Dexmedetomidine as an adjunctive treatment for acute asthma

Hassan Motamed,Arash Forouzan,Meisam Moezzi,Hossein Alizadeh 대한응급의학회 2021 Clinical and Experimental Emergency Medicine Vol.8 No.2

Objective This study aimed to compare the efficacy of using dexmedetomidine with salbutamol and salbutamol nebulization alone in patients with acute exacerbation of asthma presenting to the emergency department. Methods This clinical trial included 60 patients, in the age range of 18 to 55 years, with signs of bronchospasm presenting to the emergency department. In the intervention group, dexmedetomidine 0.5 μg/kg was injected intravenously and three doses of salbutamol nebulization were administered over 60 minutes. In the control group, salbutamol nebulization was administered for 60 minutes three times. The patient’s clinical status, based on clinical symptoms, consciousness, speech, breathing rate, heart rate, and blood pressure were recorded before the intervention, and peak expiratory flow rate and forced expiratory volume in 1 second were measured at 20, 40, and 60 minutes after intervention. Patients who did not respond to the intervention were excluded from the study within 60 minutes. Results The increased mean forced expiratory volume in 1 second and mean peak expiratory flow rate were found to be similar in both groups during the treatment (P=0.304). The mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure recorded at 40 and 60 minutes were significantly lower in the intervention group. During this study, no patient was excluded before 60 minutes. Conclusion Administration of dexmedetomidine in addition to standard salbutamol treatment has no beneficial effect in patients with acute asthma attacks and merely causes hypotension in patients.

LV Complementary Differential Pair with Programmable Rail-to-Rail Constant-gm

Hwang, Chang Ku,Motamed, Ali,Ismail, Mohammed 대한전자공학회 1996 APCCAS:Asia Pacific Conference on Circuits And Sys Vol.1 No.1

This paper a new differential pair architecture with programmable rail-to-rail constant-g_m is presented. Since the architecture adopts signal processing method to obtain constant-g_m, it can be implemented in any complementary VLSI technology and it functions regardless of transistor operating regions. A MOS implementation is discussed and is shown to operate in both weak and strong inversion, resulting in a programmable g_m over very wide range.

Silibinin- Induced Apoptosis and Downregulation of MicroRNA-21 and MicroRNA-155 in MCF-7 Human Breast Cancer Cells

Masoud Maleki Zadeh,Nasrin Motamed,Najmeh Ranji,Mohammad Majidi,Fahimeh Falahi 한국유방암학회 2016 Journal of breast cancer Vol.19 No.1

Purpose: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have received much attention owing to their aberrant expression in various stages of cancer. In many biological processes, miRNAs negatively regulate gene expression, and may be useful in therapeutic strategies. The present study evaluated the effects of silibinin (silybin), a natural flavonoid, on miRNA expression and attempted to elucidate therapeutic targets in MCF-7 breast cancer cells. Methods: The rates of cell proliferation and apoptosis were determined in silibinintreated and untreated MCF-7 cells. Furthermore, the expression levels of miR-21 and miR-155 were measured in MCF-7 cells after incubation with silibinin (100 μg/mL), and the putative targets of the miRNAs within the apoptotic pathways were predicted using bioinformatic approaches. The expression levels of some of these targets were evaluated by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Results: Silibinin induced apoptosis in MCF-7 cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. qRT-PCR analysis revealed a decrease in miR-21 and miR- 155 expression levels in silibinin-treated cells relative to the levels in the untreated cells. Potential miR-21 and miR-155 targets within the apoptotic pathways, such as CASP-9, BID, APAF-1, CASP-3, CASP-8, and PDCD4, were predicted by in silico analysis. qRT-PCR analysis showed upregulation of some of these potential targets including caspase-9 (CASP-9) and BID after silibinin treatment for 48 hours. Conclusion: Our results suggest a correlation between the expression of miR-21 and miR-155, and MCF-7 cell proliferation. The antiproliferative activity of silibinin may partly be attributable to the downregulation of miR-21 and miR-155, and the upregulation of their apoptotic targets. Furthermore, the upregulation of CASP-9 and BID indicates that silibinin induces apoptosis through both the extrinsic and intrinsic pathways.

