This study was conducted to investigate the effect of the prepregnancy BMI on the risk of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Five electronic databases, including PubMed, Scopus, Embase, Web of Science, and Google Scholar, were searched for literature published until 1 January 2018. The two-stage, random effect meta-analysis was performed to compare the dose-response relationship between BMI and GDM.As well as studies with categorized BMI, studies that treat BMI as a continuous variable were analysed. A total of 33 observational studies with an overall sample size of 962 966 women and 42 211 patients with GDM were included in analysis. The pooled estimate of GDM risk in the underweight, overweight, and obese pregnant women was 0.68, 2.01, and 3.98 using the adjusted OR and 0.34, 1.52, and 2.24 using the adjusted RR. The GDM risk increased 4% per unit of increase in BMI with both the crude and adjusted OR/RR models. Also, the risk of GDM increased 19% with the crude model and 14% with the adjusted model. The existence of dose-response relationship between the pre-pregnancy BMI and GDM can strengthen the scientific background for vigorous public health interventions for the control of pre-pregnancy BMI as well as the weight gain during pregnancy.

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease with an unknown aetiology that has been associated with abnormal plasma lipid metabolism and oxidative stress. There are controversial results in the previous studies investigating oxidant/antioxidant systems in psoriasis.The aim of this work was to evaluate the plasma levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), total bilirubin (T. Bili), direct bilirubin (D. Bili), uric acid (UA), apolipoproteins (ApoA1 and ApoB), Lp(a) and activities of paraxonase 1 (PON1) in 100 patients with psoriasis and 100 controls, and to look for a correlation between these parameters in psoriasis.PON1, bilirubin and UA were measured spectrophotometrically, MDA by the high-performance liquid chromatography method, apolipoproteins and Lp(a) by immunoprecipitation assays, and lipid and other biochemical parameters were determined by routine laboratory methods.In patients with psoriasis, there was a significant decrease in PON1, SOD and CAT activities (P < 0.05) and an increase in MDA levels (P < 0.01). Also, the levels of bilirubin (total and direct) and UA were decreased in patients with psoriasis but were not significant (P > 0.05).These results suggest that psoriasis was in a state of oxidative stress and that the protective effects of high-density lipoprotein against atherosclerosis may be dependent on PON1 activity. Moreover, there is a negative correlation between antioxidant with Lp(a), apoB and MDA levels, suggesting that subjects with higher levels of Lp(a) and apoB and lower levels of antioxidant are more exposed to oxidative damage. These findings may explain in part the reported increase in cardiovascular mortality in psoriasis.

Introduction: Enamel subsurface lesions or white spot lesions (WSLs) are commonly found in orthodontic patients with a prevalence of 5% to 97%. Aim: This systematic review aimed to evaluate the efficacy of casein phosphopeptide amorphous calcium phosphate (CPP-ACP) and casein phosphopeptide amorphous calcium phosphate fluoride (CPP-ACPF) for prevention and remineralization of WSLs in orthodontic patients in human randomized controlled clinical trials (RCTs). Methods: Relevant articles were retrieved by searching the Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, and Cochrane Library databases up to November 2018 with no language or date restriction. The collected data included examination method, groups included in each study with number of patients in each group, study design, follow-up period and summary of important findings of each study. The risk of bias of each study was assessed according to the guidelines of the Cochrane Collaboration's tool. Results: Of 213 articles retrieved, 13 RCTs were included in this systematic review (none of them were included in the meta-analysis). Three articles showed superior efficacy of CPP-ACP for remineralization of WSLs while four studies reported the superior clinical efficacy of CPP-ACPF for this purpose. Conclusion: Both CPP-ACP and CPP-ACPF can decrease the prevalence and increase the remineralization of WSLs during/after orthodontic treatment.

Background: The chemotherapeutic agent oxaliplatin can cause acute and chronic forms of peripheral neuropathy. The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence of chronic neuropathy and its risk factors in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients treated with FOLFOX or XELOX regimens in the Oncology Ward of Hazrate-Rasoul Hospital in Tehran. Materials and Methods: A total of 130 patients with CRC were entered into our study, aged over 18 years, without history of receiving other neurotoxic agents or other predisposing factors such as diabetes or neurologic diseases and kidney and liver dysfunction. For the FOLFOX regimen, patients received oxaliplatin, 85 mg/m2, every 2 weeks for 12 courses and with the XELOX regimen, oxaliplatin was 130mg/m 2 , every 3 weeks for 8 courses. Based on Common Toxicity Criteria (CTC or NCI-CTC v.3), the patients were divided into 5 groups (grades) based on the severity of their symptoms. Results: Fifty-seven patients (43.8%) were male and 73(56.2%) female. Some 19 patients (14.7%) had BMI<20, 97(74.6%) were between 20-25 and 14 (10.8%) ≥25. In 105 patients (80.7%) neuropathy was found. There was significant correlation between BMI, hypomagnesaemia and especially, severity of anemia in patients with neuropathy compared to those without. Conclusions: Oxaliplatin regimens can induce chronic neuropathy in CRC patients, with anemia, high BMI and hypomagnesaemia as risk factors that can predispose to this kind of neurotoxicity.

Aim of the studyThis meta-analysis evaluated serum interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients compared with healthy controls and hepatitis and cirrhotic patients.Material and methodsThe three databases PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science were searched for assessment of IL-6 levels in HCC patients (without cirrhosis and hepatitis) compared with healthy controls (without HCC, cirrhosis and hepatitis) and the studies were selected based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. A random-effect meta-analysis was performed with RevMan 5.3 software, using mean difference (MD) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).ResultsOut of 503 studies searched in databases, 18 studies were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled analysis with continuous data demonstrated that the IL-6 level in HCC patients was significantly higher than that in healthy controls (MD = 12.44; 95% CI: 9.02-15.85; p < 0.00001). Also, the pooled analysis demonstrated that the IL-6 levels in cirrhotic patients (MD = –6.98; 95% CI: –12.91-1.05; p < 0.02) and patients with hepatitis (MD = –8.43; 95% CI: –11.91-4.95; p < 0.00001) were significantly lower than the level in HCC patients, and the subgroup analyses had high heterogeneity.ConclusionsThe elevated IL-6 levels in HCC patients compared with hepatitis and cirrhosis patients and healthy controls may show a significant association of this cytokine with increased risk of HCC and its potential as a diagnostic marker for HCC in future diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.