Updates are available Expression of concern dated 2020-05-06

Article History

Received: 12 January 2018

Accepted: 6 April 2018

First Online: 12 April 2018

Change Date: 6 May 2020

Change Type: Clarification

Change Details: The Editor-in-Chief is currently investigating this article as concerns have been raised about integrity of the clinical trial reported here. There is also an ongoing investigation by the Iranian National Committee for Ethics in Biomedical Researches. Further editorial action will be taken as appropriate once the investigation into the concerns is complete and all parties have been given an opportunity to respond in full.

Ethics approval and consent to participate

: The study was conducted according to the ethical guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki (the ethical standards of the institutional and national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments) and was approved by the ethics committee of the Arak University of Medical Sciences (AUMS), Arak, Iran (: IRCT201509115623N53). All participants provided a written informed consent.

: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

: Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.