A Study of the Use of Medicinal Plants by Persons With Type 2 Diabetes in Iran

Medicinal plants are used by many people with Type 2 diabetes in Iran. The aim of this study was to explore why this is so, from their perspective. Sixteen persons with Type 2 diabetes in Yazd City, Iran, were interviewed in April and May 2020 for this study. A thematic analysis of the transcripts of those interviews was done using MAXQDA 10 software. Six themes were identified: beliefs about medicinal plants, psychological factors, accessibility and economic barriers, patients' knowledge and awareness, social pressure, and the role of family culture. The recommendation of the study is that health counselors and specialists should provide needed information and skills for the proper use of medicinal plants, and the pharmaceutical infrastructures need to be expanded to provide enough drugs to facilitate better access to needed medication and reduce reliance on medicinal plants for persons with Type 2 diabetes.

Predictors of intention to marriage based on theory of planned behavior among university students in Iran

Introduction

Marriage is a social capital in society, so that makes the behavioral and social stability of parents and children in a generation, productive. Various factors can affect the intention of marriage, including individual, economic, social and cultural factors. The present study aimed to determine predictors of university students’ intention to marriage based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB).

Methods

This cross-sectional study was performed among 192 single students (Master and PhD students with five to seven years of dentistry and medicine) in Hamadan, in 2014. The samples in this study were selected through convenient sampling. The data collection tools were demographic and TPB questionnaires. A questionnaire based on the TPB model was used in order to assess attitude toward behavior, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and intention. Data were analyzed by using SPSS16 and descriptive indexes, independent-samples t-test, One-way ANOVA and multivariate linear regression at 95% significant level.

Results

The results showed that attitudes toward marriage (β=0.217; p=0.001), subjective norms (β=0.366; p<0.001), and perceived behavioral control (β=0.279; p<0.001) significantly predicted students’ intention to marriage. The TPB constructs explained 44% of the variance of intention.

Conclusion

Results indicated that strategies to improve the intention of marriage can include: expression of psychological needs such as having a companion, the importance of responsibility, society attitude of marriage, parents and marriage, the importance of the decision-making power and job position.

Duration of residency in a non-endemic area and risk of severe malaria in African immigrants

In malaria-endemic areas, adults very rarely succumb to severe malaria, suggesting that immunity to severe disease is life-long under conditions of repeated exposure. To what extent this protection persists in the absence of exposure remains to be established. The aim of this study was to assess whether duration of residency in a malaria-free country affects the risk for severe malaria in immigrants originating from sub-Saharan Africa. We conducted a retrospective chart review of 948 cases of malaria diagnosed in Stockholm, Sweden in 1995-2013. Among 501 adult patients with Plasmodium falciparum (315 of endemic origin and 186 of non-endemic origin, mainly Sweden), 41 (8.2%) had severe malaria according to WHO criteria (including 5% with parasitaemia), 22 (4.4%) had factors prognostic of poor outcome, and 35 (7.0%) were admitted to intensive care. Overall, patient origin did not affect the odds of severe malaria, according to any of these definitions. However, when the immigrants were stratified with regard to their duration of residency in Sweden, the risk of factors prognostic for poor outcome was associated with duration of prior residency in a malaria-free country among patients of endemic origin (p 0.02), and immigrants who had lived for ≥ 15 years in Sweden had a similar risk as non-immune travellers. The results of this explorative study suggest that, although immunity to severe malaria is maintained for several years in African adults, this protection might be lost with time without repeated re-exposure. A larger study, preferably including multiple centres, will be needed to confirm our findings.

In vitro ovine embryo production: the study of seasonal and oocyte recovery method effects

Background:

To current knowledge, different oocyte's recovery method and various seasons have profound impact on in vitro embryo production (IVEP).

Objectives:

The aim of this study was to define an efficient recovery method for oocytes harvesting from slaughterhouse material in different seasons, and their effects on IVEP yield.

