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It is estimated that 10-25% of diabetic patients will encounter diabetic foot ulcers (DFU) during their lifetime. This study evaluated the microbiology of DFUs and determined the antibiotic resistance pattern of bacterial isolates based on the severity of wounds and infections in different grades of ulcer. The specimens were collected from115 diabetic foot infections (DFI) deep tissue by needle aspiration and biopsy. The aerobic and anaerobic cultures and antimicrobial susceptibility testing were carried out. The presence of resistance genes including metallo-beta-lactamases (MBL), extended-spectrum ß-lactamase (ESBL), ermA, ermC, and mecA was also determined. A total of 222 microorganisms were isolated. The prevalence of poly-microbial infections was 69.6%. Bacterial isolates comprised 64.2% Gram-positive bacteria (GPB), 33.5% Gram-negative bacteria (GNB), and five isolates of anaerobic bacteria were also detected. The most prevalent GPB and GNB were Staphylococcus spp. (52.2%) and Escherichia coli (33.3%), respectively. The prevalence of poly-microbial infections and GNB was positively associated with increased grades of Wagner and IDSA classifications. Among Staphylococcus aureus isolates, resistance to clindamycin (73.5%), ciprofloxacin (70.6%), and erythromycin (70.6%) were noticeable. GNB was also highly resistant to cephalosporins and ciprofloxacin. ESBL genes were detected in approximately 40% of isolates of Enterobacteriaceae. The prevalence of ermA, ermC, and mecA genes in S. aureus isolates were 8.8%, 32.3%, and 14.7%, respectively. In conclusion, our data suggest that GPBs are the most common isolates from DFIs. Furthermore, with the development of wounds and infection, the prevalence of GNB in DFIs are increased.

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INTRODUCTION: Providing health care to patients at home could be causing the mortality and readmission rates reduction in addition to satisfaction of both patients and health care providers increase. The aim of this study was to assess the cost-effectiveness of home care service compared to hospital based care in patients with diabetic foot ulcer. METHODS: An economic evaluation study and a trial study were simultaneously conducted in Iran. In trial phase, patients with diabetic foot ulcer were randomly assigned to the home care or hospital care. The Cost and Quality of life data were determined as measures of the study. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratio was calculated for comparative purposes. The model consisted of five stages of the disease. The Tree Age Pro 2009 and R software's were used for data analysis. RESULTS: 120 patients were enrolled in our trial; among which 30 patients were in home care service group and 90 patients in hospital based care group. The rate of ulcer size reduction in hospital based care was significant (P value = 0.003) in comparison with home care service. The total cost of the home care and hospital strategies were 1720.4 US$, 3940.3 US$ and the total effectiveness were 0.31 and 0.29, respectively. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) was 117,300 US$ per quality-adjusted life year for home care intervention compared to hospital based care. Based on ICER plane home care treatment will be placed on the southeastern quadrant of the Cost-Effectiveness Plane, and is suggested as a more dominant treatment alternative. CONCLUSIONS: Regarding current evidence, home care strategy for patients suffering diabetic foot ulcer enjoys more cost effectiveness compared to hospital care. It is suggested that healthcare policy makers determine the tariff for health care services for disease groups according to the activity based costing approach.

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CONTEXT: Thyroid carcinoma is the most common endocrine system malignancy with a fast rising incidence in the last decade for unknown reasons. Fine needle aspiration (FNA) biopsy, the gold standard in thyroid cancer (TC) screening has still its own challenges and in some cases needs a proceeding surgery. OBJECTIVE: This review highlights the role of the two most recent "omics" approaches, "metabolomics" and "lipidomics", in the field of TC research. METHODS: All the previous studies have been extracted from the literature and major concepts were detailed in the field of TC metabolomics and lipidomics. RESULTS: Metabolomics and lipidomics, have potential in finding biomarkers related to thyroid carcinoma. Among the previous studies, the most important introduced altered tissue metabolites and lipids included glucose and galactose, lactate, Scyllo- and Myo inositol, hypoxanthine, citrate, cholesterol and choline. CONCLUSION: Metabolomics methods have been widely used in the field of biomarker discovery in TC and attempts are still in progress to use these methods to find a reliable biomarker panel besides current diagnostic tools.

