The effect of supplementation with vitamins A, B, C, D, and E on disease severity and inflammatory responses in patients with COVID-19: a randomized clinical trial.

Background And Objective: Because of the effect of vitamins on modulating the immune system function, we have evaluated the effect of supplementation with vitamins A, B, C, D, and E in ICU-admitted patients with COVID-19.

Methods: This study was a randomized and single-blinded clinical trial in which 60 subjects were randomly assigned to two groups. The intervention group (n=30) received vitamins, and the control group did not receive any vitamin or placebo.

Evaluation of headache associated with personal protective equipment during COVID-19.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has created new conditions for medical staff, forcing them to use personal protective equipment (PPE) for an extended duration of time. Headache is a commonly associated side effect of the use of such equipment among healthcare workers.

Method: In this cross-sectional study, 243 frontline healthcare workers at four referral hospitals for COVID-19 were evaluated for the occurrence of headache following the use of PPE and its relationship with blood gas parameters was assessed.

Biallelic truncation variants in ATP9A are associated with a novel autosomal recessive neurodevelopmental disorder.

Intellectual disability (ID) is a highly heterogeneous disorder with hundreds of associated genes. Despite progress in the identification of the genetic causes of ID following the introduction of high-throughput sequencing, about half of affected individuals still remain without a molecular diagnosis. Consanguineous families with affected individuals provide a unique opportunity to identify novel recessive causative genes.

Clinical and molecular spectrum of P/Q type calcium channel Cav2.1 in epileptic patients.

Background: Epilepsy is a neurological disorder characterized by the potential to induce seizure and accompanied by cognitive, psychological, and social consequences. CACNA1A gene is a voltage-gated P/Q-type Cav2.1 channel that is broadly expressed in the central nervous system, and the pathogenic variants within this gene may be associated with the epileptic phenotype.

The Effect of Oral Simvastatin on the Clinical Outcome of Patients with Severe Traumatic Brain Injury: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Background: Despite recent promising pharmacological and technological advances in neurosurgical intensive care, the overall TBI-related mortality and morbidity remain high and still pose a major clinical problem. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of oral simvastatin on the clinical outcome of patients with severe TBI.

Methods: In a double-blind placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial a total of 98 patients with severe TBI in Imam Khomeini Hospital in Sari, Iran, were evaluated.

PRDM12 Is Transcriptionally Active and Required for Nociceptor Function Throughout Life.

PR domain-containing member 12 (PRDM12) is a key developmental transcription factor in sensory neuronal specification and survival. Patients with rare deleterious variants in are born with congenital insensitivity to pain (CIP) due to the complete absence of a subtype of peripheral neurons that detect pain. In this paper, we report two additional CIP cases with a novel homozygous variant.

Recommendations for Infantile-Onset and Late-Onset Pompe Disease: An Iranian Consensus.

Pompe disease, also denoted as acid maltase or acid α-glucosidase deficiency or glycogen storage disease type II, is a rare, autosomal recessive lysosomal storage disorder. Several reports have previously described Pompe disease in Iran and considering increased awareness of related subspecialties and physicians, the disease's diagnosis is growing. This guideline's main objective was to develop a national guideline for Pompe disease based on national and international evidence adapting with national necessities.

Zytux in Refractory Myasthenia Gravis: A Multicenter, Open-Labeled, Clinical Trial Study of Effectiveness and Safety of a Rituximab Biosimilar.

Myasthenia gravis (MG) is an immune-mediated neuromuscular disorder responsive to immunomodulatory treatments. 10-20% of MGs are not responsive to conventional first-line therapies. Here, we sought to investigate the efficacy and safety of rituximab therapy in the treatment of patients with refractory MG.

The second brain: The connection between gut microbiota composition and multiple sclerosis.

Gut microbiota composition may affect the central nervous system (CNS) and immune function. Several studies have recently examined the possible link between gut microbiota composition and multiple sclerosis (MS) and its animal model, experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). Most of these studies agree that patients with MS suffer from dysbiosis.

The correlation between serum selenium, zinc, and COVID-19 severity: an observational study.

Background: Without an adequate immune response, SARS-CoV2 virus can simply spread throughout the body of the host. Two of the well-known immunonutrients are selenium (Se) and zinc (Zn). Se and Zn deficiency might lead to inflammation, oxidative stress, and viral entry into the cells by decreasing ACE-2 expression; three factors that are proposed to be involved in COVID-19 pathogenesis.

The association between serum levels of micronutrients and the severity of disease in patients with COVID-19.

Objectives: This study aimed to compare the serum level of micronutrients with normal amounts, and assess their association with the severity of disease and inflammatory cytokines in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Methods: The present cross-sectional study included 60 patients admitted to the intensive care unit with COVID-19. We recorded data on demographic characteristics, anthropometric information, and medical history.

Biallelic loss-of-function variants in the splicing regulator NSRP1 cause a severe neurodevelopmental disorder with spastic cerebral palsy and epilepsy.

Purpose: Alternative splicing plays a critical role in mouse neurodevelopment, regulating neurogenesis, cortical lamination, and synaptogenesis, yet few human neurodevelopmental disorders are known to result from pathogenic variation in splicing regulator genes. Nuclear Speckle Splicing Regulator Protein 1 (NSRP1) is a ubiquitously expressed splicing regulator not known to underlie a Mendelian disorder.

Methods: Exome sequencing and rare variant family-based genomics was performed as a part of the Baylor-Hopkins Center for Mendelian Genomics Initiative.

Cognitive Impairment in Opium Use Disorder.

