No abstract

Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and primary dysmenorrhea are common complaints among young women. This study evaluated the effects of curcumin supplements on symptoms of pain in young women with PMS and dysmenorrhea. A randomized, triple-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial was undertaken. Women who suffered from both PMS and dysmenorrhea were enrolled, and were randomly allocated to the curcumin (n = 62), or placebo (n = 62) groups. Each subject received one capsule (500 mg of curcuminoid, or placebo) daily, from 7 days pre-until 3 days postmenstruation for three successive menstrual cycles. Participants recorded the severity of PMS, or dysmenorrhea using a Premenstrual Syndrome Screening Tool (PSST) and the visual analog scale, respectively. Baseline characteristics of participants did not differ between the curcumin and placebo groups. At the end of the trial, the PSST scores were significantly lower in both the curcumin (32.5 ± 9.8 vs. 21.6 ± 9.8); and placebo groups (31.7 ± 9.4 vs. 23.4 ± 12.8). There was a significant reduction of dysmenorrhea pain in both the curcumin and placebo groups (by 64% and 53.3%, respectively). Hence, curcumin had comparable effects as placebo, regarding the amelioration of symptoms of PMS and dysmenorrhea. Further studies are required with larger samples, using higher doses curcumin for longer durations, and perhaps in combination therapy.

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This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary turmeric rhizome powder (TP) on performance, blood metabolite, immune system, antioxidant status, and relative weight of organs in pre and post heat stressed broilers. Two hundred and sixty-four (264) day-old male Arian broiler chicks were randomly allotted to three dietary treatments containing 0, 0.4 or 0.8% turmeric powder. Each diet was fed to four replicates of 22 birds each. Heat stress was applied for 5 h (33°C) from 28 to 42 days. Two birds from each replicate were randomly selected and blood samples were taken to collect the serum, plasma and whole blood. These were slaughtered to determine the relative weight of organs pre (28 days PHS) and after heat stress (42 days AHS). TP did not affect feed intake, body weight, feed conversion ratio (FCR), production index, and protein and energy efficiency ratio of broilers. Blood cholesterol and low density lipoprotein (LDL) decreased and blood high density lipoprotein (HDL) increased when fed TP in PHS and AHS birds. TP did not affect serum triglyceride, protein, antibody production against sheep red blood cell (SRBC), IgG, IgM and Newcastle vaccination (ND) in PHS and AHS. TP suppressed the enzyme activity of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) of heat stressed birds. The enzyme activity of creatine kinase (CK) in AHS and superoxide dismutase (SOD) in PHS were not affected by TP diets. TP diets increased blood activity of glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and SOD and decreased blood thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) index. The H:L ratio, relative weight of bursa of fabircus and abdominal fat decreased in birds fed TP diets. TP diets did not alter percentage of bone Ash, and P of heat stress broilers; however, it increased bone Ca of heat stressed broilers. It can be concluded that the supplementation of TP to diets, decreased the activity of dehydrogenase enzyme, stressor index, and improved the antioxidant status without affecting performance and the immune system of heat stressed broilers.

There are several successive and overlapping phases in wound healing as a complex process. By the disruption of each of these phases, chronic non-healing wounds are resultant. Despite the present soothing surgeries, standard wound dressings and topical gels, the wound is often not completely closed. Today, stem cells have attracted a huge deal of attention therapeutically and pharmaceutically considering their unique features. However, they have some restrictions. Moreover, it is hoped to eliminate the limitations of cellular therapies based on their derivatives known as exosomes. Exosomes are extracellular vesicles secreted from cells. They have a diameter of almost 30-150 nm and miRNAs, mRNAs, and proteins that are possibly different from the source cell are included in exosomal contents. Such nanovesicles have a key role in the intercellular communication of pathological and physiological procedures. Exosome-based therapy is a new significant method for wound healing. By exosomes effects, wound management may be improved and a new therapeutic model may be highlighted for cell-free therapies with reduced side effects for the wound repair.

