The relationship between fear of Covid-19 and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus pandemic and health measures related to it have led to an increase in mental health problems. The relatively high incidence of the disease and its mortality rate created anxiety in society. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of fear of the coronavirus (COVID-19) and its relationship with obsessive-compulsive disorder in patients who attended the outpatient clinic of Besat Hospital in Hamadan. METHODS: In this cross-sectional descriptive study, 320 patients who attended the outpatient clinic of Besat Hospital in Hamadan were selected by random sampling method in 2021. Data were collected using the Fear of the coronavirus (COVID-19) questionnaire and obsessive-compulsive disorder scale and analyzed using SPSS software (V16). They were analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficient and independent t-test. RESULTS: The mean ± SD age of the subjects was 34.14 ± 9.30 years and 65% of the study subjects were women. The mean ± SD score on the obsessive-compulsive disorder scale was 32.90 ± 19.87 and the mean ± SD score for fear of coronavirus was 16.82 ± 5.79. The contamination dimension of OCD had the highest score of 9.04 ± 5.46 and stealing had the lowest score of 0.10 ± 0.49. The mean fear of COVID-19 in people who had a history of obsessive-compulsive disorder before the quarantine was significantly higher than in those who did not have it (P = 0.002). Along with the increasing fear of coronavirus scale score, the score of obsessive-compulsive disorders increased except for the stealing dimension (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The results of the study showed that there was a moderate level of fear of COVID-19 among the study population. Also, a relatively high proportion of study subjects had a weak manifestation of OCD. It seems that two years after the beginning of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic, people have adapted to the conditions, and their fear of the disease is reduced.

Preparation, Characterization and In Vitro Biological Evaluation of Novel Curcumin Derivatives as Cytotoxic and Apoptosis-Inducing Agents.

BACKGROUND: Curcumin is a natural polyphenol and lead compound of the rhizomes of curcuma longa and it has been widely used for pharmacological activities. OBJECTIVE: In this study, a series of novel derivatives of curcumin, with this group linked to a 2-amino-4- phenylpyran-3-carbonitrile system, have been synthesized and tested for their antitumor activities in vitro against a panel of three human cancer cell lines (MCF-7, A2780, and U-87MG). METHODS: The in vitro cytotoxic activity of the synthesized compounds was tested on three cancer cell lines (MCF-7, A2780, and U-87MG) using MTT colorimetric assay. Meanwhile, the ability of the active compounds to induce apoptosis in cancer cells was investigated by examination of caspase-3 and caspase-9 and mitochondrial membrane potential assay. RESULTS: Under relatively mild conditions in ethanol, the reaction of a series of substrates afforded the corresponding derivatives of curcumin mostly in good yields (13 analogues, 48-94% yields). Bioassay results indicated that compounds L6 (para-Bromo), L9 (para-Nitro) and L12 (meta-Methoxy) were the most active members in this study demonstrating potent activities against A2780 cancer cells and experimental results of fluorescent staining and flow cytometry analysis revealed that L6 and L9 could induce apoptosis in A2780 cells with apoptosis ratios of about 40% and 46%, respectively at 24h of treatment at 15.35µM and 23µM in A2780 cells. On the other hand, they could increase the caspase-3 activity slightly (10%), while having no significant impact on the activities of caspase-9. CONCLUSION: Those two derivatives could be considered as useful templates for future development to obtain more potent antitumor agents.