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A major purpose of investigating the plantar pressure in patients with pain or those at risk for skin injury is to reduce the pressure below metatarsal heads, specially first and second metatarsal heads. The aim of this article is to evaluate the effects of the socks structures on the changes in plantar dynamic pressure. In this study, seven socks types with different structures for the sole area were produced. The Gaitview® AFA-50 system, a force plate, was used to measure the plantar dynamic pressure of 10 participants. The barefoot plantar dynamic pressure distribution was compared with the plantar dynamic pressure distribution with socks by two independent samples test on various zones of the foot and on different genders using SPSS software. Mann-Whitney tests were used to determine specific significant differences. The obtained results showed that the main trend was to redistribute the plantar dynamic pressure from the higher plantar pressure zones (toe and first through forth metatarsal bone regions) were decreased and as a result the plantar pressure toward the relatively lower pressure zones (fifth metatarsal bone and midfoot regions). In comparison with the barefoot condition, the cross miss structure reduced the mean pressure in the critical region of the foot (first metatarsal) for male and female subjects ( p < 0.05) and also the mock rib structure reduced the mean pressure for female subjects ( p < 0.05). In general, the results suggested wearing the socks because the socks make the plantar pressure redistributed from high to low plantar pressure zones. The results of this research indicated that wearing socks with cross miss and mock rib structures will reduce the mean plantar pressure values in forefoot area in comparison with the barefoot condition.

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AIM: The aim of the present study was to determine whether six weeks of submaximal endurance training using a cycle ergometer would result in a modified serum insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), an insulin-like growth factor binding protein 3 (IGFBP-3), and insulin resistance in middle-aged men with type 2 diabetes (T2D). METHODS: Twenty male patients with T2D voluntarily participated in this study and were randomly divided into two groups: the training group (N.=10) and the control group (N.=10). The training protocol consisted of a 45-minutes cycling session/day, three days/week for six weeks with intensity 60-70% of the maximum heart rate. To examine the IGF-1 and the IGFBP-3, fasting blood glucose levels, and insulin resistance, blood sampling was performed before and immediately after the first and 18th sessions. The homeostatic model assessment (HOMA-IR) method was used to determine insulin resistance. RESULTS: Before the study began, no significant difference between the two groups was observed in the anthropometric and blood factors. After a session of aerobic exercise, IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 levels were significantly increased (153.79% and 64.3%, respectively), and fasting glucose and insulin resistance levels were significantly decreased (15.82% and 27.82%, respectively); however, the changes resulting from a six-week training period were not significant. CONCLUSION: According to the present study, one session of aerobic exercise for middle-aged men with T2D leads to increased IGF-1 and IGFBP-3, and to decreased fasting glucose and insulin resistance. Considering the lack of changes after a six-week training, it seems that the amount of change depends on subjects' fitness level and exercise parameters. From a clinical point of view, the beneficial effects of acute exercise inT2D subjects show that such exercises should be part of the daily program for them.

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OBJECTIVES: The present study was conducted to determine the prevalence of T-score discordance and its risk factors in a group of patients with spinal cord injury in a university teaching hospital in the Iranian capital of Tehran. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted on paraplegic men undergoing bone density testing in an outpatient clinic at a hospital in the Iranian capital, Tehran, between March 2011 and 2012. A questionnaire on demographic and anthropometric characteristics, including age, height, weight, engagement in physical activity and personal smoking habits, was filled out for each subject. All the subjects underwent bone mineral density measurement and blood samples were sent for laboratory testing. RESULTS: Major T-score discordance between two sites was noted in 54 (41.22%) patients. Multivariate logistic regression revealed that every unit increase in serum calcium levels, as the only factor influencing T-score discordance, was associated with a 2.49-fold increased risk in T-score discordance in the area. As for the spine and radius, BMI was the only influencing factor as every unit increase in BMI was associated with a 14% lower risk for T-score discordance in these regions. Body mass index was the only factor, based on the multivariate model, affecting the risk of developing T-score discordance between two sites. CONCLUSION: Our study revealed the high prevalence of T-score discordance in patients with spinal cord injury. Physicians should therefore be encouraged to perform BMD at three sites when visiting patients with such injuries.

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The efficacy and safety of transplanting autologous mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), from granulocyte-colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF)-mobilised peripheral blood, was investigated in diabetic patients with critical limb ischaemia (CLI). After 3 months, the transplanted group of patients (n=7) showed a significant improvement in ischaemia manifestations, including pain and neurological signs, wound healing and the rate of lower-limb amputation, compared to the control group of patients (n=14). Pain was significantly reduced in the transplanted group compared to controls (P=0.014). The ankle-brachial index (ABI) and the pulse strength within ischaemic tissues of the transplanted group were significantly improved (P=0.035 and P=0.01, respectively). Importantly, 50% of the control group (7/14 patients) faced major amputation of a limb at the study's conclusion, compared to none of 7 patients in the transplanted group (P=0.047). The safety of transplantation was confirmed by observing no adverse reactions among the transplanted group, including infection and immunological rejection. Hence, this study provides further evidence that transplantation of autologous peripheral blood MSCs, mobilised by G-CSF, induces angiogenesis and improves the wound healing process in diabetic patients with CLI.

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