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AIM: To compare the anterior and posterior corneal astigmatism and total refractive astigmatism before and after MyoRing implantation in keratoconus(KCN)patients.METHODS: In this historical cohort study, the preoperative and postoperative total refractive, anterior and posterior corneal astigmatism of KCN patients implanted with a 360-degree full-ring implant(MyoRing)were compared before and after four consecutive follow-up sessions at 3, 6, 9, and 12 mo after surgery.RESULTS: The study encompassed 79 KCN patients(85 eyes), comprising 43 males and 36 females. The mean age of the patients was 29±7.41 years, ranging from 17 to 48 years. Throughout the follow-up sessions, a gradual decrease was observed in the trend of changes for total refractive astigmatism, anterior corneal astigmatism, and posterior corneal astigmatism. Postoperatively, total refractive astigmatism measurements exhibited a significant decrease of 2.09 D at 12 mo after MyoRing implantation(4.27±3.15 vs 2.18±1.63 D, P<0.001). Additionally, post-operative measurements revealed an enhancement of approximately 3.20 D and 0.59 D for anterior and posterior corneal astigmatism, respectively [6.40±1.90 vs 3.20±1.75 D for anterior corneal astigmatism(P<0.001)and 1.30±0.55 vs 0.71±0.35 D for posterior corneal astigmatism(P<0.001)].CONCLUSION: MyoRing implantation demonstrates significant improvements in astigmatism parameters, encompassing total refractive astigmatism as well as anterior and posterior corneal astigmatism.
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Objective: To study the cardiac outcomes of patients with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) after 6-month of diagnosis. Methods: This review of hospital records was conducted on MIS-C patients (aged <21 years) who completed a six-month follow-up. The baseline demographic, clinical, laboratory, and treatment characteristics during the acute phase, and echocardiographic findings during follow-up were collected. Results: 116 patients (61.2% male, median age 7 years) with MIS-C were included in the study. At the time of admission, cardiac abnormalities were present in 70.7% of MIS-C patients, and the most common cardiac abnormalities were valve failure (50.9%), followed by ventricular dysfunction (39.7%), and pericardial effusion (23.3%). Six month after diagnosis, cardiac abnormalities were found in 10.3% of patients, and patients had lower rates of ventricular dysfunction (P<0.001), valve failure (P<0.001), pericardial effusion (P<0.001), and coronary involvement (P<0.001) as compared to the baseline. Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) and steroid treatment significantly reduced the odds of occurrence of ventricular dysfunction (P=0.002), valve failure (P=0.004), and low ejection fraction (P=0.002) in comparison to IVIG treatment alone. Conclusion: While most MIS-C patients had abnormal echocardiographic findings at admission, only 10.3% of patients had cardiac abnormalities during follow up.
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Background & objectives: In early stages of oral cancers, 20-40 per cent of cases have occult metastasis in cervical lymph nodes. Biologic imbalance between cellular proliferation and death culminates in metastasis. The importance of cell cycle dysregulation in relation to lymph node involvement in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) has not been established yet. The aim was to determine the association between apoptotic bodies count and mitotic index in relation to regional lymph node involvement in OSCC. Methods: Thirty two methyl green-pyronin stained slides from paraffin-embedded sections of OSCC were evaluated for apoptotic bodies count and mitotic index in relation to regional lymph node involvement using light microscopy. Number of apoptotic bodies and mitotic figures were counted in 10 randomly selected hot spot areas (×400). Average count of apoptotic bodies and mitotic figures were determined and compared with regard to the presence/absence of lymph node involvement. Results: The count of apoptotic bodies in cases without metastasis to the regional lymph node was significantly higher than in cases with regional lymph node involvement. The mitotic index was not significantly different between groups in terms of regional lymph node involvement (P=0.24). No significant correlation was found between the apoptotic bodies count (r=?0.094, P=0.72) and mitotic index (r=?0.08, P=0.75) to the number of regional lymph nodes involved. Interpretation & conclusions: Based on the results, it is suggested that apoptotic cell count can be a good parameter for showing the possibility of regional lymph node involvement in people with OSCC who do not have clinical symptoms of lymph node involvement.
