Original Articles : Causes of Visual Impairment among Patients Referred to a Visual Rehabilitation Clinic in Iran

( Alireza Ramezani ),( Maasome Pardis ),( Nasrin Rafati ),( Mohsen Kazemi Moghaddam ),( Marzieh Katibeh ),( Pooya Rostami ),( Mohammad Hossein Dehghan ),( Mohammad Ali Javadi ),( Zahra Rabbanikhah ) 대한안과학회 2012 Korean Journal of Ophthalmology Vol.26 No.2

Purpose: Epidemiologic evaluation and investigating the causes of visual impairment in any society is a matter of concern and has a direct effect on the country`s health care planning. In this study we describe causes of low vision and blindness in Iranian patients referred to rehabilitation clinics for taking vision aids. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, visual acuity was classified based on best-corrected visual acuity in the better eye according to the World Health Organization definition (blindness, visual acuity [VA]<20/400; severe visual impairment, VA<20/200-20/400; mild to moderate visual impairment, VA<20/60-20/200). The causes of blindness and low vision were determined using the 10th version of International Classification of Diseases based on the main cause in both eyes. To describe data, we used mean±SD and frequency. Results: The study included 432 patients, 65% male, with a mean age of 43.6±25.5 years (range, 3 to 92 years). Mild to moderate visual impairment, severe visual impairment and blindness were present in 122 (28.8%), 196 (46.4%) and 105 (24.8%) of the patients, respectively. The main causes of visual impairment were retinal and choroidal diseases (74.5%), optic nerve and optic tract diseases (9.8%), vitreous and globe disorders (5.3%), congenital cataract (3.1%), and glaucoma (2.6%). The distribution pattern of the causes was similar in all age subgroups. Conclusions: Diseases of the retina and choroid are the main cause of visual impairment among patients referred to an academic visual rehabilitation clinic in Iran.

Epidemiological and Demographic Study of Patients with Mucormycosis and COVID-19

Nader Saki,Alireza Rafati Navaei,Ali Delirrooyfard,Mina Jahangiri,Roomina Bagheri 대한의진균학회 2023 대한의진균학회지 Vol.28 No.2

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is associated with many bacterial and fungal diseases. Aspergillus and Candida have been reported as major pathogens resulting to comorbid infections in COVID-19 patients. Objective: Recent studies have shown a considerable burden of cases affected by mucormycosis after coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection worldwide, and some underlying factors may contribute to this condition. Hence, this study aimed to investigate the epidemiology and demographic characteristics of mucormycosis patients after COVID-19 infection in the Ahvaz province of Iran. Methods: This descriptive-analytical epidemiological study was conducted on patients who developed mucormycosis following COVID-19 for a 6-month period in 2021. A checklist based on symptoms and possible risk factors was used to collect patient information. Results: The results showed that conjunctivitis, ophthalmalgia, facial swelling, feeling of pain or pressure in the face, and sinusitis were the most common clinical manifestations of patients with mucormycosis following COVID-19. Additionally, there was a significant association between corticosteroid and prophylactic antibiotic use, pain or pressure in the face, and ophthalmalgia with the outcome variables including alive or dead (p-values = 0.002, 0.011, 0.034, and 0.004, respectively). No statistically significant difference was found between the ages of the two groups (p-value = 0.495). Conclusion: The study findings revealed that the most common risk factors for mortality include diabetes, immune system defects, and use of prophylactic antibiotics or corticosteroids.

