Suppression of Growth Differentiation Factor 15 Gene Expression by Curcumin in Patients with Beta-Thalassemia Intermedia.

BACKGROUND: ß-thalassemia is an inherited disorder caused by defects in the synthesis of the beta-globin chain. One of the significant clinical complications in ß-thalassemia intermedia is iron overload toxicity, which may be attributed to reduced levels of hepcidin. This reduction in hepcidin leads to increased absorption of iron in the intestines, ultimately resulting in iron overload. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of curcumin on the expression of growth differentiating factor-15 (GDF-15) and hepcidin genes in patients with beta-thalassemia intermedia. METHODS: This study was designed as a randomized controlled double-blind clinical trial. Prior to and after the intervention period with curcumin, a blood sample of 5 mL was collected from both the placebo and curcumin-treated groups for the assessment of hepcidin and growth differentiating factor-15 gene expression. RESULTS: This study revealed a significant reduction in the expression of growth differentiating factor-15 in the curcumin group compared to the placebo group during the 3-month treatment period. Furthermore, curcumin supplementation led to a remarkable 10.1-fold increase in the levels of hepcidin in the curcumin group compared to the placebo group. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study show that curcumin administration increases the mRNA levels of hepcidin in whole blood of thalassemia intermedia patients and supports the idea that curcumin could be a potential treatment to reduce suppression of hepcidin in thalassemias and other iron-loading anemias. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study show that curcumin administration increases the mRNA levels of hepcidin in whole blood of thalassemia intermedia patients and supports the idea that curcumin could be a potential treatment to reduce suppression of hepcidin in thalassemias and other iron-loading anemias.

Evaluation and comparison of vitamin A supplementation with standard therapies in the treatment of patients with COVID-19.

Background: Incomplete data are often presented for determining the role of vitamin A supplement therapy for improving treatment outcomes in patients with COVID-19. Aims: We compared treatment effects between a group that received vitamin A added to the standard COVID-19 treatment and another group that received the standard drug treatment alone. Methods: Participants in this triple-blind controlled trial comprised 182 COVID-19 outpatients in Saveh City, Markazi Province, Islamic Republic of Iran, in 2020. Patients were randomly divided into experimental (n = 91) and control (n = 91) groups. Patients in the control group received the national standard treatment for COVID-19 (hydroxychloroquine), and those in the intervention group received 25 000 IU/d oral vitamin A for 10 days in addition to the standard treatment recommended by the national protocol. We evaluated the clinical symptoms, paraclinical criteria, and hospitalization status before and after 10 days of interventions. Results: The treatment groups did not differ significantly in clinical and paraclinical symptoms before the intervention. However, clinical symptoms such as fever, body ache, weakness and fatigue, paraclinical symptoms, white blood cell count, and C-reactive protein showed significantly greater decreases in the experimental group 10 days post-intervention compared with the standard treatment alone (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Vitamin A supplementation demonstrated efficacy in improving some clinical and paraclinical symptoms in patients with COVID-19. Future studies should evaluate vitamin A supplementation with a larger sample size and compare different dosages, especially in hospitalized patients.

In vitro antibacterial effect of Pimpinella anisum essential oil on Enterococcus faecalis, Lactobacillus casei, Actinomyces naeslundii, and Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans.

INTRODUCTION: Pimpinellaanisum is a medicinal plant with antimicrobial, antifungal, and anti-oxidative properties. Limited studies have assessed the antibacterial properties of Pimpinellaanisum on oral and dental pathogens.

Comparing the Efficacy of Toluidine Blue, Methylene Blue and Curcumin in Photodynamic Therapy Against Enterococcus faecalis.

Introduction: Antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) as a supplement to the conventional root canal preparation has shown promising results. Previous studies have adopted various combinations of light sources and photosensitizers, which makes it difficult to compare the disinfection efficacy of different PDT protocols. The aim of the present study was to compare the efficacy of three photosensitizers (toluidine blue, methylene blue, and curcumin) in PDT using LED against Enterococcus faecalis in root canal disinfection. Methods: Root canals of 54 single-rooted extracted teeth were prepared using the ProTaper Gold rotary system and were incubated with E. faecalis for three weeks. They were then randomly divided into five experimental groups and a control group: (1) Irrigation with 2.5% NaOCl for 30 seconds, (2) NaOCl irrigation followed by TB-PDT, (3) NaOCl irrigation followed by MB-PDT, (4) NaOCL irrigation followed by curcumin-PDT, (5) Curcumin solvent (1% ethanol+1% BSA), (6) Control (irrigation with normal saline). Sampling was done by collecting dentin shavings from the root canals, and colony-forming units were determined for each treatment group. The data were analyzed by Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests. The significance level was set at P<0.05. Results: In all treatment groups, the mean values of colony forming unit (CFU) decreased by 99% compared to the control group. The lowest mean values of CFU were observed in groups 2 and 4, followed groups 3, 1, and 5 respectively. The mean CFU count in group 2 was significantly lower than that of group 1 (P value=0.011), while there were no significant differences among groups 1, 3, and 4 (P value >0.05). Conclusion: The adjunction of toluidine blue-mediated PDT by means of a light-emitting diode to NaOCl irrigation increased its antibacterial efficacy against E. faecalis and could be an effective complementary method in root canal disinfection.

Comparison of Antibacterial Effects of Photodynamic Therapy, Modified Triple Antibiotic Paste and Calcium Hydroxide on Root Canals Infected With Enterococcus faecalis: An In Vitro Study.

Introduction: A pivotal issue to achieve success in the treatment of the root canal is root canal disinfection. One of the most important bacteria that infect the root canal is Enterococcus faecalis. This study seeks to examine the effectiveness of 3 methods for disinfecting the root canal: photodynamic therapy, modified triple antibiotic paste (MTAP), and calcium hydroxide. Methods: Sixty-two single-rooted extracted anterior teeth were collected. After cleaning and disinfecting the teeth, their crowns were cut at the CEJ point. The root canals were shaped to the working length up to file F3 ProTaper (F1, F2, F3). EDTA 17% and sodium hypochlorite 2.5% were used for 5 minutes to wash and remove the smear layer, and then the apical foramen was sealed using composite. After that, the teeth were sterilized in an autoclave at 121°C for 15 minutes. Then 10 samples were taken randomly as the negative control. The remaining samples were immersed and cultivated in a suspension containing E. faecalis for 21 days. Then the samples were divided into 5 groups: 2 positive control groups, 1 group treated with the antibiotic paste with the concentration of 1 mg/mL, 1 group treated with calcium hydroxide, and 1 group treated with photodynamic therapy. Then, to collect the biofilm, the ProTaper file F4 was used. After that, the microbial suspension was provided and counting the colonies was carried out to compare the groups. Results: The findings indicated that the amount of CFU/mg of MTAP samples, including clindamycin, metronidazole, ciprofloxacin in the concentration of 1 mg/mL and photodynamic therapy and calcium hydroxide was lower than that in the control group. Antibiotic paste cleansed the root canal up to 99.9%. Photodynamic therapy reduced the amount of CFU/mg to 98.8%, and calcium hydroxide reduced the amount of CFU/mg to 94.13%. Conclusion: Using photodynamic therapy causes a reduction in the biofilm and inhibits the growth of the E. faecalis bacterium. In addition, in this study, MTAP with a concentration of 1 mg/mL was used, which expunged the bacteria completely. Meanwhile, calcium hydroxide had the weakest effect of all on the E. faecalis bacterium.