The Effects of Various Cognitive Tasks Including Working Memory, Visuospatial, and Executive Function on Postural Control in Patients With Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture can impair balance performance, particularly during cognitive motor dual-tasks. This study aimed to determine the effects of various modalities of cognitive load (working memory, and visuospatial and executive function) on postural control parameters in individuals with ACL injury. Twenty-seven ACL-injured and 27 healthy participants were evaluated doing different cognitive tasks (silent backward counting, Benton's judgment of line orientation, and Stroop color-word test) while standing on a rigid surface or a foam. Each task was repeated three times and then averaged. Center of pressure variables used to measure postural performance included sway area and sway velocity in anterior-posterior and medial-lateral directions. Cognitive performance was also assessed by calculating errors and the score of cognitive tasks. A mixed model analysis of variance for center of pressure parameters indicated that patients had more sways than the healthy group. The interaction of group by postural difficulty by cognitive tasks was statistically significant for cognitive errors (p < .01), and patients with ACL injury indicated more cognitive errors compared to healthy controls while standing on the foam. The main effect of cognitive task was statistically significant for all postural parameters, representing reduced postural sways in both groups with all cognitive tasks. However, ACL-injured patients showed more cognitive errors in difficult postural conditions, suggesting that individuals with ACL injury may prioritize postural control over cognitive task accuracy and adopt the posture-first strategy to maintain balance under dual-task conditions.

Corrigendum to “Correlation between clinical and laboratory parameters and early pregnancy loss in assisted reproductive technology cycles: A cross-sectional study” [Int J Reprod BioMed 2022; 20: 683-690]

The authors have been informed of an error that occurred on page 684 in which the number of participants should be replaced with 408 instead of 480. On behalf of the author, the publisher wishes to apologize for this error. The online version of article has been updated on 23 October 2022 and can be found at https://doi.org/10.18502/ijrm.v20i8.11757.

Addition of intramuscular to vaginal progesterone for luteal phase support in fresh embryo transfer cycles: A cross-sectional study

Background

Luteal phase deficiency is common in assisted reproductive technology and is characterized by inadequate progesterone production. Various studies have shown that administration of progesterone in fresh embryo transfer cycles increases the rate of clinical pregnancy and live birth rate. Progesterone administration has variable types: oral, vaginal, oil-based intramuscular, and subcutaneous.

Objective

This study aims to compare the effect of adding intramuscular progesterone to the vaginal progesterone for luteal phase support in the fresh embryo transfer cycle.

Materials and Methods

This study reviewed the information related to 355 women who had a fresh embryo transfer between March 2020 and February 2021 at the Yazd Reproductive Sciences Institute, Yazd, Iran. The participants population were divided into 2 groups based on the type of luteal phase support regime: group I (n = 173) received 400 mg vaginal progesterone alone twice a day from the day of ovum pick up; and group II (n = 182) received 50 mg IM of progesterone in addition to vaginal progesterone 400 mg twice a day from the day of ovum pick up. Chemical and clinical pregnancy rates were compared between groups.

Results

The basic characteristics of groups were statistically similar. The rates of chemical and clinical pregnancy were higher in the vaginal plus IM progesterone group than in the vaginal progesterone group. Moreover, chemical pregnancy showed a significant difference between the groups (p = 0.011).

Conclusion

Our findings demonstrated that the addition of IM progesterone to the vaginal progesterone improves the chemical pregnancy rate in fresh embryo transfer.

Copper-Curcumin-Bipyridine Dicarboxylate Complexes as Anticancer Candidates

In this study, copper complexes with Curcumin (Cur) and 2,2'-bipyridine-5,5'-dicarboxylic acid (BPYD) were synthesized and their cytotoxicity on the MDA-MB-231 cell lines was evaluated. The resulting complex was characterized using FTIR, UV/VIS, CHNS, TGA, ICP-MS, and Mass spectroscopy techniques. The in-vitro cytotoxicity was studied on the MDA-MB-231 as a cancerous cell line and the HUVEC as a normal cell line. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) production was measured using the 2',7'-dichlorofluorescein diacetate (DCFDA) test in the MDA-MB-231 cancer cell lines. The in-vitro assays revealed that all synthesized copper complexes exhibited a higher cytotoxicity effect than carboplatin as a positive control on the MDA-MB-231 cells. While the synthesized complexes exhibited cytotoxic effects on cancerous cell lines, they are practically safe on normal cells. The Cu-Cur-BPYD complexes (a5 & b5) exhibited higher cytotoxicity on MDA-MB-231 cells with IC₅₀ s around 4.9 and 2.3 mM, respectively. It can be concluded that the synthesized Cu-Cur-BPYD complexes (a5 & b5) could be considered effective anticancer candidates in complementary studies.

