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Background. Since prenatal care may have been affected during the COVID-19 pandemic, this study aimed to compare the content of prenatal care during the COVID19 pandemic with one year before the pandemic in Qazvin, Iran. Methods. This cross-sectional-analytical study included 722 pregnant mothers (361 before and 361 during the COVID-19 pandemic) referring to Qazvin health centers in 2018 and 2019. The "Evaluation of Care during Pregnancy" checklist was used to collect information. The information was extracted from the Integrated Health System (known as SIB), reporting offices of health centers. SPSS version 25 software was used to analyze the data. Results. The results showed a decrease in the number of prenatal care in all care times during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the pre-pandemic period (P<0.001). The rate of preterm pregnancies increased during the pandemic period (P<0.001). Performing the first round of screening, the first and second rounds of ultrasound and the second round of laboratory tests, respectively decreased by 23.8%, 11.1%, 13.3% (P<0.001), and 7% (P=0.004) in the pandemic period (P<0.001). The follow-up rate of referrals also decreased during the pandemic period (P<0.001). Conclusion. The results showed a decrease in the number and content of prenatal care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Practical Implications. The number and content of prenatal care during the COVID-19 crisis decreased in this study. Therefore, effective measures should be planned for this reduction. There is also a need to provide necessary training and preparations to the providers of prenatal care in critical times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives Chelation therapy is essential for beta-thalassemia major. This study aims to determine the complications clinical and laboratory symptoms of monotherapy and combined treatment of iron chelators in beta-thalassemia major patients in Yasuj. Materials and Methods In this cross-sectional-descriptive-analytical study, 103 patients with beta-thalassemia major in Yasuj city were evaluated during 2021-2022. After collecting the demographic, clinical and laboratory information of the patients, the results were reported as mean ± standard deviation and percentage. The degree of statistical differences between ratios was calculated using the Kruskal-Wallis test. Results The average age of our patients was reported to be 24.74 ± 8.34 years. 54.4% (n = 56) of the study patients were men and 45.6% (n = 47) were women. The results of the present study showed that there was a statistically significant difference in mean ferritin among different study groups (p = 0.028). Patients treated with deferoxamine showed the highest mean serum ferritin (5925.5 ± 3397ng%) and patients who took deferoxamine together with deferiprone or deferasirox had a lower mean ferritin compared to deferoxamine alone (3348 ± 2560, 4269 ± 3322 ng%), respectively. Also, the present study showed that after taking iron removers, 47.6% of patients (n = 49) had no clinical complications and 52.4% (n = 54) had at least one complication. Conclusions Our results showed that Deferoxamine can have a great effect in reducing iron deposition and serum ferritin levels in combination with oral drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Considering the broad spectrum of using nanoparticles in food coatings as a potent antimicrobial agent and their possible cytotoxic effects and accidental consumption of these toxic materials, this study was performed. The present study aimed to investigate the cytotoxicity of chitosan and nano-chitosan in vitro. Material & Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2019 in the Laboratory of the Department of Food Hygiene and Public Health, School of Veterinary Medicine, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran. The XRD and FITR techniques were employed to study the characteristics of these nanoparticles. Moreover, two cell lines, HT-29 and Vero, were used to study the cytotoxic effects of chitosan and nanochitosan by MTT assay, acridine orange, and ethidium bromide staining. One-way ANOVA and independent t-test were used to analyze the collected data with the help of SPSS software (version 19). Results:Based on the obtained findings, the maximum values of XRD at the angle of θ2 were observed at 20°. The highest peak appeared at 1530 cm-1, which was associated with tensile vibration of N-P-N. The spectrum diagram of chitosan due to the tensile vibration of synthetic nanochitosan of N-H bound appeared at 1646 cm-1. The results showed a proportional increase in the cytotoxicity with time and concentration of nanoparticles in the cells. Discussion & Conclusion: Since by increase in time and concentration of nanoparticles, toxicity was observed in cells; therefore, the time and concentration of chitosan nanoparticles are important in causing cytotoxicity. Considering the toxic effects of these nanocomposites on cancer cells, they can be used in cancer treatment, which requires further studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]