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Purpose@#This systematic review aimed to investigate the correlation between chronological age and dental pulp volume in cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). @*Materials and Methods@#The literature was searched in 4 databases (PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar). Within each study, the outcome of interest was the correlation (r) between chronological age and pulp volume. A random-effect meta-analysis was conducted. Subgroup analysis was carried out according to sex and tooth type. @*Results@#Of 5,693 identified studies, 27 fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were selected for meta-analysis. These articles focused on single-rooted teeth (n = 21), multi-rooted teeth (n = 6), maxillary teeth (n = 14), mandibular teeth (n = 6), and maxillary and mandibular teeth (n = 12). The relationship between chronological age and dental pulp volume was examined in the entire population (r = - 0.67), men (r = - 0.75), and women (r = - 0.77) in single- and multi-rooted teeth. The results of the total population analysis showed a relatively strong negative relationship between age and pulp volume. @*Conclusion@#This study suggested that CBCT is a reliable and repeatable tool for dental age estimation. A strong inverse relationship was observed between pulp chamber volume and age. Further studies on the correlation between chronological age and pulp volume of multi-rooted teeth may be beneficial. (Imaging Sci Dent 2023; 53: 91-9)
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Purpose@#This study aimed to assess incidental abnormal findings in the paranasal sinuses and anatomical variations of the ostiomeatal complex (OMC) on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. @*Materials and Methods@#MRI scans of 616 patients (mean age, 44.0±19.4 years) were evaluated. Prior to obtaining the MRI scans, a checklist of patients’ clinical symptoms was filled out after obtaining their consent. The Lund-Mackay classification was used to assess the paranasal sinuses and OMC. The prevalence of abnormal findings and their associations with patients’ age, sex, and subjective symptoms were analyzed by the chi-square test, independent-sample t-test, and analysis of variance. The level of significance was set at 0.05. @*Results@#Abnormal findings in the paranasal sinuses were detected in 32.0% of patients, with a significantly higher prevalence in males (P0.05). Epithelial thickening and retention cyst were the most common abnormal findings in the paranasal sinuses. According to the Lund-Mackay classification, 93% of the study population had normal sinuses (score0.05). @*Conclusion@#Considering the relatively high prevalence of abnormal findings in the paranasal sinuses, it appears that clinical symptoms alone are not sufficient to diagnose sinusitis. A more accurate strategy would be to assess radiographic images of the paranasal sinuses and use a classification system. Sinusitis should be suspected in patients receiving a high score in this classification.
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Background@#The rapidly developed vaccines against the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 carry a risk of provoking side effects. This study aimed to evaluate current vaccination non-serious/serious side effects. @*Methods@#A multicenter electronic questionnaire via an online platform was conducted over a 1-week period among vaccinated dental staff and dental students inquiring whether they experienced vaccine-related side-effects after vaccine administration. @*Results@#A total of 1205 respondents with a mean age of 39 (SD: 12) were retained for the analyses. The following vaccines were reported; Gam-COVID-Vac (Sputnik V), ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (AstraZeneca), BBV152 (Covaxin), or BBIBP-CorV (Sinopharm). The majority of respondents received ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (51.1%) and Gam-COVID-Vac (37.6%). The symptoms most frequently reported after vaccination were fatigue (79%), local pain in the injection site (77.4%), malaise (73%), and body pain (71.1%). Enrollees reported more onset of reactions on 0–12 h (44.1%) and 12–24 h (29.0%) after vaccine administration (p value <0.001). In 75.7%, the side effects last for up to 3 days. Merely 5.5% of cases reported the presence of side effects after the first week. Individuals with a history of SARSCoV-2 and other infections (MERS, influenza, and EBV) were more likely to report a number of unserious systemic side effects. @*Conclusion@#The commonly reported adverse events were in line with similar studies. We have concerns with the frequency of serious adverse effects. This work necessitates the need for further clinical assessments with larger sample sizes.