Presence of Two Apocarotenoids in Volatile Constituents of Onosma dichroanthum

Seyed Pouya Mousavi,Mohammadi Motamed 한국생약학회 2020 Natural Product Sciences Vol.26 No.2

Volatile constituents obtained by water distillation from the aerial parts and root of Onosma dichroanthum Boiss (Boraginaceae) native to the north of Iran were investigated by GC and GC/MS for the first time. Palmitic acid (39.61%) and decane (31.39%) were the major components in the root while decane (26.26%) and phytol (25.52%) were the predominant constituents in the aerial parts. Ketones, aldehydes, alkanes, fatty acids, oxygenated diterpenes and sesquiterpenes were characterized as the most phytochemicals in the aerial parts. Alkanes and fatty acids were identified as the main groups in the root volatile substances. There were two ketone derivatives, belong to apocarotenoids, in the aerial parts; β-ionone and hexahydrofarnesyl acetone.

Learning curves for three specific procedures by anesthesiology residents using the learning curve cumulative sum (LC-CUSUM) test

Gregoire Weil,Cyrus Motamed,David J Biau,Marie Laurence Guye 대한마취통증의학회 2017 Korean Journal of Anesthesiology Vol.70 No.2

Background: The learning curve cumulative sum (LC-CUSUM) test is an innovative tool that allows quantitative monitoring of individual medical performance during the learning process by determining when a predefined acceptable level of performance is reached. This study used the LC-CUSUM test to monitor the learning process and failure rate of anesthesia residents training for specific subspecialty anesthesia procedures. Methods: The study included 490 tracheal punctures (TP) for jet ventilation, 340 thoracic epidural analgesia (TEA) procedures, and 246 fiberoptic nasal intubations (FONI) performed by 18 residents during their single 6-month rotation. Results: Overall, 27 (14–52), 19 (5–41), and 14 (6–33) TP, TEA, and FONI procedures were performed, respectively, by each resident. In total, 2 of 18 residents achieved an acceptable failure rate for TEA according to the literature and 4 of 18 achieved an acceptable failure rate for FONI, while none of the residents attained an acceptable rate for TP. Conclusions: A single 6-month rotation in a reference teaching center may not be sufficient to train residents to perform specific or sub-specialty procedures as required. A regional learning network may be useful. More patient-based data are necessary to conduct a risk adjustment analysis for such specific procedures.

Evaluating the effects of probiotics in pediatrics with recurrent abdominal pain

Rahmani, Parisa,Ghouran-Orimi, Azin,Motamed, Farzaneh,Moradzadeh, Alireza The Korean Pediatric Society 2020 Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics (CEP) Vol.63 No.12

Background: Recurrent abdominal pain (RAP) is one of the frequent complaints in general practice, particularly in pediatrics and is among the common cause of referral to gastroenterology clinics. Purpose: This study is designed to investigate the effects of probiotics for the treatment of RAP and desired therapeutic outcomes. Methods: One hundred twenty-five children with the diagnosis of RAP according to Rome III criteria for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), functional abdominal pain (FAP), functional dyspepsia (FD), and abdominal migraine (AM), were enrolled in this double-blind randomized controlled trial. Results: Sixty-five subjects received probiotics, and others received placebo treatment for 4 weeks. Lactobacillus reuteri was therapeutically effective in 32 patients compared to 8 patients, responding to the placebo treatment. Compared to baseline, all pain-related variables showed a significant reduction for the IBS and FD at the end of the 4th week. However, it did not respond well in FAP and AM groups. Pain-related outcomes such as, frequency of the pain, severity, and duration of the pain were decreased following the probiotic treatment. No therapeutic response was seen in AM group after the administration of probiotics. L. reuteri significantly led to pain relief in the overall population, and also in FAP, FD, and IBS subgroups. Conclusion: L. reuteri probiotics are likely to lead to RAP relief and can be recommended for the treatment of functional gastrointestinal disorders.

