Herbs with anti-lipid effects and their interactions with statins as a chemical anti- hyperlipidemia group drugs: A systematic review.

BACKGROUND The present systematic review aimed to express the clinical anti-lipid effects of different types of herbs, as well as described studied interactions between herbal remedies and prescribed drugs for hyperlipidemic patients which were based on in vitro experiments, animal studies, and empirical clinical experiences. METHODS For this systematic review, we explored 2183 published papers about herbal drugs interactions from November 1967 to August 2014, fulfilling eligibility criteria by searching in some databases such as Web of Science, Medline, Scopus, Embase, Cinahl, and the Cochrane database. The main keywords used for searching included: herbal medicine, herbs, statin, lipid, and herb-drug interaction. RESULTS Among published articles about herb-drug interactions, 185 papers met the initial search criteria and among them, 92 papers were potentially retrievable including a description of 17 herbs and medicinal plants. In first step and by reviewing all published manuscripts on beneficial effects of herbs on serum lipids level, 17 herbs were described to be effective on lipid profile as lowering serum triglyceride, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol as well as increasing serum high-density lipoprotein level. Some herbs such as celery could even affect the hepatic triglyceride concentrations. The herbal reaction toward different types of statins is varied so that grapefruit or pomegranate was interacted with only some types of statins, but not with all statin types. In this context, administration of herbal materials can lead to decreased absorption of statins or decreased the plasma concentration of these drugs. CONCLUSION Various types of herbs can potentially reduce serum lipid profile with the different pathways; however, the herb-drug interactions may decrease pharmacological therapeutic effects of anti-hyperlipidemic drugs that should be considered when approved herbs are prescribed

The evaluation of tubule formation in breast cancer using fraction of fields showing tubular differentiation (FTD) method and compare it with conventional methods

چکیده: زمینه و هدف: درجه بندی هیستولوژیک یکی از مهمترین عوامل پیش آگهی سرطان پستان است. تاکنون روشی برای تخمین کمی میزان تمایز غددی ذکر نشده است. لذا این مطالعه با هدف بررسی روش تجربی متعارف و مقایسه تکرارپذیری این روش با روشهای کمی (مورفومتریک در بزرگنمائی 200 میکروسکوپی) و نیمه کمی دیگر انجام گردید. روش بررسی: در این مطالعه توصیفی - تحلیلی، 38 نمونه هیستولوژیک سرطان مهاجم مجرایی پستان (موجود در بایگانی بیمارستان الزهرا (س) اصفهان) جهت ارزیابی میزان تمایز غددی، توسط دو مشاهده‌گر مستقل و به سه روش مختلف ارزیابی شدند. روش اول (متعارف): میزان تمایز غددی یعنی سطحی از تومور که تشکیلات غددی بدخیم ایجاد کرده، نسبت به کل نمونه به صورت درصد بیان شد. روش دوم، کسری از میدانها با تمایز غددی: در این روش میزان تمایز بصورت کسری از میدانها که حاوی تشکیلات غددی است نسبت به کل میدانها محاسبه می‌گردید و در روش سوم: در هر میدان میکروسکپی، بطور جداگانه، میزان تمایز غددی بصورت نیمه کمی تخمین زده شده و سپس میانگین میزان تمایز غددی در میدانها محاسبه شد. برای مقایسه اختلاف بین سه روش از آزمون فریدمن و برای مقایسه تکرارپذیری هر روش در بین دو مشاهده‌گر، از آزمون کاپا استفاده گردید. یافته ها: نتایج این مطالعه نشان داد که در روش دوم دو مشاهده گر بیشترین توافق را در نمره دهی نمونه ها داشتند به طوری که ضریب کاپا در روش اول 4/0، در روش دوم 832/0 و در روش سوم 558/0 بود (001/0

Effect of green tea (Camellia sinensis) extract on healing process of surgical wounds in rat