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Abstract Introduction Occupational burnout in nurses is a barrier to job promotion and achievement of job-related goals, resulting in reduced hospital performance. Objective Considering the importance of the role of compassion in occupational burnout among nurses, this cross-sectional study aimed to explore the burnout levels and their relationships with compassion for others and fear of compassion. Methods This descriptive correlation study was carried out with 216 nurses who were selected using a multistage cluster sampling method and asked to respond to the Maslach Burnout Inventory, a compassion for others scale and Fears of Compassion Scales (FCS), which includes three subscales; fears of compassion for self, compassion for others, and compassion from others. Results The results showed that burnout had a negative correlation with compassion for others, but had positive correlations with fear of compassion for others, fear of compassion from others, and fear of self-compassion. Moreover, the results of regression analysis showed that 21% of burnout variance was explained by compassion for others and 29% of its variance was explained by fears of compassion scales. Conclusion Based on the findings, compassion can be considered as a protective factor in preventing burnout among nurses.
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Background@#Zygomatic implants are a treatment option for severely atrophic maxilla.Main text: This study aimed to summarize and evaluate systematic reviews assessing the clinical outcomes of zygomatic implants including survival/failure rate and complications. PubMed-MEDLINE, Google Scholar, LILACS, and the Cochrane Database were searched up to April 2020. Risk of bias assessment was conducted by the AMSTAR tool. Initial searches yielded 175 studies. These were assessed, and following title abstract and full-text evaluation, 7 studies (2 meta-analyses) were included in the final review. According to the AMSTAR tool, 1 was deemed high quality, 4 were classified as medium, and 2 as low quality. The mean AMSTAR score (±SD) was 5.28 of 9 (±2.36) ranging from 2/9 to 9/9. The reported survival rates ranged from 95.2 to 100% except for resected maxillas, which established higher failure rates up to 21.43%. Concerning the complications with the zygomatic implants, various surgical and prosthetic complications were reported with sinusitis being the most frequently observed complication. Zygomatic implants appears to offer a promising alternative to formal bone grafting techniques with lower costs, less complications, less morbidity, shorter treatment times, and comparably high survival rates. @*Conclusion@#Complications were rare and usually easy to manage. However, the treatment should be directed by appropriately trained clinicians with noticeable surgical experience.
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Background@#Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is a bleeding disorder. Helicobacter Pylori is a Gram-negative bacterium that is presumed to be associated with ITP and therapeutic response of patients. To evaluate the effect of H. Pylori eradication on platelet count of ITP patients, we analyzed the studies conducted on the association between H. Pylori infection and response to therapy in ITP patients in Western Asia focusing on the Middle East region. @*Methods@#A systematic search of databases (PubMed/Medline, ISI Web of Science, Cochrane Central) and Google Scholar search engine results was conducted up until January 2020. The keywords included in the search were Helicobacter Pylori and/or H. Pylori, ITP and/or immune thrombocytopenia. @*Results@#Seven studies comprising a total of 228 H. Pylori -infected patients (193 with successful eradication) were included in this study. The association between H. Pylori eradication and ITP was expressed as odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). The findings showed that patients who received eradication treatment for H. Pylori infection had significantly higher OR (OR, 8.83; 95% CI, 2.03‒38.35; P =0.004) than those in the non-eradicated group. @*Conclusion@#Our results indicate a significant therapeutic effect of H. Pylori eradication on the platelet count of patients with chronic ITP. Given the inherent limitations of this study, including the small number of patients, further studies with more patients are recommended.
