Background: Idiopathic nephritic syndrome (INS) is one of the chronic illnesses in children. Therefore, clinical and laboratory factors that influence the clinical course of this disease are very important. Among these factors, low birthweight due to reduction of the number of congenital nephrons and subsequent glomerular hyperfiltration has been postulated as an important factor. This study was conducted to evaluate the clinical course of INS in patients with lowbirth weight in comparison to patients with normal birth weight.

Materials and Methods: In this descriptive-analytic study, 170 children with INS were selected from hospitals in Kermanshah, Urmia, Hamedan, Qazvin, and Ahvaz and divided into two groups of low birth weight (<2500gr) and normal birth weight (>2500gr). Then, the clinical course of these patients was evaluated by reviewing their medical records.

Results: Of the 170 patients, 22 had low birth weight and 148 had normal birthweight. Statistical analysis revealed no correlation between low birth weight and INS course except for age of presentation (P=0.014).

Conclusion: According to the results of this study, there is not any correlation between body birth weight and the clinical course of INS except for age of presentation.

  Background: Due to the lack of efficient anti-HIV vaccine, anti-HIV pharmaceuticals play an important role in controlling HIV infection. Also significant rise in drug resistance and drug toxicity has caused increased interest in finding new anti-HIV agents. In this study, a nano-sized version of lamivudine based on PEGylated chitosan was synthesized.

  Materials and Methods: In this research, nanoparticles of chitosan were efficiently PEGylated for increasing their stability in water and then the anti-HIV drug, lamivudine, was loaded on these PEGylated nanoparticles. After purification and lyophilization of new synthesized nanoparticle, the raw materials and final product were sampled and FTIR, HNMR and CHN analyses were done.

  Results: Results of HNMR spectroscopy showed that chitosan nanoparticle was successfully PEGylated. HNMR data confirmed FTIR results and indicated that lamivudine was conjugated on chitosan nanoparticle. In addition, CHN analysis data also confirmed both HNMR and FTIR data, and demonstrated that a high yield of chitosan nanoparticle PEGylation (approximately 97%) was done and illustrated a high capacity of lamivudine conjugation on nano-sized PEGylated chitosan (30% _W/W chitosan).

  Conclusion: In this study, lamivudine drug was successfully synthesized, based on PEGylated chitosan nanoparticle.

Background: Nef is one of the HIV-1 critical proteins, because it is essential for viral replication and AIDS disease progression and induction of immune response against it can partially inhibit viral infection. Moreover, a domain of the HIV-1 Trans-Activator of Transcription (Tat, 48-60 aa) could act as a cell penetrating peptide (CPP). In current study, cloning and expression of Tat-Nef fusion protein was performed in E. coli for the first time. The protein expression was confirmed by western blot analysis and was purified using reverse staining method.

Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, primarily, cloning of Tat-Nef fusion gene was done in pGEX6p2 expression vector. Then, the expression of Tat-Nef recombinat protein in E.coli BL21 (DE3) strain was performed by using IPTG inducer. The protein expression was confirmed by SDS-PAGE and western blotting using anti-Nef monoclonal antibody. Then, the recombinant fusion protein was purified from gel using reverse staining method.

Results: The results of PCR analysis and enzyme digestion showed a clear band of ~ 726 bp in agarose gel indicating the correct Tat-Nef fusion cloning in pGEX6p2 prokaryotic expression vector. In addition, a 54 kDa band of Tat-Nef on SDS-PAGE revealed Tat-Nef protein expression that western blot analysis using anti-Nef monoclonal antibody confirmed it.

Conclusion: The purified Tat-Nef recombinant fusion protein will be used as an antigen for protein vaccine design against HIV infection.

Abstract

Background: Infertility is described as a loss that this event is serious tension in life and it makes extreme trauma on couples. This research aimed to investigate the effect of group psychotherapy based on life quality on marriage intimacy of infertile women.

Materials and Methods: This research method was in semi-test methodology with pre-test, post- test and follow-up test plan with control group and statistical sample was 32 persons (16 persons in test group and 16 persons in control group) that they were chosen in available sampling mode from Royan center in Arak and both two groups were peer in research standards. Test group received training for 5 sessions in 90 minute. For collecting data, Bagarozzi marital intimacy questionnaire was used. Data were analyzed by analysis of covariance by using SPSS software.

Results: Results showed that life quality training affected significantly on marriage intimacy of infertile women and improved it. Significant difference between pre-test, post-test and follow-up average scores of test and control groups showed effectiveness of life quality training on infertile women ( p=0.003<0.05 ,f=27.57).

Conclusion: The research showed that group therapy of life quality plan affected on marital intimacy and improved it. Therefore, it is recommended as a supplement.

Background and Aim Sciatica is one of the most common diseases of the peripheral nervous system and may be caused by pressure on the sciatic nerve. Due to the fact that piriformis muscle located near the sciatic nerve, piriformis muscle spasm may put pressure on the nerve and cause sciatica and consequently piriformis syndrome. The present study aims to investigate the effect of core stability exercises on pain and inflammation of patients with piriformis syndrome.
Methods & Materials This is a randomized clinical trial. The study population consists of all patients with piriformis syndrome referred to medical centers in Arak, Iran from. Of these, 20 were purposefully selected and randomly divided into two groups of control (n=10) and exercise (n=10). The exercise group performed core stability exercises for 6 weeks, while the control group continued their normal life during this period. To examine the differences between the study groups, t-test, Chi-Square test, and McNemar’s test were used. The significance level was set at 0.05.
Ethical Considerations This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Arak University of Medical Sciences (Code: IR.ARAKMU.REC.1400.157) and was registered by Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (ID: IRCT20211003052662N1). Informed consent was obtained from all participants.
Results The Mean pain score in the control group decreased from 95.2 to 90.7 after the exercise, which was not statistically significant (P=0.562). In the exercise group, the mean pain score decreased from 91.7 to 33.4, and this decrease was statistically significant (P=0.0); Therefore, at 95% confidence interval, we can say that core stability exercises had a significant effect on the pain of patients with piriformis syndrome (P<0.05). The number of patients with inflamed nerve in the control group decreased from 10 in the pre-test phase to 8 in the post-test phase, but this decrease was not statistically significant (P=0.5). In the exercise group, it was reduced from 10 to 2, and this decrease was statistically significant (P=0.008); Therefore, we can say that core stability exercises had a significant effect on the inflammation of patients with piriformis syndrome (P<0.05).
Conclusion Core stability exercises can reduce pain and inflammation in patients with piriformis syndrome. These exercises can be used in the treatment of these patients.