Effects of piroxicam administration on pregnancy outcome in intrauterine insemination (IUI) cycles: a randomized clinical trial.

BACKGROUND: Uterus contractibility is considered a powerful prognostic factor in predicting the embryo transfer outcome. Moreover, uterine contractions are known to be stimulated by prostaglandins which are produced by cyclooxygenase from arachidonic acid. As such, suppressing the inflammatory response and contractions using anti-inflammatory and relaxant agents is expected to result in increased success rate of embryo transfer and artificial insemination. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of piroxicam administration on the success rate in intrauterine insemination (IU) cycles in patients presenting with unexplained infertility. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial included 260 women with unexplained infertility undergoing IUI cycles. Patients were randomly assigned to receive either piroxicam ten mg/day on days 4-6 after IUI or placebo (control group). The main outcome measures were number of IUI cycles, pregnancy, abortion, and multiple pregnancy rates. RESULTS: The pregnancy rate was found to be 25 (19.2%) and 16 (12.3%) in piroxicam and control groups, respectively (p = 0.039). Five patients (3.8%) in piroxicam group experienced twin pregnancy whereas only three patients (2.3%) in control group had twin pregnancy (p = 0.361). The pregnancy rate per cycle was also significantly higher in those who received piroxicam as compared to controls (11.16 vs. 6.66; p = 0.021). CONCLUSION: Administration of piroxicam after IUI is associated with decreased number of cycles, as well as increased pregnancy rate and pregnancy rate per cycle in IUI cycles. However, piroxicam did not have any effect on abortion, multiple pregnancy, and ongoing pregnancy rates.

Development of wear resistant NFSS-HA novel biocomposites and study of their tribological properties for orthopaedic applications.

Implants made of nickel free austenitic stainless steel can reduce the toxic effect of released nickel ion and compounds from the conventional stainless steels. On the other hand, hydroxyapatite is a ceramic which has been used in orthopaedic applications due to its good osteoconductivity, biocompatibility and bioactivity. However, there is no evidence in the literature up to now on producing composites based on nickel free stainless steel and hydroxyapatite and study of their tribology. The aim of this work was to produce novel biocomposites made up of nickel free stainless steel with hydroxyapatite (prepared by heat treating bone ash) and studying their tribology under various loads in air and in Ringer's physiological solution. Different amounts of hydroxyapatite powder (10, 20, 30 and 40% Vol.) were added to this nickel free stainless steel powder to get the biocomposites. Variation of their density, hardness, wear resistance and friction with the ceramic (hydroxyapatite) content and wear load were investigated in air and in Ringer's solution. The density of the composites was decreased by increasing the volume percentage of the hydroxyapatite, while wear resistance of the composites was increased. The wear mechanism of these composites was changed by increasing the wear load and consequently the volume loss was enhanced dramatically. Furthermore, by increasing the sliding distance, the rate of volume loss was decreased slightly. The friction coefficient of the composites was also decreased by increasing the weight percentage of hydroxyapatite. Effect of the physiological Ringer's solution on wear resistance and friction coefficient of the composites was nearly negligible. The wear mechanisms of the samples were identified by studying the SEM images of the worn surfaces of the tested samples in different wear loads and HA contents.