Objective: The purpose of this clinical trial was to examine the effect of omega-3 fatty acids (W-3 FAs), nanocurcumin and their combination on serum levels and gene expression of VCAM in patients with episodic migraine.Results: In this study, 80 patients were randomly divided in to 4 groups to receive for 2 months. Both serum levels and gene expression of VCAM showed remarkable decreases after single W-3 and after combined W-3 and nanocurcumin interventions. However, a borderline significant change and no remarkable change were observed after single nanocurcumin supplementation and in control group, respectively. While a significant difference between study groups in VCAM concentrations existed, there was no meaningful difference in VCAM gene expression among groups. It appears that the W-3 and combined W-3 and nanocurcumin can relieve VCAM serum level and its gene expression in patients with episodic migraine. Moreover, the combination of W-3 with nanocurcumin might cause more significant declines in VCAM level in the serum of migraine patients than when W-3 is administered alone.Trial Registration: This study was registered in Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (IRCT) with ID number: NCT02532023.

Purpose: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an emerging disease that was first reported in Wuhan city, the capital of Hubei province in China, and has subsequently spread worldwide. Risk factors for mortality have not been well summarized. Current meta-analysis of retrospective cohort studies was done to summarize available findings on the association between age, gender, comorbidities and risk of death from COVID-19 infection. Methods: Online databases including Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane Library and Google scholar were searched to detect relevant publications up to 1 May 2020, using relevant keywords. To pool data, random-effects model was used. Furthermore, sensitivity analysis and publication bias test were also done. Results: In total, 14 studies with 29,909 COVID-19 infected patients and 1,445 cases of death were included in the current meta-analysis. Significant associations were found between older age (≥65 vs <65 years old) (pooled ORs=4.59, 95% CIs=2.61-8.04, p<0.001), gender (male vs female) (pooled ORs=1.50, 95% CIs=1.06-2.12, p=0.021) and risk of death from COVID-19 infection. In addition, hypertension (pooled ORs=2.70, 95% CIs= 1.40-5.24, p=0.003), cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) (pooled ORs=3.72, 95% CIs=1.77-7.83, p=0.001), diabetes (pooled ORs=2.41, 95% CIs=1.05-5.51, p=0.037), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (pooled ORs=3.53, 95% CIs=1.79-6.96, p<0.001) and cancer (pooled ORs=3.04, 95% CIs=1.80-5.14, p<0.001), were associated with higher risk of mortality. Conclusion: Older age (≥65 years old), male gender, hypertension, CVDs, diabetes, COPD and malignancies were associated with greater risk of death from COVID-19 infection. These findings could help clinicians to identify patients with poor prognosis at an early stage.

The ALS diagnostic challenges necessitate more robust diagnostic and prognostic methods. A potential biomarker in this regard is the alterations of ferritin levels in the serum and CSF of patients compared to controls. The CSF and serum ferritin levels were measured in 50 ALS cases and 50 control patients with predefined exclusion criteria. The ELISA method was utilized for laboratory measurement and was statistically analyzed using the SPSS. Heightened serum ferritin levels in cases were not statistically significant. However, CSF ferritin levels were significantly higher in ALS patients (P < 0.001). Serum ferritin levels were significantly negatively correlated with the disease duration (P = 0.015) and were significantly positively correlated with the disease progression rate (DPR) (P = 0.012). Heightened CSF ferritin levels can be used for the diagnosis of ALS. The correlation between the serum ferritin levels with the DPR and its correlation with the disease duration suggests potential prognostic utilities.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease primarily characterized by the loss of motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord...