Background: Fluoxetine or Prozac is a serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI). Considering the importance of this drug for the treatment of neurological disorder, such as anorexia and depression its side effects on the endocrine axis of body are of significance. Hence, the present study was conducted to evaluate the effects of fluoxetine on cortisol and thyroid hormone levels and body weight in male rates.

Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, 30 adult male rats (230±20 gr BW) were randomly divided into 3 equal groups: sham, control and treatment. Rats in the control group were kept in normal conditions in animal house, whereas treatment and sham groups were, respectively, injected 32 mg/kg BW of fluoxetine and 0.9 ml of normal saline (i.p) for 35 days. During this time, body weight of all animal was measured and after 35 days, blood was collected by heart puncture and separation of serums to evaluate T3, T4, fT3, fT4, and cortisol hormones through RIA method. The results were statisticaly evaluated by one-way ANOVA test.

Results: Taking fluoxetine for 35 days significantly decreased the level (p&le0.05) in serum concentrations of Ft3, fT4, T4 and cortisol hormones compared to the control and sham groups. However, no significant differences were observed in the serum concentration of T3 hormone in treatment group compared to the the control group. The drug also caused a significant decrease in the average weight of rats in the treatment group compared to the control group (p&le 0.05).

Conclusion: By affecting the activity of different levels of hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal hormones axis, fluoxetin decreases the level of cortisol hormones. It also reduces the activity of the thyroid gland this is probably due to the increased prolactin secretion through inhibiting TRH secretion and reducing the production of TSH and thyroid hormones

Background: Birthweight less than 2500 grams is the major indicators of neonatal and infant health. The studies on animals show that copper and zinc deficiency in pregnancy is associated with fetal growth and congenital abnormalities. Therefore, our study was conducted to evaluate the role of these two elements on human embryos.

 Materials and Methods: In this descriptive study, cord blood of all infants born in Nik-Nafs Maternity of Rafsanjan was Collected for 1 year. Then, serum was separated and saved. In total, 64 samples including 9 infants with congenital anomalies, 21 infants with a weight equal to or less than 2500 grams and 34 healthy infants were selected randomly as control group. The level of copper and zinc in cord boold was measured by the spectrophotometric method and data analysis was carried out by SPSS 17 software and statistical methods involving Chi-square, T-test and analysis of variance.

Results: No significant relation was shown between the levels of copper and zinc withbirth weight and congenital abnormalities. Also, there was not any significant correlation between these two teo elements and some pregnancy risk factors such as type of delivery, premature rupture of membrane, placental decolman, placental previa, preeclampsia, gravidity, height, head circumference and Apgar scores.

 Conclusion: The findings indicate that the levels of copper and zinc in cord blood are not associated with incidence of low birth weight, congenital malformations and pregnancy risk factors.

Background: Hysterectomy is one of the most common surgical procedures. Only after cesarian section, hysterectomys considered as second major surgical procedure. Problems such as severe pelvic pain, irregular or heavy bleeding and uterine cancer are cases that hysterectomy is used to care them. Abdominal pain after abdominal hysterectomy is one of the most common complaints of patients undergoing this type of surgery. This study aimed to compare the effects of bupivacaine into the subcutaneous tissue and skin ketamine to control pain after surgery in patients undergoing abdominal hysterectomy under general anesthesia.

Materials and Methods: This study is a randomized, double-blind clinical trial involving 99 women candidating for TAH referred to Taleghani center in Arak who were divided into three groups. The average duration of analgesia and pain and pain score were recorded.

Results: The average duration of analgesia in ketamine group, in the bupivacaine group and in the placebo group was 65.1±8.8, 65.4±8.7, and 57.6±5.5, respectively. According to p≤0.01, there was a significant difference between the three groups. The duration of analgesia in the placebo group was significantly lower than ketamine and bupivacaine groups, while that between ketamine and bupivacaine in terms of the average duration of analgesia, no significant difference was observed.

Conclusion: The results of our study indicate that the use of bupivacaine and cutaneous ketamine is effective in reducing postoperative pain in patients undergoing abdominal hysterectomy and further doses of ketamine and bupivacaine single dose resulted in a significant reduction of postoperative pain in patients compared to the placebo group.