---

Introduction: Idiopathic hypercalciuria (IH) has been recognized as a common disorder in childhood and is an important and common factor in formation of renal stones. Recurrent urinary tract infection is a clinical presentation of hypercalciuria. Regarding that Hydrochlorothiazide is effective in hypercalciuria treatment, therefore in this study we assessed the efficacy of Hydrochlorothiazide in preventing recurrent UTI in hypercalciuric girl patients. Materials & Methods: This research was a single blind randomized clinical trial. 100, 1 to 12 years old girls, who were followed by pediatric nephrology outpatient clinic in Vali-Asr and Amir Kabir hospitals, with the diagnosis of idiopathic hypercalciuria and at least two urinary tract infections in year, were included in study. Patients were randomly divided into two equal groups. First group received a general preventive treatment consisted of a liberal fluid , urination every 2 hours , reducing dietary salt intake , washing genitalia from front to back , wearing cotton loose underwear and complete urination. In second group, in addition to the general treatment, Hydrochlorothiazide was used with initial dose of 1mg/kg/day in a morning dosage.Then, urinary tract infection recurrence in two groups was assessed by student T test. Results: All patients who received Hydrochlorothiazide were normocalciuric. In each group, incidence of UTI non recurrence was 34% (17 cases), that was not significantly different. Conclusion: This study rejected the presence of hypercalciuria treatment effect in preventing recurrent urinary infection. Therefore, the association between UTI and IH needs to be closely studied with the attention to eliminate confounding factors.

---

Background: Aluminum, as an environmental pollutant, has destructive effects by inducing oxidative stress on male reproductive system and sperm. Silymarin, an effective substance extracted from Silybum marianum, is a potent antioxidant which inhibits oxidative stress. Because of toxic effects of aluminum and the antioxidant role of silymarin, this study was performed to investigate if silymarin can prevent the adverse effects of aluminum chloride on plasma membrane integrity and acrosome integrity in ram sperm.

Materials and Methods:  In this experimental study, epididymal spermatozoa from Farahani's ram are divided into five groups: sperm at 0 hour, sperm at 180 minutes (control), sperm treated with aluminum chloride (0.5mM) for 180 minutes, sperm treated with silymarin (0.5μM) + aluminum chloride (0.5μM) for 180 minutes and sperm treated with silymarin (0.5μM) for 180 minutes. To evaluate sperm plasma membrane integrity and sperm acrosome integrity, propidium iodide-Hoechst and comassie brilliant blue staining were used, respectively. The results were analyzed using one-way ANOVA and p<0.05 was considered as significant level.

Results:  The percentage of sperm plasma membrane integrity and acrosome integrity were significantly decreased in aluminum chloride group compared to the control. The simultaneous use of silymarin+aluminum chloride could significantly compensate the adverse effects of aluminum chloride on the sperm plasma membrane integrity and acrosome integrity compared to aluminum chloride.

Conclusion: Aluminum chloride induces toxic effect on ram sperm plasma membrane integrity and acrosome integrity and silymarin is able to compensate the adverse effect this pollutant on these parameters.