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Background&Objective: Acetaminophen is a drug that is used commonly in the all time of pregnancy as a antipyretic and analgestic. The aim of this study was to determine teratogenic effects of this drug when it is used continuously before and during pregnancy. Materials&Methods: 210 virgin female Balb/c mice in a standard animal house condition were assigned in to three experimental groups and three period of time (30 mice in the each of I and II experimantal groups and 60 in III experimental group): The first experimental group subdivided in to three I10, I20, I30 subgroups that received acetaminophen once daily at dose 40mg/kg/day by gavage in 10, 20 and 30 days prior to gestation and early 10 days of pregnancy, respectively. The second experimental group divided like the previous group (II10, II20, II30) but received 40 mg/kg/day of this drug twice daily (80 mg/kg/day). The third experimental group (III10, III20, III30) received 80 mg/kg/day of acetaminophen with and without 0.14 mg/kg/day of folic acid. Mice in Control groups, received normal saline and base of drug respectively. After using standard coupling method (three female mice with one male and determination of Gestational day 0) in GD18 the dams were sacrificed and the fetuses were removed. Macroscopic observation was done by stereomicroscope. ANOVA and TUKEY tests were used by the help of 10 version of SPSS software. Results: Long consumption of acetaminophen in doses of 40 and 80 mg/kg/day in the 20 and 30 days before pregnancy and 10 days after pregnancy can induce shortened and asymmetrical limbs and hand aplasia. In addition, ekymosis and fetal resorption were seen.16.1%, 6.5% and 14% of fetuses were malformed in the I30, II20 and II30 groups, respectively. Also, 11.3%, 4.9% and 12.4% of fetuses in these same groups had limb defects. In the III20 and III30 groups that fetuses used folic acid and drug at the same time, rate of malformations reduced to 1.6% (P<0.05). Conclusion: It is recommended pregnant women not to take acetaminophen atleast a month before pregnancy and in case of taking this drug the folic acid to be accompanied.

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Background&Objective: Shiga-toxin producing E. coli (STEC) belonging to several different O serotypes are one of the etiological agent of diarrhea. The STEC strains are considered as an etiological agent for enteritis after non-typhoidal salmonellosis and Campylobacter. They have also been associated closely with the hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) and hemorrhagic colitis(HC). The aim of this study was to determine of the frequency of STEC in patients with hemorrhagic colitis referring to Tehran hospitals. Materials&Methods: From March to September 2004, 70 patients with hemorrhagic colitis (Case)an 70 patients with diarrhea (Control) were included in this study. The stx gene was detected by PCR and was used for the determination of STEC strains. Slide agglutination with specific antisera used to detect O serogroup. Polymerase chain reaction- restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis of the flagellin gene (fliC) was performed for determining their flagellar antigen (H). Results: Two samples (2.9%) from Hemorrhagic colitis cases and 12 samples (17.1 %) from diarrheal cases were positive for STEC. There was no significant correlation between STEC and Hemorrhagic colitis but there was a significant correlation between STEC and diarrhea (p<0.05). STEC isolates O142:H48 serotype was from hemorrhagic colitis cases and O126:H47, O126:H6, O26:H4 and O111:H23 serotypes were from diarrheal cases. These serotypes were not reported in hemorrhagic colitis cases. Conclusion: Our data showed that there was no significant correlation between STEC and hemorrhagic colitis. This could be explained since serotype responsible for hemorrhagic colitis i.e. O157:H7 serotype is not present in Iran.

