Iranian Medicinal Plants and Intractable Epilepsy in Childhood: A Narrative Review

Epilepsy is a major neurological disorder, which may occur in all age groups, including children. Approximately 20% of epileptic children are drug-resistant. Uncontrolled seizures pose variable risks to patients, such as increased mortality rate, trauma, and cognitive and psychiatric disorders. Therefore, effective treatment is essential to controlling seizure attacks. Although many antiepileptic drugs are currently available for clinical treatments, clinicians are concerned with the discovery of safer drugs with enhanced antiepileptic effects and fewer side-effects. Traditional medicine provides strong grounds for modern medicine. Use of some medicinal plants has been shown to reduce or prevent the further progression of epileptic seizures. The present review aimed to discuss the effectiveness of some medicinal plants in the treatment of children with intractable epilepsy. An online literature review was conducted in databases such as IranMedex, Scopus, Medline, and Google Scholar to identify the studies investigating the use of medicinal plants in children with intractable epilepsy. In addition, the files of the authors were reviewed in the reference lists and bibliographies of the retrieved articles. According to the results, herbal therapies could potentially yield new treatment options for children with intractable epilepsy. Using medicinal herbs could be a cost-efficient treatment method in these patients as a culturally acceptable option to their families

The association between metformin administration and non-Hodgkin lymphoma; a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort and case-control studies

Introduction: Metformin, a blood sugar-lowering agent, has the potential to be an anti-cancer agent. However, its role in lymphoma remains uncertain. Objectives: This study sought to examine the correlation between the utilization of metformin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma through the application of a systematic review and meta-analysis methodology. Materials and Methods: This investigation was carried out in the form of a methodical examination and meta-analysis in accordance with the PRISMA guidelines. Databases such as Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane, and the Google Scholar search engine were thoroughly explored without any temporal limitations until September 20, 2023. The data was analyzed utilizing the STATA 14 software, and the level of significance for the tests was established at P<0.05. Results: The results, obtained by combining six observational studies (five cohort studies and one case-control study) with a total sample size of 2 330 787 individuals, showed that the odds ratio (OR) for the association between metformin use and non-Hodgkin lymphoma in all studies was 0.91 (95% CI: 0.78, 1.07). In cohort studies, the OR was 0.91 (95% CI: 0.74, 1.11), and in the case-control study, it was 0.93 (95% CI: 0.79, 1.10). None of these relationships were statistically significant. The odds ratio between metformin uses and chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic leukemia was 0.93 (95% CI: 0.71, 1.21), and the odds ratio between metformin use and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma was 1.06 (95% CI: 0.61, 1.83), both of which were not statistically significant. Conclusion: This investigation’s findings indicated no statistically noteworthy correlation exists between the utilization of metformin and the probability of contracting non-Hodgkin lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic leukemia, and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Registration: This study was conducted following the PRISMA checklist. Its protocol was registered on the PROSPERO (CRD42023469100) and Research Registry (UIN: reviewregistry1721) websites

Effect of Methyl Jasmonate Pre-Treatment on Germination Indices and Biochemical Traits of Stevia Seedlings (Stevia rebuadiana) under Salt Stress

Extended abstract &nbsp;Introduction: Stevia is a perennial short day plant, belonging to the Asteraceae family. It is also called sugar leaf. Poor germination of this plant serves as a barrier for its planation on a large scale, which contributes to its scarcity and expensivenss as a medicinal herb. In many plants, seed germination is sensitive to salinity, which determines the survival of the plants in saline soils. High levels of soil salinity can significantly reduce germination and seedling growth due to the effects of high osmotic potential and ion toxicity. Jasmonates represent new plant growth regulators that play an important role in increasing the resistance of plants to environmental stresses, including salinity stress.&nbsp;Therefore, this experiment was conducted to study the effect of pre-treatment of seed with methyl jasmonate on germination indices and biochemical traits of stevia, as a medicinal herb, under salinity stress. Materials and Methods: They study was conducted, adopting a completely randomized design with three replications in the year 2016 in the Professor Hassabi&rsquo;s Laboratory of Plant Biology, Islamic Azad University, Islamshahr Branch. The factors were pre-treatment of methyl jasmonate in 5 levels (0, 2.5, 5, 10 and 15 &mu;M) and salinity stress at 4 levels (0, 3, 6 and 9 dS m-1). At the end of the experiment, germination traits percentage and germination rate, mean germination time, germination value, seedling length, seedling index, total chlorophyll, proline, activity of the enzyme catalase, peroxidase and superoxide dismutase were measured. Results: The results of the study showed that effects of salinity stress, methyl jasmonate and interaction between salinity and methyl jasmonate were significant on the germination percentage and germination rate, mean germination time, germination value, seedling index, total chlorophyll, proline and catalase enzyme activity. Seed priming with 5 &mu;M methyl jasmonate at salinity level with electrical conductivity of zero ds/m, had the highest germination percentage and rate, germination value, seed vigor index, and total chlorophyll content. Increases in salt stress and methyl jasmonate increased the activity of catalase enzyme. Salinity reduced germination index and seedling stoichiation and increased activity of peroxidase and superoxide dismutase enzymes. However, seed priming with methyl jasmonate improved seed germination through germination percentage, germination rate and seed vigor index and moderated the effects of salt stress. Conclusions: Given the results of this study, it could be said that methyl jasmonate, as a potent inhibitor, can reduce the negative effects of salinity and by increasing germination indices such as germination percentage and germination rate, it can be effective in improving the growth of Stevia. Of course, further research can produce more definitive results. &nbsp; &nbsp; Highlights: Salinity had a negative effect whereas methyl jasmonate had a positive effect on germination indices and activity of antioxidant enzymes of Stevia seeds. Application of 5 &mu;M of methyl jasmonate, as a pre-treatment, can be effective in improving the growth of the stevia plant and reducing the negative effects of salinity