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Background: There is controversy about the efficacy of 5-alpha-reductase inhibitors in COVID-19 patients. Some assumed that finasteride might be a risk factor for deterioration and others proposed it as a possible adjunct treatment for moderate to severe COVID-19 infection in the elderly. Methods: We performed a randomized controlled clinical trial (registration ID IRCT20200505047318N1) on 80 hospitalized male patients aged ≥50 years diagnosed with COVID-19 pneumonia in a tertiary hospital in Qazvin (Iran) from April to July 2020. The patients were randomized into one of the 2 treatment groups using simple randomization. Treatment group patients underwent routine drug therapy and 5 mg finasteride once daily for 7 days. The primary endpoint was mortality rate and length of hospital stay (LOS), and secondary endpoints were peripheral capillary oxygen saturation, respiratory rate, and inflammatory markers changes. The study protocol was approved by the medical ethics committee of Qazvin University of Medical Sciences (registration ID IR.QUMS.REC.1399.080). Data were analyzed by statistical tests and SPSS version 25. Also, p<0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. Results: We found a significant difference on O2 saturation among the 2 study groups on fifth day compared with the admission time (p= 0.018). The results did not show significant differences in mortality rate (2.5% vs 10%; p= 0.166) and LOS (p= 0.866) between patients in the finasteride and the control group. Conclusion: A short course of finasteride administration partially improves O2 saturation but does not influence other outcomes in hospitalized male patients aged ≥50 years with COVID-19 pneumonia. Further research in a large scale with longer follow-up is required to help clarify the role of finasteride in this setting.

Background: Colorectal cancer is the most common malignancy in humans, and it is predicted that 145,600 new cases will be diagnosed in the United States by 2019. The bioactive properties of curcuminoids and their synthetic analogs, especially their performance with an anticancer approach in different cancer cell line models, are of interest. In vivo and in vitro studies show their anticancer activity against colon cancer cell lines. Methods: In this descriptive-analytical study, colorectal cancer cells of the Caco2 cell line were cultured in DMEM medium containing 10% FBS at 37°C and 5% CO2. After calculating the IC 50, the cells were exposed to logarithmic concentrations of curcumin (curcumin) 10, 100, and 500 µg/mL for 24 hours. Finally, the effect of the toxicity of materials and low-power laser combined with melanin was measured by the MTT assay test. Results: The changes in the survival rate of colorectal cancer cells show the effect of curcumin on cell proliferation that is completely dependent on concentration and time. Calculating the survival percentage of cancer cells after treatment with different concentrations for 24, 48, and 72 hours showed that the decrease in viable cells compared to the control sample was significant (P < 0.001). Conclusions: The results showed that the use of curcumin either alone or together with a low-power laser could improve the treatment efficiency against colon cancer. The present review highlights the mechanism of synergistic effect and new delivery methods to improve curcumin's therapeutic potential.