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Abstract Background and objectives: Paranasal sinuses are the common place for infection in children and adults. Early and effective antibiotic treatment is necessary to reduce the infection period and mucosal injuries, and to prevent from the Involvements of orbit or CNS. This article aims to clarify the Serum immunoglobulins accompanying by Sinusitis in Children. Material and Methods: the Subjects of this Cross-Sectional study were 400 patients with paranasal sinusitis confirmed by imaging techniques. The study was conducted in infectious and ENT Clinics of Rasoul Akram hospital in 2003-2004. We measured the Levels of serum immoglobulins including IgG, IgM, IgA and IgE by standard radio-immunodiffusion test, and Compared with normal range of each age group. The data was analyzed by SPSS software (11.5) Results: The Subjects aged 4.42±2.62 are both male (70.7%) and female (29.3%). Maxilla is the most Common Sinus involved. Thirty-eight of them (95%) have increased IgG Level. Forty-four percent of children suffered from rhinosinusitis have been diagnosed with Immune-humoral disorders: the increase of IgE (N=9), Lack of IgA (N=3), decrease of Isolated IgG (N=2), decrease of both IgG and IgA (N=1) and Hyper IgM syndrome (N=3). There is Significant Correlation between different Immunoglobulins and duration of Sinusitis (P<0.05). Conclusion: The results of this study show that an increase of IgE is one of the most Common disorders in children suffering from Sinusitis and the incidence of immunity disorders is higher than the expected rate. Thus, we recommend the Immunologic assessment for Children Contracting with Sinusitis, esp. for protracted one. Key words: Rhinosinusitis, Hypogamma Globulinemia, Resistant Rhinosinusitis, Serum Immunoglobulins

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Abstract Background and objectives: C-Met is a proto-oncogene that encodes a protein known as hepatocyte growth factor receptor (HGFR). The HGF receptor possesses tyrosine -kinase activity and it is essential for embryonic development, wound healing and cancer. Many proteins are proteolytically released from the surface by a process known as ectodomain shedding. Shedding occurs under normal physiologic conditions and can be increased in certain pathologies. C-Met can be seen among many receptors for which ectodomain shedding has been shown. The aim of this study was to determine the concentration of soluble c-Met in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum samples of patients with viral and bacterial meningitis. Material and Methods: in this study, 75 CSF and serum samples of patients with bacterial meningitis, 71 with viral meningitis and 82 normal controls were investigated. The soluble c-Met concentration was determined by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Result: the amount of soluble c-met in CSF of patients with bacterial meningitis ( 83.91±5.50), viral meningitis ( 80.41±4.71) and control group ( 22.66±3.39) are compared with that in serum of patients with bacterial meningitis ( 561.58±25.87), viral meningitis ( 550.50 ±34.34) and control group ( 256.25±18.55). There is significant increase in the CSF and serum’s soluble c-Met expression in the patients with meningitis, in comparison with control group. Conclusion: The data presented here indicate that soluble c-Met is a constant component of human serum and CSF, but it can not be used for differentiating bacterial meningitis from viral meningitis. Key words: Soluble c-Met, concentration, cerebrospinal fluid, serum, meningitis

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Abstract Background and objectives: Meningitis is one of the most common infectious of the central nervous system (CNS), defined as an inflammation of the meninges. LIF is a potent pro-inflammatory factor. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) contains the growth factors and cytokines whose concentrations have been changed in most neurological diseases. The aim of this study was to determine the LIF concentration of serum and CSF in the children with bacterial meningitis. Material and Methods: In this study, the total protein concentration (TPC) and LIF in the serum and CSF of normal subjects and children with bacterial meningitis were measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results: the Values of serum TPC for children with meningitis (74.17±7.73 g/L) and controls (73.50±7.28 g/L) are not different significantly (P=0.7), and the TPC in the CSF of children suffering from meningitis and controls are 35±0.03 and 0.34±0.05 g/L, respectively (P=0.65). The concentration of serum LIF for children with meningitis( 253±19.14 ng/ml) is higher than that of controls (49.75±8.97 ng/ml), and also the concentration of LIF in the CSF of the children with meningitis (116.25±8.60 ng/ml ) is significantly higher than that of controls which is 9.04±1.83ng/ml (P<0.001). Conclusion: The LIF concentration in the CSF and serum may provide additional information in the differential diagnosis of meningitis. It is also concluded that LIF could be significantly involved in the pathophysiology of meningitis. Key words: Serum, Cerebrospinal fluid, Leukemia inhibitory factor, Children, Bacterial meningitis

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Abstract Background and Objective: Carbohydrates are considered as the major source of energy in physical activity. Studies show that consumption of carbohydrate foods before exercise can balance blood glucose and free fatty acids and increase athletes’ performance. In this study , we compared the effect of three kinds of foods with different glycemic indices on blood glucose (BG) and serum free fatty acids (FFA) in cycling ,male athletes. Material and Methods: In this clinical trial, 21 members of national cycling team randomly allocated to three equal groups of glucose (low glycemic index) ، lentil (low glycemic index) and potato (high glycemic index). First, Fasting blood samples (5ml) were obtained to measure BG and FFA . Then the subjects were asked to eat their foods. After 45 mins of rest, they pedaled with maximal oxygen consumption VO2max) for two hours and again their blood samples were taken to compare with the levels of before interventions. Results: Glucose consumption resulted in a significant decrease in FFA level after 2 hours of pedaling (P = 0.01) but no significant change in BG level. Plasma glucose was higher after eating lentil than that of potato (P<0.05), but it was not true for FFA level of both groups. Conclusion: based on the results, the pre-exercise use of low glycemic index (lentil) compared to high glycemic index (potato) can better lead to increased blood glucose during exercise. Keywords: Glycemic Index, Blood Glucose, Serum Free Fatty Acids, Cyclists

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       The paper titled“Comparison of the serum vitamin D level in patients with iron deficiency anemia, beta thalassemia with the control subjects”  was assesesd and the following needs to be explained(1).

