Correlation of ADC values of adult brain tumors with the diagnosis and pathological grade: A cross-sectional multicenter study.

Background and Aim: Brain tumors are common, requiring physicians to have a precise understanding of them for accurate diagnosis and treatment. Considering that various histological tumor types present different cellularity, we conducted this research to examine the role of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values in the differential diagnosis and pathologic grading of brain tumor types. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we gathered pathology reports of histological samples of adult brain tumors. The tissue sample of brain tumors were examined histologically by a pathologist. The magnetic resonance imaging data of these patients were interpreted by a neuroradiologist. The measured ADC values and ADC ratios were calculated. Standard mean ADC values were expressed as 10- 6 mm2/s. The findings were compared according to the histological diagnosis of each tumor. Results: Sixty-eight patients were included in the study: 34 (50%) were male, and 34 (50%) were female. The average age of the patients was 51.69 + 16.40 years. In the examination of tumor type, 16 (23.5%) were astrocytoma, 9 (13.2%) were oligodendroglioma, 20 (29.4%) were glioblastoma, 4 (5.9%) were medulloblastoma, and 19 (27.9%) were metastatic tumors. the average value of ADC was statistically significantly different according to the pathological type of tumor (p < 0.001). The two-by-two comparison of average ADC among tumor types revealed significant differences, except for oligodendroglioma and glioblastoma (p-value = 0.87) and glioblastoma and medulloblastoma (p-value = 0.347). The average value of ADC and ADC ratio was statistically significantly different according to the pathological grade of the tumor (p < 0.001). In the two-by-two comparison of average ADC between all pathological grades of the tumor showed a significance difference except for Grade I and Grade II (p-value = 0.355). The mean value of ADC and ADC ratio for glioblastoma and metastatic tumors showed no significant difference. Conclusion: The assessment of brain tumor grade through ADC examination will help to estimate prognosis and devising suitable therapeutic strategies.

Effect of curcumin on inflammatory biomarkers and iron profile in patients with premenstrual syndrome and dysmenorrhea: A randomized controlled trial.

Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and primary dysmenorrhea are common gynecological problems and inflammation may have a role in their etiology. Curcumin is a polyphenolic natural product for which there is increasing evidence of anti-inflammatory and iron chelation effects. This study assessed the effects of curcumin on inflammatory biomarkers and iron profile in young women with PMS and dysmenorrhea. A sample of 76 patients was included in this triple-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Participants were randomly allocated to curcumin (n = 38) and control groups (n = 38). Each participant received one capsule (500 mg of curcuminoid+ piperine, or placebo) daily, from 7 days before until 3 days after menstruation for three consecutive menstrual cycles. Serum iron, ferritin, total iron-binding capacity (TIBC) and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), as well as white blood cell, lymphocyte, neutrophil, platelet counts, mean platelet volume (MPV) and red blood cell distribution width (RDW), were quantified. Neutrophil: lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet: lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and RDW: platelet ratio (RPR) were also calculated. Curcumin significantly decreased the median (interquartile range) serum levels of hsCRP [from 0.30 mg/L (0.0-1.10) to 0.20 mg/L (0.0-1.3); p = 0.041] compared with placebo, but did not show any difference for neutrophil, RDW, MPV, NLR, PLR and RPR values (p > 0.05). The treatment schedule was well-tolerated, and none of markers of iron metabolism statistically changed after the intervention in the curcumin group (p > 0.05). Curcumin supplementation may have positive effects on serum hsCRP, a marker of inflammation, with no any changes on iron homeostasis in healthy women with PMS and dysmenorrhea.

The maternal reduced uteroplacental perfusion model of preeclampsia induces sexually dimorphic metabolic responses in rat offspring.

