Effect of Metformin on Serum Ferritin Level in Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common diseases among women associated with various inflammatory reactants such as C-reactive protein (CRP) and ferritin. This study aimed to investigate the effect of metformin on probable reduction of serum ferritin in patients with PCOS.Methods: This study was conducted on 45 patients with PCOS who had not other systemic diseases and did not take any medications. Weight, waist and hip circumstances (WHR), body mass index (BMI), metabolic indexes,CRP, ferritin and Homeostasis Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR) double acute accent were measured before the study. Metformin (500 mg/tid) tablets were prescribed for three months and then same above parameters were re-measured.Results: Of 45 patients, 19 (42.2) were overweight and 14 (31.1) were obese. After drug therapy, there was a significant reduction in waist circumstance and serum ferritin. This reduction was significant only in the lean and overweight groups but not in the obese group. There was not significant association between serum ferritin and CRP, HOMA-IR, BMI and WHR. There was not significant correlation between CRP and HOMA-IR and also BMI.Conclusion: The effect of metformin on reduction of serum ferritin was not significant just in obese group and was not associated with metabolic and anthropometric indexes. © Iranian Red Crescent Medical Journal

Scalable Real-Time Shadows using Clustering and Metric Trees

International audienceReal-time shadow algorithms based on geometry generally produce high quality shadows. Recent works have considerably improved their efficiency. However, scalability remains an issue because these methods strongly depend on the geometric complexity. This paper focuses on this problem. We present a new real-time shadow algorithm for non-deformable models that scales the geometric complexity. Our method groups triangles into clusters by precomputing bounding spheres or bounding capsules (line-swept spheres). At each frame, we build a ternary metric tree to partition the spheres and capsules according to their apparent distance from the light. Then, this tree is used as an acceleration data structure to determine the visibility of the light for each image point. While clustering allows to scale down the geometric complexity, metric trees allow to encode the bounding volumes of the clusters in a hierarchical data structure. Our experiments show that our approach remains efficient, including with models with over 70 million triangles

The effect and safety of Berberine on polycystic ovary syndrome: a systematic review

The aim of this systematic review is to assess the effect of Berberine (BBR) on women�s health to provide greater insights about its effect on women with polycystic syndrome for both patients and health care providers. Electronic databases such as PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) were systematically searched from the base to July 1th, 2019 to identify clinical trials and randomised controlled trials that had explored the effect of BBR on the polycystic syndrome. With regard to the weight and composition body, BBR did not have any significant effect on reducing body weight and conflicting findings had been reported about waist circumference (WC) and body mass index (BMI). However, BBR led to a significant decrease in waist to hip ratio (WHR), profile hormonal insulin resistance (IR), and insulin resistance (HOMA-IR). Further, androstenedione dropped significantly following treatment with BBB. However, BBB did not have a significant effect on follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH). © 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

HPV and its high-risk genotypes in Middle Eastern countries: a meta-analysis

Background: HPV is the main cause of cervical cancer. Determining the geographic distribution of HPV genotypes is a major step in the implementation of cervical cancer screening. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of HPV and its high-risk genotypes in Middle Eastern countries. Materials & methods: MEDLINE, ISI Web of Science, PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus and ProQuest were searched from 2005 to 2018. The quality of the studies was determined by Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology checklist. Fixed/random effects models were conducted to estimate the pooled prevalence. Results: The pooled prevalence of HPV was 12.3 and 5.2. The prevalence of HPV in Africa (22) was higher than that in Eurasia (8.3) and Asia (12.6). The prevalence of HPV was 14.4, 8.3, 22 and 10.2 in Iran, Turkey, Egypt and Arab countries, respectively. The prevalence of high-risk-HPV in the above-mentioned countries was 6.5, 6.2, 6.5 and 3.7. Conclusion: Prevalence of HPV was increased in the Middle East. This highlights the need for public education, screening and vaccination programs. © 2020 Future Medicine Ltd

Effect of fennel on primary dysmenorrhea: A systematic review and meta-analysis

One of the most common complaints for women is dysmenorrhea. Several studies investigated the treatment effects of medicinal plants on primary dysmenorrhea. This systematic review and meta-analysis investigates the effect of Foeniculum vulgare (Fennel) on pain in primary dysmenorrhea in comparison to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as mefenamic acid. PubMed, EMBASE, EBSCO Web of Science, Scopus, Cochrane library, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Science Direct, ProQuest, ISI Web of Science, Google Scholar, Magiran, SID, Iran Medex, and Irandoc were searched up to January 2019. Quality assessment of clinical trials was conducted using Jadad scoring system. Totally, 12 studies were entered in the meta-analysis. I2 was calculated to determine heterogeneity. Fixed effects and/or random effects models were applied. Meta-analysis of these trials showed that F. vulgare intake decreased significantly the intensity of dysmenorrhea compared to the placebo (SMD -0.632; CI: -0.827 to -0.436; p<0.001; heterogeneity p=0.807; I2=0; fixed effect model; seven articles). However, the effect of Mefenamic acid with F. vulgare was not different from each other (SMD=-0.214; CI: -0.446 to 0.017; p=0.07; heterogeneity p=0.58; I2=0; fixed effect model; six trials). The F. vulgare alleviates dysmenorrhea. Regarding the same effect of F. vulgare with NSAIDs, it is highly recommend to the women suffered from dysmenorrhea specifically the ones who have high tendency toward herbal medicine. © 202

Effect of listening to qur'an recitation on severity of pain and anxiety during labor: A systematic review and mehta-analysis

Background and purpose: Labor pain and anxiety have negative effects on mother, fetus, and consequently the labor process. Qur'an is treated with great respect by Muslims and there are interests toward non-medical interventions based on religious beliefs during labor. This review article examined the effect of listening to Qur'an recitation on severity of pain and anxiety during labor. Materials and methods: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Google scholar, and Persian databases until March 2020 using the following keywords: labor pain, anxiety, Qur'an, Holy book, and clinical trial. Jadad scale was used to evaluate the quality of the articles. Results: There were four studies on the effect of listening to Qur'an recitation on intensity of pain during labor and two studies on its effect on anxiety during labor. There were significant differences in standardized mean difference of labor pain intensity between the intervention and control groups (-0.616, 95 CI:-387--0.845, P< 0.001) indicating that listening to a recitation of Qur'an can significantly reduce the severity of labor pain. Two other studies showed that listening to Qur'an recitation reduces anxiety level in first stage of labor (P<0.001). Conclusion: The present study showed that listening to Qur'an recitation could decrease the intensity of pain and anxiety during labor. Therefore, health care providers should consider the beliefs of expectant mothers and use spiritual examples such as listening to Qur'an recitation to achieve successful childbirth. © 2020, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved