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Retraction Note: Biol Trace Elem Res (2017) 175:271–277
The Editors-in-Chief have retracted this article. After publication, several concerns have been raised about the integrity of this article.
The article overlaps with another two publications by the same author group [1, 2], but there is no cross-referencing. These 3 papers all describe 6-week, placebo-controlled, double-blind randomized trials of zinc in women with gestational diabetes mellitus, but they describe different number of patients.
The following discrepancies were noted between the studies:
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Trial registration number reported for this and (2) is the same: IRCT201503055623N42. This number doesn’t correspond to any record of trial registration. The authors stated the correct TRN should be IRCT201408295623N26 for both studies.
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This article states recruitment took place between December 2015 and April 2016. This is different to recruitment periods in related articles (1, 2) and trial registration record IRCT201408295623N26.
An investigation into all the concerns was conducted by the National Committee for Ethics in Biomedical Research (NREC), Ministry of Health and Medical Education. In line with Iranian legal requirements the results of their investigation were sent to the Kashan University of Medical Sciences (KAUMS) research ethics committee where Dr. Asemi is based.
Of the specific concerns raised in relation to this article, the institution and authors confirmed that the study location for all the articles was Kosar Clinic in Arak and not Naghavi clinic as stated in this article. The authors stated the study took place between August 2014 and September 2014 and received ethics approval before the start of recruitment. The authors confirmed the three papers all reported on data from the same dataset of 58 patients, but differed in terms of measured outcomes and not all patients were included in all tests. For this study authors selected two groups of 20 patients. The Editor has decided that the conclusions of this study are unreliable due to omissions and discrepancies in the description of the trial and the selective analysis of the same data set which was presented earlier in [1 and 2].
Authors Mansooreh Samimi, Shahnaz Ahmadi , Esmat Aghadavod, Mehri Jamilian and Zatollah Asemi have stated the disagree with this retraction. The remaining authors have not responded to correspondence regarding this retraction.
References
Karamali M, Heidarzadeh Z, Seifati SM, Samimi M, Tabassi Z, Hajijafari M, Asemi Z, Esmaillzadeh A (2015) Zinc supplementation and the effects on metabolic status in gestational diabetes: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. J Diabetes Complicat V 29(I8):1314–1319. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdiacomp.2015.07.001
Karamali ZH, Seifati S-M, Samimi M, Tabassi Z, Talaee N, Bahardoost H, Asemi Z (2016) Zinc Supplementation and the Effects on Pregnancy Outcomes in Gestational Diabetes: a Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled Trial. Exp Clin Endocrinol Diabetes 124(1):28–33. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0035-1564146
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Heidarzadeh, Z., Samimi, M., Seifati, S.M. et al. Retraction Note: The Effect of Zinc Supplementation on Expressed Levels of Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor Gamma and Glucose Transporter Type 1 Genes in Newborns of Women with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus. Biol Trace Elem Res 201, 4623–4624 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-022-03501-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-022-03501-2