BACKGROUND: Offspring born to preeclamptic mothers are prone to obesity, diabetes and hypertension in later life, but still, studies investigating the underlying mechanism are limited. Here, we aimed to investigate the impact of the reduced uteroplacental perfusion (RUPP) rat preeclampsia model on offspring metabolic outcomes. METHODS: Timed pregnant Wistar rats underwent RUPP or sham surgeries on day 14 of gestation. Glucometabolic parameters were evaluated on postnatal days (PND), 14 (childhood), and 60 (young adult). In addition, intraperitoneal glucose tolerance test (IPGTT), homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), immunohistochemical staining for insulin in pancreatic islets, arterial blood pressure and 24-h urine protein (24hUP) excretion were performed at PND60. RESULTS: Male, but not female, young adult rats (PND60) of RUPP dams exhibited an impaired IPGTT, decreased circulatory insulin and weakened pancreatic insulin immunoreactivity. Compared to the male offspring of the sham group, the body mass of male RUPP offspring significantly caught up after PND42, but it was not sex-specific. RUPP pups also exhibited upregulations in glucagon (only males) and ghrelin (both sexes with a more significant increase in males) during PND14-PND60. However, in sham offspring (both sexes), glucagon levels were downregulated and ghrelin levels unchanged during PND14-PND60. The blood pressure, HOMA-IR and 24hUP values did not alter in RUPP pups. CONCLUSIONS: The overall results suggest that maternal RUPP has negative and sex-specific impacts on insulin, glucagon and ghrelin regulations in offspring and that, as young adults, male RUPP rats may be more prone to develop obesity and diabetes.

Effects of curcumin-piperine supplementation on systemic immunity in young women with premenstrual syndrome and dysmenorrhea: A randomized clinical trial.

INTRODUCTION: Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and primary dysmenorrhea (PD) are common gynecological complications and there is evidence that inflammation may be an important factor in their etiology. There is a relationship between PMS and PD with susceptibility to allergic disorders. We aimed to assess the effect of curcumin co-administered with piperine on serum IL-10, IL-12 and IgE levels in patients with PD and PMS. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A sample of 80 patients were recruited to this triple-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Participants were randomly allocated to curcumin (n = 40) and control groups (n = 40). Each participant received one capsule (500 mg of curcuminoid plus piperine, or placebo) daily, from 7 days before until 3 days after menstruation for three consecutive menstrual cycles. RESULTS: Serum IgE, IL-10 and IL-12 levels were quantified by using an ELISA kit. No significant differences were found between the two groups at baseline, including: age, BMI, and dietary intakes (P > 0.05). Curcumin + piperine treatment was associated with a significant reduction in the mean serum levels of IgE [from 223.6 ± 258.7 IU/mL to 161.3 ± 240.7; P = 0.001]; but there were no significant changes in the placebo group (P = 0.12). Serum concentrations of IL-10 and IL-12 before and after the trial period did not differ significantly between the two groups (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Curcumin plus piperine might be have positive effect on serum IgE levels with no significant changes on serum IL-10 and IL-12 in healthy young women with PMS and PD. Studies with higher doses and longer durations of treatment with curcumin are required to confirm these findings.

Decoding clinical biomarker space of COVID-19: Exploring matrix factorization-based feature selection methods.

One of the most critical challenges in managing complex diseases like COVID-19 is to establish an intelligent triage system that can optimize the clinical decision-making at the time of a global pandemic. The clinical presentation and patients' characteristics are usually utilized to identify those patients who need more critical care. However, the clinical evidence shows an unmet need to determine more accurate and optimal clinical biomarkers to triage patients under a condition like the COVID-19 crisis. Here we have presented a machine learning approach to find a group of clinical indicators from the blood tests of a set of COVID-19 patients that are predictive of poor prognosis and morbidity. Our approach consists of two interconnected schemes: Feature Selection and Prognosis Classification. The former is based on different Matrix Factorization (MF)-based methods, and the latter is performed using Random Forest algorithm. Our model reveals that Arterial Blood Gas (ABG) O2 Saturation and C-Reactive Protein (CRP) are the most important clinical biomarkers determining the poor prognosis in these patients. Our approach paves the path of building quantitative and optimized clinical management systems for COVID-19 and similar diseases.

Effects of curcumin supplementation on vitamin D levels in women with premenstrual syndrome and dysmenorrhea: a randomized controlled study.

