Background and aim: Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disease with multiple complications. Skin tag is a pedunculated papule, which is more common in women and has been suggested as a cutaneous marker of diabetes mellitus. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of diabetes mellitus in patients with skin tags.Materials and methods: This descriptive study was done on 100 patients with skin tags. The investigation included fasting blood sugar (FBS) and glucose tolerance test (OTT).Results: 66 patients had normal FBS, 27 had diabetes mellitus, 5 had impaired OTT and 2 had impaired fasting glucose. Over all, 34 had abnormal glucose metabolism, 7 were unaware of their metabolic abnormality. Among 40 hospitalized patients 50% had abnormal glucose metabolism meanwhile 23.3% of 60 outpatients had this abnormality (p<0.01). No association was seen between BMI, obesity, gender, location and number of skin tags with abnormal metabolism of glucose.Conclusion: It is recommended to consider skin tags as a cetaceous marker for abnormality of glucose metabolism.

Background and aim: Non-melanoma skin cancers (NMSC) are one of the most prevalent malignancies of the human. Although the morality rate is not high for these cancers, they may cause high morbility for the patients. In addition to the skin type, factors such as sun exposure, head and neck radiotherapy, inappropriate use of sunscreen and cultural changes may increase the incidence of these cancers. The objective of this study was to determine NMSC in Isfahan.Materials and Methods: We used data of the cancer resistery center for performing this study and the incidence of NMSC per 100,000 populations was determined. Results: Overall 1681 cases were registered. The incidence of NMSC was calculated to be 10.67/100,000population. The most common site for BCC and SCC was middle face. Conclusion: NMSC incidence in Isfahan is lower than west countries although this incidence is 10.67/100,000in a year. It means that 5-6 thousand cases of NMSC occur in Iran each year. We can prevent its morbidity and mortality by early correct diagnosis.

Background & Aims: Diabetes mellitus is one of the most common types of chronic disease leading to serious complications such as blindness, end stage renal disease (ESRD), neuropathy and cardiac disorders. Skin tag is a common benign skin tumor that its association with impaired carbohydrate metabolism has been reported in some studies. The aim of this study was to compare the frequency of diabetes and other carbohydrate metabolism disorders in patients with and without skin tag.Methods: In a case- control study on 200 individuals over 30 years old referring to Dermatology Clinic of Afzalipour Hospital, 100 individuals with at least 3 skin tags as case group and 100 individuals without skin tag as control group underwent FBS and standard GTT tests.Results: There was no significant difference between case and control groups in the frequency of diabetes (19% vs. 10%), IGTT (11%vs.13%) and IFG (19% vs. 15%).Mean FBS and GTT were significantly higher in the case group compared to the control group.There was a positive correlation between the total number of skin tags and mean FBS (r= 0.33, P= 0.001) and GTT (r= 0.37, P= 0.000). The frequency of diabetes in patients with at least 20 skin tags was 45.8%. Positive predictive value, negative predictive value, sensitivity and specificity of skin tag for the diagnosis of diabetes were 19%, 90%, 52% and 65% respectively. Conclusion: This study revealed that patients with skin tags are at a higher risk of carbohydrate metabolism disorders. Therefore, screening of patients with skin tag for carbohydrate metabolism disorders is recommended.

Background and aims: The hospital staff services due to their jobs are daily exposed with disinfectant and cleaning substances and the exposure with these materials will cause dermatitis. The aim of this study was to determine the affection risk to skin symptoms in hospital staff services due to continuous exposure to detergents and disinfectants.Methods: In this cross-sectional study 170 male and female staff services in both Educational hospitals of Yazd were evaluated. Using Nordic questionnaire about the frequency of skin symptoms including: skin redness, swelling, scaling and small blisters, scaly and itching on the hands, forearms, and between the fingers of the employees were collected and analyzed by SPSS v.16.Results: In this study the overall prevalence of hand dermatitis among the staff service was 36.8 percent. The most common symptom of skin dermatitis was scaling of the hands, forearms or fingers along with cracking (25.5 percent). Symptoms of redness and itching of the skin, hands, forearms or fingers with cracked skin were more in women than men.Symptoms of red skin and scaly hands, forearms or fingers and cracking of skin were more in individuals with less work experience.Conclusion: The results showed a strong correlation between exposure in the workplace and skin dermatitis among workers in the service. In order to reduce exposure to detergents and reducing the incidence of skin dermatitis symptoms, use of appropriate gloves and proper training required in their use is recommended.

