Investigating the effect of ethanolic extract of Commiphora myrrha (Nees) Engl. gum-resin against hepatorenal injury in diabetic rats.

PURPOSE: Management of hepatorenal complications in diabetic patients is still a challenge for clinicians. The study aimed to investigate the impacts of ethanolic extract of Commiphora myrrha (Nees) Engl.oleo-gum-resin (EEM) against hepatorenal injury in diabetic rats. METHODS: Diabetes was induced by an intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of streptozotocin (55 mg/kg) in adult male Wistar rats (n = 40); whereas, normal control rats (NC, n = 8) were treated with vehicle solution (citrate buffer, i.p.). Diabetic animals were gavaged with 500 mg/kg of metformin (MET500) and different doses of EEM (100, 300, and 500 mg/kg) once daily for 28 days. Diabetic model (DM) and NC groups were treated with normal saline. Various parameters like fasting blood glucose (FBG), plasma insulin, aspartate transaminase (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT), creatinine (Cr), urea, 24-h urine total protein (UTP), urine volume, and hepatorenal histopathology were assessed at the end of the study. RESULTS: Compared to the NC group, diabetic rats showed marked elevations in FBG, AST, ALT, urea, Cr, UTP, urine volume, and a significant reduction in insulin. Diabetic animals also exhibited severe histopathological alterations in liver and kidney tissues. The EEM treatment could not influence the biochemical and pathological alterations. Treatment with EEM at the dose of 300 mg/kg could slightly ameliorate some pathological alterations (fatty changes and tubular congestion) in hepatic and renal tissues. CONCLUSIONS: These findings demonstrated that EEM treatment at doses up to 500 mg/kg could not effectively slow down the pathological process of hepatorenal damage in diabetic rats.

Study on Efficacy of 1% Permethrin Shampoo and Some Traditional Physical Treatment for Head Lice Infestation.

BACKGROUND: There is an increase in the prevalence of head lice among urban communities with high density in recent years. This study was aimed to determine the efficacy of 1% permethrin shampoo and some traditional physical treatment for head lice infestation in Qom Province, central Iran. METHODS: This analytical cross-sectional study was carried out on all 11,223 cases in six categories that were referred to Qom health care system from 2016 to March of 2017. The infested people were treated with 1% permethrin shampoo, twice at a 1-week interval and other recommended therapeutic categories, such as the use of physical treatments such as wooden fine-toothed combs impregnated with a mixture of water and white vinegar on infested hair for 30 min and secondly, carrier oils such as olive oil, bitter almond on infested hair over a therapeutic period. After completing the course of treatment, treatment success was checked by questionnaires. RESULTS: A total of 11,223 cases with head lice infestation were confirmed and were enrolled for study. Out of six categories, three therapeutic categories were utilized as follows: (a) 1% permethrin shampoo and the use of physical treatments; (b) 1% permethrin shampoo and the use of carrier oils; (c) the above-mentioned therapeutic categories combined had high treatment success. It was estimated to be 82.00%, 87.31%, and 94.33%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: According to the findings, in addition to the application of 1% permethrin shampoo, the use of physical treatments and carrier oils such as olive oil, bitter almond can increase the treatment success of head lice infestation.

Classification of cutaneous leishmaniasis patients based on its risk factors using latent class analysis.

Cutaneous leishmaniasis is one of the main health-economic problems around the world. Data were collected from all patients with cutaneous leishmaniasis referred to the health centres of Kermanshah province between 2013 and 2019. Latent class analysis was conducted by PROC LCA in SAS 9.2 and a significant level was set at 0.05. Four latent classes were identified: low (33.8%), moderate (9.8%), high (22.4%) and very high risk (34.0%). The probability of having a travel history was high in the third class. Our study indicated that having history of an eschar has no role in the classification of patients. On the other hand, a positive smear test is important in classifying subjects. Our results indicate that more than half of all patients fell under high risk or very high-risk class. This emphasises the importance of planning preventive intervention by considering different risk factors of cutaneous leishmaniasis simultaneously.

Economic Burden Associated with Head Louse (Pediculus humanus capitis) Infestation in Iran.

