14 results on '"Kazem Heidari"'
Search Results
2. Pharmaceutical industry funding and chemotherapy trials for prostate cancer: A systematic review
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Amirreza Heydari, Behnam Shakiba, Asaad Moradi, Saeed Esmaeil Soofian, Nasrollah Abian, Kazem Heidari, and Robab Maghsoudi
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Clinical trial ,Chemotherapy ,Prostate cancer ,Neoplasms. Tumors. Oncology. Including cancer and carcinogens ,RC254-282 - Abstract
Introduction: Clinical trials are increasingly supported by industries while previous studies have shown that industry-supported studies have more favorable results than studies with other sources of funding. In the present study, we investigated the association of industrial funding on the results of clinical trials regarding chemotherapy in prostate cancer. Methods: A systematic literature search was performed in the Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, and EMBASE to identify clinical trials comparing chemotherapy with treatments such as hormone therapy, surgery, radiotherapy, and placebo in patients with metastatic or non-metastatic prostate cancer. Data were extracted by two reviewers on the financial resources and the positive or negative results of chemotherapy in each study. The quality of articles was evaluated and compared based on Cochrane Critical Appraisal Tool. The trials were divided into two groups; industry funded and those not funded by industry. Association of industry funding and positive outcome was presented as odds ratio. Results: In this study, out of the 91 studies, 80.2% were funded by pharmaceutical companies and 19.8% were funded by government agencies. The end result of 61.6% of the studies funded by pharmaceutical companies was an increase in survival due to chemotherapy, whereas only 27.8% of the studies sponsored by government agencies reported positive results (P-value=0.010). In fact, industry-funded trials more often presented statistically significant positive results for survival (OR: 4.17; CI, 1.34–12.99). In general, there was no significant difference in the degree of bias between the two groups. Conclusion: According to this study, despite of the similar quality of studies funded by pharmaceutical companies and government agencies, positive results were more common in studies related to pharmaceutical companies. Therefore, this point should be taken into account when making a decision on the best treatment approach.
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- 2023
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3. Safety and immunogenicity of an inactivated virus particle vaccine for SARS-CoV-2, BIV1-CovIran: findings from double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled, phase I and II clinical trials among healthy adults
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Sahar Saeedi Moghaddam, Minoo Mohraz, Bagher Larijani, Negar Rezaei, Mohammadreza Salehi, Payam Tabarsi, Mohsen Abbasi-Kangevari, Seyyed-Hadi Ghamari, Erfan Ghasemi, Maryam Amini Pouya, Naser Ahmadi, Kazem Heidari, Mohammad-Reza Malekpour, Mojtaba Nasiri, Ali Akbar Amirzargar, and Hamed Hosseini
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Medicine - Abstract
Objective Assessing safety and immunogenicity of an inactivated whole virus particle vaccine.Design Single-centre, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled, phase I (stage I: 18–50, stage II: 51–75 years), phase II (18–75 years) clinical trials.Setting 29 December 2020 to 22 April 2021.Participants Stage I-phase I: 56 participants; stage II-phase I: 32; phase II: 280.Intervention During stage I, participants randomly (3:3:1) received 3 µg, 5 µg vaccine or placebo in a 14-day interval. Participants in stage II received two shots of 5 µg vaccine or placebo (3:1). In phase II, participants received 5 µg vaccine or placebo (4:1) in a 28-day interval.Primary and secondary outcome measures Safety assessment and