Correlation between clinical and laboratory parameters and early pregnancy loss in assisted reproductive technology cycles: A cross-sectional study

Background: The miscarriage rate after pregnancy resulting from assisted reproductive technology (ART) is about 20%, roughly half of which is biochemical. The correlations between the number and quality of oocytes, estradiol level and early pregnancy loss have not been fully clarified. Objective: This study aimed to examine the clinical and laboratory parameter effects on early abortion in ART cycles. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 408 women who were ART candidates and were referred to the Yazd Infertility and Research Center, Yazd, Iran during March 2017 to March 2020 participated. Women who had a fresh embryo transferred and who had a positive beta human chorionic gonadotropin serum test were included in the study. The Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) level, embryo quality, oocyte number, progesterone level, estradiol level, and maternal age were extracted from the medical records. Results: No significant difference was observed in the age, mean estradiol and progesterone levels on trigger day, number of MII oocytes, and embryo quality between the groups (p = 0.19, 0.42, 0.07, 0.34 and 0.20, respectively). No statistically significant difference was found between the 3 groups of AMH level (p = 0.20). After evaluation using logistic regression, the rate of negative clinical pregnancies was higher in the group with AMH < 1 ng/ml. However, this was not found to be statistically significant. Conclusion: We did not find any correlation between early abortion and AMH levels, embryo quality, oocyte number, progesterone level, estradiol level, or maternal age. Key words: Abortion, Pregnancy, Embryo transfer, Assisted reproductive techniques, Anti-Müllerian hormone.

Association Between Dietary Total Antioxidant Capacity and Diet Quality in Adults

Background

Diet quality is a major contributor to human health. In addition, antioxidants have a great contribution to several chronic conditions. The purpose of this study was to evaluate if dietary total antioxidant capacity (TAC) can be considered as a measure of diet quality in a Middle Eastern country.

Methods

In this cross-sectional study on 6,724 Iranian adults, we used a validated food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) to assess dietary intakes. Data derived from the FFQ was used to calculate dietary TAC and well-known diet quality scores including alternate healthy eating index (AHEI) and dietary diversity score (DDS). Dietary TAC was calculated based on the ferric reducing-antioxidant power (FRAP) values reported in earlier publications. AHEI and DDS have also been constructed based on previous publications. Cross-classification was used to examine the agreement between these measures.

Results

Mean age and BMI of study participants were 36.89 ± 8.08 y and 24.97 ± 3.87 kg/m², respectively. We found that individuals in the highest tertile of dietary TAC had higher scores of AHEI (57.53 ± 0.20 vs. 52.03 ± 0.20, P < 0.001) and DDS (5.56 ± 0.03 vs. 4.15 ± 0.03, P < 0.001) compared with those in the lowest tertile. Participants' distribution on the basis of the cross-classification analysis indicated that the classifications were in exact agreement for 42.6%, within an adjacent tertile for 33.05%, and in gross misclassification for 20% of individuals. When this was examined between dietary TAC and DDS, we found that exact agreement in the classifications was for 59.2% of participants. Notably, a very low proportion of gross misclassification was seen in this regard such that only 6% of participants were classified in the opposing tertiles, indicating additional support for a good agreement.

Conclusion

We found that dietary TAC might be considered as a proper measure for the assessment of diet quality because it was well correlated with well-known measures of diet quality including DDS and AHEI scores.

