Journal of Research in Medical Sciences
Volume:28 Issue: 9, Sep 2023

To determine the average cutoff values of serum?free and total testosterone (FT, TT) and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) among healthy premenopausal women.

Participants were women aged 18–55 years without signs and symptoms of hyperandrogenism (n = 489). Participants if Ferriman–Gallwey (FG) scores between 6 and 8 were considered a group located in the upper spectrum related to the normal hirsutism score (n = 30). DHEAS, TT, and FT levels were compared between different populations. Upper limits of 97.5 and 95 and lower limits of 5 and 2.5 percentiles were calculated to provide the reference intervals for DHEA, TT, and FT in the total sample and in the population with FG 6–8.

In the total population, the mean ± standard deviation (SD) serum FT, TT, and DHEAS levels were 1.40 ± 0.63 pg/mL, 0.42 ± 0.17 ng/mL, and 1.5 ± 0.97 ?g/ml, respectively. The cutoff values of FT at 1.35 and TT at 0.49 were obtained for differentiating the patients with FG 6–8 scores from the normal population, with the corresponding specificity of 0.60, the sensitivity of 0.67, and area under the ROC curve (AUC) (confidence interval 95%) of 0.63 (0.52–0.73), P = 0.01 and 0.68 (0.58–0.78) P = 0.001, respectively.

In our study, the mean ± SD serum FT level was 1.40 ± 0.63 pg/mL, the TT level was 0.42 ± 0.17 ng/mL, and the DHEAS level was 1.5 ± 0.97 ?g/ml, in premenopausal women between 18 and 49 years of age. Furthermore, in a population with FG 6–8 score, a cutoff value of FT at 1.35 and TT at 0.49 was obtained. Although the irregular menstrual cycle did not change the reference range when compared with the normal group.

Dinutuximab, which is a monoclonal antibody targeting GD2 expressed in neuroblasts, improves survival when included in the therapy regimen. This article reviews the importance of dinutuximab in managing neuroblastoma (NB). Dinutuximab targets high levels of GD2 expression in NB cells, thus increasing event?free survival when used in the maintenance therapy of high?risk patients with NB. Although several collaborative studies have set the standard of care for maintenance therapy, the long?term follow?up and continuous evaluation of the use of antibodies and the co?administration of other pharmacological or immunomodulatory drugs remain to be studied. Trials have shown that the use of dinutuximab for maintenance therapy can prolong the time before the first relapse and improve overall survival. However, there is uncertainty in the function of cytokines co?administered with dinutuximab,which may lead to increased toxicity without additional benefits. Recent studies on relapsed and refractory NB have shown the potential efficacy of dinutuximab. Further research is required to properly incorporate Dinutuximab in current treatment modalities.

The incidence of invasive fungal infections (IFIs) has increased in recent years as a result of increasing the incidence of hematologic malignancies (HMs). IFIs, as the opportunistic diseases, are the most important concern in these patients with a high mortality rate. These infections are one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in HM patients and an important factor in increasing the costs of patients’ management because of the prolonged hospitalization and the inevitable need to use antifungal agents. Due to the changes in the pattern of organisms causing IFIs, unavailability of effective and safe antifungal drugs, and high rate of drug resistance as well as lack of fast and accurate diagnostic methods, these infections have become a serious and life?threatening problem necessitating effective prevention and treatment strategies using suitable antifungal agents, especially in high?risk patients. The aim of the present study was to review the pathogens causing various types of IFIs, diagnostic methods, and novel prophylactic and therapeutic antifungal regimens in HM patients according to the new published studies and clinical trials.

The advanced glycation end product (AGE) is produced from the nonenzymatic reaction between glucose and macromolecules by aging. Accumulation of AGE causes functional and structural changes in body proteins that lead to impairment of tissue protein functions. We aimed to validate AGE measurement by skin autofluorescence (SAF) in diabetes mellitus (DM)compared to the nondiabetes population.

We searched the PubMed, Cochrane, and Scopus databases from their inception till September 18, 2022, for casecontrol studies measuring AGE by SAF. Nonhuman studies, as well as review articles, study proposals, editorials, case reports, or congress posters, were excluded. We used a random effects model to assess the standard mean difference (MD) of age,body mass index (BMI), HbA1c, and SAF between diabetes and nondiabetes individuals.

Higher SAF in DM patients indicated more accumulation of AGE compared with the nondiabetic population. Furthermore, HbA1c was considerably higher in DM patients. The MD of age, male gender, and BMI were significantly different between the DM individuals, compared with nondiabetic subjects, which can lead to altered SAF level and AGE production. There was a remarkable heterogeneity between diabetes and nondiabetes when measuring age, gender, and BMI, as well as HbA1c and SAF level.

This study could not confirm the validity of SAF as a surrogate marker in diabetes patients. Interestingly, metabolic load and high BMI can increase SAF, considerably. Altogether, SAF could be helpful in the future as a marker for metabolic syndrome or diabetes.

Ganoderma lucidum (G. lucidum) is one of the most popular edible mushrooms in the world which has various pharmacological components. Recently, some animal studies have investigated the lipid?lowering effects of G. lucidum and have shown contradictory results. This study aims to systematically review the effects of G. lucidum on lipid parameters in animal studies.

A systematic search was conducted in the Medline database (PubMed), Scopus, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar up to the end of January 2022. Only animal studies and all eligible randomized controlled trials (RCTs), including cluster RCTs and randomized crossover trials were included. The English language studies that assessed the effects ofG. lucidum on lipid profiles including total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low?density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL?C), high?density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL?C), and very low?density lipoproteins (VLDL) were selected.

Among 358 studies, 49 articles were included in the systematic review and meta?analysis. G. lucidum consumption was associated with decreased levels of TG (standardized mean difference [SMD] = ?1.52, 95% CI: ?1.79, ?1.24), TC (SMD = ?1.51, 95% CI: ?1.75, ?1.27), LDL?C (SMD = ?2.03, 95% CI: ?2.37, ?1.69) and VLDL (SMD =?1.06, 95% CI: ?1.638, ?0.482). Furthermore, G. lucidum consumption was associated with increased levels of HDL?C (SMD = 1.03, 95% CI: 0.73, 1.33).

G. lucidum has favorable effects on TG, TC, LDL?C,HDL?C, and VLDL. Different doses of G. lucidum have various degrees of effectiveness on lipid profiles.