immunogenicity assessment via antibody response and conventional virus neutralisation test (cVNT).Results All adverse events (AEs) were mild or moderate and transient in both phase I and phase II, and no AEs of special interest were reported. The seroconversion-rate of neutralising, antireceptor binding-domain (RBD) and anti-spike-glycoprotein (anti-S) antibodies 14-days after second dose of 5 µg vaccine in stage I was 70.8% (95% CI 48.9% to 87.4%), 87.5% (95% CI 67.6% to 97.3%), 91.7% (95% CI 73.0% to 99.0%). The antibody titres increased more among 5 µg than 3 µg. The corresponding rates for 3 µg vaccine were 45.8% (95% CI 25.6% to 67.2%), 54.2% (95% CI 32.8% to 74.5%) and 70.8% (95% CI 48.9% to 87.4%), respectively. In stage II, 100% (95% CI 84.6% to 100%), 86.4% (95% CI 65.1% to 97.1%) and 86.4% (95% CI 65.1% to 97.1%) of participants seroconverted for neutralising, anti-RBD and anti-S antibodies. In phase II, the seroconversion rate of neutralising-antibody was 82.8% (95% CI 77.0% to 87.6%), anti-RBD 77.0% (95% CI 70.7% to 82.6%) and anti-S 79.9% (95% CI 73.8% to 85.1%) on day 42. In the cVNT, the sera at 1/64 times dilution would neutralise SARS-CoV-2 among 91.7%, 77.3% and 82.5% of vaccinated participants in phase I-stage I, phase I-stage II and phase II clinical trials, respectively.Conclusions These results support further evaluation of this inactivated whole virus particle vaccine.Trial registration numbers IRCT20201202049567N1 and IRCT20201202049567N2 for phase I and IRCT20201202049567N3 for phase II.
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- 2022
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4. The quality of life in epidermolysis bullosa (EB-QoL) questionnaire: Translation, cultural adaptation, and validation into the Farsi language
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Atoosa Yazdanshenas, MS, Ezatollah Naderi, PHD, Hamideh Moravvej, MD, Kazem Heidari, MD, PHD, Masoomeh Faghankhani, MD, Hassan Vahidnezhad, PHD, and Nikoo Mozafari, MD
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Epidermolysis bullosa ,Quality of life ,Validation ,Adaptation ,Questionnaire ,Dermatology ,RL1-803 - Abstract
Background: Defining the quality of life in the patients with epidermolysis bullosa (EB) is important in patient care and management. Evaluation of quality of life requires a valid and reliable scale. The Quality of Life in Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB-QoL) questionnaire, which is an English 17-item questionnaire, has emerged as a useful tool for assessing the quality of life in the patients with EB. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Farsi version of the EB-QoL questionnaire among a group of Iranian patients with EB. Methods: The Farsi version of the EB-QoL questionnaire was finalized after translation and back-translation. From the 100 patients with EB invited to participate in the study, 83 completed the questionnaire (response rate: 83%). Subsequently, the content validity and construct validity of the questionnaire were assessed. The reliability of the questionnaire was assessed with Cronbach's alpha. Moreover, the correlation between EB-QoL scores and EB severity scores (based on the Birmingham Epidermolysis bullosa severity score scale) was evaluated. Results: A total of 83 patients (40 male and 43 female) with a median age of 15 years (interquartile range, 9–24 years) and an age range between 3 and 43 years were enrolled in this study. Mean ± standard deviation scores from the EB-QoL questionnaire were 43.7 ± 9.9. The translated EB-QoL questionnaire showed a high internal consistency (Cronbach alpha = 0.90) and adequate item-total correlation. Also, there was a significant correlation between EB-QoL and EB severity scores (r = 0.39; p
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- 2020
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5. Is Inhaler Technique Associated with Quality of Life in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease?
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Shahideh Amini, PharmD, Arezou Ghasemi, PharmD, Mohammad Solduzian, PharmD, Besharat Rahimi, MD, Kazem Heidari, MD, Molouk Hadjibabaie, PharmD, and Mona Kargar, PharmD
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Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Assessment Test ,dry powder inhalers ,metered dose inhalers ,pulmonary disease chronic obstructive ,quality of life ,Therapeutics. Pharmacology ,RM1-950 - Abstract
ABSTRACT: Background: Inhalers are the mainstay of treatment for patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. However, incorrect inhaler technique is a considerable challenge. Objective: We aimed to evaluate inhaler technique and its association with quality of life in a sample of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Methods: This cross-sectional study included patients with confirmed chronic obstructive pulmonary disease who were prescribed at least 1 inhaler medication on a regular basis. Patients were recruited from the outpatient pulmonary clinic of a hospital in Tehran. Inhaler technique was assessed according to a validated checklist. Patients’ quality of life was evaluated using Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Assessment Test. Results: One hundred seventy-five patients with mean (SD) age of 59.0 (10.1) years were included. Patients’ devices were 192 (62.3%) pressurized metered-dose inhalers (including pressurized metered-dose inhalers plus spacer) and 116 (37.7%) dry powder inhalers. Unfortunately, only 2.86% of patients used their inhalers completely correct. The highest rate of errors was committed by patients who used metered-dose inhalers plus spacer. Patients with a higher educational degree had significantly lower rate of errors on average (P = 0.001). The most frequent errors made by patients using pressurized metered-dose inhalers or Turbuhaler was priming the inhaler before the first administration in 90.6% and 78.3% of patients, respectively. Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Assessment Test scores in patients using different inhaler devices were not significantly different. However, in patients with lower quality of life, significantly more patients had poor inhaler technique (P = 0.0001). Conclusions: There is still considerable need for interventions to optimize inhaler technique. We also noted that appropriate inhaler technique is associated with better quality of life. (Curr Ther Res Clin Exp. 2020; 81:XXX–XXX)
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- 2020
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6. Factors Affecting the Incidence and Severity of Oral Mucositis Following Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation
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Maryam Valeh, Mona Kargar, Ava Mansouri, Hosein Kamranzadeh, Kheirollah Gholami, Kazem Heidari, and Moluk Hajibabaei
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Oral Mucositis (OM) ,Nystatin ,Povidone iodine ,Amphotericin ,Chlorhexidin ,Neoplasms. Tumors. Oncology. Including cancer and carcinogens ,RC254-282 - Abstract
Background: Patients who receive hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) experience several complications that oral mucositis (OM) is a frequent symptom. This study was designed to evaluate the incidence, risk factors, prophylaxis and treatment strategies for established OM. Materials and Methods: We included 173 adult patients who received autologous or allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in this study. The World Health Organization oral toxicity scale was used to assess the severity of OM. Patients received two prophylactic regimens: regimen 1 contained nystatin, chlorhexidine, povidone iodine and amphotericin B. Regimen 2 contained nystatin and povidone iodine. 70 patients (40.5%) received the first prophylaxis regimen, 89 patients (51.4%) received the second prophylaxis regimen and the remaining 14 patients (8.1%) were not adherence to the use of the mouthwashes and were excluded from the analysis. Results: OM was detected in 60.7% of patients with mean (SD) age of 38.1±14.6 years. Multivariate analysis showed that only the female gender and the prophylactic regimen were the significant predictors of OM. Conclusion: We found that addition of amphotericin B and chlorhexidine, to the nystatin and povidone iodine resulted in a significant beneficial effect in prevention OM.
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- 2018
7. Craving and drug reward: A comparison of celecoxib and ibuprofen in detoxifying opiate addicts
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sara jafari, sana khajehpour, emran mohammad razzaghi, kazem heidari, mehdi soleimani, and padideh ghaeli
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Celecoxib ,Desire for Drug Questionnaire ,Ibuprofen ,Opioid craving ,Pain. ,Psychiatry ,RC435-571 - Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Craving for substance abuse is a usual and complicated problem in patients, with opioid addiction, who are in their opioid cessation process. Craving has been added as one of the diagnostic criteria of substance use disorders in DSM-5. AIM: The present trial was intended to compare effects of celecoxib versus ibuprofen in reducing pain and in decreasing the desire to use opiates in patients undergoing opiate detoxification. (n=32). PATIENTS AND METHOD: A total of 32 patients (both inpatients and outpatients), who were undergoing opiate detoxification procedure entered this 4 week study. Subjects who suffered pain due to opiate withdrawal were randomized into two groups; group one received celecoxib 200 milligrams once daily and group two received ibuprofen 400 milligrams four times per day. Self-reported Desire for Drug Questionnaire (DDQ) was utilized at baseline and at the end of the study to evaluate changes in opiate craving. RESULTS: After 4 weeks of treatment, with either ibuprofen or celecoxib, significant improvements in pain and craving were noted in each group. However no significant difference between the two groups was observed after 4 weeks of treatment with celecoxib and ibuprofen. CONCLUSION: The study noted that both celecoxib and ibuprofen, reduce craving in patients with opiate craving after 4 weeks of treatment without any significant difference between the two groups. The results suggest further study of celecoxib and other NSAIDs in the maintenance treatment of opiate craving.