Bee Venom-Derived BBB Shuttle and its Correlation with Oligodendrocyte Proliferation Markers in Mice Model of Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis is a chronic demyelinating disease with a functional disturbance in the immune system and axonal damages. It was shown that Apamin as a blood-brain barrier shuttle acts as a Ca2+ activated K+ channels (SK channels) blocker. In this study, the effects of Apamin on oligodendrocyte differentiation markers were evaluated on an induced model of MS. Briefly, C57BL/6 male mice (22 ± 5 g) except the control group were fed with 0.2% (w/w) cuprizone pellets for 6 weeks. After cuprizone withdrawal, mice were divided randomly into six groups. Apamin (100 µg/kg/BW) was administered intraperitoneally as a co-treatment during phase I (demyelination) or post-treatment phase II (remyelination) twice a week. Mice were anesthetized, perfused with phosphate-buffered saline, then fixed brains were coronally sectioned and the changes in oligodendrocytes markers such as Olig2, PDGFR-α, and BrdU incorporation were assessed by immunohistochemistry assay. Apamin administration increased Olig2+ cells in phase I as compared to the control group (p < 0.0001). Also, a decreasing trend in PDGFRa+ cells observed after cuprizone withdrawal (p < 0.001). 5-Bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU) incorporation test was confirmed stimulation of oligodendrocyte progenitor cell proliferation in phase I in the Apamin exposed group (p < 0.0001), especially at the subventricular zone. This study highlights the potential therapeutic effects of Apamin as a bee venom-derived peptide on oligodendrocyte precursor proliferation and elevation in myelin content in an oxidative induced multiple sclerosis model due to cuprizone exposure.

Protective Role of Angiotensin II Type 1 Receptor Blocker on Short Time Effect of Oleic Acid Induced Lung and Kidney Injury

Backgrounds:

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) causes high mortality rate in clinic, and the pathogenesis of this syndrome may interact with renin angiotensin system (RAS) components. The main objective of this study was to determine the protective role of AT1R antagonist (losartan) on oleic acid (OA) induced ARDS and kidney injury.

Methods:

The animal model of ARDS was performed by intravenous administration of 250 μl/kg oleic acid (OA). Male and female rats were subjected to received intravenously vehicle (saline, groups 1 and 4), OA (groups 2 and 5), or losartan (10 mg/kg) plus OA (groups 3 and 6), and six hour later, the measurements were performed.

Results:

Co-treatment of OA and losartan increased the serum levels of blood urea nitrogen significantly (P < 0.05) and creatinine insignificantly in both gender. However, the OA induced kidney damage was decreased by losartan significantly in male (P < 0.05) and insignificantly in female rats. In addition, co-treatment of OA and losartan decreased lung water content significantly in male rats (P < 0.05). Based on tissue staining, no significant difference in lung tissue damages were observed between the groups, however some exudate were observed in lung male rats treated with OA alone which were abolished by losartan.

Conclusions:

Losartan may protect the kidney and lung against OA induced tissue injury in male rats. This protective action is not certain in female rats.

Fenofibrate-induced renal dysfunction, yes or no?

In the treatment process of hypertriglyceridemia and diabetic nephropathy in type 2 diabetes, fenofibrate (FEN) is a well-known medication. FEN is from fibrate class drugs that using orally; however, as a side effect, it is associated with serum creatinine level increasing. The aim of this review was to determine the real effect of FEN therapy on renal functions based on both experimental and clinical studies. For this review, using the keywords of “fenofibrate” and “renal” and “function,” a variety of sources of information banks, including PubMed, Google Scholar, and Scopus, were used, and the published articles were considered and interpreted. Followed by searching in databases, 45 articles were collected. After screening these articles, based on the study source, they were devided into two parts: 23 articles on animal experiments and 22 articles clinical experiments. Based on this information, it seems that the protective mechanism of FEN is related to vascular endothelial functions. The increased creatinine by FEN is related to different sensitivities to FEN effects caused by a polymorphism in different patients. In patients with normal renal function, follow-up of serum creatinine would be necessary after FEN, but the discontinuation of FEN is not recommended. In addition, in diabetic patients with hypertriglyceridemia, FEN treatment would be suggested for protecting the kidney from diabetes-induced renal injury.

Evaluation of treatment results and prognostic factors of uterine sarcoma: A single-center experience

BACKGROUND

Uterine sarcomas (US) constitute a rare heterogeneous group of gynecological malignancies with aggressive characteristics and poor prognosis. Identifying the histopathological factors that determine the prognosis of the tumor and efficacy of various treatment modalities provides a reliable source for efficient treatment of affected patients. This study presents our 11-year experience with US in the south of Iran.

