Background:Investigations have attempted to modify the outcome of tubular injury by either ameliorating renal tubular damage or promoting tubular regeneration in the case of acute tubular necrosis. Objectives: We investigated the protective effect of Eprex an erythropoietin analogue on tubular injury induced by gentamicin (GM). Materials and Methods: Forty male Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups. In group 1,rats were served as a sham group. In group 2, rats were injected intraperitoneally with 100 mg/kg of GM for 10 consecutive days (positive control group) and then were sacrificed. In group 3, rats received GM for 10 days then Eprex 100U/kg was injected intraperitoneally for the next 10 days and then they were sacrificed at the day 20th. In group 4 rats were injected a combination of GM (80 mg/kg) and Eprex 100U/kg intraperitoneally for 10 days and then were sacrificed. Results: The results indicated that, Eprex prevented the increase in serum creatinine (Cr) and blood urea nitrogen (BUN). The effect of Eprex on damage score, showed that co-administration of GM and Eprex (group 3 and 4) reduced the kidney tissue damage compared to positive control group (P<0.05). This result indicat that Eprex potentially can reduce or prevent the kidney tissue damage. Conclusions: Ameliorative effect of Eprex when the drug was given in combination with GM and also when the drug was applied after GM-induced tubular damage, revealed the renoprotective potency of Eprex. Eprex is a promising drug to prevent or attenuate tubular damage induced by GM or other nephrotoxic agents which act through the same mechanisms as gentamicin.

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BackgroundSeveral studies have been carried out to evaluate the effects of dialysis on O2 saturation. While the dialysis procedure may lead to hypoxia under different circumstances, there are few studies available on the effects of membrane type on O2 saturation in these patients.objectivesThis study was to appraise the effects of high and low flux membrane on pulse oxymetery in dialysis patients.Patients and MethodsIn a cross-sectional evaluation, 43 hemodialysis patients without pulmonary disease were enrolled. Of this group, dialysis was performed by low and high flux membranes, and pulse oxymetery was applied before and after the procedures.ResultsMean age of the patients was 56.34 years. Of these patients, 23 (53.5%) and 20 (46.5%) were women and men, respectively. Type of membrane (high flux vs. low flux) did not show any significant effect on pulse oxymetery results (P > 0.05).ConclusionsDue to the lack of a significant difference in pulse oxymetery and creation of hypoxia between two types of membranes in hemodialysis patients, as well as the high cost of high flux membrane as compared to the low flux membrane, we do not suggest the use of high flux membrane in dialysis.

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Background Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a chronic and complex respiratory disorder associated with airflow limitation and increased inflammatory response of the lungs to harmful particles. The purpose of this original study was to describe the results and profile of the Shahrekord Prospective Epidemiological Research Studies in IrAN (PERSIAN) regarding COPD in southwestern Iran. Methods This study of asthma and respiratory diseases is a subcohort of the more extensive cohort study, i.e., Shahrekord PERSIAN cohort, a population-based prospective study on people aged 35–70 years in southwestern Iran (n = 10,075). The sample size of the subcohort was 8500 people. Annual follow-ups (person-year) of the cohort were designed to be conducted up to 2036. The instruments to collect data on various exposures were derived from the questionnaires previously developed in extensive multinational studies (occupational exposures, smoking, housing status, and fuel consumption, history of respiratory and chronic diseases, comorbidity, etc.). The Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) and the lower limit of normal (LLN) spirometric criteria were used to confirm COPD diagnosis. Results The response rate was 93.85%. The mean age of the participants was 49.48 ± 9.32; 47.9% were male, and 52.9% were female; nearly 16% of the population was current smokers; the fuel used by most of the participants for heating the house and cooking was gas. The most common comorbidity among participants was dyslipidemia; 30% of people have three or more comorbidities. According to GOLD and LLN criteria, the Prevalence of COPD was 3.6% and 8.4%, respectively. 4.3% of the participants had a history of chronic lung disease. The group of subjects with COPD had higher mean age, fewer years of schooling, a higher percentage of smokers with a smoking history of 10 or more pack years. 4.6% of patients had a history of chronic lung disease, 17.6% had a history of asthma in childhood, and 5.2% had a family history of respiratory and pulmonary diseases. Conclusion Epidemiological research is necessary to create an appropriate framework to fight COPD. This framework requires a better description of men and women at risk of developing COPD and describing people with early-stage illnesses.