The Efficacy of IPL in Periorbital Skin Rejuvenation: An Open-Label Study

Introduction: Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) is one of the effective methods used to treat the signs of facial aging. However, its efficacy in improving the appearance of periorbital wrinkles has always been evaluated in the context of whole-face rejuvenation and not studied in its own right. Therefore, in this study we sought to examine the effectiveness and side effects of IPL in periorbital skin rejuvenation.Methods: In this uncontrolled, open-label clinical trial, 38 patients referred to the Behrooz professional skin clinic for signs of periorbital skin aging were recruited. Patients underwent three treatment sessions with IPL, at one-month intervals, and were evaluated for treatment side effects after each session. Six months after the final IPL session, patients were examined to assess the level of symptom improvement. Patients were photographed at each treatment session and at the six-month follow-up visit. Before and after patient images were evaluated by two dermatologists unaffiliated with the study to determine the extent of improvement in the appearance of wrinkles and skin texture.Results: Six months post-treatment, excellent improvement was observed in 3 patients (9.1%), considerable improvement in 7 patients (21.2%), moderate improvement in 9 patients (27.3%), mild improvement in 9 patients (27.3%) and finally little or no improvement was observed in 5 patients (15.1%). Comparison of improvement scores based on Fitzpatrick skin phenotype did not show significant differences (p=0.674). 4 patients (12.1%) were dissatisfied with the treatment whilst 17 patients (51.5%) reported moderate to considerable satisfaction with IPL rejuvenation.Conclusion: During whole face rejuvenation, IPL can be used to improve periorbital skin aging.

Focused Ultrasound Lipolysis in the Treatment of Abdominal Cellulite: An Open-Label Study

 Introduction: Despite a growing popularity of noninvasive ultrasonic lipolysis procedure, there is a lack of evidence about the efficacy of this method. This study was performed to evaluate the efficacy of focused ultrasonic lipolysis on abdominal cellulite treatment.Methods: Twenty-eight consecutive subjects (age: 37.8 ± 8 years) underwent weekly transdermal focused ultrasonic lipolysis (Med Contour, General Project Ltd., Florence, Italy) and vacuum drainage for a maximum of eight sessions. Largest abdominal girth and 2 lines at 4 cm to 7 cm distance above and under it were located as fixed points of measurements. The mean value of the three fixed lines was considered as the abdominal circumference. Subjects were evaluated using measurements of circumference, immediately after and 3 weeks after the final treatment and compared using paired t test.Results: One hundred ninety-four ultrasonic lipolysis procedures were performed on 28 subjects. A statistically significant (P < .001) average of 1.89 cm (95% CI: 1.63-2.02 cm) decrease of circumference value was observed in each session of ultrasonic lipolysis. The mean pretreatment to posttreatment circumference reduction was 8.21 cm (95% CI: 6.38-10.04, P < .001) that declined to 7 cm (95% CI: 3.2-10.8, P < .001) at the 3-month follow-up visit. Conclusion: Focused ultrasonic lipolysis appears to be an effective method for reduction of abdominal cellulite, although some amount of circumference reduction reversal may be observed in long term follow-up visit

Effects of aspirin on teratogenic characteristic of alcohol in limb morphoyenesis of mouse embryo

Abnormalities caused by alcohol are very extensive and are called fetal alcoholic syndrome (FAS). There are some hypotheses about pathological mechanisms of alcohol. Based on one of the recent hypotheses, alcohol consumption can change maternal and fetal prostaglandin levels. On the other hand aspirin is a strong prostaglandin inhibitor and there are reports showing that simultaneous administration of alcohol and aspirin decreased the limbs and kidney abnormalities in mice offsprings. Others showed that aspirin had no inhibition on alcohol adverse effects. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of aspirin on teratogenic characteristic of alcohol in limb morphogenesis of mouse embryo 135 male and female mice (1 male for 3 females) were randomly divided into 5 groups. After vaginal plaque observation on the 8th day of gestation, controls received nothing while other groups received physiological serum, alcohol, aspirin and a combination of alcohol and aspirin respectively by intraperitoneal injection. On the 18th day of gestation animals were killed by cervical dislocation and embryos were observed for anomalies of the upper and lower limbs. Our results showed that limbs had lower height and weight and more anomalies in alcohol and aspirin group compared to the alcohol alone group. Thus administration of aspirin with alcohol does not decrease the rate of limb abnormalities and factors other than prostaglandin might involve in limb abnormalities

Ablative Fractional CO2 Laser may be a Novel Treatment for Tattoo Allergic Reaction

A 47 year-old woman presented with eight-month history of tattoo allergic reaction of eyebrows after botulinum toxin A injection that was resistant to oral, topical and intralesional injection of corticosteroids. Multiple sessions of treatment with CO2 fractional laser resulted in significant flattening of allergic papules and plaques as well as reduction of tattoo pigmentatio

Comparison of different electroporation parameters on transfection efciency of sheep testicular cells

Objective: Electroporation can be a highly efficient method for introducing the foreign genetic materials into the targeted cells for transient and/or permanent genetic modification. Considering the application of this technique as a very efficient method for drug, oligonucleotide, antibody and plasmid delivery for clinical applications and production of transgenic animals, the present study aimed to optimize the transfection efficiency of sheep testicular cells including spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) via electroporation. Materials and Methods: This study is an experimental research conducted in Biotechnology Research Center (Avicenna Research Institute, Tehran, Iran) from September 2013 to March 2014. Following isolation and propagation of one-month lamb testicular cells (SSCs and somatic testicular cells including; Sertoli, Leydig, and myoid cells), the effect of different electroporation parameters including total voltages (280, 320, and 350 V), burst durations (10, 8, and 5 milliseconds), burst modes (single or double) and addition of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) were evaluated on transfection efficiency, viability rate and mean fluorescent intensity (MFI) of sheep testicular cells. Results: The most transfection effciency was obtained in 320 V/8 milliseconds/single burst group in transduction medium with and without DMSO. There was a signifcantly inverse correlation between transfection effciency with application of both following parameters: addition of DMSO and double burst. After transfection, the highest and lowest viability rates of testicular cells were demonstrated in 320 V/8 milliseconds with transduction medium without DMSO and 350 V/5 milliseconds in medium containing DMSO. Addition of DMSO to transduction medium in all groups signifcantly decreased the viability rate. The comparison of gene expression indicated that Sertoli and SSCs had the most?uorescence intensity in 320 V/double burst/DMSO positive. However, myoid and Leydig cells showed the maximum expression in 320 V/single burst and/or 350 V/double burst/DMSO positive. Conclusion: We optimized the electroporation method for transfection of sheep testicular cells and recommended the application of 320 V/8 milliseconds/single pulse/DMSO negative for transduction of plasmid vector into these cells. Among testicular cells, the most external gene expression was demonstrated in SSC population