicians

Sargol Damavand-Katooli — 2022-09-04

The Article Abstract is not Available.

Evaluation of the Causes of Acute Respiratory Failure in Pregnant Women Admitted to Shahid Sayyad Shirazi Hospital before COVID-19 Pandemic

Marzieh Zanganeh — 2022-09-04

Introduction: Acute respiratory failure (ARF) is rare in pregnancy and occurs in less than 0.1% of pregnancies, it is one of the most common admissions of pregnant women to the intensive care unit and one of the leading causes of maternal mortality. The aim of this study was evaluation of the causes of ARF in pregnant women admitted to Shahid Sayyad Shirazi Hospital from 2014 to 2019.

Material and Methods: This was a retrospective cross-sectional descriptive-analytical in pregnant women with respiratory disorders chief complaints. All cases of pregnant women admitted (1226 cases) were reviewed. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 26.

Results: In total, 75 patients were enrolled in the study and their records were reviewed. The mean age of patients was 28.47 ± 5.06 years. Fifteen patients (25%) had ARF. The results showed that 13.3% of pregnant women with ARF needed to use mechanical ventilation (P=0.038). Also, women with history of chronic lung disease (CLD) are at higher risk for ARF (46.7% vs. 33.3%, P<0.001). Only 1.7% of mothers without symptoms of ARF were infected, but 46.7% of mothers with symptoms of ARF were infected (P<0.001).

Conclusion: The results of the study showed that infectious causes (influenza) and underlying CLD including asthma were major causes of ARF in pregnant women. Thus, more careful attention is needed to control the underlying disease, and planning for easier access to the influenza vaccine can play an effective role in reducing the incidence of pulmonary infections.

Evaluation of the Effect of Patient Education and Telephone Follow-Up on Self-Care, Self-Efficacy, and Admission Rate of Heart Patients with COVID-19

Fereshteh Araghian Mojarad — 2022-09-04

Introduction: Telephone follow-up is known for sharing information, providing health education, diagnosing complications quickly, managing symptoms, and providing quality aftercare services. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of patient education and telephone follow-up on self-care and self-efficacy as well as readmission rate of heart patients with COVID-19.

Material and Methods: In this interventional study, 64 heart patients with COVID-19 admitted to a training center in northern Iran during the period from June 1 to September 22, in 2020 were intervened. Data collection tools included demographic and clinical questionnaires, Scherer self-care and self-efficacy questionnaires. After completing the questionnaires and teaching self-care about corona disease and heart disease to patients during six sessions over the phone (10-20 minutes), the researcher again completed the self-care and self-efficacy questionnaires on the fourteenth day. For data analysis, paired t-test and independent t-test were used using SPSS software version 21.

Results: The mean age of participants was 59.53±15.32. The results showed that the mean score of self- care after the intervention had a significant increase (P<0.001), so that the mean score of self- care before the intervention was 54 and after the intervention was 60.14, the mean score of self-efficacies after the intervention increased which is not statistically significant.

Conclusion: Education and follow-up of heart patients with COVID-19 is associated with increased self-care in patients every day. Therefore, follow-up programs, especially telephone follow-up, are recommended to improve the health status of patients.

A Review of Antifungal Activities of Ziziphora clinopodioides

Mohammad Eghbali — 2022-09-04

Ziziphora clinopodioides, also known with vernacular names such as Kakuti-e kuhi, Pinah kuhi, Ankh, Lip vanilla, and mountain mint, is a wild flowering plant that belongs to the Lamiaceae family. It is used in treating typhoid fever, stomach strengthening, abdominal pains, inflammatory and cardiovascular disease, asthma, cough, bronchitis, insomnia, colds, flu, and other infectious diseases in traditional medicine. Additionally, Z. clinopodioides has various biological activities, including antibacterial, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, appetizer, carminative, antiseptic, and wound-healing properties. In this study, the antifungal activities of Z. clinopodioides were summarized. The Keywords were searched in Scopus until 19 October 2021 and the articles that contain relevant information about the antifungal activity of Z. clinopodioides were included. Z. clinopodioides leaf and aerial parts had significant antifungal activity against Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus parasiticus, Candida albicans, Candida glabrata, Candida guilliermondii, Candida krusei, Epidermophyton floccosum, Microsporum canis, Microsporum gypseum, Trichophyton mentagrophytes, Trichophyton rubrum, and Trichophyton schoenleini. In some studies, its effects were higher than standards (such as amphotericin B, fluconazole, nystatin, and terbinafine). Therefore, it seems that Z. clinopodioides can be a good choice for more experimental and clinical studies as an antifungal agent.

A Review on the Clinical Symptoms and Treatment Methods of Human Hookworm Infections

Mahdi Shooraj — 2022-09-04

Introduction: Hookworm infection has overwhelmed human beings for ages and there are explanations about helminths in the primary medicinal manuscripts from 1500 BC. Hookworm is one of the immense three Soil-Transmitted Helminths (STH) (Ascaris Lumbricoides, Trichuris Trichiura, and hookworm). The goal of this study is to review the prevailing studies on Hookworm infection, clinical symptoms, prevention and treatment to examine different findings in this dominion.

Material and Methods: In the present investigation, the databases of PubMed, Google Scholar, IranDoc and SID were examined from 2000 to 2021 and related articles were reviewed.

Results: Review of related investigations revealed that nearly, 2 billion individuals are affected with these helminths around the world and the infection encumbrance might approach malaria. Hookworm infection diagnosis relies on fecal trials, either microscopic or molecular. This infection causes intestinal blood loss, which lead to anemia. In this regard, school-aged children and pregnant women are individuals at the highest risk of infections.

Conclusion: Several aspects such as warm and moist environment, polluted water supply, and poor hygiene affect transmission rate. Besides, some risk factors such as agricultural occupation, barefoot walking, exposure to infected soil, poor environmental sanitation, low socioeconomic background, poor personal hygiene, host age, genetics, and nutritional aspects affect both STH transmission and infection. Clinical symptoms of hookworm contagions are frequently non-specific and could be confusing. Thus, attention to the epidemiology, clinical factors, and laboratory results are significant for examination process. Now more than ever, new plans are needed to regulate hookworm and other STH infections

Immunological Examination of Echinococcus granulosus as a Candidate for Cancer Treatment and Vaccine Development: A Review Study

Mahdi Shooraj — 2022-09-04

Echinococcus granulosus, is a cestode parasite that causes cystic echinococcosis. The vaccination procedure with tumor-associated antigens, coming from evolutionary distant organisms such as parasites, can be beneficial to override tolerance problems encountered with human tumor-associated antigens-based cancer therapeutic approaches. In this article, different databases of PubMed, Google Scholar, IranDoc and SID were examined from 2001 to 2021 and related articles were investigated. The review of related studies concerning human beings' treatment revealed the possibility of inhibition of cancer development via HCF antigens and mucin peptides extracted from this cestode. Besides, HCF treatment in animal models mostly showed that anti-cancer immune responses were activated. Of note, an influential issue in the design process of an anti-cancer vaccine is triggering efficacious anti-tumor responses by using idyllic antigens for immunization against cancer. In this realm, many antigens have been studied for this purpose and showed different ranges of effectiveness. Based on the cross-reactivity among parasitic and tumor antigens, detection of parasitic antigens that are highly homologous with cancer antigens is an ideal objective for immunization against cancer cells. As the toxicity of HCF was reported in some studies, further research are required to shed light on finding an innovative anti-cancer vaccine derived from parasites. This review article is useful for health managers and researchers working on the anti-cancer vaccine development.