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- 2017
8. Evidence Based Pharmaceutical Care
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Kazem Heidari
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#No Keywords# ,Therapeutics. Pharmacology ,RM1-950 ,Pharmacy and materia medica ,RS1-441 - Published
- 2015
9. Development of novel prime-boost strategies based on a tri-gene fusion recombinant L. tarentolae vaccine against experimental murine visceral leishmaniasis.
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Noushin Saljoughian, Tahereh Taheri, Farnaz Zahedifard, Yasaman Taslimi, Fatemeh Doustdari, Azam Bolhassani, Delaram Doroud, Hiva Azizi, Kazem Heidari, Mohammad Vasei, Nabiollah Namvar Asl, Barbara Papadopoulou, and Sima Rafati
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Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine ,RC955-962 ,Public aspects of medicine ,RA1-1270 - Abstract
Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a vector-borne disease affecting humans and domestic animals that constitutes a serious public health problem in many countries. Although many antigens have been examined so far as protein- or DNA-based vaccines, none of them conferred complete long-term protection. The use of the lizard non-pathogenic to humans Leishmania (L.) tarentolae species as a live vaccine vector to deliver specific Leishmania antigens is a recent approach that needs to be explored further. In this study, we evaluated the effectiveness of live vaccination in protecting BALB/c mice against L. infantum infection using prime-boost regimens, namely Live/Live and DNA/Live. As a live vaccine, we used recombinant L. tarentolae expressing the L. donovani A2 antigen along with cysteine proteinases (CPA and CPB without its unusual C-terminal extension (CPB(-CTE))) as a tri-fusion gene. For DNA priming, the tri-fusion gene was encoded in pcDNA formulated with cationic solid lipid nanoparticles (cSLN) acting as an adjuvant. At different time points post-challenge, parasite burden and histopathological changes as well as humoral and cellular immune responses were assessed. Our results showed that immunization with both prime-boost A2-CPA-CPB(-CTE)-recombinant L. tarentolae protects BALB/c mice against L. infantum challenge. This protective immunity is associated with a Th1-type immune response due to high levels of IFN-γ production prior and after challenge and with lower levels of IL-10 production after challenge, leading to a significantly higher IFN-γ/IL-10 ratio compared to the control groups. Moreover, this immunization elicited high IgG1 and IgG2a humoral immune responses. Protection in mice was also correlated with a high nitric oxide production and low parasite burden. Altogether, these results indicate the promise of the A2-CPA-CPB(-CTE)-recombinant L. tarentolae as a safe live vaccine candidate against VL.
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- 2013
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10. Is Inhaler Technique Associated with Quality of Life in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease?
