Ali Ahmadi

Quality of articles' methodology is one of the important factors which is considered by researchers. This study was conducted to determine statistical guidelines on promotion of methodology's quality in the articles concerning medical sciences, particularly nephrology, to assist authors and reviewers. This study is a systematic review. Initially, the keywords "Epidemiologic Methods/analysis" [Mesh] OR "Epidemiologic Methods/epidemiology" and "reporting" were selected in Medline database. Then, reliable databases were searched for relevant publications. Being relevant, containing viewpoints, and recommending statistical guidelines as well as approval of at least two of the three examiners of articles were determined as the inclusion criteria into the study. Two hundred relevant articles were retrieved. Thirty-two articles met the inclusion criteria. By the examined articles, 30 applied points have determinative role for improving and promoting qu...

Vitamin D is an important mediator of calcium metabolism. It has also been implicated as a potential contributor to the pathophysiology of various extra-skeletal conditions, consisting hypertension, renal disease, and insulin resistance. The primary objective of this study was to determine whether oral vitamin D (cholecalciferol) supplementation can lead to improvement of blood pressure in type 2 diabetes patients. This study was a double blind clinical trial conducted on 60 type 2 diabetes mellitus patients. Exclusion criteria were taking calcium, vitamin D supplements or any drugs effecting calcium and vitamin D metabolism in the past 6 months. Patients were administered weekly vitamin D supplementation (50000 units) for 12 weeks. Serum 25-Hydroxy vitamin D [25(OH)D] level was measured with ELISA method. Five patients (8.3%) had vitamin D deficiency, 27 (45%) had insufficient levels of vitamin D and in 28 (45%) patients vitamin D level was within normal limits. The means of systol...

Bitter Melon (BM) is known for its hypoglycemic effect and is commonly used in populations. This study examined the effects and safety of bitter melon fruit in laboratory mice. In this experimental study 70 male mice (25-30 gr) were randomly divided into 7 groups. The mice were injected intraperitoneally with single doses of 0, 100, 500, 1000, 2000 and 4000 mg/kg and multiple doses 500 mg/kg daily for 7 days. The mice were then observed for 72 hours before sacrificing. Immediately kidneys were taken out for histological examinations. Tubular cell vacuolization and flattening as well as hyaline casts, debris and dilatation of tubular lumen were the morphologic lesions which were assessed with scores from 0 to 4, while zero score addressed normal renal tissue. Serum samples were assayed for kidney function (creatinine; Cr and Blood Urea Nitrogen; BUN). Blood and bitter melon antioxidant activities were measured, too. Data were analyzed with Stata software (Stata Corp. 2011. Stata Stat...

Renal biopsies play an important role in the diagnosis, management and prognosis of patients with lupus nephritis (LN). To determine the correlation between the pathological features of LN and the demographic, clinical and laboratory parameters. This retrospective study was conducted from 2008 to 2014 on all consecutive cases of biopsy-proven LN at a nephropathology laboratory in Iran. The demographic, clinical and laboratory data were obtained from patients(') files and the biopsy findings from the original biopsy request forms. Of the 84 patients enrolled, 69 (82.2%) were females and 15 (17.8%) males. The mean age was 32.7±12 years. The mean serum creatinine was 1.5±0.94 mg/dl and the mean 24-h proteinuria, 1.6±1.9 grams. The majority of cases belonged to classes III and IV. The extracapillary proliferation was found in 42.86% of biopsies and endocapillary proliferation in 66.67% of biopsies. Patients of class IV-LN had a higher mean serum value of creatinine in comparison to ...

