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Background: The newly emerged coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) seems to involve different organs, including the cardiovascular system. We systematically reviewed COVID-19 cardiac complications and calculated their pooled incidences. Secondarily, we compared the cardiac troponin I (cTnI) level between the surviving and expired patients. Methods: A systematic search was conducted for manuscripts published from December 1, 2019 to April 16, 2020. Cardiovascular complications, along with the levels of cTnI, creatine kinase (CK), and creatine kinase MB (CK-MB) in hospitalized PCR-confirmed COVID-19 patients were extracted. The pooled incidences of the extracted data were calculated, and the unadjusted cTnI level was compared between the surviving and expired patients. Results: Out of 1094 obtained records, 22 studies on a total of 4,157 patients were included. The pooled incidence rate of arrhythmia was 10.11%. Furthermore, myocardial injury had a pooled incidence of 17.85%, and finally, the pooled incidence for heart failure was 22.34%. The pooled incidence rates of cTnI, CK-MB, and CK elevations were also reported at 15.16%, 10.92%, and 12.99%, respectively. Moreover, the pooled level of unadjusted cTnI was significantly higher in expired cases compared with the surviving (mean difference = 31.818, 95% CI = 17.923-45.713, P value <0.001). Conclusion: COVID-19 can affect different parts of the heart; however, the myocardium is more involved.

Objective: To investigate the cross-sectional association between dietary intakes of antioxidants and fiber and depressive symptoms among Iranian adolescent girls. Design: A cross-sectional population-based study. Setting: Primary schools in two different cities located in northeastern Iran (Mashhad and Sabzevar). Participants: A total of 988 adolescent girls aged 12-18 years were included in the study. Results: Subjects with no or minimal depression symptoms had significantly higher dietary intakes of α-carotene (p=0.01), β-carotene (p=0.006), lutein (p=0.03), and vitamin C (p=0.04) when compared with subjects with mild to severe depression symptoms. Soluble dietary fiber and insoluble dietary fiber intakes were also significantly higher in healthy adolescents compared to those with depression symptoms (p<0.001). In multivariate-adjusted model 2, the odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) of depressive symptoms were 0.61 (0.37–1.01), 0.42 (0.26–0.69), 0.50 (0.31–0.79), 0.71 (0.44–1.15), 0.51 (0.32-0.82) and 0.42 (0.25-0.68) for the highest versus lowest quartile of vitamin C, β-carotene, α-carotene, lutein, soluble dietary fiber, and insoluble dietary fiber cereal intakes, respectively. Conclusion: Dietary intake of some antioxidants and dietary fiber intake were inversely associated with depression symptoms among Iranian adolescent girls.

Background: Opium and its pyrolysates have been investigated as potential carcinogenic material through several studies in different body systems; however, the results were controversial and no consensus was achieved with this regard. Thus, we aimed to systematically review and meta-analyze all existed evidence regarding association between opium consumption and cancer. Methods: Four major electronic databases including ISI Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, and Embase along with Magiran and SID were searched thoroughly for all published articles from inception up to September 25, 2020. All studies were appraised critically by Newcastle Ottawa Scale (NOS) checklist. Relevant demographic data and the intended results of the selected studies were extracted and their Odds ratios (OR) were pooled using Comprehensive Meta-analysis (CMA). The cumulative risk of opium for developing different cancers was calculated. Findings: 34 studies comprised of 18,230 individuals were entered in our systematic review and finally 32 publications were enrolled in meta-analysis. Overall, using the random effects model, opium consumption was associated with increased rate of malignancies in both minimally[OR = 4.14 95%CI = (3.32À5.15)] and fully adjusted [OR = 4.35 95%CI = (3.36À5.62)] analyses. Moreover, using random effects fully adjusted model, the subgroup analysis revealed increased risk for larynx [OR = 9.58 95%CI = (6.31À14.53)], respiratory [OR = 9.02 95%CI = (6.27À12.96)], head and neck [OR = 803 95%CI = (4.03À16.00)], and colon [OR=5.58 95%CI = (3.14À9.92)] cancers for opium consumers compared to non-consumers. Interpretation: Opium consumption is highly associated with all reported types of cancers, especially in fully adjusted model; however, basic pathophysiology should be further investigated.

Background: Neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is a marker for many inflammatory diseases. Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is among these inflammatory diseases, and many studies have compared the NLR ratio between patients with AS and healthy controls. Aim: To systematically review and analyze the available evidence about the significance of NLR values in AS. Method: Based on Meta-analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (MOOSE) guidelines, we searched Embase, Pubmed, ISI Web of Science, and Scopus databases from inception to August 2020 using ("Ankylosing spondyl* " OR "Bechterew Disease" OR "Rheumatoid Spondylitis") AND ((neutrophil* AND lymphocyte*) OR NLR) as key terms of the search strategy. Data selection and extraction were conducted separately by two authors. We appraised the included articles according to the Joanna Briggs checklist. Comprehensive Meta-analysis Version 2 was used for analysis and assessment of publication bias. I2 > 75% and p-value < 0.05 were considered significant. Result: Totally, 182 studies resulted from a search in all databases. Duplicate removal, title, abstract, and full-text screening finally yielded 12 related studies, with 11 included in the meta-analysis. Quality assessment was satisfying in all studies. Pooled difference in NLR means value between patients and controls was 0.38 (95% CI: 0.24-0.52, p-value <0.0001). An I2 of 51% and a Cochran Q test p-value of <0.05 indicated moderate heterogeneity; thus, subgroup analysis had no indication. Publication bias was not significant (Funnel plot with an Egger’s intercept of -0.07; p value=0.95). Conclusion: Significant higher amounts of NLR may be strongly indicative of underlying inflammation in AS.