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Background@#In Iran, 82% of breast cancer cases are diagnosed in late stages, resulting in low survival rates. In the present study, the Stages of Change Theory and Health Belief Model were used as theoretical frameworks for assessing Women Health Volunteer readiness to act on different breast cancer screening behaviors. @*Methods@#A total of 1,410 Women Health Volunteers were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. The breast self-examination (BSE) and mammography stages of change were measured independently. A standardized questionnaire based on the Health Belief Model was used to assess their beliefs about breast cancer screening methods. A path analysis using PASW SPSS ver. 18.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) was used to test the effects of individual beliefs on breast cancer screening stages of change. @*Results@#Most participants were classified in the pre-contemplation stage of breast cancer screening behaviors. Perceived barriers, benefits, and susceptibility emerged as BSE stages of change predictors. No beliefs were significant mammography stages of change predictors. @*Conclusion@#Iranian Women Health Volunteers had a very low adherence to common BSE and mammography practices. Healthy beliefs have a strong association with the stages of change for performing BSE, but not for mammography. The impact of health beliefs on an individual’s readiness to act on different breast cancer screening methods may vary with respect to the type of screening method.
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Background@#In Iran, 82% of breast cancer cases are diagnosed in late stages, resulting in low survival rates. In the present study, the Stages of Change Theory and Health Belief Model were used as theoretical frameworks for assessing Women Health Volunteer readiness to act on different breast cancer screening behaviors. @*Methods@#A total of 1,410 Women Health Volunteers were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. The breast self-examination (BSE) and mammography stages of change were measured independently. A standardized questionnaire based on the Health Belief Model was used to assess their beliefs about breast cancer screening methods. A path analysis using PASW SPSS ver. 18.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) was used to test the effects of individual beliefs on breast cancer screening stages of change. @*Results@#Most participants were classified in the pre-contemplation stage of breast cancer screening behaviors. Perceived barriers, benefits, and susceptibility emerged as BSE stages of change predictors. No beliefs were significant mammography stages of change predictors. @*Conclusion@#Iranian Women Health Volunteers had a very low adherence to common BSE and mammography practices. Healthy beliefs have a strong association with the stages of change for performing BSE, but not for mammography. The impact of health beliefs on an individual’s readiness to act on different breast cancer screening methods may vary with respect to the type of screening method.
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Objective: The purposes of our research were to establish cephalometric standards for Yemeni adults and to compare them with those of the Caucasians. Material and Methods: 100 Yemeni students (fifty males, mean age of 23.6 ± 2.1 years, and fifty female, mean age of 21.5 ± 3.1 years) with normal occlusions and well-balanced faces were involved in the study. Inclusion criteria were a class I occlusion with minor or no crowding, the whole teeth is present except third molars and no previous orthodontic, orthopedic or maxillofacial surgery treatment. Five angular and eighteen linear measurements were used for the skeletal, dental and soft tissue analysis. All participant's Lateral cephalometric radiographs were evaluated. The average values and standard deviations for all the angles and linear measurements were determined. The differences for each measurement between the Yemeni and Caucasian participants were calculated using unpaired ttests. Results: Yemeni subjects had a more retrognathic mandibular positions (P< 0.05), protrusive mandibular incisors (P< 0.01), more protruded lip positions (P < 0.01), deeper mentolabial sulci (P< 0.01) and a steeper mandibular planes (P< 0.001) compared to the Caucasians. Yemeni females had a larger lower face height than Caucasian females (P< 0.001). Conclusions The study provides specific standards for Yemeni adults and shows that the Yemenis had different skeletal and dentoalveolar cephalometric standards in comparison with Caucasians (AU)