Materials and Methods:

Ovaries from slaughtered ewes in breeding season (BS) and non-breeding season (NBS) were collected from a local abattoir. The oocytes were recovered through aspiration, centrifugation (ORC), puncture and slicing, and categorized into three classes (I, oocytes with more than three layers of cumulus cells; II, less than three layers with damaged cumulus cells; III, denuded oocytes). After cultivation in TCM 199 for 24 hours, matured oocytes were subjected to in vitro fertilization (IVF) and in vitro culture (IVC). The oocyte recovery using ORC in BS and NBS was significantly higher (P < 0.05) compared with other recovery methods.

Results:

No significant dissimilarities in the proportion of oocytes reaching M-II stage were recorded when using different oocyte recovery methods in different seasons. Aspiration resulted in lower (P < 0.05) proportion of class I (BS, 60.0 ± 2.1; NBS, 51.1 ± 2.1) compared to ORC (BS, 82.0 ± 1.2; NBS, 70.0 ± 1.2), slicing (BS, 80.0 ± 2.1; NBS, 71.0 ± 1.4) and puncture (BS, 80.0 ± 1.5; NBS, 72.0 ± 2.0). Monospermy and blastocyst development rates were significantly higher using ORC than other recovery techniques in both BS and NBS. More oocytes with high quality, greater blastocyst development and oocyte recovery rates were achieved in BS.

Conclusions:

The results revealed that oocytes harvesting technique and season are effective in the rate of cleavage and blastocysts’ development, and suggest that despite same meiotic resumption rate in all treatments, it would be better to use ORC.

Frequencies of SDF-1 chemokine, CCR-5, and CCR-2 chemokine receptor gene alleles conferring resistance to human immunodeficiency virus type 1 and AIDS in Kuwaitis

The frequencies of three mutations conferring resistance to HIV/AIDS were determined in a population sample of native Kuwaitis. The CCR2-641, SDF1-3'A, and CCR5-m303 mutations were detected by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) tests using restriction endonucleases Bsa BI, Msp I, and Hinc II, respectively. The frequency of the mutant alleles were: for CCR2-641, 0.1195 (95% CI 0.0801-0.1694); for SDF1-3'A, 0.2593 (95% CI 0.2024-0.3231), and for CCR5-m303, less than 0.0025. Thus, the CCR2-641 and especially SDF1-3'A mutations are sufficiently common in Arabs and can be used for prognostic genotyping in HIV-infected individuals from the Gulf countries.

A survey for 32 nucleotide deletion in the CCR-5 chemokine receptor gene (deltaccr-5) conferring resistance to human immunodeficiency virus type 1 in different ethnic groups and in chimpanzees

The 32 nucleotide deletion in the CCR-5 chemokine receptor gene referred to as deltaccr-5 has been shown to confer resistance to HIV-1. Using PCR, 1,105 human subjects and 33 common chimpanzees were genotyped attributing them to one of the three possible genotypes: wild-type homozygote (w/w); deltaccr-5 homozygote (deltaccr-5/deltaccr-5) and deltaccr-5/wild-type heterozygotes (deltaccr-5/w). The ethnic groups investigated included different Middle Eastern nationalities (mainly Arab) and Russians. Carriers of the deltaccr-5 mutation were found among Arabs, Iranians and Russians. The highest frequency of the mutation was seen in Russians (24.4% of the deltaccr-5 heterozygotes, allele frequency-0.1221). Surprisingly, the only deltaccr-5 homozygote identified in our study was an Egyptian. The origin of the deltaccr-5 mutation in the Middle Eastern populations, both Arab and non-Arab, is most probably due to a gene flow from the Europeans. The frequency of the deltaccr-5 mutation in Russians is one of the highest known. It might be one of the factors contributing to a relatively slow pace of increase in the incidence of sexually acquired HIV infection in Russia. None of the chimpanzees tested was positive for deltaccr-5. Interestingly, the DNA sequence of the chimpanzee CCR-5 gene in the region including the site of the deltaccr-5 mutation, and flanking areas, was virtually identical to the homologous human sequence, only two mismatches (silent substitutions) were found.