Farzad Pakdel

PURPOSE: Idiopathic sclerosing orbital inflammatory syndrome (ISOIS) is a rare, progressive and hard to control disease. There is a deep gap of evidence regarding application of disease-modifying drugs (DMD) regimen as a potentially effective treatment for orbital inflammatory diseases. We aimed to report the results of using DMDs and discuss the concept of applying this modality of treatment in patients with ISOIS. METHODS: This was a prospective interventional case series conducted in a tertiary university-based hospital...

The Myocardin-related transcription factor A [MRTFA, also known as Megakaryoblastic Leukemia 1 (MKL1))] is a major actor in the epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT). We have previously shown that activation and nuclear accumulation of MRTFA mediate endocrine resistance of estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) positive breast cancers by initiating a partial transition from luminal to basal-like phenotype and impairing ERα cistrome and transcriptome. In the present study, we deepen our understanding of the mechanism by monitoring functional changes in the receptor's activity...

Approximately 80% of breast cancer (BC) cases express the estrogen receptor (ER), and 30-40% of these cases acquire resistance to endocrine therapies over time. Hyperactivation of Akt is one of the mechanisms by which endocrine resistance is acquired. Apigenin (Api), a flavone found in several plant foods, has shown beneficial effects in cancer and chronic diseases. Here, we studied the therapeutic potential of Api in the treatment of ER-positive, endocrine therapy-resistant BC. To achieve this objective, we stably overexpressed the constitutively active form of the Akt protein in MCF-7 cells (named the MCF-7/Akt clone)...

Breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer among women worldwide. More than 70% of BC cases express estrogen receptor alpha (ERα), a central transcription factor that stimulates the proliferation of breast cancer cells, usually in the presence of estrogen. While most cases of ER-positive BC initially respond to antiestrogen therapies, a high percentage of cases develop resistance to treatment over time. The recent discovery of mutated forms of ERα that result in constitutively active forms of the receptor in the metastatic-resistance stage of BC has provided a strong rationale for the development of new antiestrogens...

PURPOSE: The International Council of Ophthalmology (ICO) is currently developing a series of standardized, internationally validated, teaching tool for key ophthalmic surgical procedures called the Ophthalmology Surgical Competency Assessment Rubrics (OSCARs). This study aims to develop an OSCAR for external dacryocystorhinostomy (ExDCR). METHODS: An international panel of content experts, representing Argentina, India, U.A.E., United Kingdom, and the U.S.A. was established and worked to develop the rubric using a range of online collaboration tools...

BACKGROUND: Retinal and/or optic nerve injury is one of the leading causes of blindness due to retinal ganglion cell (RGC) degeneration. There have been extensive efforts to suppress this neurodegeneration. Various somatic tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) demonstrated significant neuroprotective and axogenic effects on RGCs. An alternative source of MSCs could be human embryonic stem cells (ES-MSCs), which proliferate faster, express lower levels of inflammatory cytokines, and are capable of immune modulation...

Recent studies strongly support the use of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) as a therapeutic target in breast cancer. Glyceollins, a group of soybean phytoalexins, are known to exert therapeutic effects in chronic human diseases and also in cancer. To investigate the interaction between glyceollin I (GI), glyceollin II (GII) and AhR, a computational docking analysis, luciferase assays, immunofluorescence and transcriptome analyses were performed with different cancer cell lines. The docking experiments predicted that GI and GII can enter into the AhR binding pocket, but their interactions with the amino acids of the binding site differ, in part, from those interacting with 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD)...

PURPOSE: We aimed to show the outcome of very early endoscopic dacryocystorhinostomy (VE-EDCR) in a routine pool of patients with acute dacryocystitis (AD) and abscess formation compared with the standard late external dacryocystorhinostomy L-ExDCR. METHODS: This was a prospective nonrandomized comparative study conducted from June 2013 to March 2016. Patients with AD and abscess formation were referred to our oculo-facial clinic in a university-based hospital. All patients received systemic antibiotics and were assigned to either of treatment groups...

PURPOSE: To compare the short-term visual function results and safety of erythropoietin as an add-on to the standard corticosteroid therapy in retrobulbar optic neuritis (RON). METHODS: In this prospective pilot study, adult patients with isolated RON with less than 10 days of onset were enrolled. Patients were consecutively assigned to standard intravenous methylprednisolone treatment either in combination with intravenous erythropoietin (20,000 units/day for three days) (group-1) or intravenous methylprednisolone alone (group-2)...