Objetivo: O objetivo de nossa pesquisa foi estabelecer padrões cefalométricos para adultos iemenitas e compará-los com os caucasianos. Material e Métodos: Cem estudantes iemenitas (cinquenta homens, idade média de 23,6 ± 2,1 anos, e cinquenta mulheres, idade média de 21,5 ± 3,1 anos) com oclusões normais e faces bem equilibradas foram envolvidos no estudo. Os critérios de inclusão foram: oclusão de classe I com pouco ou nenhum apinhamento, todos os dentes presentes, exceto terceiros molares e sem histórico de tratamento ortodôntico, ortopédico ou cirurgia maxilo-facial prévio. Cinco medidas angulares e dezoito lineares foram utilizadas para a análise esquelética, dentária e de tecidos moles. Todas as radiografias cefalométricas laterais dos participantes foram avaliadas. Foram determinados os valores médios e desvios padrão para todos os ângulos e medidas lineares. As diferenças para cada medição entre os participantes iemenitas e caucasianos foram calculadas usando testes t não pareados. Resultados: Os indivíduos iemenitas tinham posições mandibulares mais retrognáticas (P <0,05), incisivos inferiores protrusivos (P <0,01), posições dos lábios mais protuberantes (P <0,01), sulcos mentolabiais mais profundos (P <0,01) e planos mandibulares mais inclinados (P <0,001) em comparação com os caucasianos. As mulheres iemenitas tinham uma altura facial inferior maior do que as mulheres brancas (P <0,001). Conclusão:O estudo fornece padrões específicos para adultos iemenitas e mostra que os iemenitas apresentaram padrões cefalométricos esqueléticos e dentoalveolares diferentes em comparação com os caucasianos. (AU)
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Humans , Male , Female , Adult , Radiography, Dental , Cephalometry , Malocclusion, Angle Class IABSTRACT
Background:In December 2019, the pneumonia outbreak reported in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. WHO introduced a novel coronavirus and the virus named Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) in January 2020. There are not any specific antiviral agents for coronavirus disease 19 (COVID‐19). Objective:Our review aimed to discuss treatment options and the efficacy of currently prescribed drugs and supportive care in COVID‐19 patients. Study Design:A literature review of the articles in the Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus and EMBASE conducted. Results: Lopinavir/ritonavir combination was the most frequently used drug, followed by Arbidol and Oseltamivir and Methylprednisolone. Lopinavir/Ritonavir outcome showed the fever and respiratory infection improve in day two and day eight, respectively. Also, negative PCR of SARS‐CoV‐2 in days six and 7day was seen and finally these patients discharged in 10 days. Conclusions: Lopinavir/Ritonavir was the most improving administrated antiviral combination, which might be a good option for COVID-19 due to its availability. Although supportive care such as O2supplementary and IV fluid therapy has improved outcomes. There are not evidence forsuggesting a new treatment or a new drug, which mean the necessity of further investigations for drug research in a clinical trial for a conclusion about the optimum treatment
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Objective: To determine the diversity of sand flies in different biotopes of mountainous and plain areas of Bam County as the most infected focus of anthroponotic cutaneous leishmaniasis in southeast Iran, and synanthropic index of Phlebotomus sergenti Parrot, and Phlebotomus papatasi Scopoli as the main vectors of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Iran. Methods: Sand flies were captured once a month using sticky traps in domestic, peri-domestic, agricultural, and sylvatic biotopes in the plain and mountainous areas. Alpha diversity indices, including richness, evenness, Shannon-Wiener; beta diversity indices (Jaccard's and Sorensen's similarity indices) and synanthropic index were calculated. Results: A total of 2 664 specimens of 9 sand fly species were collected from mountainous (47%) and plain (53%) areas. Species richness, species evenness, and Shannon-Wiener indices were obtained as 9, 0.637, and 1.399, respectively in the mountainous area. Phlebotomus sergenti and Phlebotomus papatasi were constant species with the synanthropic index of-18.463 and-29.412, respectively. In addition, species richness, species evenness, and Shannon-Wiener indices were 4, 0.690, and 0.956, respectively in the plain area. Phlebotomus sergenti and Phlebotomus papatasi were dominant species with the synanthropic index of +9.695 and +36.207, respectively. Similarity indices were low among different biotopes of plain and mountainous areas. Conclusions: A basic knowledge about the diversity of sand flies in various biotopes is essential to design sound control programs. Biodiversity and synanthropic indices of sand flies are different in plain and mountainous areas due to the difference in biotic and abiotic factors between the two areas.