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Background and Objective: In recent years, the efficacy of low-fat diet has been questioned. One potential adverse effect of reduced dietary fat is a compensatory increase in the consumption of high glycemic index carbohydrate, principally refined starchy foods and concentrated sugar. Such foods other can be rapidly digested or transformed into glucose, causing a large increase in post-prandial blood glucose and insulin level. Review studies have generally found an inverse association between glycemic index and satiety. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of low-glycemic index diet versus low-fat diet on the body weight, body mass index, the percent of body fat mass and waist-hip ratio of obese women. Materials and Methods: In this randomized controlled trial study, 46 obese women with BMI>27 and 18-55 year old randomly divided into low-glycemic index and low-fat diet groups during the course of study and after 6-weeks, body mas index, body fat mass and waist-hip ratio were measured. Data analyzed with t student, t paired student tests. Results: Body weight, BMI, waist - hip ratio, and Triceps skinfold, biceps skinfold, subscapular skinfold, abdominal skinfold decreased significantly in both diet groups. After 6-weeks significant difference was not observed in percent of body fat mass between two dietary groups. Conclusion: This study showed that both low-glycemic index and low-fat diets can equally be effective in body fat, BMI and waist - hip ratio.

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Background and Objective: There is growing evidence that excess generation of highly reactive free radicals, largely due to hyperglycemia, causes oxidative stress, which followed by further exacerbating the development and progression of diabetes and its complications. The purpose of the present study was to determine the effect of alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) on blood glucose and HbA₁c in type 2 diabetic patients.

Materials and Methods: In this clinical trial study, fifty-seven type 2 diabetic patients (14 male and 43 female) with the mean age of 53.5 years old were involved in this study. Upon arrival, subjects were randomly divided into either experimental (n=29) or control (n=28) groups. Experimental group received 300 mg alpha-lipoic acid daily for eight weeks where control group received placebo for eight weeks. After an overnight fast patients' blood samples, were drawn and analyzed for fasting blood glucose, 2 hours post-prandial glucose and HbA₁C. In addition, antropometric indeces for each subject was measured at the beginning and at the end of the study.

Results: There is no significatn differnces regarding weight and BMI in two groups before and after intervention. Also our findings indicated significant decrease in fasting and post-prandial glucose level, in experimental group, after intervention (p<0.05), but no significant change was seen in HbA₁c level. There were no significant changes in parameters measured in control group. There was also a significant decrease in fasting blood glucose in experimental group when compared to control group (p<0.05), but there is no significant changes in HbA₁c level.

Conclusion: This study showed that alpha-lipoic acid supplement as an important antioxidant reduce blood glucos concentration in type 2 diabetes.

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Background and Objective: Soybean as a cheap protein and without side effects has been introduced to food industry. This study carried out to determine the effect of diet containing soybean on histology and histomorphometry of duodenal villi and serum levels of Calcium, Phosphorus and Glucose in mice.

Methods: In this experimental study, 30 female immature BALB/c mice with 3 weeks of age were randomly allocated into control, and experimental 1 and 2. The control group was fed a diet with complete protein. Animals in the experimental 1 and 2 were received a diet of complete protein with 40% soybean and 20% soybean, respectively. After 3 months the mice were anesthetized and blood samples were taken from the heart for determining serum level of Calcium, Phosphorus and glucose. Duodenum specimens from were prepared and stained with hematoxylin and eosin.

Results: Tissue structure of duodenum in experimental groups in compare to control group was not significantly changed, except for some scant specimens who showed some degrees of destruction in villi apicese. In histomorphometrical evaluation, the thickness of sub - mucosa and musculature were significantly increased in experimental groups compared to the controls group (P<0.05). The height of villi, depth of crypts and serum Glucose level were significantly reduced in experimental groups compared to the controls group (P<0.05), whereas the level of Calcium was significantly increased in experimental with the control group (P<0.05), but the level of Phosphorus did not show any significant changes in experimental groups compared to the controls.

Conclusion: Long term consumption of soybean can induce significant alteration in serum Calcium and glucose level, thickness of sub mucosa and musculature, the height of villi and depth of crypt in duodenum.

