Background & Purpose: SALT and pepper change is the retinal change that occurs in human retina and its cause is not entirely known. In the present study, the retina of patients infected with Giardia lamblia living in Tehran was examined for presence of "SALT and pepper" retinal change. Methods& Patients: 50 girdiasis patients were selected as study group and 50 healthy individuals as control group. The retina of two groups was tested by ophthalmologist. White blood cells and eosinophila percentage were counted in haematology lab. For measurements of IgA and IgG Levels, SRID technique, and for IgE level, ELISA technique was applied. Results & Conclusion: The results indicated, six patients of study group showed "SALT and pepper" retinal change in their eyes. When the patients treated with metronidazole, the ocular change disappeared in three of them. In addition, eosinophila percentage, IgA, IgE and IgG levels in the infected patients were found increased significantly in comparison with control group. Meanwhile, among patients with ocular change and without ocular change the differences of eosinophila percentage and IgE levels were found significant, According to IgA and IgG levels, no significant difference between two groups were observed.    

Background: It is not clear whether the serum uric acid level is independently associated with the longterm incidence of hypertension. The aim of this study was to assess the association between serum uric acid and SALT SENSITIVITY in an Iranian normotensive population. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at the Cardiovascular Research Institute, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, from July 2014 to October 2014. A group of 140 eligible healthy volunteers aged between 20 and 40 years with a normal blood pressure was enrolled in this study. After the determination of the baseline mean blood pressure and serum uric acid level, SALT SENSITIVITY was determined in all the subjects according to a protocol described by Weinberger and Fineberg via the infusion of normal saline and furosemide in 2 consecutive days. Blood pressure was determined before and 2 hours after these interventions. All the data were analyzed using the Student t-test, the χ 2 test, and a multiple logistic regression model. Results: The average age of the study population was 25. 73± 3. 35 years, and the mean body mass index was 23. 1± 2. 9 kg/m2. According to the definition for SALT SENSITIVITY, 56 (42. 7%) of the participants were sensitive and 75 (57. 3%) were not sensitive to SALT. Thirty-nine (29. 8%) of the participants were hyperuricemic, 20 (51. 3%) of whom were SALT sensitive. Among the normouricemic participants, 49 (53. 3%) were SALT sensitive. These differences were not statistically significant between the SALT-sensitive and SALT-insensitive groups (P=0. 23). There was no association between hyperuricemia and SALT SENSITIVITY even after adjustments were made for the demographic and anthropometric variables (OR=0. 70 and 95 CI=0. 29 to 1. 68). Conclusions: We did not find an association between serum uric acid and SALT SENSITIVITY among our young Iranian normotensives.

Objectives: The 24-hour urine sodium (Na) test is the gold standard method for measuring SALT intake in community studies. This study aimed to compare the results of a 24-hour urine Na test with those obtained from the SALT taste SENSITIVITY test (STST) in order to validate the STST as a possible substitute for the 24-hour urine Na test. Materials and Methods: Both tests were simultaneously performed on 30 individuals. The results were compared using correlation models. Results: STST results in the tolerance threshold had a strong and positive correlation with the results of the 24-hour urine Na (r=0. 93, P < 0. 001). In addition, the distance between the tolerance threshold and the recognition threshold scores was strongly correlated with the results of 24-hour urine Na (r=0. 830, P < 0. 001). Finally, there was no significant correlation between recognition threshold scores and 24-hour urine Na (r=0. 087, P = 0. 64). Conclusions: In general, the STST showed a promising potential to be replaced with the 24-hour urine Na test in community studies.

In this work, we have focused on study of swelling kinetics and SALT-SENSITIVITY behavior of a superabsorbing hydrogel based on carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) and polyacrylonitrile (PAN). The physical mixture of CMC and PAN was hydrolyzed by NaOH solution to yield hydrogel, CMC-poly (sodium acrylate-co-acrylamide). The swelling kinetics of the hydrogels with various particle sizes was preliminary investigated as well. The swelling of the hydrogel showed a second order kinetics of swelling in water. In addition, swelling measurements of the synthesized hydrogels in various chloride SALT solutions was measured. Results indicated that a swelling-loss with an increase in the ionic strength of the SALT solutions.

The relation between dietary sodium intake and hypertension is not a new concept and many epidemiological studies and laboratory findings have demonstrated it, this study investigated blood pressure changes during this regimen. Patients whose mean blood pressure on sixth day of the high-sodium diet exceeded by 13 mmHg or more than that of day six of the low-sodium diet, were classified as "SALT-sensitive "and others as "SALTresistant" . We determined the lithium clearance to know whether or not there was a correlation between SALT-SENSITIVITY without sodium manipulation. Measurements of lithium clearance in these patients confirmed that SALT-sensitives had significantly lower lithium clearance (9.27±4.37) than SALT-resistants (20.75±9.86) (P<0.05). Since the lithium clearance is a method for assessing tubular sodium and water reabsorption, our results advocate this hypothesis that sodium SENSITIVITY in the hypertensive is related to dysfunction of the proximal tubules, it is predicted that lithium clearance could be used as determinant of SALT-SENSITIVITY without sodium manipulation.

Background: C-reactive protein (CRP) is a predictor of cardiovascular diseases in both normal people and patients on hemodialysis. This study aimed to assess the relationship of high-SENSITIVITY C-reactive protein (Hs-CRP) serum level and peritonitis in patients on peritoneal dialysis.Methods: 113 patients on peritoneal dialysis in Isfahan city, Iran, participated in our study in 2015. Serum albumin and Hs-CRP levels were measured in each patient at three times (baseline, and 6 and 12 month after that) and the patients were followed up for 1 year. All the patients were evaluated for peritonitis in every visit. At the end of the study, two groups of patients on peritoneal dialysis with and without peritonitis were compared. Findings: Among 113 patients, 24 were excluded from the study because of death or kidney transplantation and 89 patients were included in final analysis. The mean Hs-CRP levels in patients with peritonitis were 4.83, 5.79, and 7.42 mg/l at baseline, and 6 and 12 month after it, respectively; these levels were 4.47, 3.19, and 2.69 mg/l in patients without peritonitis, respectively. In addition, the mean albumin levels in patient with peritonitis were 3.38, 3.29 and 3.40 mg/l at baseline, and 6 and 12 month after it, respectively; these values were 3.56, 4.05, and 3.51 mg/l in patients without peritonitis, respectively.Conclusion: Results showed that with increase in Hs-CRP level, the risk of peritonitis increased. Besides, the albumin level decreased among patients with peritonitis in comparison with patients without peritonitis; there was no significant correlation between albumin level and peritonitis.