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Purpose: 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), an effective chemotherapy drug, is commonly applied for colorectal cancer treatment. Nevertheless, its toxicity to normal tissues and the development of tumor resistance are the main obstacles to successful cancer chemotherapy and hence, its clinical application is limited. The use of resveratrol can increase 5-FU-induced cytotoxicity and mitigate the unwanted adverse effects. This study aimed to review the potential therapeutic effects of resveratrol in combination with 5-FU against colorectal cancer. Methods: According to the PRISMA guideline, a comprehensive systematic search was carried out for the identification of relevant literature in four electronic databases of PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and Scopus up to May 2021 using a pre-defined set of keywords in their titles and abstracts. We screened 282 studies in accordance with our inclusion and exclusion criteria. Thirteen articles were finally included in this systematic review. Results: The in vitro findings showed that proliferation inhibition of colorectal cancer cells in the groups treated by 5-FU was remarkably higher than the untreated groups and the co-administration of resveratrol remarkably increased cytotoxicity induced by 5-FU. The in vivo results demonstrated a decrease in tumor growth of mice treated by 5-FU than the untreated group and a dramatic decrease was observed following combined treatment of resveratrol and 5-FU. It was also found that 5-FU alone and combined with resveratrol could regulate the cell cycle profile of colorectal cancer cells. Moreover, this chemotherapeutic agent induced the biochemical and histopathological changes in the cancerous cells/tissues and these alterations were synergized by resveratrol co-administration (for most of the cases), except for the inflammatory mediators. Conclusion: The results obtained from this systematic review demonstrated that co-administration of resveratrol could sensitize the colorectal cancer cells to 5-FU treatment via various mechanisms, including regulation of cell cycle distribution, oxidant, apoptosis, anti-inflammatory effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the chemotherapeutic drug, doxorubicin, is commonly used to treat various malignant tumors, its clinical use is restricted because of its toxicity especially cardiotoxicity. The use of curcumin may alleviate some of the doxorubicin‐induced cardiotoxic effects. Especially, using the nano‐formulation of curcumin can overcome the poor bioavailability of curcumin and enhance its physicochemical properties regarding its efficacy. In this study, we systematically reviewed the potential cardioprotective effects of nano‐curcumin against the doxorubicin‐induced cardiotoxicity. A systematic search was accomplished based on Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐Analyses guidelines for the identification of all relevant articles on "the role of nano‐curcumin on doxorubicin‐induced cardiotoxicity" in the electronic databases of Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science up to July 2021. One hundred and sixty‐nine articles were screened following a predefined set of inclusion and exclusion criteria. Ten eligible scientific papers were finally included in the present systematic review. The administration of doxorubicin reduced the body and heart weights of mice/rats compared to the control groups. In contrast, the combined treatment of doxorubicin and nano‐curcumin increased the body and heart weights of animals compared with the doxorubicin‐treated groups alone. Furthermore, doxorubicin could significantly induce the biochemical and histological changes in the cardiac tissue; however, coadministration of nano‐curcumin formulation demonstrated a pattern opposite to the doxorubicin‐induced changes. The coadministration of nano‐curcumin alleviates the doxorubicin‐induced cardiotoxicity through various mechanisms including antioxidant, anti‐inflammatory, and antiapoptotic effects. Also, the cardioprotective effect of nano‐curcumin formulation against doxorubicin‐induced cardiotoxicity was higher than free curcumin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Osteoarthritis (OA), the most common degenerative joint disease, is associated with severe functional limitation and impairment of quality of life. Numerous reports have documented the clinical efficacy of low-dose radiotherapy (LD-RT) in the management of various inflammatory disorders, including OA. In this paper, we assessed the clinical literature involving the use of LD-RT in the treatment of OA, its dose-response features, possible underlying mechanistic features, and optimal therapeutic dose range. We carried out a systematic review based on the guidelines of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) statements and evaluated articles meeting the inclusion criteria for this review. A total of 361 articles were identified from databases, such as Scopus, PubMed, Embase, and Science Direct out of which 224 articles were duplicates and were discarded. Of the remaining 137 articles, 74 articles were un-related, 27 articles were review articles, eight were conference abstracts, three were letters, two were editorials, two were notes, and one was a book chapter. Finally, 20 articles met all the inclusion criteria and were included in this systematic review. Several single-arm retrospective/prospective studies showed advantages for LD-RT in the management of OA in terms of pain relief, improvement of mobility and function, and showed minimal side effects. Mechanistic considerations involve positive subcellular effects mediated by the activation of a nuclear factor erythroid 2-related transcription factor (Nrf2) mediated antioxidant response. Further research on both the short- and long-term effects of LD-RT on OA and other inflammatory disorders is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and purpose: To assess the feasibility of a treatment planning system in localizing, contouring, and targeting lung lesions along with an evaluation of volume indices of lung involvement in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia. Methods: We evaluated 10 patients with PCR-confirmed COVID-19 pneumonia. The CT images were imported into the ISOgray® treatment planning system to anatomically define and contour the volumes of the pulmonary lesions, the lungs, and other nearby organs. Results: The ratio of lung lesion volume to lung volume in this study was 0.11 ± 0.13 (11.13%). The highest mean biosynthesis ratio of lung lesions was 0.36. The ratio of lesion volume in the left lung of patients with the highest volume of involvement, was 0.44, and the ratio of lesion volume in the right lung of these patients was 0.27 (approximately 1.5 times more in the left lung than the right lung). On average, CTDIvol and DLP for all patients studied in our study were 11.22 ± 2.47 mGy and 354.20 ± 65.11 mGy.cm Conclusion: We reported the feasibility of using a treatment planning system in localizing COVID-19 pulmonary lesions and its validity in the volumetric assessment of infected lung regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]