The effect of geo-climatic determinants on the distribution of cutaneous leishmaniasis in a recently emerging focus in eastern Iran.

BACKGROUND: Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) has been reported in recent years in South Khorasan Province, a desert region of eastern Iran, where the main species is Leishmania tropica. Little is known of the influence of geography and climate on its distribution, and so this study was conducted to determine geo-climatic factors by using geographic information system. METHODS: The home addresses of patients with CL patients who were diagnosed and notified from 2009 to 2017 were retrieved from the provincial health center and registered on the village/town/city point layer. The effects of mean annual rainfall (MAR) and mean annual humidity (MAH), mean annual temperature (MAT), maximum annual temperature (MaxMAT), minimum annual temperature (MinMAT), mean annual number of high-velocity wind days (MAWD), mean annual frosty days (MAFD) and snowy days (MASD), elevation, soil type and land cover on CL distribution were examined. The geographical analysis was done using ArcMap software, and univariate and multivariate binary logistic regression were applied to determine the factors associated with CL. RESULTS: A total of 332 CL patients were identified: 197 (59.3%) male and 135 (40.7%) female. Their mean age was 29.3 ± 2.1 years, with age ranging from 10 months to 98 years. CL patients came from a total of 86 villages/towns/cities. By multivariate analysis, the independent factors associated with increased CL were urban setting (OR = 52.102), agricultural land cover (OR = 3.048), and MAWD (OR = 1.004). Elevation was a protective factor only in the univariate analysis (OR = 0.999). Soil type, MAH, MAT, MinMAT, MaxMAT, and MAFD did not influence CL distribution in eastern Iran. CONCLUSIONS: The major risk zones for CL in eastern Iran were urban and agricultural areas with a higher number of windy days at lower altitudes. Control strategies to reduce human vector contact should be focused in these settings.

The Association Between Knee Osteoarthritis and HLA-DRB1*0101 in the East of Iran.

BACKGROUND: Osteoarthritis (OA) is a painful social problem, which breaks down the articular cartilage, causes the failure of synovial joints and subchondral bone sclerosis. OA etiology is not completely understood, but joint trauma, infection, obesity, and diseases are the most important risk factors for OA developing. Recent studies suggested inflammatory factors and genetic components can be involved in the pathogenesis of OA. Experimental evidences suggest a linkage between Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) genetic diversity and OA. But a few studies have been conducted in this subject. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between HLA-DRB1*0101 and OA in Iranian patients. METHODS: Thirty patients with knee osteoarthritis and 30 healthy people as the control group were included in the study. Sex, weight, age, Body mass index (BMI) and height of all participants were recorded. HLA-DRB1*0101 was typed by PCR using the sequence-specific primer. RESULTS: Our results showed 80% of knee osteoarthritis patients were positively HLA-DRB1*0101 (n=24), while only 26.7% of controls were positive (n=8) (P= 0.015). CONCLUSION: These findings proposed that there is a significant association between HLADRB1* 0101 and susceptibility to knee osteoarthritis.

Improvement of glucose and lipid profile status with Aloe vera in pre-diabetic subjects: a randomized controlled-trial.

BACKGROUND: Pre-diabetes is a disturbing trend in the population, who are at risk of developing type-two diabetes. The aim of this study was to determine the effects use of Aloe vera in different doses on glucose and lipid profile in pre-diabetic subjects. METHODS: This study was a double blind randomized controlled trial (72 subjects) with pre-diabetes symptoms in 3 groups consumed capsules twice a day: Aloe vera 300 mg (AL300), 500 mg (AL500) and placebo (PL). Fasting blood glucose (FBS), HbA1C and lipid profile were evaluated in baseline, 4 or 8 weeks. On-way ANOVA, Friedman, Wilcoxon, Kruskal-Wallis , Mann-Whitney and Chi-square tests were used for within or between groups statistical analysis. RESULTS: FBS level in group AL300, showed significantly decreased in fourth week after the intervention, compared to PL in the same time (p = 0.001). Also, HbA1C level in this group at the eighth week after the intervention (p = 0.042), had a significant decrease. The levels of Total cholesterol and LDL-C, only in the group AL500 (p < 0.001 and p = 0.01), was significantly reduced, along with HDL-C level improvement just after eight weeks (p = 0.004). Triglyceride level showed a significant decrease (p < 0.045) just after four weeks use of AL500. CONCLUSIONS: The Use of Aloe vera extract in pre-diabetic patients, could revert impaired blood glucose within four weeks, but after eight weeks could alleviate their abnormal lipid profile.

Nosocomial infection of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever in eastern Iran: case report.

An outbreak of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever occurred in the county of Birjand in eastern Iran in November 2011. Four cases were involved in this outbreak. Two patients died after admission to hospital, one of whom was a nurse who acquired the infection nosocomially, and the others were treated successfully.