Spiritual Growth in Patients with Type II Diabetes Mellitus: A Qualitative Study

Background: The investigation of spiritual growth and its dimensions in the diabetic patients can help these individuals adjust to the stressful event of this disease. Regarding this, the present study aimed to explore the spiritual growth and its dimensions in the patients with type II diabetes mellitus. Methods: This qualitative study was conducted on the adult patients with a history of at least one year of type II diabetes mellitus, who referred to the Diabetes Clinic of the Imam Khomeini Hospital in Ardabil, Iran, using an interpretive phenomenological approach. The sampling was performed using the purposive sampling and the data was collected through semi-structured interview. Each interview was transcribed verbatim and analyzed based on the Van Manen’s method. Results: The data analysis led to the emergence of 237 codes, 3 main themes, and 7 subthemes. The basic themes included tendency to spirituality, God-centeredness, and moral growth. Conclusion: As the findings of this study indicated, the diabetic patients had turned to spirituality more than ever and used it as a powerful tool to cope with their disease. The emerging new categories highlighted the new aspects of diabetes consequences that can help develop the concept of spirituality in the nursing science, and also have clinical applications in this discipline. The care providers can take advantage of these findings to enhance the patients’ spiritual growth and improve their compliance with the stressful events of diabetes. &nbsp

Immunomodulatory properties of quercetin-3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranoside from Rapanea melanophloeos against influenza a virus

Abstract Background Influenza infection is a major public health threat. The role of influenza A virus-induced inflammatory response in severe cases of this disease is widely recognized. Drug resistance and side effects of chemical treatments have been observed, resulting in increased interest in alternative use of herbal medications for prophylaxis against this infection. The South African medicinal plant, Rapanea melanophloeos (RM) (L.) Mez of the family Myrsinaceae was selected owing to its traditional use for the treatment of several diseases such as respiratory ailments and also previous preliminary studies of anti-influenza activity of its methanolic extract. The aim of this study was to investigate the immunomodulatory properties of a glycoside flavone isolated from RM against influenza A virus. Methods The non-cytotoxic concentration of the quercetin-3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranoside (Q3R) was determined by MTT assay and tested for activity against influenza A virus (IAV) in simultaneous, pre-penetration and post-penetration combination treatments over 1 h incubation on MDCK cells. The virus titer and viral load targeting NP and M2 viral genes were determined using HA and qPCR, respectively. TNF-α and IL-27 as pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines were measured at RNA and protein levels by qPCR and ELISA, respectively. Results Quercetin-3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranoside at 150 μg/ml decreased the viral titer by 6 logs (p < 0.01) in the simultaneous procedure. The NP and M2 genes copy numbers as viral target genes, calculated based on the Ct values and standard formula, significantly decreased in simultaneous treatment (p < 0.01). The expression of cytokines was also considerably affected by the compound treatment. Conclusions This is the first report of quercetin-3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranoside from RM and its immunomodulatory properties against influenza A virus. Further research will focus on detecting the specific mechanism of virus-host interactions

Additional file 1: of Immunomodulatory properties of quercetin-3-O-Îą-L-rhamnopyranoside from Rapanea melanophloeos against influenza a virus

Figure S1. 1H NMR spectrum of quercetin-3-O-Îą-L-rhamnopyranoside (in DMSO-d6) (TIF 53 kb

Additional file 2: of Immunomodulatory properties of quercetin-3-O-Îą-L-rhamnopyranoside from Rapanea melanophloeos against influenza a virus

Figure S2. 13C NMR spectrum of quercetin-3-O-Îą-L-rhamnopyranoside (in DMSO-d6) (TIF 74 kb

Additional file 3: of Immunomodulatory properties of quercetin-3-O-Îą-L-rhamnopyranoside from Rapanea melanophloeos against influenza a virus

Figure S3. HSQC spectrum of quercetin-3-O-Îą-L-rhamnopyranoside (in DMSO-d6) (TIF 44 kb

Additional file 4: of Immunomodulatory properties of quercetin-3-O-Îą-L-rhamnopyranoside from Rapanea melanophloeos against influenza a virus

Figure S4. HMBC spectrum of quercetin-3-O-Îą-L-rhamnopyranoside (in DMSO-d6) (TIF 48 kb