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Molouk Hadjibabaie, Arezou Ghasemi, Shahideh Amini, Mona Kargar, Kazem Heidari, Mohammad Solduzian, and Besharat Rahimi
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Pharmacology ,medicine.medical_specialty ,business.industry ,Inhaler ,dry powder inhalers ,lcsh:RM1-950 ,Pulmonary disease ,Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Assessment Test ,pulmonary disease chronic obstructive ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,lcsh:Therapeutics. Pharmacology ,030228 respiratory system ,Quality of life ,quality of life ,Dry powder ,Internal medicine ,Medicine ,Pharmacology (medical) ,In patient ,030212 general & internal medicine ,business ,metered dose inhalers ,Original Research - Abstract
Highlights • The study showed a high prevalence of incorrect technique among patients with COPD. • There is an association between inhaler technique (>30% error) and lower quality of life in these patients., Background Inhalers are the mainstay of treatment for patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. However, incorrect inhaler technique is a considerable challenge. Objective We aimed to evaluate inhaler technique and its association with quality of life in a sample of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Methods This cross-sectional study included patients with confirmed chronic obstructive pulmonary disease who were prescribed at least 1 inhaler medication on a regular basis. Patients were recruited from the outpatient pulmonary clinic of a hospital in Tehran. Inhaler technique was assessed according to a validated checklist. Patients’ quality of life was evaluated using Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Assessment Test. Results One hundred seventy-five patients with mean (SD) age of 59.0 (10.1) years were included. Patients’ devices were 192 (62.3%) pressurized metered-dose inhalers (including pressurized metered-dose inhalers plus spacer) and 116 (37.7%) dry powder inhalers. Unfortunately, only 2.86% of patients used their inhalers completely correct. The highest rate of errors was committed by patients who used metered-dose inhalers plus spacer. Patients with a higher educational degree had significantly lower rate of errors on average (P = 0.001). The most frequent errors made by patients using pressurized metered-dose inhalers or Turbuhaler was priming the inhaler before the first administration in 90.6% and 78.3% of patients, respectively. Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Assessment Test scores in patients using different inhaler devices were not significantly different. However, in patients with lower quality of life, significantly more patients had poor inhaler technique (P = 0.0001). Conclusions There is still considerable need for interventions to optimize inhaler technique. We also noted that appropriate inhaler technique is associated with better quality of life. (Curr Ther Res Clin Exp. 2020; 81:XXX–XXX)
- Published
- 2020
11. Prescribing for geriatrics in Tehran; is it appropriate and rational?
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Mona Kargar, Fatemeh Atrianfar, Arash Rashidian, Kazem Heidari, Maryam Noroozian, Kheirollah Gholami, and Mohammad Reza Javadi
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Beers criteria ,Antibacterial agents ,Inappropriate prescribing ,World Health Organization prescribing indices ,Original Article ,General Medicine ,potentially inappropriate medication list ,Drug prescriptions ,Aged ,Injections - Abstract
Background: The world’s population is growing older. Inappropriate and irrational use of drugs in the elderly is a considerable health concern due to consequences such as increased morbidity and adverse drug events. This study aimed to evaluate the rationality of prescribing and determining the extent of inappropriate prescribing in a sample of geriatric patients in Tehran. Methods: This cross sectional study was performed on 1512 prescriptions of patients aged ≥ 65 years from 5 pharmacies affiliated to Tehran University of Medical Sciences in 2014. Prescription of potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) was investigated using the Beers Criteria along with WHO prescribing indices. Date were analyzed using SPSS software, and significance level was set at less than 0.05. Results: Mean (SD) age of patients was 73.9(6.7) years. A total of 472 (31.2%) patients received at least 1 PIM. Benzodiazepines were the most frequent drug class and general practitioners (GPs) were the most frequent prescriber of PIMs. The highest and the lowest percentage of prescriptions containing brand-names were prescribed by subspecialists (62.5%) and GPs (42.2%), respectively. Antibiotics and injectable medications were prescribed for 26.8% and 28.5% of patients by GPs. Mean (SD) number of drugs per prescription was 3.57 (1.92). Prescriptions containing systemic antibiotics and PIMs had significantly higher mean number of drugs compared to those without these items (both P < 0.001). Conclusion: There is a need for interventions to improve the quality of prescribing for elderly patients, especially by GPs. Also, there are still some problems in rational use of drugs based on prescribing indices, especially, prescribing brand-names and injectable medications.