METHODS

Medical records of 42 patients (2001-2012) with endometrial stromal sarcoma (ESS), leiomyosarcoma (LMS), and malignant mixed Müllerian tumor (MMMT) were investigated. Hazard ratio (HR) and 2- and 5-year survival of patients were analyzed based on the patients' age, histopathological characteristics (tumor type, stage, necrosis, and mitotic index), and treatment modalities.

RESULTS

Twenty-four patients survived with median follow-up of 42.5 months; 18 died within 17 months, and 52.4% had recurrence, of whom 12 died. Two- and five-year survival rate was 78.6% and 61.9%, respectively, longest for ESS and shortest for MMMT. Higher age, tumor stage, necrosis, and mitotic index increased the HR of mortality. Radiotherapy resulted in a better survival, compared with chemotherapy alone or combined with radiotherapy.

CONCLUSION

Although ESS had the best prognosis, MMMT was the most aggressive tumor with the shortest survival time. Histological type of the tumor, staging, tumor necrosis, and mitotic index had prognostic roles. Adjuvant radiotherapy resulted in a better survival, compared with surgery alone in early stage.

Zinc Supplementation and Ischemia Pre-conditioning in Renal Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury

Backgrounds

Renal ischemia/reperfusion (RIR) is a major cause of kidney dysfunction in clinic. The main objective of this study was to investigate the effect of pre-conditioning ischemia (IPC) and zinc (Zn) supplementation on renal RIR injury.

Methods

A total of 63 unilateral nephrectomised male and female Wistar rats were divided into five groups. Group 1 (ShOPR): Rats as sham-operated group were subjected to surgical procedure without RIR. Group 2 (Isch): Rats underwent RIR (left kidney ischemia for 30 min followed by 48 h reperfusion). Group 3 (Zn+Isch): Rats were treated as group 2 but they received Zn sulphate (30 mg/kg) 1 h before induction of RIR. Group 4 (IPC+Isch): Rats were treated as group 2 but they underwent 1 min of ischemia followed by 3 min reperfusion as IPC, which was repeated for three times before induction of RIR. Group 5 (Zn+IPC+Isch): Rats were subjected to receive both Zn sulphate and IPC before induction of RIR. Urine samples were collected in the last 6 h of reperfusion, and finally biochemical and histological measurements were performed.

Results

The serum level of creatinine (Cr), normalised kidney weight (KW) and kidney tissue damage score (KTDS) increased by RIR alone significantly (P < 0.05). These parameters were attenuated statistically by Zn supplementation (P < 0.05). However, IPC alone or co-treatment of Zn and IPC did not improve the biochemical and histological markers altered by RIR injury.

Conclusion

Zn supplementation had a protective role against RIR while such protective effect was not observed by IPC alone or by co-treatment of Zn and IPC.

Hydroalcoholic extract of Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) and its constituent carnosol inhibit formalin-induced pain and inflammation in mice

The anti-inflammatory and anti-nociceptive properties of Rosmarinus officinalis L. (ROL) extract and its major constituent, carnosol in male NMRI mice (W:25-30 g) have been evaluated in the present study. Formalin (2%, 20 microL) was injected into the plantar portion of the hind paw and resulting pain and inflammation was studied for 60 min. The plant extract, carnosol and other drugs were administered intraperitoneally or subcutaneously 30 min before formalin injection. In a separate experiment, the effects of the extract and carnosol on plasma corticosterone levels and activity of the enzymes cyclooxygenase type 1 and 2 (COX1 and COX2) were investigated. Injection of different doses of ROL and carnosol reduced pain in the phase 2 of the formalin test, which was not inhibited by naloxone and/or memantine. In addition, pretreatment of the animals with ROL and/or carnosol reduces the formalin-induced inflammation. Furthermore, the extract and carnosol did not affect plasma corticosterone levels compared with the control group. Interestingly, both the extract and carnosol inhibited COX1 and COX2 activity. It could be concluded that ROL extract and carnosol suppressed pain and inflammation induced by formalin injection, which may be due to inhibition of COX1 and COX2 enzymes activity.