BACKGROUND: The head louse infestation is a public health issue in the world especially, affecting most people who live in camps, school-aged children and their families. Head lice treatment has economic ramifications that often under calculated. The aim of this study was evaluation of economic burden associated with head louse infestation in Iran. METHODS: In a cross-sectional study, 500,002 infestations were diagnosed among suspected head lice infested people who referred to health care system in all provinces of Iran during 2017. Direct and indirect costs related to paid by patients and government systems were extracted by referring to accounting documents and interviews with patients and experts and were recorded in researcher-made forms. Microsoft Excel 2010 software was used for economic burden calculation. RESULTS: The incidence rate of head lice infestation in Iran was 500,002/79,926,270 (625.5 per 100,000 populations). Economic burden of head lice in the country was calculated at 5,790,143$. Direct and indirect costs, governmental cost, out of pocket and total costs of head lice were included 3.14$, 2.84$, 5.98$, 5.60$ and 11.58$ per case respectively. CONCLUSION: The direct and indirect costs associated with treatment of infestations were relatively high. Therefore, the creation of medical facilities such as availability of diagnostic and treatment strategies can be effective in the control of infestation. The adoption of infestation prevention methods, such as health education to people at risk of infestation, reduces the incidence of head lice and imposition of related treatment costs on governmental health care system and head lice cases.

Spatio-temporal distribution analysis of zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis in Qom Province, Iran.

Geographic information system (GIS) nowadays is one of the most helpful epidemiological tools for identifying the high risk areas of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL). This study was conducted to determine the spatio-temporal distribution of CL in Qom province during 2009-2017. In a cross-sectional study, for the survey of spatial dispersion of CL in the study region, the incidence rate of disease was calculated in all of 23 villages during 2009-2017. Then, spatial analysis of the infection was performed using two methods: spatial autocorrelation (Moran's I) in order to determine the special distribution pattern of disease and Kriging method to reveal high risk areas for disease. The incidence of CL in Qom province has been decreasing as of 2009-2015 and increasing in 2015-2017. The highest incidence was stated in 2009 (36.5 per 100,000) and the least was reported in 2015 (13.3 per 100,000). The Moran autocorrelation index revealed that the study area has a cluster pattern. The temporal distribution of disease incidence showed that northeast, southwest and northwest parts of Qom province involved highest incidence of CL in 90% significant level. Leishmaniasis incidence is a function of spatial and geographical trends, thus spatial variations of the infection incidence illustrate that the incidence rate does not increase or decrease from one region to another intensively. The results of this study indicate that marking high risk areas using spatial analysis can be helpful as a main tool in CL control and prevention.

Toxicological Analysis of Insects on the Corpse: A Valuable Source of Information in Forensic Investigations.

BACKGROUND: Entomotoxicology as a subset of forensic entomology can be used by analysis of carcass feeding insects to detecting of drugs or toxins, as well as the cause and manner of death in cases of ante-mortem drugs intoxication. Morphine is one of the deacetylate metabolites of heroin. The aim of this study was to determine the presence and quantity of morphine in insects on the carcass and compare them with decomposing carcass. METHODS: Field of this study was in Chalabeh District and toxicological tests were carried out at the Department of Forensic Toxicology, Legal Medicine Center, Kermanshah, Iran in 2017. Morphine was inoculated into live rabbit as experimental model at concentrations of 12.5, 25, 50mg/ml, similar to those normally encountered in human overdoses, then quality and quantity of morphine were determined in insects such as Chrysomya albiceps (as the first wave of insect succession on human cadavers) fed on carcass. RESULTS: Quantitative assessment at larvae showed that morphine was detected in all larvae (feeding and post feeding stage) fed on tissues from carcasses administered morphine, except for post-feeding larvae from R1 which received 12.5mg/ml dosage of morphine. CONCLUSION: Necrophagous insects are an indicator on the scene of crime and a potential source of information about the antemortem situation. Detection of drug in insects which is actually a reflection of the cause of death is possible.

Evaluation of Insect Succession Patterns and Carcass Weight Loss for the Estimation of Postmortem Interval.

This study assesses the succession of insects on rabbit carcass. The study was conducted in sunny and shaded sites in the west of Iran during four seasons in 2016 and 2017. Based on the results of this study, various factors such as body size, carcass location, and carcass injury could affect the pattern of insect succession on carcass. In this study, we estimated the elapsed time since death (R2 > 0.98, P = 0.00) based on carcass weight loss during the stages of decomposition and the cubic method. Jaccard analysis was performed to determine the similarity of insect taxa during decomposition of rabbit carrion in two different sites during a period of four seasons. Succession pattern analysis for necrophagous insects in both habitats showed a similarity between bloat and decay stages for each habitat. On the other hand, pairwise similarities in taxa were low at the fresh and dry stages, however increased at bloat and decay stages of decomposition. This study shows that succession has some limitations in determining the elapsed time of death. Therefore, the use of source of information such as a weight loss model seems to be essential.