Studies have revealed the association between vitamin D deficiency and changes in blood glucose and insulin levels as well as sensitivity of the target tissues to insulin. In this study, we examined the effect of adding vitamin D (cholecalciferol ; 50,000 units) to therapeutic regimen of T2DM patients compared to placebo on regulating the blood glucose and glycemic parameters. This study was a double blind clinical trial conducted on 60 type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients. Exclusion criteria were taking calcium, vitamin D supplements or any drugs effecting calcium and vitamin D metabolism in the past 6 months. Serum 25-Hydroxy vitamin D [25(OH)D] level was measured with ELISA method. Patients were administered weekly vitamin D supplementation (50000 units) for 12 weeks. There was no significant relation between HbA1c and 25(OH)D level prior the study (p> 0.05). After intervention, 25(OH)D level in interventional group was significantly higher compared to that of control grou...

Dyslipidemia and high blood pressure in diabetic patients increase the risk of microvascular and macrovascular complications. This study was conducted to investigate the association between serum lipids and level of blood pressure in type 2 diabetic patients (T2D). A prospective analytical study was carried out in 60 patients with T2D of both genders. None of the patients had a history of hypertension, and none was treated with antihypertensive drugs. Resting systolic blood pressures and fifth phase diastolic blood pressures were measured three times while the subjects were seated, and the results were averaged second and third measurements. Sixty patients with T2D were enrolled to the study. None of the patients who had a history of gout, was treated with allopurinol or treated with antihypertensive drugs previously. Of 60 participants, mean of serum creatinine was 0.98±0.22 mg/dL. Mean of systolic and diastolic blood pressure was 133±13 mmHg and 84±7.4 mmHg respectively. In this s...

Reactive oxygen species have been shown to be mediators of kidney injury and green tea polyphenols are potent-free radical scavengers. In this study we sought to examine whether green tea was able to protect renal toxicity induced by contrast media or not. In this experimental study 40 rats were randomly divided into four groups including: 1) control group 2) contrast media group 3) contrast media plus green tea 4) Green tea pretreatment and contrast media group. Blood urea Nitrogen (BUN) and serum creatinine were assessed for severity of kidney injury. Serum creatinine level was higher in group II than in other groups (p<0.001). Treatment (group 3) or pretreatment (group 4) with green tea significantly reduced blood creatinine level when compared with contrast media group (group 2). In this study, beneficial property of green tea, against renal toxicity of contrast media was observed. Green tea extract is an inexpensive, nontoxic, and effective treatment modality in individuals ...

Myocardial infarction (MI) care and treatment contribute greatly to the patients' fatality and mortality. Assessing and monitoring mortalities and the effective factors are necessary in MI care and treatment programs. No comprehensive and population-based study has been yet conducted in Iran to determine the epidemiologic pattern of MI and particularly in-hospital mortality rate and the effective factors. This study was aimed to determine the epidemiologic pattern of MI based on person, time, place and mortality-associated risk factors. This was a prospective, population-based cohort study which analyzed the data of 20750 MI patients in Iran in 2012. MI was diagnosed based on ICD10: the codes I21 and I22. The cohort of the patients was defined in terms of the date at diagnosis, hospitalization, and the date at discharge (recovery or death due to MI). The in-hospital mortality rate was calculated by Cox regression. Univariate analysis and multiple logistic regression were used to...

Few studies are available regarding the various promoting factors of H. pylori infection in kidney disease patients especially renal transplant individuals. This study was therefore conducted to examine the association of serum magnesium with H. pylori infection among kidney transplant patients. This cross-sectional investigation was conducted on a group of stable kidney transplant patients. Peripheral venous blood samples were collected for biochemical analysis after an overnight fast, Also urea breath test (UBT) was conducted for patients. A total of 50 cases was enrolled to the study. Mean serum magnesium value of the patients was 1.98 ± 0.62 mg/dl. Serum magnesium level in positive H. pylori patients was more than negative H. pylori patients (p=0.0005). In this study population, there was no significant difference in serum intact PTH, calcium, alkaline phosphatase, albumin levels and body mass index (BMI) between males and females or H. pylori positive and H. pylori negative sub...