BACKGROUND: Vitamin D has an established role in female reproduction. There is also evidence for an association between vitamin D levels and menstrual problems such as premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and dysmenorrhea. Curcumin, is a bioactive polyphenol constituent of turmeric, that can potentially interact with vitamin D receptors and its molecular targets. This study evaluated the effects of curcumin on vitamin D levels in young women with PMS and dysmenorrhea. METHODS: In this randomized, triple-blind, placebo-controlled trial, women with PMS and dysmenorrhea were divided randomly into experimental and control groups to receive one capsule (500 mg of curcuminoid+ 5 mg piperine, or placebo) daily, from approximately 7 days before until 3 days after menstruation for three consecutive menstrual cycles. Serum vitamin D levels, renal function, and liver enzymes were also measured before and after intervention. RESULTS: A total of 76 subjects (38 in each group) were recruited into the trial. Curcumin significantly increased the median (IQR) serum levels of vitamin D [from 12.8 ng/ml (7.0-24.6) to 16.2 ng/ml (6.4-28.8); P = 0.045], compared with placebo [from 18.6 ng/ml (2.2-26.8) to 21.3 ng/ml (5.2-27.1); P = 0.17]. Serum levels of aspartate aminotransferase and direct bilirubin were reduced by the end of trial in the curcumin group (p < 0.05), but did not change significantly in the control group (p > 0.05). Finally, no significant differences in levels of fasting blood glucose were detected between curcumin and placebo groups. CONCLUSION: Curcumin supplementation in women with PMS and dysmenorrhea led to a significant improvement of vitamin D, liver function enzyme test, but did not affect blood glucose. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The trial was registered on Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials registry (Trial ID: IRCT20191112045424N1 on 23 January 2020; available at https://www.irct.ir ).

Investigating the effect of ethanolic extract of Commiphora myrrha (Nees) Engl. gum-resin against hepatorenal injury in diabetic rats.

PURPOSE: Management of hepatorenal complications in diabetic patients is still a challenge for clinicians. The study aimed to investigate the impacts of ethanolic extract of Commiphora myrrha (Nees) Engl.oleo-gum-resin (EEM) against hepatorenal injury in diabetic rats. METHODS: Diabetes was induced by an intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of streptozotocin (55 mg/kg) in adult male Wistar rats (n = 40); whereas, normal control rats (NC, n = 8) were treated with vehicle solution (citrate buffer, i.p.). Diabetic animals were gavaged with 500 mg/kg of metformin (MET500) and different doses of EEM (100, 300, and 500 mg/kg) once daily for 28 days. Diabetic model (DM) and NC groups were treated with normal saline. Various parameters like fasting blood glucose (FBG), plasma insulin, aspartate transaminase (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT), creatinine (Cr), urea, 24-h urine total protein (UTP), urine volume, and hepatorenal histopathology were assessed at the end of the study. RESULTS: Compared to the NC group, diabetic rats showed marked elevations in FBG, AST, ALT, urea, Cr, UTP, urine volume, and a significant reduction in insulin. Diabetic animals also exhibited severe histopathological alterations in liver and kidney tissues. The EEM treatment could not influence the biochemical and pathological alterations. Treatment with EEM at the dose of 300 mg/kg could slightly ameliorate some pathological alterations (fatty changes and tubular congestion) in hepatic and renal tissues. CONCLUSIONS: These findings demonstrated that EEM treatment at doses up to 500 mg/kg could not effectively slow down the pathological process of hepatorenal damage in diabetic rats.

A review of applying transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) method for management of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Liver cancer is one of the most ordinary reasons for death among cancers. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common type of liver cancer. In spite of the fact that various remedial methods have been approved particularly the survival effects of the transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) method have been accomplished widely in the HCC treatment. By applying the TACE method correctly, good survival outcomes can be achieved without harmfully affecting the hepatic functions. Transarterial chemoembolization mixes the effect of avascular necrosis (AVN) with the effect of regional chemotherapy those are under the influence of arterial embolization. By knowing the fact that the metastases of liver cancer and also perfusion indices in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are via hepatic arteries, doctors chose the TACE method for the treatment of liver cancer. On the other hand, in this method, the radiologists can easily convey antitumor remedies via the arteries. Anyway, medium-level HCC is a sensitive stage of the heterogeneous disease that many patients suffer from, so specialists must consider it as a hazardous syndrome. The TACE procedure could be applied just in cases that the liver function of patients is appropriate yet, the patient liver portal vein do not have any problems and the patients do not have ascites disorder. This review is aimed to figure out the evident advantages of TACE especially by a comprehensive view on the medium level HCC. Because of that this treatment method is suggested as a first-line remedy. At last, the future landscape of the initial factors of research in managing HCC disorders have been summarized.