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Objectives@#Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is one of the most important outcome measures for patients. The purpose of this study was to evaluate HRQoL and related factors in Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. @*Methods@#A total of 420 COVID-19 patients who had been discharged from hospital were selected using a systematic sampling. The EuroQol 5-dimensional-5 levels (EQ-5D-5L) questionnaire along with medical records of the patients were used to gather the data. The t test and analysis of variance were employed to test the difference between mean EQ-5D-5L scores, and the BetaMix model was used to investigate factors associated with EQ-5D-5L scores. @*Results@#The mean score for the patients who completed the EQ-5D-5L questionnaire (n = 409) was 0.6125. The EQ-5D-5L scores were significantly higher in males, patients with younger age , those with a low level of education, the employed, patients who worked in uncrowded workplaces, patients without diabetes, and those who were not admitted to intensive care unit. The BetaMix model showed that gender, age, education, employment status, having diabetes, heart failure, and admission to the intensive care unit were significant independent predictors of the EQ-5D-5L index values. @*Conclusion@#The mean score for EQ-5D-5L in COVID-19 patients was low in this study. Some of the factors, especially aging and having diabetes, should be considered in the aftercare of patients to improve their HRQoL.
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Objective@#Alzheimer’s disease is a popular neurodegenerative disorder which is growing in the elderly people. Exposure to environmental pollutant like aluminum could trigger or accelerate its involved mechanisms like tau phosphorylation. The current study will evaluate the effect of alone or co-administration of Citicoline or/and magnesium on the aluminum chloride induced memory impairment. @*Methods@#Male albino mice were randomly divided into different groups (n = 7). Memory impairment was induced via orally administration of 300 mg/kg Aluminum Chloride for 28 days. Based on respective group, animals received 100, 250, 500 mg/kg of Citicoline or 50, 100, 150 mg/kg of Magnesium sulfate (MgSO4), intraperitoneally. In co-administration, 50 mg/kg of MgSO4 injected concomitantly with 100, 250, or 500 mg/kg of Citicoline. Rivastigmine (2 mg/kg intraperitoneally) was used as a positive control. Memory was evaluated using the Object Recognition Task (ORT) and Passive Avoidance Test (PAT). @*Results@#The studied doses of Citicoline or MgSO4 when administered individually showed significant increase in the discrimination index in ORT and latency time in the PAT compared to the Aluminium chloride (AlCl3) treated group. Concomitant injection of 50 mg/kg MgSO4 with the different doses of Citicoline strongly increased the above indices values in comparison to each alone. @*Conclusion@#The findings show, individual administration of Citicoline or MgSO4 inverted the AlCl3-induced memory impairment in a dose independent manner. The addition of MgSO4 to the Citicoline showed a synergistic effect in the PAT and likely additive effect in the ORT.
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Objective@#Diabetes mellitus is associated with cognitive disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. Studies have shown that citicoline and benfotiamine can improve memory and learning through different mechanism of actions. The aim of this study was to compare the individual effects of benfotiamine (100, 200, 300 mg/kg) and citicoline (50, 100, 250, 500 mg/kg, gavage) and their co-administration on memory impairments in diabetic mice. @*Methods@#Diabetes was induced by a single dose of streptozotocin (STZ, 140 mg/kg, intraperitoneal) and benfotiamine and/or citicoline were administered for three weeks. Memory was evaluated using the object recognition task (ORT) and passive avoidance test (PAT). @*Results@#Results from ORT shows that citicoline at 50, 100, 250, and 500 mg/kg and benfotiamine at 100, 200, and 300 mg/kg and their combination (benfotiamine at 100 mg/kg added to citicoline at 50, 100, and 250 mg/kg) are equally effective in reversing the memory loss induced by STZ (p ＜ 0.001). PAT results demonstrate that citicoline at 100, 250, and 500 mg/kg and benfotiamine at above doses did not improve the latency time when administered separately, but benfotiamine at a fixed dose of 100 mg/kg in the presence of citicoline at 50, 100, and 250 mg/kg increased the latency time and improved memory significantly. @*Conclusion@#In conclusion, in PAT, co-administration of benfotiamine and citicoline was more effective than either alone in improving memory. Regarding ORT, although benfotiamine added to citicoline improved memory notably, the difference between combination therapy and single-drug therapy was not considerable.
