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Background: Despite traditional beliefs about the beneficial effects of opium use, current evidence suggests an adverse effect of this substance on cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors. The present study aimed to investigate the association between opium-addiction status and lipid profile, the severity of atherosclerosis (measured by Gensini score), inflammatory cytokines, and renal function among non-diabetic patients subjected to angiography.Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 95 post-angiography patients. Routine tests including lipid profile, blood urea, creatinine, and hematocrit were collected at the time of admission. Also, serum levels of IL-6 and IL-8 were measured using ELISA. Independent sample t-test, Mann-Whitney U test, and chi-square were used to compare variables according to opium addiction. Multivariate regression was conducted to adjust the effect of potential confounding variables.Results: Opium-addict subjects had a higher IL-6 (P=0.049) level and PLT number (P=0.005). In contrast, there was a lower level of TG (P=0.015) and GFR (P=0.039) in the opium-addict group. There was no association between opium addiction and other variables (P>0.05).Conclusion: Although no significant association was observed between addiction and atherosclerosis and even there was a lower level of TG in addict subjects, there was a direct association between the serum IL-6 levels (an important inflammatory cytokine with adverse effects on coronary artery disease) and opium addiction. It has been revealed that confounding variables affect the relationship between opium use and CVD outcomes. Therefore, well-designed prospective studies controlling a vast range of general variables seem to be necessary.

Background and Objective: Innovation, evaluating, and stabilizing the desirable educational practices are important tasks of the educational system. Accordingly, the purpose of this study is to investigate and compare the effect of in-person and teacher-centered education with virtual education in learning the history of Islamic culture and civilization course of Hamadan Medical Sciences students. Materials and Methods: This is an applied study in terms of nature and purpose and a quasi-experimental study. The statistical population consisted of 30 female medical students of Medical Sciences University of Hamadan who chose the book of History of Islamic Culture and Civilization in 2018; they were divided into two groups of 15 to participate in the process of in-person and teacher-centered education, and virtual education for teaching and learning Chapter 10 (Introduction to the basics of Iranian traditional medicine) by simple random allocation method. The evaluation criterion in the learning dimension of the course was the score obtained in the test. The validity of the questionnaire of their attitude toward these two educational methods were evaluated by the professors and experts in this field, and its reliability was confirmed by conducting a guide study and calculating the Cronbach's alpha. Results: The findings indicated that the students' academic test scores in this course, social cohesion and instructor had been in a better position in-person and teacher-centered teaching method. The mean of other elements such as success, negative affection, spontaneity in learning, opportunity and even overall satisfaction in the in-person method had been higher than the virtual teaching method. The findings show that in the virtual teaching method, the mean of social cohesion and students' satisfaction with the course instructor had been lower than the criterion mean. Conclusion: From the students' point of view, the presence and interaction with the professor is an essential and important element in the teaching and teaching methods that this interaction will lead to the development of relationships and social cohesion between the students and professor. In addition, the high mean of the test scores in the in-person and teacher-centered methods compared to the virtual method can indicate the shared role of the professor and student in learning.

Background: The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between hypertension and aldosterone-renin ratio (ARR) with the severity of coronary artery disease (CAD). Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on non-diabetic patients who were candidate for coronary angiography in Shafa hospital in Kerman in 2017. The levels of active renin and aldosterone were measured by the radioimmunoassay (RIA) method before angiography. All patients underwent coronary angiography to determine the severity of CAD. The CAD severity was described by the Gensini score. Results: Of the 306 patients, 174 (55.1%) were hypertensive. The overall prevalence of CAD in hypertensive and normotensive groups was not statistically different (39.7% versus 38.9%, p = 0.898). In groups with and without hypertension, normal coronary arteries were found in 60.3% and 60.8%, single-vessel disease in 15.5% and 17.7%, two-vessel disease in 14.4% and 11.5%, and three-vessel disease in 9.8% and 10.0%, respectively. The differences were not significant (p = 0.880). The average Gensini scores in hypertensive and normotensive groups were 29.27 ± 28.42 and 33.74 ± 33.05, respectively with no significant differences (p = 0.370). The mean ARR in those with normal coronaries, one, two, and three-vessel diseases was 3.17 ± 7.63, 2.51 ± 4.21, 1.93 ±1.57, and 1.20 ± 0.68, respectively with no significant difference (p = 0.696). We did not observe any association between the Gensini score and ARR (r = -0.126, p = 0.263). In multivariable linear regression model (Table 3), ARR could not predict the severity of CAD assessed by determining the Gensini score (Beta = -0.463, p = 0.636). Conclusion: There was no significant relation between hypertension and ARR to the severity of CAD.