Original Article : Evaluation of Antibody Response to Polysaccharide Vaccine and Switched Memory B Cells in Pediatric Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease

( Gholamhossein Fallahi ),( Asghar Aghamohammadi ),( Ahmad Khodadad ),( Mojtaba Hashemi ),( Payam Mohammadinejad ),( Hossein Asgarian Omran ),( Mehri Najafi ),( Fatemeh Farhmand ),( Farzaneh Motamed ) The Editorial Office of Gut and Liver 2014 Gut and Liver Vol.8 No.1

Background/Aims: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic disease of the gastrointestinal tract, whose etiologies are still unknown. This study was performed to evaluate the humoral immune response in terms of B cell functions in selected IBD patients. Methods: Eighteen pediatric patients with IBD, including 12 cases of ulcerative colitis (UC) and six with Crohn disease (CD), were enrolled in this study. The pneumococcal vaccine was injected in all patients, and the IgG antibody level to the polysaccharide antigen was measured before and 4 weeks after injection. The B cell switch-recombination process was evaluated. Results: Five patients with IBD (three CD and two UC) had defects in B cell switching, which was significantly higher than in controls (p=0.05). Ten patients had a specific antibody deficiency and exhibited a higher frequency of bacterial infection than the healthy group. The mean increased level of IgG after vaccination was lower in IBD patients (82.9±32.5 μg/mL vs 219.8±59.0 μg/mL, p=0.001). Among the patients who had an insufficient response, no significant difference in the number of switched memory B-cell was observed. Conclusions: A defect in B lymphocyte switching was observed in pediatric IBD patients, and especially in those patients with CD. Owing to an increased risk of bacterial infections in those patients with antibody production defects, pneumococcal vaccination could be recommended. However, not all patients can benefit from the vaccination, and several may require other prophylactic methods. (Gut Liver 2014,8:24-28)

Prevalence of Colorectal Polyps in a Group of Subjects at Average-risk of Colorectal Cancer Undergoing Colonoscopic Screening in Tehran, Iran between 2008 and 2013

Sohrabi, Masoudreza,Zamani, Farhad,Ajdarkosh, Hossien,Rakhshani, Naser,Ameli, Mitra,Mohamadnejad, Mehdi,Kabir, Ali,Hemmasi, Gholamreza,Khonsari, Mahmoudreza,Motamed, Nima Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.22

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the prime causes of mortality around the globe, with a significantly rising incidence in the Middle East region in recent decades. Since detection of CRC in the early stages is an important issue, and also since to date there are no comprehensive epidemiologic studies depicting the Middle East region with special attention to the average risk group, further investigation is of significant necessity in this regard. Aim: Our aim was to investigate the prevalence of preneoplastic and neoplastic lesions of the colon in an average risk population. Materials and Methods: A total of 1,208 eligible asymptomatic, average- risk adults older than 40 years of age, referred to Firuzgar Hospotal in the years 2008-2012, were enrolled. They underwent colonoscopy screening and all polypoid lesions were removed and examined by an expert gastrointestinal pathologist. The lesions were classified by size, location, numbers and pathologic findings. Size of lesions was measured objectively by endoscopists. Results: The mean age of participants was $56.5{\pm}9.59$ and 51.6% were male. The overall polyp detection rate was 199/1208 (16.5 %), 26 subjects having non-neoplastic polyps, including hyperplastic lesions, and 173/1208 (14.3%) having neoplastic polyps, of which 26 (2.15%) were advanced neoplasms. The prevalence of colorectal neoplasia was more common among the 50-59 age group. Advanced adenoma was more frequent among the 60-69 age group. The majority of adenomas were detected in the distal colon, but a quarter of advanced adenomas were found in the proximal colon; advance age and male gender was associated with the presence of adenoma. Conclusions: It seems that CRC screening among average-risk population might be recommended in countries such as Iran. However, sigmioidoscopy alone would miss many colorectal adenomas. Furthermore, the 50-59 age group could be considered as an appropriate target population for this purpose in Iran.