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- 2019
12. Likelihood ratio of computed tomography characteristics for diagnosis of malignancy in adrenal incidentaloma: systematic review and meta-analysis
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Akbar Soltani, Babak Mostafazadeh Davani, Kazem Heidari, Fatemeh Alsadat Sabet, and Reza Majdzadeh
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medicine.medical_specialty ,Pathology ,Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism ,MEDLINE ,Computed tomography ,Review Article ,Malignancy ,Adrenal incidentaloma ,030218 nuclear medicine & medical imaging ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Internal Medicine ,Medicine ,In patient ,medicine.diagnostic_test ,business.industry ,medicine.disease ,Likelihood ratio ,030220 oncology & carcinogenesis ,Meta-analysis ,Systematic review ,HU Density ,Radiology ,business - Abstract
Purpose To propose an evidence based diagnostic algorithm using mass characteristics to determine malignancy in patients with adrenal incidentaloma by CTscan. Methods A systematic review in Medline, Scopus, relevant reference books and desk searching was performed up to January 2016 with relevant reference checking. The summery estimates of sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative likelihood ratio of different characteristics were calculated in two groups of the articles investigating the cases without previous malignancy and the articles investigating the oncologic cases. Results Thirty six articles were included in this study. In the first group with no history of malignancy a positive and negative LR of 3.1 and 0.13 in 4 cm threshold and positive and negative LR of 2.85 and 0 in 10HU density were found. In the second group with history of malignancy positive and negative LR of 2.3 and 0.27 in 3 cm threshold and positive and negative LR of 3.6 and 0.08 in 20HU density were resulted. Conclusion The results retrieved in this study considering the limitations show that adrenal incidentaloma with a size less than 4 cm or a mass larger than 4 cm with density less than 10HU in the first group can be managed with imaging follow up. For masses larger than 4 cm with density more than 10HU another diagnostic procedure should be performed. In the second group an adrenal mass larger than 3 cm or less than 3 cm with density more than 20HU should go under operation. But masses smaller than 3 cm with less than 20HU density can be followed by imaging.
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- 2016
13. Development of novel prime-boost strategies based on a tri-gene fusion recombinant L. tarentolae vaccine against experimental murine visceral leishmaniasis
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Yasaman Taslimi, Hiva Azizi, Delaram Doroud, Farnaz Zahedifard, Tahereh Taheri, Nabiollah Namvar Asl, Azam Bolhassani, Fatemeh Doustdari, Kazem Heidari, Noushin Saljoughian, Barbara Papadopoulou, Mohammad Vasei, and Sima Rafati
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Protozoan Vaccines ,medicine.medical_treatment ,RC955-962 ,Antibodies, Protozoan ,Interferon-gamma ,Mice ,Immune system ,Antigen ,Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine ,Vaccines, DNA ,medicine ,Animals ,Biology ,Mice, Inbred BALB C ,Vaccines, Synthetic ,Attenuated vaccine ,biology ,Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health ,biology.organism_classification ,Leishmania ,medicine.disease ,Virology ,Immunity, Humoral ,Interleukin-10 ,Vaccination ,Infectious Diseases ,Visceral leishmaniasis ,Immunoglobulin G ,Immunology ,Leishmaniasis, Visceral ,Medicine ,Female ,Veterinary Science ,Gene Fusion ,Leishmania infantum ,Public aspects of medicine ,RA1-1270 ,Adjuvant ,Research Article - Abstract
Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a vector-borne disease affecting humans and domestic animals that constitutes a serious public health problem in many countries. Although many antigens have been examined so far as protein- or DNA-based vaccines, none of them conferred complete long-term protection. The use of the lizard non-pathogenic to humans Leishmania (L.) tarentolae species as a live vaccine vector to deliver specific Leishmania antigens is a recent approach that needs to be explored further. In this study, we evaluated the effectiveness of live vaccination in protecting BALB/c mice against L. infantum infection using prime-boost regimens, namely Live/Live and DNA/Live. As a live vaccine, we used recombinant L. tarentolae expressing the L. donovani A2 antigen along with cysteine proteinases (CPA and CPB without its unusual C-terminal extension (CPB-CTE)) as a