EXPRESSION OF CONCERN: Matrix Metalloproteinase-9 Activity and Expression Is Reduced by Melatonin During Prevention of Ethanol-Induced Gastric Ulcer in Mice

Abstract

EXPRESSION OF CONCERN: S. Swarnakar, A. Mishra, K. Ganguly, and A. V. Sharma, “Matrix Metalloproteinase-9 Activity and Expression Is Reduced by Melatonin During Prevention of Ethanol-Induced Gastric Ulcer in Mice,” Journal of Pineal Research 43, no. 1 (2007): 56–64, doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-079X.2007.00443.x.

This Expression of Concern is for the above article, published online on 17 April 2007 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary. com), and has been issued by agreement between the journal Editor-in-Chief, Gianluca Tosini; and John Wiley & Sons Ltd. The Expression of Concern has been agreed due to concerns raised by third parties. Specifically, overlapping areas have been identified between panels D (erroneously labelled as “B” in the published article) and F of Figure 1, despite the panels present different scientific contexts. Due to the time elapsed since the original publication, the authors were unable to retrieve the raw data underlying the figure. They state that the images show a different distribution of cells within the lumen, which they argue supports that the panels were not taken from or processed using the same tissue section. However, this clarification was deemed insufficient to resolve the concerns, as the similarities observed between the panels were considered too extensive to be coincidental, supporting the conclusion that the images likely originate from the same tissue section. Therefore, the journal has decided to issue an Expression of Concern to inform and alert the readers.