Antitumor Effect of IP-10 by Using two Different Approaches: Live Delivery System and Gene Therapy

Yasaman Taslimi,Farnaz Zahedifard,Sima Habibzadeh,Tahereh Taheri,Hossain Abbaspour,Alireza Sadeghipour,Elham Mohit,Sima Rafati 한국유방암학회 2016 Journal of breast cancer Vol.19 No.1

Purpose: Immunotherapy is one of the treatment strategies for breast cancer, the most common cancer in women worldwide. In this approach, the patient’s immune system is stimulated to attack microscopic tumors and control metastasis. Here, we used interferon γ-induced protein 10 (IP-10), which induces and strengthens antitumor immunity, as an immunotherapeutic agent. We employed Leishmania tarentolae, a nonpathogenic lizard parasite that lacks the ability to persist in mammalian macrophages, was used as a live delivery system for carrying the immunotherapeutic agent. It has been already shown that arginase activity, and consequently, polyamine production, are associated with tumor progression. Methods: A live delivery system was constructed by stable transfection of pLEXSY plasmid containing the IP-10-enhanced green fluorescent protein (IP-10- egfp) fusion gene into L. tarentolae. Then, the presence of the IP-10-egfp gene and the accurate integration location into the parasite genome were confirmed. The therapeutic efficacy of IP- 10 delivered via L. tarentolae and recombinant pcDNA-(IP- 10-egfp) plasmid was compared by determining the arginase activity in a mouse 4T1 breast cancer model. Results: The pcDNA- (IP-10-egfp) group showed a significant reduction in tumor weight and growth. Histological evaluation also revealed that only this group demonstrated inhibition of metastasis to the lung tissue. The arginase activity in the tissue of the pcDNA-(IP- 10-egfp) mice significantly decreased in comparison with that in normal mice. No significant difference was observed in arginase activity in the sera of mice receiving other therapeutic strategies. Conclusion: Our data indicates that IP-10 immunotherapy is a promising strategy for breast cancer treatment, as shown in the 4T1-implanted BALB/c mouse model. However, the L. tarentolae- (IP-10-EGFP) live delivery system requires dose modifications to achieve efficacy in the applied regimen (six injections in 3 weeks). Our results indicate that the arginase assay could be a good biomarker to differentiate tumoral tissues from the normal ones.

Evaluation of a Polycaprolactone/Gelatin/Lucilia sericata Larva Extract Nanofibrous Mat for Burn-Wound Healing

Seyedeh‑Sara Hashemi,Zhila Hayatdavoodi,Mehdi Kian,Nahid Hassanzadeh Nemati,Davood Mehrabani,Ali‑Akbar Mohammadi,Alireza Rafati,Mojtaba Ghaedi,Behzad Ghafari,Adnan Alizadeh Naini 한국섬유공학회 2023 Fibers and polymers Vol.24 No.11

Electrospun nanofibrous mats have shown great potential for dressing skin wounds. In this study, a nanofibrous mat composed of polycaprolactone (PCL), Gelatin (GLT), and Lucilia sericata larva extract (LSLE) was fabricated by the electrospinning method. The morphology of the fabricated nanofibrous mat and its morphological properties (fibers distribution frequency, fiber diameter, pore area, number of pores, and intersection density) were evaluated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and ImageJ software. The PCL/GLT/LSLE nanofibrous mat had well-branched and porous structure with a mean diameter of 500.2 ± 20.46. The presence of functional groups of PCL and GLT polymers in the structure of the PCL/GLT/LSLE mat was confirmed by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Contact angle measurement and swelling behavior assessment showed that the PCL/GLT/LSLE mat had better surface wettability (75.67 ± 2.71) and hydrophilicity (241.8 ± 27.01) properties in comparison with the PCL and PCL/GLT mats. Findings from the MTT assay indicated the biocompatibility of the PCL/GLT/LSLE mat for human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs). In addition, the anchorage and proliferation of HDFs on the PCL/GLT/LSLE mat was confirmed by SEM. Macroscopic and histopathological evaluations were performed at the end of the 3, 7, and 14 days after the conduction of experimental burn wound injury in rats. The results indicated that grafting the skin wounds with the PCL/GLT/LSLE nanofibrous mat accelerated the wound closure and improved histopathological score compared to the other animal groups dressed with the PCL and PCL/GLT mats. In conclusion, the PCL/GLT/LSLE nanofibrous mat has promising potential for dressing skin wounds.