One inescapable feature of life on the earth is exposure to ionizing radiation. The thyroid gland is one of the most sensitive organs to gamma-radiation and endocrine disrupters. Low-level laser therapy (LLLT) has been used to stimulate tissue repair, and reduce inflammation. The aim of this study was to gauge the value of using Helium-Neon laser to repair the damaged tissues of thyroid gland after gamma-irradiation. Albino rats were used in this study (144 rats), divided into control, gamma, laser, and gamma plus laser-irradiated groups, each group was divided into six subgroups according to time of treatment (total six sessions). Rats were irradiated once with gamma radiation (6 Gy), and an external dose of laser (Wavelength 632.8 nm, 12 mW, CW, Illuminated area 5.73 cm(2), 2.1 mW cm(-2) 120 s, 1.4 J, 0.252 J cm(-2)) twice weekly localized on thyroid region of the neck, for a total of six sessions. Animals were sacrificed after each session. Analysis included thyroid function, oxidative stress markers, liver function and blood picture. Results revealed improvement in thyroid function, liver function and antioxidant levels, and the blood cells count after LLLT.

Improved glycemic regulation can lower the raised fasting and postprandial triglyceride levels which are important atherosclerotic risk factors in diabetic patients even in short-term. Since this improvement in triglyceride levels comes early, diabetic patients can be evaluated for fasting and postprandial triglyceride levels in the first month of therapy.

Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by chronic hyperglycemia. It is caused by defective insulin production or resistance of the cells to insulin. The chronic hyperglycemia leads to damage of different organs, especially eyes, kidneys, nerves, heart, and blood vessels. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding regulatory ribonucleic acids (RNA). Many studies have showed the association between miRNA 126 and complications of DM including diabetic retinopathy (DR). Objective: Assessing the ability of circulating miRNA 126 to be used as diagnostic biomarker of both proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) and non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR). Methodology: This case-control study was conducted on 20 DR (PDR & NPDR) patients, 20 DM patients without DR and 20 apparently healthy controls that were recruited from Research Institute of Ophthalmology-RIO. Identification and quantification of plasma miRNA126 was performed by real-time PCR. Results: MiRNA 126 expression is significantly decreased in PDR group when compared to healthy control. Its expression in PDR is less than in NPDR, expression in NPDR is less than in DMC, and expression in healthy people is higher than in other groups (P value < 0.001). ROC curve was done for healthy control group versus DMC, PDR and NPDR groups and showed that the area under the curve (AUC) was 1.0 for all groups with sensitivity and specificity 100%, confidence interval (CI) was 95% with upper and lower limit (1.0-1.0). Best cut off point of miRNA-126 was 5.44, 4.44, 4. 88 for DMC, PDR and NPDR respectively. There is also a high significant increase between each group and control regarding hemoglobin A1C (HbA1c). There is significant increase between PDR and control regarding triglycerides (TG). Conclusion: miRNA 126 can differentiate between the PDR, NPDR, DMC and control group and could be considered a non-invasive diagnostic parameter.

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