ObjectivesIn this systematic review, the effectiveness of herbal medicines in improving depression and anxiety in menopausal women was assessed.MethodsThree following databases were individually searched: MEDLINE (1966-March 2017), SCOPUS (1990-March 2017), and the Cochrane Library (Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials; 2017).ResultsA total of 9 trials were included in this systematic review. Overall, soy was found to have a beneficial effect. Also, fennel had a significant positive effect on menopausal women with depression and anxiety disorder, but not on healthy women. Red clover showed varying effects ranging from significant to non-significant on depression and anxiety. Moreover, kava was found to have a significant beneficial effect on depression and anxiety at dose of 200 mg/days.ConclusionsOur study demonstrated that herbal medicines could improve anxiety and depression in among menopausal women. However, the beneficial effect still remains indefinite due to the poor methodology.

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Background: Piperine is a natural compound obtained from the Piper nigrum that exhibits anti-proliferative and anti-cancer activity in cancer cell lines. We analyzed the cytotoxic effect of piperine combined with cisplatin compound in the human MCF-7 breast cancer cell line and the underlying mechanism. Methods: The present in vitro study was performed on MCF-7 cell line in Jahrom University of Medical Sciences between, Jahrom, Iran from 2016 to 2017. Cultured MCF-7 cells were seeded into four groups: a control group (untreated group), a group treated with cisplatin, a group treated with piperine and a group treated with cisplatin and piperine. Cell viability was analyzed using the MTT assay method. Flow c-ytometric analysis was investigated for apoptosis. The mRNA and protein expression of the apoptotic regulators p53, Bcl-2, Bax, caspase 3 and caspase 9 were detected by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and western blotting analysis. Results: Piperine (20 and 30 µM) in combination with cisplatin (5, 10 and 15 µM) for 24 h synergistically inhibited cell viability of MCF-7 breast cancer cells more than piperine and cisplatin used alone. Synergistic antibreast cancer activities cisplatin (5 µM) and piperine (20 µM) were via inducing apoptosis. Piperine (20 µM) and cisplatin (5 µM) for 24 h induce apoptosis strongly through reduction of Bcl-2 and increase of caspase 3, p53, caspase 9, and Bax. Conclusion: Piperine in combination with cisplatin could trigger p53-mediated apoptosis more effective than cisplatin alone in MCF-7 breast cancer cells, reducing the toxic dose of cisplatin used in cancer chemotherapy.

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Background: During the outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, anxiety has always been with patients. Objectives: It is necessary to obtain a valid instrument for the evaluation and screening of patients with anxiety. The current study attempted to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity and provide the clinical cut-off scores for the Death Anxiety Scale (DAS) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-Item (GAD-7) Scale in hospitalized patients diagnosed with COVID-19 in Iran. Methods: This diagnostic accuracy study was carried out for 4 months on 150 hospitalized patients diagnosed with COVID-19 to evaluate generalized anxiety disorder and death anxiety. Cronbach’s alpha was used to evaluate reliability. For the determination of the presence of anxiety disorders, the Structured Clinical Interview with hospitalized subjects was conducted by a psychiatrist based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fourth Edition diagnostic criteria. Results: The Cronbach’s alpha coefficients for the GAD-7 Scale and DAS questionnaires were observed to be 0.88 and 0.74, respectively, confirming their reliability. Based on cut-off scores with the best balance, the sensitivity and specificity of the GAD-7 Scale questionnaire were 61.9% and 86.9%, respectively. Moreover, the sensitivity and specificity values related to the DAS questionnaire were 47.8% and 73.8%, respectively. The values for the area under the curve were 0.75 and 0.63 for the GAD-7 Scale and DAS, respectively. With this scoring method, those who scored higher than 8 and 7 in the GAD-7 Scale and DAS questionnaires were considered patients, respectively. Moreover, in these two tests, higher levels of generalized anxiety and death anxiety were reported in female patients. Conclusions: The GAD-7 Scale and DAS both showed adequate psychometric properties and diagnostic accuracy; therefore, they are applicable for anxiety screening in patients with COVID-19. It will likely take a few years to bring the virus under control worldwide. Iran’s Ministry of Health should implement exact psychological interventions during hospitalization and after discharge to prevent the adverse mental health consequences of COVID-19.

Background. Detection of novel predictive markers for early detection of lymph nodes metastases in cervical cancer is very important. Disturbed NR2F6 expression was found in many cancers playing different roles according to cancer type. LOXL2 was incriminated in cancer progression and unfavorable survival in many cancer types. Decreased DMBT1 expression was found in many cancers during their progression. Aim of the present work was to assess expression of NR2F6, LOXL2 and DMBT1 in cervical cancer tissues using immunohistochemistry then correlating their expression with grade and stage of the tumor, occurrence of lymph nodes and distant metastases in addition to evaluating their prognostic roles. Materials and methods. We assessed the expression of NR2F6, LOXL2 and DMBT1 in samples retrieved from sixty two cervical cancer patients in cancer tissues and corresponding adjacent normal tissues and we correlated markers expression with clinical data, pathological findings and patients' prognosis. Results. High expression of NR2F6, LOXL2 and low expression of DMBT1 was up-regulated in cervical cancer tissues more than in adjacent non-neoplastic cervical tissues and was associated with high grade (p = 0.005), lymphovascular space involvement, advanced FIGO stage, resistance to chemotherapy, tumor recurrence, and shorter survival rates (p < 0.001). Conclusions. Up regulation of NR2F6, LOXL2 and down regulation of DMBT1 were associated with unfavorable pathological parameters, bad clinical findings and dismal outcome of cervical cancer patients. SOMMARIOContesto. La rilevazione di nuovi marcatori predittivi per la diagnosi precoce delle metastasi linfonodali nel cancro cervicale è molto importante. L'espressione distorta di NR2F6 è stata trovata in molti tumori che svolgono ruoli diversi a seconda del tipo di cancro. LOXL2 è stato incriminato nella progressione del cancro e nella sopravvivenza sfavorevole in molti tipi di cancro. La diminuzione dell'espressione di DMBT1 è stata trovata in molti tumori durante la loro progressione. Lo scopo del presente lavoro era valutare l'espressione di NR2F6, LOXL2 e DMBT1 nei tessuti del cancro cervicale mediante immunoistochimica, quindi correlando la loro espressione con il grado e lo stadio del tumore, la presenza di linfonodi e metastasi a distanza, oltre a valutare i loro ruoli prognostici. Materiali e metodi. Abbiamo valutato l'espressione di NR2F6, LOXL2 e DMBT1 in campioni prelevati da sessantadue pazienti con cancro cervicale nei tessuti tumorali e nei corrispondenti tessuti normali adiacenti e abbiamo correlato l'espressione dei marcatori con i dati clinici, i risultati patologici e la prognosi dei pazienti. Risultati. L'alta espressione di NR2F6, LOXL2 e la bassa espressione di DMBT1 erano sovraregolate nei tessuti del cancro cervicale più che nei tessuti cervicali adiacenti non neoplastici ed erano associate ad alto grado (p = 0,005), coinvolgimento dello spazio linfovascolare, stadio FIGO avanzato, resistenza a chemioterapia, recidiva del tumore e tassi di sopravvivenza pi...

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Physicians are the occupation at risk for Transient Osteoporosis of the Hip. Therefore, sudden hip pain in them should be further evaluated with magnetic resonance imaging. Conservative treatment may help avoid further injury and speed up healing.