Evaluation of the in vivo and in vitro safety profile of Cuscuta epithymum ethanolic extract.

OBJECTIVE: Cuscuta epithymum (CE) is one of the most popular medicinal plants in the world. However, detailed information about its toxicity is not available. Hence, this study aimed to evaluate the safety profile of CE ethanolic extract in vitro and in vivo. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The extract's in vitro toxicity profile was investigated on normal fibroblast and cervical cancer cells by cytotoxicity test. In the next step, acute oral and intraperitoneal (i.p.) toxicity of the CE extract was evaluated in Wistar rats and BALB/c mice, respectively. Sub-acute oral toxicity was also examined by administering repeated oral doses of the CE extract (50, 200, and 500 mg/kg) to Wistar rats for 28 days. RESULTS: The CE extract exhibited a significant cytotoxicity on both normal (IC50 0.82 mg/ml, p<0.001) and cancer cells (IC50 1.42 mg/ml, p<0.001). Acute oral administration of a single dose of CE extract (175-5000 mg/kg) did not cause mortality; however, its i.p. administration caused mortality at doses greater than 75 mg/kg (i.p. LD50 154.8 mg/kg). In the sub-acute toxicity test, no significant effects in terms of weight change, organ weights, blood chemistry, or kidney pathology were observed. However, at 200 and 500 mg/kg doses, the CE extract significantly increased liver pathological scores compared to the control group (p<0.05 and p<0.01, respectively). CONCLUSION: CE exhibited toxicities in i.p. acute and repeated oral dose administrations. It showed identical cytotoxicity against normal and cancer cells. This herb must be prescribed cautiously by traditional medicine practitioners.

Decoding Clinical Biomarker Space of COVID-19: Exploring Matrix Factorization-based Feature Selection Methods.

One of the most critical challenges in managing complex diseases like COVID-19 is to establish an intelligent triage system that can optimize the clinical decision-making at the time of a global pandemic. The clinical presentation and patients’ characteristics are usually utilized to identify those patients who need more critical care. However, the clinical evidence shows an unmet need to determine more accurate and optimal clinical biomarkers to triage patients under a condition like the COVID-19 crisis. Here we have presented a machine learning approach to find a group of clinical indicators from the blood tests of a set of COVID-19 patients that are predictive of poor prognosis and morbidity. Our approach consists of two interconnected schemes: Feature Selection and Prognosis Classification. The former is based on different Matrix Factorization (MF)-based methods, and the latter is performed using Random Forest algorithm. Our model reveals that Arterial Blood Gas (ABG) O 2 Saturation and C-Reactive Protein (CRP) are the most important clinical biomarkers determining the poor prognosis in these patients. Our approach paves the path of building quantitative and optimized clinical management systems for COVID-19 and similar diseases.

Rosmarinic acid attenuates lipopolysaccharide-induced neuroinflammation and cognitive impairment in rats.

