Weekly administration of 17α-hydroxyprogesterone caproate to pregnant women with a history of preterm delivery was associated with a decrease in preterm delivery and improvement in birth weight.

Simply synthetized gold nanoparticles have been highly used in medicine and biotechnology as a result of their biocompatibility, conductivity, and being easily functionalized with biomolecules such as aptamer. Aptamer-conjugated gold nanoparticle structures synergically possess characteristics of both aptamer and gold nanoparticles including high binding affinity, high biocompatibility, enhanced target selectivity, and long circulatory half-life. Aptamer-conjugated gold nanoparticles have extensively gained considerable attention for designing of biosensing systems due to their interesting optical and electrochemical features. Moreover, biosensors based on aptamer-gold nanoparticles are easy to use, with fast response, and inexpensive which make them ideal in individualized medicine, disease markers detection, food safety, and so forth. Moreover, due to high selectivity and biocompatibility of aptamer-gold nanoparticles, these biosensing platforms are ideal tools for targeted drug delivery systems. The application of this nanostructure as diagnostic and therapeutic tool has been developed for detection of cancer in the early stage by detecting cancer biomarkers, pathogens, proteins, toxins, antibiotics, adenosine triphosphate, and other small molecules. This review obviously demonstrates that this nanostructure effectively is applicable in the field of biomedicine and possesses potential of commercialization aims. K E Y W O R D S aptamer, biosensor, gold nanoparticles 1 42 CTCs Human Caucasian Burkitt′s lymphoma Electrochemical 4 cells/ml * 43 Acute lymphoblastic leukemia 3 cells/mL * Non-small cell lung cancer Electrochemical * * 44 Human acute lymphoblastic leukemia Electrochemical * * 48

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BACKGROUND Overactive bladder syndrome (OABS) is a common disorder that encompasses urgency, frequency, and nocturia. Various methods of therapies have been utilized worldwide. Despite progresses, it remains a formidable challenge. Laser treatment has emerged to reliably treat the symptoms complex. This study was intended to evaluate the effect of fractional CO2 laser on the main symptoms of OABS. MATERIALS AND METHODS A prospective pre-and post-intervention pilot study was conducted on 31 female subjects recruited from a general hospital in Tehran, Iran. They were treated with 3 laser applications at one-month interval using the intravaginal fractional micro-ablative CO2 laser. The study measures were urgency, frequency, nocturia, leakage, International Consultation on Incontinence Overactive Bladder (ICIQ-OAB), Urogenital Distress Inventory Short Form (UDI-6), and Pelvic Organ Prolapse/Urinary Incontinence Sexual Questionnaire (PISQ-12), which were examined at baseline and every month thereafter up to the end of the laser treatment sessions. RESULTS The findings indicated that statistically significant differences occurred in the ICIQ-OAB score and urgency during treatment sessions as compared to the baseline (p<0.05). Laser therapy led to marked improvements in the UDI-6 score only at month 3 (p=0.001). Nocturia, frequency, leakage, and PISQ-12 score did not ameliorate upon laser administration (p>0.05). CONCLUSION In this pilot study, it was found that fractional CO2 laser could be effective in the amelioration of some OABS symptoms in menopausal women. Further investigations with a larger sample size and long-term follow-ups are required to substantiate these preliminary findings.

Ellagic acid as a polyphenol or micronutrient, which can be naturally found in different vegetables and fruits, has gained considerable attention for cancer therapy due to considerable biological activities and different molecular targets. Ellagic acid with low hydrolysis and lipophilic and hydrophobic nature is

Pelvic organ prolapse is a common complaint among older women. Vaginal pessary insertion is an appropriate treatment as a non-surgical method with few complications. This paper is a prospective observational study of 68 patients with pelvic organ prolapse that was carried out at the Imam Khomeini Hospital’s Pelvic Floor clinic. The degree of pelvic organ prolapse was graded according to the Pelvic Organ Prolapse Quantification (POP-Q) System. For all patients, the Pelvic Floor Distress Inventory-20 (PFDI-20) questionnaire was completed before vaginal pessary insertion, and after approximately 6 months of treatment. After 6-8 months, we found out that vaginal discharge was significantly increased and the feeling of fullness in the vagina was significantly decreased. However, sexual dissatisfaction, the feeling of incomplete evacuation, fecal and urinary incontinence, frequent urination, and pain or discomfort in the genital region were not significantly different after using a pessary. Approximately half a year later, 96.7% of the women with a successful pessary fitting trial were satisfied and reported a significant improvement in symptoms. Further studies with larger sample size, a different type of pessary, and a longer follow-up duration are recommended to evaluate all the symptoms associated with pelvic organ prolapse and its treatment.

25-Hydroxyvitamin D 3 as a main circulating metabolite of vitamin D is usually measured in serum to evaluate the vitamin D status of humans. So, developing an accessible, fast response, sensitive, and selective detection method for 25hydroxyvitamin D 3 is highly important. In this study, we designed a sensitive and selective electrochemical sensor based on the modification of glassy carbon electrode by nanocomposite of CuCo 2 O 4 /nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes and phosphorus-doped graphene oxide. Then 25-hydroxyvitamin D 3 -imprinted polypyrrole was coated on the electrode surface through electropolymerization. Moreover, ferricyanide was used as a mediator for the creation of a readable signal, which was considerably decreased after rebinding of 25-hydroxyvitamin D 3 on the electrode. The proposed sensor successfully detected 25-hydroxyvitamin D 3 in the range of 0.002-10 μM, with a detection limit of 0.38 nM, which was highly lower than deficiency concentration (20 ng/ml; 49.92 nM). Finally, the proposed sensor was checked for detection of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 in serum samples with recovery in the range of 80%-106.42%. The results demonstrated the applicability of the designed sensor for the detection of 25-hydroxyvitamin D 3 in biological samples.

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