Background: Obesity is a worldwide health problem which is associated with a lot of complications. One of these comorbidities is the metabolic syndrome that is in correlation with abdominal fat thickness and waist circumference. Various methods were used to reduce abdominal fat thickness such as liposuction. A noninvasive method is the topical agent. In this study, we investigated the effectiveness of Arnebia euchroma (AE) ointment on the abdominal fat thickness. Materials and Methods: This study was a double-blind clinical trial which was done at the endocrinology clinic in Khorshid Hospital, Isfahan, Iran, in 2014. After explaining the procedure and obtaining informed consent, the candidates were randomly divided into the case and control groups. The participants of the case and control groups applied AE ointment or placebo for 6 weeks on their abdominal area. Body mass index, waist and buttock circumference, and abdominal fat thickness were measured in both case and control groups at their first visit and then at the next 2, 4, and 6 weeks. We used t-test for comparing parametric variables between groups, paired t-test for changes from baseline to final, and repeated measure ANOVA for changes at different steps.Results: Sixty female candidates participated in this study (thirty in each group). Ten patients left the study and fifty participants finished the trial. At the end of the study, participants had a significant weight loss (2.96 ± 1.6 kg, P<0.001) that was slightly more in the case group (3.15 ± 1.5 kg vs.2.75 ± 1.7, P=0.375). Abdominal circumference also decreased significantly in the participants (11.3 ± 6.7 cm, P<0.001), but the changes were more significant in the case group (13.9 vs.6.5 cm, P=0.004). Similarly, abdominal fat thickness decreased significantly in the participants (2.3 ± 1.1 cm, P<0.001), although changes were not significantly different between two groups (2.53 vs.2.04 cm, P=0.139).Conclusion: Topical AE ointment can reduce the abdominal fat thickness as well as the waist circumference without causing any side effect.

Background & Aim: Secondary amyloidosis (reactive) is an important late complication in chronic imflammatory disorder such as rheumatoid arthritis. The present study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of secondary amyloidosis in rheumatology patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and assess associated clinical and laboratory characteristics.Patients & Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 220 consecutive patients (167 female/53 male) with a history of minimal 5 years of RA were selected from 2 rheumatology clinics during 2001-2003. Abdominal subcutaneous fat pad aspiration (ASFA) was performed and specimens were stained with congo-red and observed under polarized light microscopy. Clinical and laboratory characteristic were then assessed via t-test, chi-square test & SPSS software.Results: Amyloid was positive in 11 patients (5%) by ASFA and all had 1+ deposit. 7 (64%) patients had constipation and 6 (55%) of them had proteinuria.Conclusion: These Iranian patients with RA had a low prevalence of amyloid deposition, about half of them were subclinical. Follow-up studies are needed to investigate whether this subclinical amyloidosis will progress into clinically significant amyloidosis or not.

Introduction: Despite the high prevalence of obesity, there is no safe and low cost method for losing weight (especially local). Electrical stimulation has been suggested as an efficient method in decreasing the thickness of local fat. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of electrical stimulation on abdominal subcutaneous fat thickness in healthy women.Materials and Methods: This quasi experimental research was conducted on 30 young healthy women (20 in study group and 10 in control group). In the control group, the abdominal fat thickness was measured without any therapeutic intervention at the beginning and after two weeks. In the experimental group, electrical stimulation to rectus abdominis muscles was applied 10 sessions (at 5 sessions per week) and the subject's abdominal fat thickness was measured at the baseline, and at the end of 2nd week.Comparison has been made across sessions and also between both groups.Results: In control group, the fat thickness changed from 2.17±.7(cm) at the first session to 2.18 ±.69 (cm) at the end of the 2nd week which was not significant, but in the experimental group there was a significant decrease in fat thickness from 2.59±.74 (cm) at the first session to 2.25 ± .68 (cm) at the end of the 2nd week (P=0.0001).Conclusion: This work indicated that electrical stimulation in 10 sessions is effective in reduction of abdominal fat thickness in healthy women.

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of six weeks high intensity interval training (HIIT) with turmeric supplementation on visceral fat, subcutaneous abdominal fat and insulin resistance in obese females. Thirty obese women aged 20-25 years in quasiexperimental study with pre-post testing design, were selected purposefully and were randomly divided into two homogeneous groups of 15 participants: HIIT & placebo, and HIIT & Turmeric supplement (3 milligram curcumin per kilogram body weight per day). Preparation period performed for 3 weeks and HIIT performed for 6 weeks and 4 sessions per week. Blood samples were taken in two phases, before and 48 hours after last exercise session in the follicular phase. Abdominal fat was measured by ultrasound system. Serum insulin and glucose were measured by enzyme immunoassay and photometric method respectively. The data were analyzed at α <0. 05. Abdominal fat and insulin resistance significantly decreased in both groups. There was significant difference between groups for abdominal and visceral fat. These values were lower in HIIT & Turmeric group. High intensity interval training with turmeric supplementation probably could decrease insulin resistance and abdominal fat (visceral and subcutaneous fat). It seems that, HIIT & Turmeric compared to HIIT was more effective in reduction of abdominal fat.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between obesity indices, abdominal fat distribution, and lipid profile in patients with stable angina (SA).METHODS: Body weight, height, waist circumference (WC), body mass index (BMI), and waist /height ratio (WHtR) of 123 patients with SA who underwent coronary angiography were measured. Fasting blood samples were taken to measure the levels of fasting blood sugar (FBS), total cholesterol (TC), low- and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C, HDL-C), apolipoproteins A and B (apo A and apo B), and triglycerides (TG). According to angiography reports, the participants were divided into patients with or without coronary heart disease (CHD). All patients underwent an abdominal computerized tomography (CT) scan to measure the visceral, superficial, and deep subcutaneous fat.RESULTS: The mean ages of the patients with CHD (n=73) and without CHD (n=50) were 50.5±7.6 and 53.7±7.6 years, respectively (P=0.03). The patients with CHD had significantly higher levels of TC, TG, and superficial subcutaneous fat, while the patients without CHD had higher levels of apo A (P≤0.05). Multivariate analyses showed a significant association of visceral fat with TC, LDL-C, TG, and apo B, in the patients without CHD, while significant inverse associations were found between WC and HDL-C, WHtR, and apo A as well as visceral fat and LDL-C in the patients with CHD.CONCLUSIONS: Among anthropometrics and imaging indices of obesity, WC and WHtR have shown better association between central obesity with dyslipidemia in the patients with CHD, while CT-measured visceral adipose tissue area was the best correlate of dyslipidemia in the patients without CHD.