IgA nephropathy (IgAN) is the most prevalent primary chronic glomerulopathy worldwide. Thus, it is of vital importance to search for factors aggravating the disease progress, monitor disease activity and predict disease-specific therapy. C4d is a well-known biomarker of the complement cascade with a potential to meet the above needs. The aim of our study was, therefore, to determine whether C4d staining at the time of kidney biopsy had any correlation with the demographic, clinical and biochemical variables in IgAN. The definition of IgAN requires the presence of diffuse and global IgA deposits which were graded ≥2+ and weak C1q deposition. C4d immunohistochemical staining was conducted retrospectively on 29 renal biopsies of patients with IgAN, which were selected randomly from all biopsies. C4d immunohistochemical staining was performed on 3-μm deparaffinized and rehydrated sections of formaldehyde-fixed, paraffin-embedded renal tissues. Of 29 selected patients, 68% were male. In ...

Cardiovascular disease is the main reason for mortality in men and women. Clinical epidemiology of myocardial infarction (MI) in men and women has not been yet studied in Iran, one of the largest Middle East countries in South-Western Asia. This study was conducted to determine the clinical epidemiology of MI in men and women in Iran. This hospital-based, cross-sectional study used the data of 20,750 MI patients in Iran in 2012 (the codes I22, I21, I24, and I25.2). Univariate comparisons used Chi-square test for categorical variables and t-test for continuous variables. P < 0.05 was considered as significant. Totally, 20,750 MI patients (15,033 men and 5,717 women) with age range of 13-106 (mean; 61.2 ± 13.4) years were enrolled. Only 9 (0.04%) patients (8 men and 1 woman) were ≤18 years (mean age: 14.8 ± 1.9), out of whom only two men were diabetic. 22.2% (18% men and 33.4% women) of the patients had diabetes, 26.2% (28.5% men and 20.1% women) were smoker and 35.5% (28.6% men and 53.7% women) had hypertension. ST-segment elevation MI incidence was 2.8 times higher in men than women. Left bundle branch block was significantly more prevalent in men than women. Men used percutaneous coronary intervention more frequently than women did. No difference in coronary artery bypass graft was noted between men and women. Mortality incidence was approximately twice higher in men than women. The prevalence of chest pain was higher in women than men. The MI incidence pattern, mortality from MI, and risk factors prevalence are significantly different between men and women in Iran. More emphasis on these issues in training people and healthcare professionals seems to contribute partially to patients' timely referring to health care centers and preventing MI-associated mortalities.

ABSTRACT Background and purpose: Heart failure (HF) is a serious issue concerning public health in all countries. Assessment and monitoring of mortality and influencing factors are of great importance in HF treatment programs. This study was conducted to determine the incidence of HF and the associated factors in Iran. Materials and methods: In this study, we did two main, independent analyses. One was a cohort analysis and the other a nested case-control. The study population included 1691 patients with HF (case group) and 6464 individuals without HF (control group). They were recruited from a hospital-based cohort in cardiology wards of hospitals across Iran in 2012. Results: The incidence rate and the 95% confidence interval of HF was 8.1: 95%CI: 7.7-8.5 in study population (per 100 person-year). HF Incidence was higher in women than that of the men (95% 8.6: 7.9-9.4 and 95% CI: 7.9: 7.5-8.3, respectively). The highest incidence of HF was observed in Khouzestan and Guilan provinces (9.05 and 7.51, per 100 person-year, respectively) while the lowest incidence was found in Zanjan and Kohgiluyeh and Boyer Ahmad (0.47 per 100 person-year). We found atrial fibrillation (AF), coronary artery bypass grafting, and ventricular tachycardia with highest contribution to mortality in patients with HF. Cerebral vascular attack, diabetes type II, hypertension, and the occurrence of disease in cold seasons were among the main determinants for HF incidence. Conclusion: This study showed different distribution of HF in different parts of Iran. The study suggests that identifying the risk factors predicting the incidence of HF could play a major role in developing efficient programs to reduce the rate of mortality due to HF. © 2014, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved.

Background and aim: In the last decades efforts have been dedicated to improve research activities among academic staff in the universities. However less attention has been paid to improve research skills among nonacademic staff of health system, especially physicians. Thus, in this ...