Background & Objective: Mycobacterium leprae is the cause for leprosy which is a contagious disease in many developing countries. These diseases have always been a dreadful one for its unpleasant clinical symptoms and the disabilities it causes. It has the most prolonged cell division time of all bacteria (12-14 days). Its incubation period is long (3-5 years) even 40 years has been reported. The complications which it leaves are irreversible and it bears a heavy socio-mental burden on the individual and the society. WHO has listed 91 countries with leprosy. The goal of the present study was the early diagnosis of the disease before the emergence of unpleasant clinical symptoms and popularizing molecular method of PCR in place of the conventional method of slit skin smear which is not a precise or reliable method.Methods: In this study 40 slit skin smear and the same number of skin biopsies were taken from patients referring Bababaghi Hospital and samples from ear lobes and eyebrows were taken. Slit skin smears were stained with Zeihl-Neelsen method and examine microscopically. At the same timy biopsy specimens were extracted.Results: Of 40 samples, three slit-skin specimens (7.5%) had positive smear result, while 14 (35%) biopsies had PCR positive result. The rest (11 cases) probably had TT or borderline forms of BB, BT, BL).Conclusion: The results showed that SSS is not a precise and reliable method for diagnosing leprosy especially in TT form which is always negative direct smear. Also direct smear method and clinical symptoms are not accurate or reliable methods in estimating the rate of disease prevalence.

When searching about the comparison skill as one of the figures of speech in rhetorical books, we come across different and sometimes identical outlooks from rhetoricians, however, some aspects of the subject have not yet been elaborated. Deliberating on the viewpoints and opinions of Ibn Abol-Hadid in his account of Nahjul-Balagha, the writer of this article found the broadness of the mind of this author to describe different aspects and issues of this rhetorical skill (comparison) as well as his sound judgment. Whereas he has put all kinds of opinions to discussion and arbitration in this respect, the writer decided to classify and discuss the results of the deliberations of Ibn Abol-Hadid within the following categories:1. Definition of comparison2. Application at comparison and its conditions.3. Personal outlook of Ibn Abol- Hadid and critique of the opinion of Ion Alathir4. Division of comparison in terms of number5. Conclusion and final evaluation

Background: Sulfur mustard gas is a chemical agent that has been used in many wars, especially in Iran-Iraq war. This chemical agent affects many organs including lungs, eyes and skin, causing numerous acute and chronic lesions including erythema and hyperpigmentation, respectively. This study was conducted to evaluate erythema and melanin in subjects with a history of exposure to sulfur mustard.Methods: This case-control study was done on 309 subjects. They were divided into four groups: sulfur mustard-exposed patients with skin lesions (n=87), sulfur mustard-exposed cases without current skin lesions (n=71), non sulfur mustard-exposed patients with dermatitis (n=78) and normal controls (n=74). Erythema and melanin were measured in 4 areas (forehead, suprasternal, palm and back of hands) by Mexameter MX18 (Courage-Khazaka, Germany).Results: Erythema was significantly lower in suprasternal and palmar aspect of hands in sulfur mustard-exposed patients with dermatitis (P<0.05) while there was no significant difference in other areas. In terms of melanin, there was a significant difference in the dorsal aspect of hands in all four groups (P<0.05), where patients with dermatitis (both sulfur mustard exposed and normal population) had higher levels of melanin, probably due to pruritus in such areas. Forehead melanin of the normal population was also significantly lower than other three groups (P<0.05) while there was no significant difference between the melanin level of sulfur mustard exposed subjects (with or without dermatitis) and patients with dermatitis.Conclusion: Sulfur mustard contact can affect erythema and melanin content of the skin.

Background: Quantitative assessment of pigments’ aggregation in skin lesions helps accurate diagnosis. This is also instrumental in monitoring the process of treatment especially when lasers are used to treat skin lesions. Spectroscopy has provided necessary instrumentations for quantitative evaluation of skin pigmentation. Having a broad wavelength range, ease of use and quickness are some advantages of spectroscopy. On the other hand, due to the overlapping of pigments’ absorption spectra, separation of pigments’ intensities is not a straightforward issue and requires scientific methods.Material and Methods: In this study, the spectrum of human skin has been achieved for 5 different parts of 10 volunteers’ skin. The volunteers were 24-28 years old from both genders. The achieved spectrum was fitted according to absorption Gaussian peaks of pigments using Qtiplot software package and the intensity of each sub-peak was calculated. Two comparisons were performed in order to assess accuracy of the experiment. In the first comparison which shows accuracy of the experimental method, the redness and the blood concentration of different parts of skin were evaluated. In the second comparison, the accuracy of fitting process was tested. To do so, the ratio of di-oxi homoglobin to oxy hemoglobin in volunteers’ lips was compared. This ratio represents how bright the person’ lips might be.Results: In this paper, we have presented a method for quantifing the amount of pigments in absorption spectrum of human skin. This was done by fitting the spectrum according to absorption peaks of pigments. The excellent correlation coefficient between the experimental spectrum and fitted curve shows a good precision. Two comparisions were performed in order to test the accuracy and precision of this method. Both comparisons confirmed the viability of the method.Conclusion: With this method, the changes in skin pigmentation caused by disease can be expressed quantitively.