RESUMO
Background: Premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) occurs in women before the age of 40. Although the outcomes of POI in women include its adverse effects on general health, sexual-reproductive health, and finally reduced quality of life. One of the first adverse consequences is a threat to female identity of the patients. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the perception and experience of women with POI about female identity. Methods: In this qualitative study, interviews were conducted with 15 women having POI. Data included participants' recorded voices that were analyzed using conventional content analysis. Results: After content analysis of the interviews with a focus on the perception and experience of women with POI about female identity, four categories emerged; they included the failure in realization of motherhood dream, the importance of menstruation, construction of female identity, and attempts to normalize the situation. Conclusion: After analyzing the emerged categories obtained by interviewing with POI women, it seems that physicians need to pay special attention to the distortion of the female identity of these patients and educate the medical team about the importance of the effect of treatment on improving their emotional health.
RESUMO
Purpose: The histone deacetylases (HDAC) inhibitor, valproic acid (VPA), is a common antiepileptic drug and is attractive for its broad range of therapeutic effects on many diseases. It has been employed as an inducer of pluripotency in some cultured cells. Conversely, VPA has also been employed as an inducer of in vitro differentiation in many other cells. Therefore, we employed WJMSCs as a cellular target to evaluate the differential effects of of VPA on potency state and differentiation level of Wharton's Jelly mesenchymal stem cells (WJMSCs) in various concentrations and different culture mediums. Methods: The isolated WJMSCs were cultured in DMEM (MSC medium). According to previous protocols, WJMSCs were treated with 0, 0.5 and 1 mM VPA in MSC or embryonic stem cell (ESC) medium and 2 mM VPA in neural differentiation medium. Real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and western blot analysis were performed for evaluating the expression of pluripotency markers. MTT and caspase assays were also performed on VPA-treated cells. Results: The expression of pluripotency markers and the viability of the WJMSCs - determined by MTT assay - were significantly increased after 0.5 mM VPA treatment in ESC medium. A 2 mM VPA treatment in neural differentiation medium significantly diminished the expression of pluripotency markers and the viability of WJMSCs. Conclusion: According to our results, both VPA concentration and the medium context can influence VPA effects on WJMSCs. The differential effects of VPA on WJMSCs can reflect its wide range of effects in the treatment of various diseases.