The Impact of Bariatric Surgery on Cardiac Structure, and Systolic and Diastolic Function in Patients with Obesity: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

The purpose of this study was to provide pooled data from all studies on the impact of bariatric surgery on cardiac structure, and systolic and diastolic function evaluated by either echocardiography or cardiac magnetic resonance. PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and Scopus databases were searched. Almost all of cardiac left-side structural indices improved significantly after bariatric surgery. However, right-side structural indices did not change significantly. Left ventricular ejection fraction and most of the diastolic function indices improved significantly after the bariatric surgery. The subgroup analysis showed that the left ventricular mass index decreased more in long-term follow-up (≥ 12 months). In addition, subgroup analysis of studies based on surgery type did not reveal any difference in outcomes between gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy groups.

Vitamin D Levels in Patients with Behcet's Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Behcet's disease (BD) is a chronic multisystem inflammatory disease classified as Variable Vessel Vasculitis with unclear etiology. We designed this systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate vitamin D status in Behcet's disease patients with this background. METHODS: We performed this systematic review and meta-analysis according to PRISMA guidelines. We included all observational studies in humans published in English, evaluating the association of 25(OH)D concentrations in Behcet's patients. Two reviewers (HRK and AE) independently searched the databases and screened articles based on their titles and abstracts. A third reviewer resolved all disagreements. We performed analysis using Cochrane Program Review Manager Version 5.3. The protocol for this review was registered on PROSPERO (CRD42020197426). RESULTS: A total of 341 publications were initially identified according to the search strategy. Finally, 12 publications were included in the meta-analysis. We performed this meta-analysis on 1265 participants from different studies with a sample size ranging from 63 to 224 individuals. In studies comparing active and inactive subgroups of patients with Behcet's disease, we found a significantly lower serum level of vitamin D in patients with Active BD (-0.4; 95% CI: -0.61, -0.25; p<0.001). We found that the serum level of vitamin D in Behcet's disease is significantly higher than in health controls (0.5; 95% CI: 0.15, 0.50; p=0.001). CONCLUSION: We demonstrated that the existing evidence is consistent with the hypothesis that an increased serum level of vitamin D would be associated with a substantially lower risk of active Behcet's disease.

Coadministration of Atorvastatin and Amiodarone Increases the Risk of Pulmonary Fibrosis in Rats.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of atorvastatin administration on amiodarone-induced pulmonary fibrosis in rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-six male Wistar rats were randomly divided into 4 groups. The control group (CTL) received distilled water (0.3 ml intratracheally on days 0 and 2 and 0.5 ml orally from day 0 for 3 weeks). The atorvastatin group (AT), in addition to intratracheal distilled water, received 1 mg/kg of atorvastatin orally from day 0 for 3 weeks. The amiodarone group (AMI) received 2 intratracheal instillations of amiodarone (6.25 mg/kg in 0.3 ml of water) on days 0 and 2 and 0.5 ml of distilled water (like the CTL). The amiodarone plus atorvastatin group (AMI + AT) received both these drugs (same doses and methods as for the AMI and AT). After 28 days, the rate of lung fibrosis was estimated according to pathological criteria of lung sections and measurements of hydroxyproline in pieces of left lung tissue. RESULTS: The lung hydroxyproline content was higher in the treated groups (CTL: 0.35 ± 0.017, AT: 0.38 ± 0.012, AMI: 0.375 ± 0.018 and AMI + AT: 0.38 ± 0.012 unit/mg protein), but did not reach significance when compared with the CTL (p = 0.56). Amiodarone administration significantly increased the score of pulmonary fibrosis (0.5) in comparison with the AT (0.125) and CTL (0) (p < 0.5). The combination of amiodarone and atorvastatin exacerbated the pulmonary fibrosis (1.5; p < 0.01) compared to the AMI (0.5; p < 0.001), AT (0.125) and CTL (0). CONCLUSION: In this study, the concomitant administration of amiodarone and atorvastatin increased pulmonary fibrosis in rats.

Evaluation of apical leakage in root canals obturated with three different sealers in presence or absence of smear layer.

INTRODUCTION: Microleakage can result in failure of endodontic treatment. An important characteristic of endodontic sealer is sealing ability. The aim of this experimental study was to compare the apical leakage of teeth obturated with gutta-percha and three different sealers (resin- and zinc oxide eugenol-based) with/without smear layer (SL). MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study, 100 single-rooted teeth were used after cutting off their crowns. Cleaning and shaping was carried out with step-back technique and the samples were randomly divided into three groups (n=30) which were then divided into two subgroups (n=15) according to the presence/absence of SL. Two negative and positive control groups (n=5) were also prepared. In the various groups, the canals were obturated with gutta-percha and either of the test sealers (AH-26, Adseal or Endofill). The samples were submerged in India ink for 72 h. Then they were longitudinally sectioned and observed under a stereomicroscope at 20× magnification. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistical methods and one-way ANOVA. The significance level was set at 0.05. RESULTS: The mean penetration length of dye in AH-26, Adseal and Endofill samples were 2.53, 2.76 and 3.03 mm, respectively. The differences between three groups were not significant (P>0.05); also, the mean dye penetration in AH-26, Adseal and Endofill samples in presence or absence of the SL was not significantly different. CONCLUSION: AH-26, Adseal and Endofill were similarly effective in prevention of apical microleakage. Differences in the mean dye penetration between the groups with/without the SL were not statistically significant.