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Background: Plantar fasciitis accounts for 11 to 15 percent of foot pain in adults. Although an injection of corticosteroids is a common treatment in plantar fasciitis, it has side effects and short-term pain relief. Therefore, this study aimed to compare the effect of low-power laser therapy (LPLT) with methylprednisolone injection in unilateral plantar fasciitis patients. Materials and Methods: In this clinical trial study, 40 patients with unilateral plantar fasciitis were randomly allocated into two groups (n=20). In the first group, 40 mg of prednisolone was locally injected and the second group received LPLT in 10 sessions. Levels of pain and morning stiffness were evaluated. Results: Forty-two percent of cases were male and 57.5% female. Fifty-five percent of the patients had right and 45% had left foot fasciitis. The mean age of the patients was 52.98 years and the disease duration was 32.38 weeks. In men pain was seen more in the right foot and in women in left foot. Duration of pain in women with plantar fasciitis was more than the men. The effect of the two therapies on morning stiffness and pain reduction was the same in both groups. Moreover, pain reduction measured by visual analogue scale had a similar effect during the study in both groups. Conclusion: LPLT like corticosteroid injection has significant effect on the intensity and duration of pain and morning stiffness in plantar fasciitis and can be used as an alternative to corticosteroid injection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Metformin hydrochloride is a highly hydrophilic molecule with low permeability. In the present study, to develop an effective drug to treat the metastatic breast cancer, metformin caprylic acid was synthesized using metformin hydrochloride as a permeable agent., Main Methods: The cytotoxic effects of various concentrations of metformin caprylic acid and metformin hydrochloride (0 to 20 mM) on MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells and MCF-10A human mammary epithelial cell line were assessed by the MTT assay. Furthermore, Annexin V, PI staining, and cell flow cytometry assays were performed to evaluate the apoptotic effects. The invasion and migration ability of these cells were evaluated following treatment with equal concentration (3 mM) of the two compounds., Key Findings: The treatment of tested cell lines with an equal concentration of two chemicals decreased cell viability in a time and dose-dependent manner, where in all cases, metformin caprylic acid caused significantly more apoptosis and invasion inhibition than that of metformin hydrochloride (*p < 0.05). Chemical structures of both compounds were confirmed by FTIR and 1 H NMR, 13 C NMR. Both chemicals inhibited the migration of MCF-7 and MCF-10A cells, but had no effect on MDA-MB-231 migration. All data are expressed as mean ± SD (n = 3)., Significance: It seems that in an equal concentration, the similarity of the hydrophobic tail of caprylic acid to the cell membrane improves its entrance, while decreasing the drug excretion., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)