Usually , the rational for the research should be explaied in  introduction part. This part is too long and contains unnecessary information which  does not help to address the possible association of vitamin D deficiency, neither with  a genetic condition such as beta thalassemia a minor, nor with  iron deficiency anemia. to address these issues, the writer should refer to  some physiologic or pathophysiologic explanation of the research.

Regarding the design method, I should say that; there is not such a method as “descriptive-analytical cross sectional” design. Cross sectional descriptive researche is  meant to answer epidemiologic questions and have some obligations such as random sampling, which was not the case in this study (2). On the other hand,  analytical studies are designed to find the role of a risk factor in developing an outcome. Case-control studies and cohort  studies are the examples of analytical designs. In this case,  vitamin D deficiency is not the risk factor for neither iron deficiency nor the beta thalassemia. Thus, there is  no reason for selecting such a method. However, an association of two nutritional disorders is well known and is addressed in the discussion of the paper (1). I believe this paper is the result of an irrational sampling.

The sample size should be explained in any research methodology whether the  study is cross-sectional or analytic, but in this article  the sample size  is not rationalized.

Given an important point in analytical researche is the way that confounding variables are being dealt with,  this paper does not mentioned these variables such as job, sun exposure, diet and specially using nutritional supplement are not addressed. However, two important variants of age and gender have been matched (1).

There are a  large number of researche regarding vitamin D deficiency in Iran that are not addressed in this paper. In some of these, the definition of vitamin D deficiency is on the basis of serum parathyroid hormone (PTH) (3). In a systematic review and meta analysis of Heshmat et al. 77% of Iranian population had vitamin D deficiency (4). This high prevalence could be associated with any, even unrelated condition.

Result should be started with introducing the groups including the matched variables such as age and gender. For showing the results, table is better than the the text. without statistical tests and P values, explaining the difference is  not acceptable in scientific writings.

Discussion part of the paper was mostly the repetition of the introduction. I was not convinced by the discussion. It seems that the concept of “association” was confused with " causation" .

Kosarian, M. (MD)

Professor of Pediatrics, Thalasemia Research Center,

Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran

            The main objective of this study was to compare the lack of vitamin D or association of iron deficiency anemia with healthy individuals.

the case group were the  patients with iron deficiency anemia and the  two controls  were Thalassemia Minor and  Healthy people.  The Thalassemia Minor Group, in  a microcytic anemia, was similar to the control group. the cause of microcytic is genetic  rather  iron deficiency.

 The Sampling was census.The  participants were the students who have been enrolled in that year; therefore, the Random sampling is not considered.

The design of a research  defines the  type of the study.

The printed research was designed in two categories: Cross sectional study (The Nutritional Target) and Analytic (comparison between the three groups)

Sinct all the participants  were students, the impact of the job, nutrition and… other factors, were the same.

Considering the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency, less than 50 percent, in control group shows that this deficiency could be varied in different groups.

This study basically was designed just to express the association or lack of association of iron deficiency anemia.

As shown in the results and discussion, The amount of vitamin D deficiency in patients with iron deficiency was more than the control group.

Given that Vitamin D deficiency in patients with iron deficiency brings about  Various complications for Growth and health, this study largely emphasizes follow-up of these patients.

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Background and objectives: Developing scaffolds is important for tissue engineering and repairing damaged tissues. The present study aimed to investigate effects of pre-incubation of an electrospun silk fibroin scaffold in complete and serum-free media on proliferation and survival of cells seeded on the scaffold.
Methods: After removing sericin from the silk cocoon and preparing the fibroin solution (3% w/v), the electrospun silk fibroin scaffold was fabricated and its morphology was evaluated by scanning electron microscopy. The scaffolds were pre-incubated in complete and serum-free Dulbecco's Modified Eagle media for one hour (short-term) and 10 days (long-term), and the hydrophilicity of scaffolds was evaluated by measuring the water contact angle. Rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells were seeded onto the scaffolds, and cell survival and genomic DNA concentration were evaluated after 21 days.
Results: The short-time pre-incubation of electrospun silk fibroin scaffolds in the complete medium increased the proliferation of seeded cells because of serum protein adsorption. In addition, long-term pre-incubation of the scaffolds in the complete and serum-free media increased cell proliferation due to the increased hydrophilicity of the scaffold (p<0.05). However, only long-term pre-incubation of the scaffolds in the complete medium had a significant effect on cell survival.
Conclusion: The results demonstrated that long-term pre-incubation of the scaffolds in the complete medium have more profound positive effects on cell survival and proliferation compared to short-term pre-incubation.