Objective: Recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) is a fertility problem for which no exact mechanism of abortion or efficient treatment has been described. This study was conducted between 2018 and 2019 to investigate the effectiveness of autologous platelet-rich plasma (PRP) in improving the live birth rate of women with RPL who required in vitro fertilization (IVF). Methods: A total of 63 patients with at least two previous pregnancy losses and no specific cause detected for the RPL were included and randomly assigned into two groups (PRP and control). Intrauterine infusion of 0.5 mL of autologous PRP was performed 48 hours before embryo transfer in the PRP group. Women in the control group received standard treatment. Results: Forty patients completed the study. The baseline and cycle characteristics of the participants did not differ significantly between the PRP and control groups. The clinical pregnancy rate was higher in the PRP group (35% vs. 20%, P=0.288). The live birth rate was 15% in the PRP group, but no live births were recorded in the control group (P=0.231). Conclusion This is the first study to show that intrauterine infusion of PRP in patients with RPL who undergo IVF may increase the chance of live birth.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the antifungal activities of the extracts and sub-fractions of Phlomis olivieri, Verbascum speciosum, Sambucus ebulus and Erigeron hyrcanicus, four Persian medicinal plants used in Iranian folk medicine.

METHODSEvaluation of the antifungal activity was performed on the clinical isolates of pathogenic fungi including Aspergillus fumigatus, A. flavus, Trichophyton mentagrophytes, T. rubrum, T. verrucosum, Microsporum canis, M. gypseum and Epidermophyton floccosum, and the yeast Candida albicans. The susceptibility tests were done by agar well diffusion method. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) of active extracts and sub-fractions were measured using method of National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS).

RESULTSOnly P. olivieri sub-fractions were found to have fungicidal activity among the other investigated plants. The MIC and MFC was found to be high in petroleum ether, chloroform and ethyl acetate fractions (100 and 200 mg/mL) against the studied pathogenic fungi and the yeast Candida albicans. P. olivieri sub-fractions significantly inhibited the growth of all pathogenic fungi and the yeast studied.

CONCLUSIONIf the antifungal activity of P. olivieri is confirmed by in vivo studies and if the responsible compound (s) is isolated and identified, it could be a good remedy for mycotic infections.

OBJECTIVE: Accumulation of estrogenic compounds and other carcinogens in normal breast tissues contributes to unpredictable breast cancer incidence during adolescence and throughout life. To assess the role of parabens in this phenomenon, the paraben content of adjacent normal-malignant breast tissues is measured in women with breast cancer living in Isfahan Province, Iran. METHODS: Adjacent normal-malignant breast tissue samples were obtained from 53 subjects. The parabens including methyl-paraben (MePB), ethyl-paraben (EtPB), propyl-paraben (PrPB), and butylparaben (BuPB) were extracted from the sample supernatant and then subjected to gas chromatography analysis. RESULTS: Some risk factors for breast cancer were stimulated by parabens in adjacent malignant-normal breast tissues among young and middle-aged women with breast cancer. We observed a significant association for dose-response pattern of MePB [OR = 98.34 (11.43-185.2), P = 0.027] for both ER+ and PR+ women and MePB [OR = 164.3 (CI: 112.3-216.3), P < 0.001] for HER2+ women than women with negative receptors. The risk of 95-fold increase in MePB dose and 164-fold increase in ΣPBs dose were significant for women with hereditary breast cancer in first-degree relatives. CONCLUSION These results may promote future epidemiology studies and strategies to improve women's lifestyle and consume paraben-free products.