Wound Healing Studies Using Punica granatum Peel: An Animal Experimental Study.

OBJECTIVE: The goal of the present study was to evaluate the effects of hydroalcoholic extract-based carboxy methyl cellulose (CMC) gel of Punica granatum peel (PCMC) and CMC on healing of full-thickness skin wounds. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-two rats were studied. Each rat had 3 wounds that were treated topically with PCMC as the case, CMC as the positive control, and sterile saline as the negative control. All 3 wounds of each rat were photographed during the wound healing period at days 0 (onset of wound surgery), 3, 6, 9, and 12.The wound area was calculated using Adobe Photoshop CS (version 5) software (Adobe Systems Inc, San Jose, California). Electrocardiogram paper was used for reference scale. RESULTS: The results of this study show that macroscopic and microscopic wound healing took a significantly longer time in wounds treated with normal saline than those treated with PCMC (grossly) and CMC gel (grossly and significantly). CONCLUSIONS: The authors' findings show that anti-inflammatory, antihemorrhagic, and antinecrotic effects of CMC lead to early healing of skin wounds.

A randomised controlled trial of oral zinc sulphate for primary dysmenorrhoea in adolescent females.

BACKGROUND: Primary dysmenorrhoea, the most common gynaecologic problem of adolescent females, is commonly treated with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or oral contraceptive pills. AIM: To compare the effect of zinc sulphate with that of placebo on the control of pain severity and duration in adolescent girls with primary dysmenorrhoea. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In a three-month randomised double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial, 120 adolescent females with primary dysmenorrhoea were randomly divided into two groups of sixty: an intervention group (zinc) and a control group (placebo). Zinc was administered in the form of a capsule containing 50 mg/day zinc sulphate beginning on the first day of menses and continuing until three days prior to the end of menses. Each month, the duration and severity of primary dysmenorrhoea were determined. Severity scoring was performed by using a 0-10 scaling system. RESULTS: In the first month, the duration of pain was significantly lower in the zinc group compared with the placebo group (P-value = 0.044), while there was no significant difference in pain severity between the groups (P-value = 0.497). In the second and third month, pain severity and duration in the zinc group were significantly lower than the placebo group (P-value <0.001). CONCLUSION: Both pain duration and pain severity were decreased by taking oral zinc. The results of our interventional study suggests that zinc may be used to treat primary dysmenorrhoea in adolescents.

Serological investigation for hepatitis E virus infection in the patients with chronic maintenance hemodialysis from southwest of Iran.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: A global distribution has been shown for hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection. Although the fecal-oral was considered as the primary infection route, there is controversial evidence for increased risk of the infection and consequent problems in patients on maintenance hemodialysis (HD) with suppressed immunity. The aim is to find if the prevalence of anti-HEV IgG, in patients with maintenance HD is higher than normal population in southwest of Iran. MATERIALS AND METHODS: During November and December 2010, in a cross-sectional study we compared the seroprevalence of HEV among 80 patients with maintenance HD and 276 healthy individuals from Jahrom and Shiraz, Southwest of Iran. In addition to the clinical and laboratory records, serum samples were tested for the presence of IgG anti-HEV antibody by enzyme immunoassay (ELISA) test. The Chi-square, the Student's 't' and Fisher's exact tests were used for the statistical analysis. RESULTS: ELISA tests detected anti-HEV antibody in five males of the patients (6.3%) and in eight of the healthy controls (2.9%, 6 males and 2 female) which statistically were not different. The mean levels of the aspartate aminotransferase and the alanine aminotransferase in the sera of the patients were 19.96±11.08U/L and 23.93±14.26 IU/L, respectively. However, no one of the individuals with positive anti-HEV antibody showed elevated liver enzymes. Moreover, there was not a significant association between positive anti-HEV antibody result, age and the history of the hemodialysis. CONCLUSIONS: We did not observe statistically significant higher anti-HEV prevalence among patients with chronic HD; however, more safety precaution is needed to keep HD patients from the risk of possible exposure to HEV infection.

Femoral nerve injury as a complication of percutaneous simple renal cyst sclerotherapy with ethanol: a case report.

Simple renal cysts are benign, common, and often asymptomatic disease in old age, sometimes treated with ethanol sclerotherapy. We report a case of iatrogenic femoral nerve injury following percutaneous injection of ethanol into a renal cyst under sedation. The percutaneous injection was guided by sonography. At the end of the procedure, the cyst ruptured so the patient progressed to loss of consciousness due to alcohol intoxication. Ethanol was damaged to the femoral nerve, so patient was developed with limping, numbness, and weakness in anteromedial aspect of the right thigh. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of femoral nerve injury caused by percutaneous simple renal cyst sclerotherapy with ethanol. This rare event has not been previously described, Physicians should be aware of the possibility of this complication.