This cross-sectional study is aimed at assessing the effects of opium use disorder (OUD) on attention, working memory, and information-processing speed. Thirty outpatients with OUD and 20 healthy controls (HCs) were assessed using a neuropsychological battery consisted of Auditory Verbal Learning Test-Revised (AVLT-R), Brief Visuospatial Memory Test-Revised (BVMT-R), Digit Forward and Backward Tests (DFT and DBT), and WAIS-R Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST). The most affected cognitive functions in patients with OUD were detected by DBT and DSST.

Safety and efficacy of fingolimod in Iranian patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis: An open-label study.

Background: Fingolimod was the first oral therapy approved for treating relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) in 2010. This open-label study evaluated the safety and efficacy of fingolide, 0.5 mg in Iranian MS patients during one-year follow-up.

Protracted COVID-19 during Treatment of Facial Palsy.

Neurologic manifestations are increasingly reported as the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues. This is a report of a COVID-19 patient with Bell's palsy. Case Summary.

Burnout and clinical learning environment among residents in Tehran: A cross-sectional study.

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the quality of the educational environment in Tehran University of Medical Sciences across different medical specialties and its correlation with residents' burnout.

Materials And Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at Tehran University of Medical Sciences among residents drawn from three largest teaching hospitals affiliated. The Maslach Burnout Inventory and Postgraduate Hospital Educational Environment Measure (PHEEM) questionnaire were used to collect data through web-based, as well as paper-and pencil questionnaires.

ANXA1 with Anti-Inflammatory Properties Might Contribute to Parkinsonism.

We here describe the identification of a novel variant in the anti-inflammatory Annexin A1 protein likely to be the cause of disease in two siblings with autosomal recessive parkinsonism. The disease-segregating variant was ascertained through a combination of homozygosity mapping and whole genome sequencing and was shown to impair phagocytosis in zebrafish mutant embryos. The highly conserved variant, absent in healthy individuals and public SNP databases, affected a functional domain of the protein with neuroprotective properties.

The Promising Effect of Nerve Decompression in Trigeminal Autonomic Cephalalgias: Report of Case Series.

Trigeminal Autonomic Cephalalgias (TAC) are excruciating headaches with limited treatment options. The chronic forms of TACs, including chronic cluster, chronic paroxysmal hemicrania, and hemicrania continua, are disabling conditions. In addition to drug therapy, there are some studies regarding nerve blocking and nerve stimulation with acceptable results.

The Efficacy of Sphenopalatine Ganglion Block and Radiofrequency Denervation in the Treatment of Cluster Headache: A Case Series.

Background: Cluster headache is a variant of primary neurovascular headaches. some patients with cluster headache are not responsive to medical treatment and may benefit from interventional modalities, including sphenopalatine ganglion block and denervation.

Objectives: Our purpose was to evaluate the efficacy of sphenopalatine ganglion block/denervation in the treatment of cluster headache.

The correlation of the serum level of L-carnitine with disease severity in patients with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Background: The relationship between reserve of L-carnitine and severity in patients with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is not studied sufficiently. We decided to measure the serum levels of L-carnitine in patients and the relationship with ALS severity.

Method: This cross-sectional study evaluated the serum levels of L-carnitine in 30 patients with ALS (total-case) divided into two groups included 15 patients in the Oral-Fed (OF) group and 15 patients in the Enteral-Fed (EF) group, compared with 15 healthy people matched in age and sex in the control group.

Design of MRI structured spiking neural networks and learning algorithms for personalized modelling, analysis, and prediction of EEG signals.

This paper proposes a novel method and algorithms for the design of MRI structured personalized 3D spiking neural network models (MRI-SNN) for a better analysis, modeling, and prediction of EEG signals. It proposes a novel gradient-descent learning algorithm integrated with a spike-time-dependent-plasticity algorithm. The models capture informative personal patterns of interaction between EEG channels, contrary to single EEG signal modeling methods or to spike-based approaches which do not use personal MRI data to pre-structure a model.

A novel form of anti-angiogenic molecular antibody drug induces apoptosis in myeloma cells after cultivation upon endothelial feeder cells.

The present study aimed to investigate the ability of a novel form of the anti-angiogenic molecular antibody drug to induce Myeloma cell death after cultivation upon endothelial feeder cells. Bevacizumab-loaded chitosan (BCS) nanoparticles (NPs) were prepared by the ionic gelation method. Human U266 cell line and human umbilical vein endothelial cells were co-cultured for 72 h and treated with BCS nanoparticles (10μM) to study their impact on inhibition of cell growth and induction of apoptosis.

An interictal measurement of cerebral oxygen extraction fraction in MRI-negative refractory epilepsy using quantitative susceptibility mapping.

Purpose: Oxygen extraction fraction (OEF) can be a factor to identify brain tissue's disability in epileptic patients. This study aimed to assess the OEF's level measurement in refractory epileptic patients (REPs) using a quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) method and to determine whether the OEF parameters change.

Methods: QSM-OEF maps of 26 REPs and 16 healthy subjects were acquired using 3T MRI with a 64-channel coil.

Clinical Diagnosis has a High Negative Predictive Value in Evaluation of Malignant Skin Lesions.

Background: The increasing incidence of skin cancers in fair-skinned population and its relatively good response to treatment make its accurate diagnosis of great importance. We evaluated the accuracy of clinical diagnosis of malignant skin lesions by comparing the clinical diagnosis with histological diagnosis as the gold standard.

Materials And Methods: In this retrospective study, we assessed all the pathology reports from specimens sent to a university hospital laboratory in 3 consecutive years from March 2008 to March 2010.