Attitudes of medical students about brain death and organ donation.

INTRODUCTION: There have been publications on the attitudes of the general Iranian population and health care personnel about brain death and organ donation; however, there is little information about such attitudes of medical students. In 2006, a survey was conducted in Tehran about the attitudes of medical students in a hospital with a transplantation program. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The general population, health care personnel, and medical students were surveyed, and data were extracted from interviews with 41 medical students. The survey included 35 items about attitudes toward brain death and organ transplantation. RESULTS: Nine students (22.0%) had ever seen a transplant recipient, and 7 (17.1%) had ever seen a brain-dead patient. Thirty-four students (82.9%) agreed with organ donation after brain death. Six students (14.6%) had received information through university lectures, and 40 (97.5%) perceived a need for further information about organ donation and brain death in the university curriculum. Nine students (22.0%) had an organ donor card. CONCLUSION: Most Iranian medical students have neither been exposed to brain death or organ recipients nor received appropriate information about organ donation and transplantation.

Organ retrieval from brain-dead patients by a single organ procurement center in Iran.

INTRODUCTION: The majority of transplantations depend solely on cadaveric organs. In recent years, special focus has been directed toward brain-dead patients in Iran, but it seems that there is limited information regarding the characteristics of cadaveric organ donation in our country. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a retrospective analysis of data of our Organ Procurement Unit (OPU), which is one of the most active organ procurement units in Iran. We incorporated the data on all organ donations from brain-dead patients between 2004 and 2008 into the present study. Demographic characteristics of the patients along with data regarding brain death and organ donation were extracted from already registered data on patients. RESULTS: Among 93 brain-dead patients registered in the database of the OPU, organs were retrieved from 85% (n = 79). Out of the 14 patients from whom no organ was retrieved, the cause for this failure was death before donation in 85% (n = 12). The numbers of donated organs varied between zero and six (mean +/- standard deviation = 3.1 +/- 1.7). The most donated organs in terms of frequency and count were: right kidney (n = 68; 73.1%), left kidney (n = 67; 72%), liver (n = 63; 67.7%), heart (n = 40; 43%), pancreas (n = 5; 5.4%), and lung (n = 4; 4.3%). DISCUSSION: The overall organ retrieval rate from brain-dead patients by this OPU was comparable to that of developed countries; however, we still believe we can improve this rate/scale.

Transport properties of the calcium ionophore ETH-129.

The transport mechanism and specificities of ionophore ETH-29 have been investigated in a highly defined phospholipid vesicle system, with the goal of facilitating the application of this compound to biological problems. ETH-129 transports Ca(2+) via an electrogenic mechanism, in contrast to A23187 and ionomycin, which function in a charge neutral manner. The rate of transport is a function of membrane potential, increasing by 3.9-fold per 59 mV over a broad range of that parameter. Rate is independent of the transmembrane pH gradient and strongly stimulated by the uncoupler carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone when no external potential has been applied. The effect of uncoupler reflects the collapse of an opposing potential arising during Ca(2+) transport, but also reflects the formation of a mixed complex between the uncoupler, ETH-129, and Ca(2+) that readily permeates the vesicle membrane. Oleate does not substitute for the uncoupler in either regard. ETH-129 transports polyvalent cations according to the selectivity sequence La(3+) > Ca(2+) > Zn(2+) approximately equal to Sr(2+) > Co(2+) approximately equal to Ni(2+) approximately equal to Mn(2+), with the magnitude of the selectivity coefficients reflecting the cation concentration range considered. There is little or no activity for the transport of Na(+), K(+), and Mg(2+). These properties suggest that ETH-129 will be useful for investigating the consequences of a mitochondrial Ca(2+) overload in mammalian cells, which is difficult to pursue through the application of electroneutral ionophores.