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Background and Objective: Various infections and the formation of stones could be the cause for bile duct obstruction of that sterile organ. Determination of pathogenesis factors and the bacteria involved in infections are important in the prevention of disease, and cares needed following surgery. This study was done to determine the bacteria in the gallbladder of patients with cholelithiasis and evaluation of pathogenic factors of the prevalent isolated bacteria.
Methods: In this descriptive laboratory study, 35 samples of gallbladder tissues which contained gallstones were collected under sterile conditions in “Department of General Surgery of Imam Khomeini Hospital”, Tehran, Iran during 2016. The stone types were analyzed and decomposed by chemical procedures, and the bacteria existed in the tissues were also identified using biochemical experiments. The tissues with negative results in microbiological studies were looked for any contaminating bacteria, applying the DNA extracted from gallbladder tissue as a template using F27 and R1492 as the primers for PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) amplification of 16SrRNA gene. Those with the positive results of microbiological tests were subjected to the DNA sequencing following gel purification and blasted against the NCBI gene database. The most frequently isolated bacteria were studied according to the intensity of biofilm formation, using the microtitre plate method. CsgF and Ag43 (Flu), the genes involved in the induction of such phenotype were also analyzed in this study. The antibiotic resistance assay of the isolates was performed using disc diffusion procedure.
Results: Thirteen out of thirty five samples of post-surgery gallbladder tissues were found to be infected by different bacteria, including: Klebsiella (3 cases), Escherichia coli (4 cases), Enterobacter (1 case), Staphylococcus aureus (2 cases), Enterococci (2 cases), and Streptococcus (1 case). In 23 out of 35 samples (65.7%), no bacteria could be isolated using microbiological methods. However, in seven out of 23 samples, the amplified 16SrRNA had an indication of Klebsiella (6 cases) and Enterococcus (1 case) isolates. Therefore, the most prevalent genus in gallbladder infections was Klebsiella (47.36%). Chemical analysis showed that the highly frequent compound of gallstones (98%) were of cholesterol and bilirubin. Escherichia coli with fourcases were the highest culture growing isolated bacteria, in all of which, the biofilm formation genes were present. In the two out of four Escherichia coli isolates the intensity of biofilm formation was high. Although, in the remaining two isolates was medium. While, they were found to be sensitive to the most of the antibiotics, they showed resistance to Tetracycline, Ciprofloxacin and Ceftazidime in different ranges.
Conclusion: The present study provided evidence that non-cultural bacteria are hihly present in gallbladder infections. The high potential of the commonly isolated bacteria in biofilm formation should be taken as a warning to follow the precise protocol of antibiotic prescription for treatment of gallbladder infections.

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Selenium is an essential mineral found naturally in soil, water, and some foods. Today, selenium, as an antioxidant, is one of the vital elements in the human body. Although the human body needs a small amount of selenium daily, recent studies have shown that the same small amount of selenium is essential for maintaining healthy body function. It is challenging to choose the right dose of selenium. According to several studies in this present review, a daily supplement of 31.5-200 micrograms seems beneficial since the amount of selenium in various diseases is less than the amount in healthy people. The articles published in PubMed, Web of Science, Google Scholar and SCOPUS databases were screened and collected based on the keywords including selenium, oxidant, antioxidant, diabetes, cancer, toxicity, heart disease and liver disease. These keywords were chosen because of the antioxidant role of selenium as well as the prominent role of oxidation in the progression of these diseases. 150 articles published over a period of 20 years from 2000 to 2020 were used in this study. Articles about nano-seleniums, non-dietary supplements, and diseases caused by the underlying disease of metabolic syndrome were excluded and finally 121 articles were included in the study. A limited number of studies show that patients with multiple disorders may need to take higher doses of selenium (82.4 to 200 micrograms) than healthy people. In this study, selenium's antioxidant role in chronic metabolic disorders, including hyperlipidemia and hyperglycemia, and some cancers, were investigated. Also, the clinical significance of selenium deficiency in metabolic diseases, as well as clinical and experimental observations on the effect of selenium dietary supplements in the treatment of chronic metabolic diseases such as diabetes and atherosclerosis, and cancers, are briefly mentioned. Besides, the recommended toxicity and dose of selenium have been discussed.