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BACKGROUND@#The effects of l-arginine supplementation on indices of glycemic control and the role of many factors influencing this intervention have been controversial in clinical trials.@*OBJECTIVE@#This meta-analysis was performed to assess the effects of l-arginine supplementation on indices of glycemic control, including fasting blood glucose (FBG), hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), serum insulin and homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) levels in randomized controlled trials (RCTs).@*SEARCH STRATEGY@#This study conducted a systematic review of RCTs published in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Cochrane Library and Embase, up to 5 May, 2018.@*INCLUSION CRITERIA@#Studies were included in this meta-analysis if they were RCTs with parallel design and reported sufficient data on participants before and after intervention, and outcomes of glycemic profile parameters in both the arginine supplementation and control groups.@*DATA EXTRACTION AND ANALYSIS@#The screening of titles and abstracts was performed independently by two reviewers. Selected articles were considered if they met the study's inclusion criteria. The quality of included studies was assessed by using the Cochrane Collaboration modified tool. From 710 articles retrieved in the initial search, only 10 trials were suitable for pooling the effects of arginine supplementation on serum glucose, insulin, HOMA-IR and HbA1c levels, with effect sizes of nine, eight, five and five, respectively.@*RESULTS@#Pooled random-effect analysis revealed that l-arginine supplementation could significantly decrease FBG level (weighted mean difference [WMD]: 3.35 mg/dL; 95% confidence interval [CI] = [-6.55, -0.16]; P = 0.04) and serum insulin level (WMD: -2.19 μIU/mL; 95% CI = [-3.70, -0.67]; P = 0.005). However, the effects of l-arginine supplementation on HOMA-IR and HbA1c were not significant. Results of subgroup analysis showed that supplementation with l-arginine could significantly decrease serum insulin levels when the dosage of l-arginine is > 6.5 g/d (WMD: -3.49 μIU/mL; 95% CI = [-5.59, -1.38]; P = 0.001), when the duration of supplementation is ≤ 12.8 weeks (WMD: -3.76; 95% CI = [-6.50, -0.98]; P = 0.008), when the participants are not diabetic patients (WMD: -2.54 μIU/mL; 95% CI = [-4.50, -0.50]; P = 0.01) and when the baseline serum level of insulin was > 20 μIU/mL (WMD: -3.98; 95% CI = [-6.31, -1.65]; P = 0.001).@*CONCLUSION@#Although the results of this study confirmed that supplementation with l-arginine could have significant effects on some glycemic profile indices of participants in clinical trials, the clinical importance of this reduction may not be meaningful.
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Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) is a transcriptional coactivator that binds to a diverse range of transcription factors. PPAR coactivator 1 (PGC-1) coactivators possess an extensive range of biological effects in different tissues, and play a key part in the regulation of the oxidative metabolism, consequently modulating the production of reactive oxygen species, autophagy, and mitochondrial biogenesis. Owing to these findings, a large body of studies, aiming to establish the role of PGC-1 in the neuromuscular system, has shown that PGC-1 could be a promising target for therapies targeting neuromuscular diseases. Among these, some evidence has shown that various signaling pathways linked to PGC-1 are deregulated in muscular dystrophy, leading to a reduced capacity for mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation and increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. In the light of these results, any intervention aimed at activating PGC-1 could contribute towards ameliorating the progression of muscular dystrophies. PGC-1 is influenced by different patho-physiological/pharmacological stimuli. Natural products have been reported to display modulatory effects on PPAR activation with fewer side effects in comparison to synthetic drugs. Taken together, this review summarizes the current knowledge on Duchenne muscular dystrophy, focusing on the potential effects of natural compounds, acting as regulators of PGC-1.
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Background@#Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) causes serious acute respiratory diseases including pneumonia and bronchitis with approximately 2.3% fatality occurrence.Main bodyThis study argues the main concepts that need to be considered for the gradual reopening of dental offices include treatment planning approaches, fundamental elements needed to prevent transmission of SARS-CoV-2 virus in dental healthcare settings, personal protection equipment (PPE) for dental health care providers, environmental measures, adjunctive measures, and rapid point of care tests in dental offices. @*Conclusion@#This article seeks to provide an overview of existing scientific evidence to suggest a guideline for reopening dental offices.