Due to the toxicity and resistance to treatment with anticancer drugs, various methods are used to improve their efficacy in cancer treatment. In this present study, in order to overcome the limitation of 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU), prodrug strategy has been pursued with using density functional theory (DFT) and molecular dynamics simulation (MDs). The main objective of this study is to examine the mechanisms of drug release from its prodrug form by using the intrinsic reaction coordinate (IRC) calculations. The reaction mechanisms of 5-FU prodrug (EMC-5-FU) in the presence of lactic acid (LA) and water molecule were theoretically studied...

BACKGROUND: Association of Selenium (Se) deficiency, an essential trace element, has been found with human diseases. Identifying literature trends on the effects of Se on the thyroid may guide in planning future studies. METHODS: A literature search was conducted using the Web of Science database to identify studies on Se and the thyroid published over the 20 years duration (1995-Dec 2014). Scientometric indices were used to draw field maps. The scientific processes, structure, evidence history, and international collaborations were included in the map...

OBJECTIVE: Asymmetric papilledema (AP) is a rare condition in idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH). As the pathophysiology of papilledema developement in IIH remains unclear, the study of AP could clarify some etiologic aspects. We aimed to evaluate bony optic canal size in IIH patients with AP. PATIENTS AND METHODS: All IIH patients based on modified Dandy criteria in our referral tertiary eye hospital underwent neuro-opthalmologic exams and grading of papilledema according to modified Frisén scale...

The flavone apigenin and the mycotoxin zearalenone are two major compounds found in the human diet which bind estrogen receptors (ERs), and therefore influence ER activity. However, the underlying mechanisms are not well known. To unravel the molecular mechanisms that could explain the differential effect of zearalenone and apigenin on ER-positive breast cancer cell proliferation, gene-reporter assays, chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) experiments, proliferation assays and transcriptomic analysis were performed...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

PURPOSE: To compare the subjective versus Objective dry eye disease (DED) in patients with moderate-severe thyroid eye disease (TED). METHOD: Included were the patients with moderate-severe TED and ≥18 years old. They completed the ocular surface disease index (OSDI) questionnaire and had Schirmer, Tear breakup time (TBUT), fluorescein staining, osmolarity, corneal aesthesiometry, and meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) tests. Excluded were patients with history of any disease, surgery and or medications which might be affecting the ocular surface and incomplete tests results...

Comprehension of compound interactions in mixtures is of increasing interest to scientists, especially from a perspective of mixture risk assessment. However, most of conducted studies have been dedicated to the effects on gonads, while only few of them were. interested in the effects on the central nervous system which is a known target for estrogenic compounds. In the present study, the effects of estradiol (E2), a natural estrogen, and genistein (GEN), a phyto-estrogen, on the brain ER-regulated cyp19a1b gene in radial glial cells were investigated alone and in mixtures...

PURPOSE: The International Council of Ophthalmology (ICO) is currently developing a series of standardized, internationally validated, teaching tools for key ophthalmic surgical procedures called the Ophthalmology Surgical Competency Assessment Rubrics (OSCARs). This study aims to develop an OSCAR for anterior approach ptosis surgery. METHODS: An international panel of content experts, representing Australia, India, Iran, Italy, Turkey, UK, and the USA was established and worked to develop the rubric using a range of online collaboration tools...

BACKGROUND: Methanol poisoning can cause an optic neuropathy that is usually severe and irreversible and often occurs after ingestion of illicit or homemade alcoholic beverages. In this study, we evaluated the potential neuroprotective effect of erythropoietin (EPO) on visual acuity (VA) in patients with methanol optic neuropathy. METHODS: In a prospective, noncomparative interventional case series, consecutive patients with methanol optic neuropathy after alcoholic beverage ingestion were included...

The authors aim to report a 68-year-old patient presenting with acute swelling and redness of orbital area diagnosed initially as orbital cellulitis. Surgical excision was decided based on clinical and imaging findings with the diagnosis of pleomorphic adenoma of the lacrimal gland. Lacrimal gland pleomorphic adenoma usually presents with painless gradual swelling of upper eyelid. In an exceptionally rare circumstance, this case showed acute orbital inflammation, and imaging findings of orbital inflammation mostly focused around the cystic space of the lacrimal gland tumor...

PURPOSE: Intravenously administered erythropoietin (EPO) was firstly commenced (phase 1) in patients with indirect traumatic optic neuropathy (TON) by this group in 2011. It was re-tested by another group (phase 2) in 2014. This multicenter clinical trial was designed to compare its effect with intravenous steroid and observation. METHODS: Included were TON patients ≥5 years of age and with trauma-treatment interval of ≤3 weeks. Follow-up visits were set at 1, 2, 3, 7, 14, 30, and at least 90 days after treatment...