Association between angiotensinogen M235T polymorphism and preeclampsia in Iranian pregnant women

To determine the possible association between the M235T variant of angiotensinogen gene and preeclampsia in Iranian preeclamtic women with hypertension during pregnancy. During a case control study, we used polymerase chain reaction-based restriction fragment length polymorphism [PCR-RFLP] analysis to investigate the association between M235T polymorphism in preeclamtic women compared to normotensive controls. The M235T polymorphism was significantly associated with increased preeclampsia risk in the studied population as supported by a p value of 0.017 and chi-square value of 8.12. The frequency of mutated allele and genotype distribution showed a significant difference between preeclamtic women and control groups. The result indicates that the AGT M235T polymorphism plays a significant role in preeclampsia observed in selected Iranian preeclamtic women, and it can be considered as a major risk factor for preeclampsia

Effectiveness of topical curcumin for treatment of mastitis in breastfeeding women: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial

To determine the efficacy of topical curcumin in reducing breast inflammation in women suffering from lactational mastitis. A randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled study including 63 breastfeeding women with lactational mastitis were randomly assigned to receive curcumin topical cream, one pump every 8 hours for 3 days [n=32] or topical moisturizer as placebo [n=31]. Using an index for severity of breast inflammation, all of the patients had moderate breast inflammation before entering the study The outcome of treatment was evaluated using the same index at 24,48 and 72 hours of starting the treatment. There was no significant difference between two study groups regarding the baseline characteristics such as age [p=0.361] and duration of lactation [p=0<551]. After 72-hour of therapy, patients in curcumin groups had significantly lower rate of moderate [p=0.019] and mild [p=0.002] mastitis. Patients in curcumin group had significantly lower scores for tension [p<0.001], erythema [p<0.001] and pain [p<0.001] after 72-hour of treatment. The results of the current study indicate that topical preparation of curcumin successfully decrease the markers of lactational mastitis such as pain, breast tension and erythema within 72 hours of administration without side effects. Thus, topical preparation of curcumin could be safely administered for those suffering from lactational mastitis after excluding infectious etiologies