It has been recently demonstrated that rosmarinic acid (RA) through modulation in the amyloidogenic pathway exhibit neuroprotective potential in Alzheimer's disease. However, its effects on non-amyloidogenic pathways such as neuroinflammation (NI) and oxidative stress have not been elucidated carefully. Hence, this study aimed to investigate the effect of RA on cognitive function, cortical and hippocampal oxidant-antioxidant balance, and proinflammatory cytokines production in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced NI in rats. NI was induced by intracerebroventricular injection of LPS (50 µg/20 µL; 10 µL into each ventricle) in Wistar rats. RA (25 and 50 mg/kg.) was intraperitoneally administrated to the experimental groups 30 min before the LPS injection and continued once per day for seven days. Cognitive function was investigated by the Y-maze test, and the production of proinflammatory cytokines and oxidative stress markers were evaluated in their hippocampi (HIP) and prefrontal cortex (PFC). In addition, neuronal damage was evaluated in the HIP subfields histologically. The RA administration could alleviate cognitive impairments caused by NI in LPS-treated rats as evidenced by improved working memory and attenuated neuronal injury in the HIP subfields. RA treatment in a dose-dependent manner prevented the overproduction of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interleukin 1 beta (IL-1ß), and IL-6 in both the HIP and PFC. RA significantly alleviated the HIP and PFC levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) and nitric oxide (NOx) and enhanced the superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity. These findings demonstrated that RA could also exert its neuroprotective effects by modulating non-amyloidogenic pathways such as inflammation and oxidative stress.

The association between adherence to a dietary approaches to stop hypertension (DASH) diet and neuro-psychological function in young women.

BACKGROUND: The adherence to a Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet may have a bidirectional relationship with mental wellbeing. We aimed to evaluate the association between compliance with a DASH diet and neuro-psychological function in young women. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, a total of 181 girls aged between 18 and 25 years were recruited. The dietary intakes of study participants were evaluated using a valid and reliable food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) containing 65 food items. Neuropsychological function of participants was evaluated using standard questionnaires. RESULTS: As may be expected, individuals in the highest tertile (T3) of adherence to DASH diet (highest adherence) were found to consume more folate, fruits, vegetables, low fat dairy, nuts, legume, and seed, less sweetened beverage and sodium, compared to the participants in the lowest tertile (T1, lowest adherence). There was a significant negative correlation between cognitive function and consumption of red and processed meat (r = - 0.168; p < 0.05); quality of life score with dietary sodium (r = - 0.151; p < 0.01) and depression score with dietary vegetables (r = - 0.174; p < 0.05). In multivariate multinomial logistic regression analyses adjusted for age, BMI and energy intake, adherence to a DASH-style diet was associated with a lower stress score (OR = 0.70; 95%CI: 0.34-1.47, P = 0.067; T3 vs. T1) and difficulty with sleep initiation (OR = 0.46; 95%CI: 0.21-1.00, P = 0.017; T3 vs. T1). CONCLUSION: Adherence to a DASH diet may be associated with reduced stress and difficulty with initiating sleep.

Upregulation of cyclin-dependent kinase 7 and matrix metalloproteinase-14 expression contribute to metastatic properties of gastric cancer.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the protein and mRNA expressions of matrix metalloproteinase-14 (MMP14) and CDK7 in gastric cancer (GC) tissues. Upregulation of MMP14 mRNA level was observed in GC tissues when compared with the matched normal tissues (mean ± SD: 3.92 ± 1.15 vs. 1.35 ± 0.81, P < 0.001). This study indicated that mRNA levels of CDK7 were statistically overexpressed in GC when compared with matched normal tissues (4.12 ± 0.84 vs. 1.43 ± 0.71, P < 0.001). The protein levels of MMP14 were found to be increased in GC (60.41%; P < 0.001). The expression of CDK7 was higher in GC tissues than matched normal tissues (70.83; P < 0.001). We found that high MMP14 expression was related to advanced TNM stage (P = 0.004), tumor grade (P = 0.002), and lymph node metastasis (P = 0.015), but no association with other clinical variables (P > 0.05). In addition, high expression of CDK7 was significantly linked to advanced TNM stage (P = 0.001), pathological grade (P = 0.012), and presence of lymph node metastasis (P = 0.009), while no correlation between CDK7 expression and other clinical variables, such as age and gender, distance metastasis. The patients with high expression of MMP14 and CDK7 exhibited worse survival time than those with higher levels. Cox multivariate regression analysis clearly showed that high expression of MMP14 and CDK7 was independent prognostic factors for overall survival in patients with GC. Taken together, these results indicated the overexpression of above markers in the progression and the tumorigenesis of GC and overall patient survival. © 2016 IUBMB Life, 68(10):799-805, 2016.