Background: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/ acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a major threat for public health around the world. Objectives: This study aimed at investigating the prevalence of HIV/ADIS high risk behaviors and necessity of prevention in the population of Birjand, East of Iran. Methods: This population-based study was conducted on 5235 subjects from Birjand, East of Iran, during years 2013 to 2014. Subjects were asked to complete a checklist including gender, marital status, and history of drug injection, tattooing, unsafe sexual contact, imprisonment, dental surgeries, bloodletting, and blood transfusion. All subjects were tested by commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits to detect Anti-HIV antibodies (HIVAb; Genscreen® plus HIV Ag-Ab, Bio-Rad, Matnes la coquette, France). The chi-square test was performed and P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Prevalence of HIV was zero. Also, result of the study showed that 9 (0.2%) subjects had a history of drug injection, 81 (1.5%) history of tattooing, 44 (0.8%) unsafe sexual contact, 39 (0.7%) history of imprisonment, 1709 (32.6%) history of dental surgeries, and 802 (15.3%) history of bloodletting. History of drug injection, history of tattooing, unsafe sexual contact, history of imprisonment, and history of dental surgeries showed a significant relationship with gender. Conclusions: It is recommended to increase knowledge about HIV/AIDS behaviors especially in low risk populations to prevent the occurrence of new cases.

Background Maternal diet is known to be important to both mother and infant health. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between adherence to the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) dietary pattern (DP) and sleep problems in mothers and their infants. Methods The study included 350 breastfeeding mothers with an average age of 29.5 ± 5.9 years. Psychological functions were performed using standard questionnaires, including a Quality-of-Life Questionnaire (QLQ), Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), Spielberger Anxiety Questionnaire (SAQ), Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and Infant Sleep Questionnaire (ISQ). Also, a standardized food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) was used to identify adherence to the DASH DP. Results Subjects in the highest tertile of DASH DP had significantly lower scores of mother’s sleep latency (0.70 ± 1.18 vs. 1.24 ± 1.3; P value = 0.031), sleep disorders (4.3 ± 1.6 vs. 5.3 ± 2.4; P value= 0.032) and higher mother sleep efficiency compared to those in the lowest tertile (97.5 ± 89 vs. 54.8 ± 90; P value= 0.011). Also, infants of mothers with higher adherence to a DASH DP had lower sleep disorders compared with subjects with low adherence (4.9 ± 3.8 vs. 5.7 ± 3.2; P value= 0.017). After controlling for the mother’s education, economic status, age, body mass index (BMI), and energy intake, adherence to the DASH pattern was associated with shorter sleep latency (β = 0.60; 95%CI: 0.49–0.82), fewer sleep disorders score in mothers (β = 0.92; 95%CI: 0.85–0.99) and their infants (β = 0.90; 95%CI: 0.84–0.96) as well as high mother’s sleep efficiency (β = 1.2; 95%CI: 1.1–1.31). Conclusions According to our findings, adherence to DASH DP is associated with a lower score for sleep disorders in mothers and their infants.

Aim The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of human milk exosomes (HM-Exos) on the viability, migration, and inflammatory responses of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-exposed human dental pulp stem cells (HDPSCs) in vitro. Methods HM-Exos were isolated, and dynamic light scattering (DLS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to analyze their physical properties (size and shape). To construct an in vitro inflammation model, HDPSCs were exposed to LPS. The MTT test and migration assay were used to investigate the effect of HM-Exos on cell proliferation and migration, and the quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was used to assess the expression of inflammatory genes in HDPSCs. Data were analyzed using a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Tukey's post-test. Results DLS measurement revealed that HM-Exos were 116.8 ± 3.6 nm in diameter. The SEM and TEM images revealed spherical shapes with diameters of 97.2 ± 34.6 nm. According to the results of the cell viability assay, the nontoxic concentration of HM-Exos (200 µg/ml) was chosen for the subsequent investigations. The migration assay results showed that HM-Exos improved the potential of LPS-exposed HDPSCs to migrate. The qPCR results indicated that HM-Exos significantly reduced the expression of inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 in HDPSCs after LPS stimulation. Conclusions HM-Exos increased LPS-exposed HDPSCs migration and proliferation and reduced gene expression of inflammatory cytokines. They may be a viable candidate for pulpitis therapy.