Impact of cardiac rehabilitation on erectile dysfunction in cardiovascular patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and erectile dysfunction (ED) frequently co-occur, significantly affecting the quality of life of individuals. Aim: To assess the impact of cardiac rehabilitation (CR) on ED in patients with CVD through a systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods: This study analyzed randomized controlled trials and other studies comparing CR with usual care for adult males (≥18 years) with any cardiac disease. Literature searches were extensive, and the risk of bias was evaluated by the Cochrane Collaboration tool. Data from 6 studies involving 668 participants were included in the meta-analysis. Outcomes: The primary outcome was the improvement in ED, as measured with the International Index of Erectile Function. Results: A statistically significant improvement in erectile function was observed across 6 studies, with a Morris dppc2 effect size of 0.38 (95% CI, 0.17-0.59). Despite initial high heterogeneity (I 2 = 95.7%), identification and correction for selective outcome reporting bias mitigated this issue. Clinical Translation: CR has a modest but statistically significant impact on improving ED in patients with CVD, indicating its potential positive contribution to the quality of life of this group. Strengths and Limitations: The study's strengths include a comprehensive literature search and a rigorous methodological approach. Limitations involve high heterogeneity among studies and a low level of evidence due to small sample sizes and study quality; however, the source of heterogeneity was identified and mitigated following risk-of-bias assessment. Conclusion: The results suggest that CR has a statistically significant but modest impact on improving ED in patients with CVD. Clinicians should consider the integration of CR into the clinical management of these individuals. This study underscores the potential for CR to contribute positively to the quality of life for patients with CVD by addressing associated ED (PROSPERO: CRD42022374625).

Medication Adherence With Polypill in Cardiovascular Disease and High-Risk Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials Involving 7364 Participants.

Considering the worldwide mortality and morbidity of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), the necessity of using multiple pills due to the chronicity of this condition, and the importance of medication adherence in these patients, we conducted this systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the polypill effect on adherence in patients with established CVD and at high risk. To accomplish this review, we searched various databases to access grey literature and several electronic databases to find randomized controlled trials (RCTs) assessing polypills compared to individual pills from January 2000 to October 2022. The outcomes were primarily medication adherence, secondarily systolic blood pressure (SBP), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) serum level, and serious adverse events (SAEs). Ultimately, 2820 studies were detected and narrowed to 8 RCTs based on the eligibility criteria. In this study, involving 7364 patients, there was a significant improvement in medication adherence in the polypill group compared to the individual pills group (Risk Ratio [RR] = 1.29; [95%CI: 1.10; 1.50]). Out of secondary outcomes, SBP was significantly decreased (Mean Difference [MD] = -1.72 mmHg; [95%CI: -2.40; 1.03]), but LDL-C serum level (MD = -0.65 mg/dl; [95%CI: -4.47; 3.16]) and SAE (RR = 1.08; [95%CI: f0.98; 1.20]) did not have a notable difference in polypill compared to individual pills.

Nutritional vitamin D supplementation in chronic hemodialysis: An uncontrolled open-label trial.

The present study was evaluated by the incidence of vitamin D deficiency and management of hemodialysis (HD) patients with low doses of vitamin D over 6 months. This uncontrolled open-label trial was fulfilled in descriptive and then analytical phases from 2008 to 2010 recruiting chronic HD patients in our province. For this purpose, 169 patients undergoing regular HD were randomly selected and their vitamin D level was measured. Then, 54 patients with vitamin D levels less than 30 ng/mL entered the second phase. This group received 50,000 IU vitamin D3 monthly for 6 months. The mean vitamin D level in 169 patients was 21.73 ± 20.27 ng/mL. As well, 62.7% had vitamin D levels less than 30 ng/mL. Following the six-month intervention, mean vitamin D levels elevated significantly from 17.03 ± 7.4 to 42.8 ± 16.9 ng/mL (P < .0001). In this study, the incidence rate of vitamin D deficiency was 62.7%, lower than that in previous research in patients undergoing chronic HD. Vitamin D3 administration at lower doses than healthy people could significantly increase vitamin D level.

Metabolic Disorders in Patients with Nephrolithiasis in Iran.

Nephrolithiasis is a common disease entity around the world, with an increasing prevalence and incidence. There is no consolidated information available on the cause of kidney stones in Iranian patients. As a result, we decided to review the etiology of kidney stones in Iran. PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Google scholar, and Scientific Information Database (SID) were searched with the following keywords "Nephrolithiasis", "Renal stone", "Kidney stone", "Urolithiasis", "Etiology", "Metabolic abnormalities", and "Iran". There was no time period limit for selection of the papers. The inclusion criteria included any paper on evaluation of urine biochemistry regarding stone formation in Iranian adult patients (with or without children) with nephrolithiasis. We found 217 articles, of which 9 were eventually included. In conclusion, 1896 patients with nephrolithiasis from 6 provinces and 7 cities of Iran with different climates from 2000 to 2019 were evaluated collectively. The results showed that in contrast to western countries, hypercalciuria was not the most common biochemical disorder of patients with nephrolithiasis (18.2% vs. 30 to 60%). Low urine volume (49.6%) and hypocitraturia (27%) were the most frequent urine abnormalities in our country.  DOI: 10.52547/ijkd.7055.

Sirolimus Dose Requirement in Kidney Transplant Recipients in Iran.

INTRODUCTION: Sirolimus (Rapamune) is an important immunosuppressive drug in kidney transplant patients. The usual maintenance dose of Sirolimus in these patients is 2 to 5 mg/d and its optimal maintenance trough level is 5 to 10 ng/mL. The required Sirolimus doses may differ markedly from patient to patient. It is because of high inter and intrapatient variability in its pharmacokinetics. There have been no studies in Iran on the correlation of Sirolimus blood level and its target dose. This study has been done to show the target dose of Sirolimus in kidney transplanted patients in Isfahan. METHODS: This is a longitudinal cross-sectional study conducted from June 2018 to September 2019. The study population included all kidney transplanted patients treated with Sirolimus in a nephrology private clinic. Inclusion criteria were age (equal or more than 18 years old) and the existence of complete data in the patient's file. The participants were excluded if there were not at least two Sirolimus levels in the patient's file. Demographics and other variables were extracted from the patient's files. RESULTS: Sirolimus was prescribed for seventy-three patients. Sixteen patients did not have the inclusion criteria. Fifty-seven renal transplanted patients were included in the study. The mean starting dose of Sirolimus in these patients was 2 ± 0.19 mg/d. The mean of the Sirolimus dose was 1.2 ± 0.44 mg/d. There was more than 20% GFR improvement in 68% of the patients after changing the Calcineurin Inhibitor to Sirolimus (P < .05). CONCLUSION: In a significant number of patients changing CNI to Sirolimus accompanied by GFR improvement. Contrary to the recommended dose of Sirolimus in the references (2 to 5 mg/d) Iranian kidney transplant recipients needed lower daily doses of Sirolimus (1.2 mg/d) to achieve the desired whole blood level. Further studies are recommended to confirm it.