tri-fusion gene. For DNA priming, the tri-fusion gene was encoded in pcDNA formulated with cationic solid lipid nanoparticles (cSLN) acting as an adjuvant. At different time points post-challenge, parasite burden and histopathological changes as well as humoral and cellular immune responses were assessed. Our results showed that immunization with both prime-boost A2-CPA-CPB-CTE-recombinant L. tarentolae protects BALB/c mice against L. infantum challenge. This protective immunity is associated with a Th1-type immune response due to high levels of IFN-γ production prior and after challenge and with lower levels of IL-10 production after challenge, leading to a significantly higher IFN-γ/IL-10 ratio compared to the control groups. Moreover, this immunization elicited high IgG1 and IgG2a humoral immune responses. Protection in mice was also correlated with a high nitric oxide production and low parasite burden. Altogether, these results indicate the promise of the A2-CPA-CPB-CTE-recombinant L. tarentolae as a safe live vaccine candidate against VL., Author Summary Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is the most severe form of leishmaniasis and has emerged as an opportunistic infection in HIV-1 infected patients in many parts of the world. Drug-resistant forms have developed so emergence and increased the need for advanced preventive strategies. Using live avirulent organisms as a vaccine has been proven to be more effective than other regimens. The lizard protozoan parasite Leishmania tarentolae is considered as nonpathogenic to humans. In our previous work, a recombinant L. tarentolae strain expressing the amastigote-specific L. donovani A2 antigen as a vaccine candidate elicited protection against L. infantum challenge in mice. Furthermore, combinations of CPA/CPB cysteine proteinases were more protective against visceral and cutaneous Leishmania infections than the individual forms. Herein, we used DNA/Live and Live/Live prime-boost vaccination strategies against visceral leishmaniasis in BALB/c mice consisting of the A2-CPA-CPB-CTE tri-fusion genes formulated with cationic solid lipid nanoparticles and a recombinant L. tarentolae expressing the tri-fusion. Assessments of cytokine production, humoral responses, parasite burden and histopathological studies support that the recombinant L. tarentolae A2-CPA-CPB-CTE candidate vaccine elicits a protective response against visceral leishmaniasis in mice and represents an important step forward in the development of new vaccine combinations against Leishmania infections.
- Published
- 2013
14. Concept mapping as a method to teach an evidence-based educated medical topic: a comparative study in medical students
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Akbar Soltani, Farzane Saeidifard, Kazem Heidari, and Moein Foroughi
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Medical education ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Evidence-based medicine ,Evidence-based practice ,Concept map ,business.industry ,Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism ,education ,Lecture-based teaching ,Subgroup analysis ,Medical students ,law.invention ,Randomized controlled trial ,law ,Family medicine ,Intervention (counseling) ,Internal Medicine ,medicine ,Cluster randomised controlled trial ,Concept mapping ,business ,Curriculum ,Research Article - Abstract
Background The objective of this study was to compare concept mapping with lecture-based method in teaching of evidence based educated topic to medical students. Methods This randomized controlled trial was carried out on medical students during sixth year of 7-year MD curriculum clerkship phase. Cluster randomization was used to divide students into intervention and control groups. Both groups, at the beginning, were taught “Diabetic Ketoacidosis” (DKA) using evidence-based tool named Critically Appraised Topics (CAT). Students of intervention group were taught construction of concept maps on DKA and in the control group students had a lecture and a group discussion about what they had been taught on DKA. In the end, all of the students had an exam that they had to answer to 7 questions following to two clinical scenarios. The questions addressed physiopathology, diagnosis and treatment of patients with DKA and were scored separately. Sum of these scores was considered as total score. Scores were compared between intervention and control groups. Results Seventy six medical students (28 male, 48 female) were participated in this study. Total score among intervention group was higher than control group (78.2% vs. 72.5%, p
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