Effect of mitomycin-C on corneal endothelial cell parameters after refractive surface ablation procedures.

Background: The effect of mitomycin-C (MMC) on the reduction of endothelial cell count in the cornea remains controversial. We aimed to evaluate the effect of MMC on corneal endothelial cell parameters after refractive surface ablation procedures, including photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) and laser epithelial keratomileusis (LASEK).

Methods: In this interventional, comparative, follow-up study, 342 eyes of 171 patients were followed up for 6 months.

Tacrolimus (FK506) ointment combined with Nb-UVB could activate both hair follicle (HF) and dermal melanocyte precursors in vitiligo: the first histopathological and clinical study.

Topical Tacrolimus, especially when combined with Nb-UVB, has been proven clinically to be effective in the treatment of vitiligo. However, no histological study has evaluated the repigmentation mechanism of tacrolimus ointment in combination therapy with Nb-UVB. In this study, the histological findings in patients receiving Nb-UVB were compared with those receiving topical tacrolimus combined with Nb-UVB.

Considerable variation among Iranian dermatologists in the knowledge and attitudes regarding the use of biologic agents to manage psoriasis.

Background: Many international guidelines have been introduced with the aim of helping clinicians by providing evidence-based advice for the prescription of biologic therapies in psoriasis. Because no local or regional guideline is available, the treatment of psoriasis with biologics is mainly based on clinical experiences regarding the international guideline among Iranian dermatologists.

Objective: To assess the knowledge and attitudes among Iranian specialists regarding the use of biologic agents to manage psoriasis.

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor polymorphism (rs755622) in alopecia areata: a possible role in disease prevention.

Alopecia areata (AA) is an organ-specific autoimmune disease that targets the bulb of the hair follicles and results in non-scarring hair loss that can range from patchy lesions to involvement of the entire scalp. AA develops when the hair follicles lose their physiologic state of immune privilege. One of the key factors that help in maintaining this immune privilege by suppressing natural killer cells is macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF).

Is the +405 G/C single nucleotide polymorphism of the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) gene associated with late-onset vitiligo?

The increasing body of evidence for the relationship between the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) polymorphism and autoimmune disorders combined with the enhanced expression of this angiogenic factor in vitiligo makes VEGF a very interesting candidate gene to be investigated in vitiligo. The aim of this study was to evaluate the possible associations between the +405 G/C single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) of the VEGF gene (rs2010963) and vitiligo. The independent case-control population sample of 152 patients with vitiligo and 152 matched controls was evaluated in this study.

The Association between Genetic Variation in Wnt Transcription Factor () and Alopecia Areata.

: Alopecia areata (AA) is a non-scarring hair loss with a polymorphous presentation ranging from patchy lesions to involvement of the entire scalp. The disease is the consequence of an autoimmune attack on hair bulbs that results in a premature transition of hair follicles to catagen and telogen. Thus the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway that regulates the hair cycling might be involved in the pathogenesis of AA.

CDH1 and DDR1 common variants confer risk to vitiligo and autoimmune comorbidities.

The weaker expression of the two main proteins adhering melanocytes to the epidermis basal layer, Epithelial Cadherin (E-cadherin) and Discoidin Domain Receptor Tyrosine kinase 1 (DDR1), has been implicated as one of the aggravating factors in the loss of melanocytes in vitiligo. The present study was designed to assess the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in the genes encoding these proteins, CDH1 and DDR1, and the risk of developing vitiligo. The independent case-control study was conducted on the sample including152 patients with vitiligo and 152 matched controls.

The Risk of Skin Necrosis Following Hyaluronic Acid Filler Injection in Patients With a History of Cosmetic Rhinoplasty.

Background: As the number of patients using dermal filler for face augmentation increases, the number of adverse events associated with injection may increase. Unpredictable repositioning of blood vessels and a more tenuous blood supply in the operated nose may increase the risk of ischemia, necrosis, and vascular embolism following the filler injection.

Objectives: To highlight the importance of the patient's history of previous cosmetic procedures including rhinoplasty in the emergence of vascular complications.

NMDA receptors interact with the retrieval memory enhancing effect of pioglitazone in mice.

Purpose: The present study has been undertaken to investigate the possible involvement of the glutamatergic pathway in the beneficial effects of pioglitazone on consolidation and retrieval phases of memory.

Materials And Methods: The Y-maze task was used to assess short-term spatial recognition memory in animals. Scopolamine (1mg/kg, i.

Short-time mitomycin-C application during photorefractive keratectomy in patients with low myopia.

Purpose: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of 5 seconds of mitomycin-C (MMC) application during photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) for low myopia.

Setting: Basir Eye Clinic, Tehran, Iran.

Design: Prospective randomized sham-controlled double-masked clinical trial.

Involvement of nitric oxide in pioglitazone memory improvement in morphine-induced memory impaired mice.

Introduction: Pioglitazone, a PPAR-γ agonist, which is clinically used in treating diabetic patients, has been recently reported to have crucial roles in improving cognition and memory performance. Since the mechanisms involved in the neuroprotective effect of pioglitazone are not entirely understood, the current study was designed to investigate the possible interaction of pioglitazone with morphine in memory-impaired mice and the probable role of nitric oxide (NO) in this effect.

Materials And Methods: All the experiments were performed in passive avoidance and Y-maze paradigms.

Involvement of NMDA receptors in the beneficial effects of pioglitazone on scopolamine-induced memory impairment in mice.

Introduction: Pioglitazone, a peroxisome proliferator activated receptor γ (PPARγ) agonist, is widely used in clinical medicine as a treatment for type 2 diabetes and is recently proved to have beneficial effects on improving cognition in early stages of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Moreover, it has been shown that pioglitazone reduces N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA, a glutamate agonist) mediated calcium currents and transients. Since enhanced calcium transients are present in AD models, we tested the hypothesis whether pioglitazone manifests its acquisition memory enhancement role through glutamatergic pathway.