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Recent achievements in reproductive biomedicine have led to a revolution in infertility treatment. A comprehensive understanding of the current status of reproductive medicine is necessary for the development of a forward-looking plan by health policymakers, based on fundamental requirements. This study is a systematic review of the Scopus database to assess reproductive biomedicine publications within Iran and compared to the rest of the world from 1990 to 2020. The data were categorized by geographical distribution across five continents. National data were assessed in comparison with the world and with neighboring countries. Finally, prominent national research institutes in the field of reproductive biomedicine in Iran were identified, and their contributions to the field highlighted. Of the five continents, the highest number of publications and citations is from Europe (36% publications and 41.5% citations). Corresponding numbers for the other continents are 32 and 33% for America, and 26 and 18.4% for Asia respectively. The remaining publications and citations were from Australia (3.8 and 4.1%) and Africa (2.6 and 3.1%). In a national analysis, the highest-ranking institutes in reproductive biomedicine are in Tehran province (50.9% of all Iranian publications), Shiraz (8.8%), Yazd (7.8%), Isfahan (7.1%), and Tabriz (6.9%). More specifically, Tehran University of Medical Science (15.9%), the Royan Institute (12.2%), Shahid Beheshti Medical University (10.1%), Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences (6.9%), and Tarbiat Modares University (6.7%) account for more than 50% of all Iranian scientific publications. In recent decades, reproductive biomedical research has grown significantly in Iran. Reviewing publications in this field helps health policy decision makers to monitor the direction of research and adjust investment in the treatment of infertility. In addition, it is necessary to expand and organize inter-organizational and international collaborations to improve the research, gain the benefits of different experiences, and engage in international multicenter studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Osteoarthritis (OA) is a debilitating disease that typically affects a large number of the middle-aged and elderly population. Current treatment strategies have had limited success in these patients. This study aims to investigate the safety of treatment with autologous bone marrow (BM)-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) transplanted in patients with OA of the knee, ankle, or hip. Methods: We enrolled 18 patients with different joint involvements (knee, ankle, or hip OA) and one was lost to follow-up. BM samples were taken from the patients, after which BM-derived MSCs were isolated and cultured. Each patient received one MSC injection. Patients were followed with clinical examinations, MRI and laboratory tests at 2, 6,12, and 30 months post-transplantation. Results: We observed no severe adverse events such as pulmonary embolism, death, or systemic complications. A limited number of patients had very minor localized adverse effects such as rash and erythema. There were no changes in liver function, hematology, or biochemistry analyses before and after cell therapy. There was no evidence of tumor or neoplastic changes in the patients during the 30-month follow-up period. All patients exhibited therapeutic benefits such as increased walking distance, decreased visual analog scale (VAS), and total Western Ontario and McMaster Universities OA Index (WOMAC) scores which were confirmed by MRI. Conclusions: Our study has shown that injection of MSCs in different OA affected joints is safe and therapeutically beneficial. However, further studies are needed with larger sample sizes and longer follow-up periods to confirm these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]