Davood Mehrabani

Nejabat, M., Astaneh, A., Eghtedari, M., Mosallaei, M., Ashraf, M.J. and Mehrabani, D. 2009. Effect of honey in Pseudomonas aeruginosa induced stromal keratitis in rabbits. J. Appl. Anim. Res., 35: 101–104.To evaluate the healing effect of honey in Pseudomonas aeruginosa induced keratitis, 26 eyes of 26 white New Zealand Rabbits were experimentally infected with P. aeruginosa. Ten eyes were treated with a 90% concentration of natural honey, 10 with topical 0.3% ciprofloxacin and 6 eyes were left untreated. After one week, the eyes were enucleated and evaluated clinically and microscopically. All corneas showed an opaque stromal infiltration at least 20 h post injection with progressive expansion only in the untreated group. There were no significant differences in clinical signs between honey and ciprofloxacin groups while hypopyone formation and clinical infiltration were greater in the control group. Cellular infiltration and density of organism were comparable in the two groups. Corneal perforation was found to be greater in the control group. It is concluded that, topical application of honey may be as effective as ciprofloxacin in P. aeroginosa induced keratitis.

Linguatula serrata is one of the parasitic zoonoses causing visceral and nasopharyngeal linguatulosis in human beings. Recently, L. serrata found a more public health importance, and new cases of human infection is reported from different parts of Iran including the Fars Province. Infected vegetables, fruits, and water resources with eggs of the mature parasite excreted via carnivores’ (especially stray dogs) nasopharyngeal secretions or feces is the main source of infecting human beings. However, consumption of infected improperly cooked viscera of the intermediate hosts including sheep, goats, cattle, or other herbivores containing the larval stages of this parasite is the other potential source of infection of human beings. Therefore, the present study was undertaken to investigate the prevalence of this parasite in stray dogs of Shiraz, the capital city of the Fars Province in Southern part of Iran. In a cross-sectional study, 85 stray dogs including 48 males and 37 females were captured at different parts of Shiraz city and the nasopharyngeal area, nasal turbinates, sinuses, eusthasian tubes, and brain were examined for L. serrata. The adult parasites were collected and fixed, cleared, and stained using formalin, alcohol, azocarmine, and lactophenol. A total of 65 (76.5%) dogs were infected with L. serrata. Age, sex, weight, and geographical locations did not have significant effects in the prevalence rate of this parasite. The number of parasites recovered from each dog ranged from 1 to 19 with an average of 4.06 per infected dog. The maximum length and width of the mature Linguatula were 80 and 10 mm for female parasites and 20 and 3 mm for the male ones, respectively. From the above results, it could be concluded that the rate of infection in dogs and possibly other carnivores, herbivores, and man is high in this locality, and strict control measures should be conducted to overcome the risk of infection with this zoonotic disease.

Ai, J., Nekooeian, A.A., Takhshid, M.A., Mostafizi, N. and Mehrabani, D. 2009. Effect of aqueous extract of Crocus sativus L. (saffron) stigma on serum levels of gonadotropins and folliculogenesis in adult rats. J. Appl. Anim. Res., 35: 49–52.To examine the effects of aqueous extract of Crocus sativus L. (saffron) stigma on serum levels of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), leutinizing hormone (LH), progesterone and estrogen as well as folliculogenesis, 45 adult Wistar rats were equally divided into three groups. Group one received oral normal saline (5 ml/day) as a vehicle and groups two and three the extract of Crocus sativus L. (saffron) stigma at 20 and 80 mg/kg/day, respectively, for 30 d. Administration of 80 mg/kg/day aqueous extract of saffron stigma resulted in higher serum level of FSH, LH, progesterone and estrogen and increased numbers of primary, secondary and tertiary follicles as well as corpora lutea. Thus the aqueous extract of saffron can improve fertility, which may be attributed to crocetin and/or flavonoids contents of the extract.

Abstract:  LT is nowadays accepted as the definitive therapy for end-stage liver disease. We report our experiences with pediatric LT using grafts from living related and DD. From April 1999 to March 2006, 50 infants and children who underwent LT were studied for pretransplantation status, medical and surgical complications and survival rate. There were 33 (66%) boys and 17 (34%) girls. The mean age of patients was 9.9 ± 4.8 yr (range: 0.9–17.7) with a mean weight of 33.4 ± 18.4 kg (range: 7.5–80). The main indications were cryptogenic cirrhosis (30%), autoimmune cirrhosis (24%), followed by biliary atresia (22%), Wilson disease (14%), progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis (4%), fulminant hepatitis (4%) and tyrosinemia (2%). We used living-related donor in 14 (28%) and split liver in 5 (10%) cases and other patients received whole liver from DD. The mean follow-up of patients was 24.7 ± 22.6 months (range: 1–72). The main postoperative complications were acute cellular rejection (44%) and infections (30%), whereas chronic rejection was seen in 26% of cases. The mortality rate was 24%. Overall mean survival (76% alive) was 63.5 ± 5.7, 95% CI: 52.3–74.6. Our results demonstrate that pediatric LT is a feasible undertaking in Iran. Organ shortage in our area led to liberal use of living related and split liver techniques. The overall results of the pediatric LT in Iran are encouraging.

Abstract:  Liver transplantation is the treatment of choice for end-stage liver disease in children, but donor shortage is still a main problem in this age group. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the complications and mortality of liver disease in children waiting for transplantation. We analyzed medical records of 83 children aged <18 yr, who were listed for liver transplantation but the organ was not available for them between 1999 and 2006. The outcome was assessed from their records or follow-up data. Among the children (mean age, 8 ± 5 yr; 50.5% boys) listed for liver transplantation, but the organ was not available for them, the common causes of cirrhosis were biliary atresia (27.7%) and cryptogenic (24.1%). The mean follow-up duration was 14 ± 13.4 months (range 0.5–54 months). Sixty-seven (80.7%) patients developed one or more complications while awaiting transplantation. The most common complications were gastrointestinal bleeding (44.6%), spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (36.1%), infectious complications (28.9%), encephalopathy (24.1%), renal (18.1%), and pulmonary problems (10.8%). Fifty-one (61.4%) patients needed hospital admission because of complications and 26 (31.3%) patients died while awaiting transplantation. About two-thirds of children listed for liver transplantation needed hospital admission because of complications and one-third of them died without any liver transplantation. It seems that more split liver transplantation as well as the introduction of a live-related program in our center will provide many benefits to our children.