Green tea (Camellia sinensis) has anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and may enhance wound healing process. The present study, therefore, was aimed to examine the effect of green tea ethanolic extract on wound healing process. For this experimental study, 36 healthy male Wistar rats were randomly designated to three groups of A, B, and C which, respectively treated with, Vaseline þ 0.6% green tea extract, Vaseline and normal saline for 21 days. Wounds’ length and area were measured by caliper every other day and specimens were taken at 3rd, 12th, and 21st day for microscopical examinations. Data were analyzed by SPSS 16 using survival analysis (Breslow test), repeated measured ANOVA, one-way ANOVA and ManneWhitney. P < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. The mean healing duration of surgical wounds in groups A and B was 14.66 and 20.66 (P ¼ 0.018), respectively. Decrease in healing duration in the group A was significantly higher within the first two weeks compared with control groups (P ¼ 0.05). Microscopic examinations also indicated a significant difference in wound healing process between groups A and C throughout the whole study duration as well as groups A and B during the 3rd week of the study (P < 0.05). Green tea extract could help wound healing process, probably effective on surgical wounds healin

Evaluation of human cytomegalovirus antigen expression in invasive breast carcinoma in a population of Iranian patients

Abstract Background The role of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) in the development of breast carcinoma is questionable. The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression of the immediate early antigen (IE) of HCMV in breast carcinoma and its association with some clinicopathologic factors in a population of Iranian patients. Methods Formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded tissue blocks from the pathology laboratories of the Azahra and Shahid Beheshti hospitals, Isfahan, Iran, from 2013 to 2016, were used in the study. We used immunohistochemistry and real-time PCR to detect the IE-antigen of HCMV in breast carcinoma, normal tissue adjacent to carcinoma, and normal tissue from mammoplasty specimens. Results A total of 96 samples were evaluated: 70 invasive breast carcinoma of different histologic subtypes and 26 mammoplasty normal breast tissues. All the samples were negative for IE-antigen expression. No relationship was seen between breast cancer and HCMV in this study. Conclusions The results of this study failed to show any relationship between HCMV and the development of breast carcinoma

Primary Hyperoxaluria Diagnosed Based on Bone Marrow Biopsy in Pancytopenic Adult with End Stage Renal Disease

Inborn errors of metabolism cause increase of metabolites in serum and their deposition in various organs including bone marrow. Primary hyperoxaluria (PH) is a rare inborn error in the pathway of glyoxylate metabolism which causes excessive oxalate production. The disease is characterized by widespread deposition of calcium oxalate (oxalosis) in multiple organs. Urinary tract including renal parenchyma is the initial site of deposition followed by extrarenal organs such as bone marrow. This case report introduces a 54-year-old woman with end stage renal disease presenting with debilitating fatigue and pancytopenia. The remarkable point in her past medical history was recurrent episodes of nephrolithiasis, urolithiasis, and urinary tract infection since the age of 5 years and resultant end stage renal disease in adulthood in the absence of appropriate medical evaluation and treatment. She had an unsuccessful renal transplantation with transplant failure. The patient underwent bone marrow biopsy for evaluation of pancytopenia. Microscopic study of bone marrow biopsy led to the diagnosis of primary hyperoxaluria

Diagnostic value of hysteroscopy in abnormal uterine bleeding compared to pathology reports

Background: According to age, history and physical examination findings, there are different diagnoses including anatomic lesions for abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB). In these conditions, hysteroscopy can be performed as a diagnostic and therapeutic procedure. Objective: The aim of this study was defining the diagnostic value of hysteroscopy in evaluating uterine cavity in patients with AUB compared to pathologic findings. Materials and Methods: This was a prospective descriptive-analytic study in which hysteroscopy was performed for 105 patients with AUB .The patients were in reproductive and perimenopausal (86.7%) or postmenopausal ages (13.3%). Hysteroscopy was done and biopsy was taken from any pathology. After removing of hysteroscope, dilatation and curettage were done. Both samples were sent for pathologist. At the end, reports of hysteroscopic findings were compared with pathologic results. Results: Diagnostic value of hysteroscopy in evaluation of uterine cavity showed 100% sensitivity, 80.5% specificity, 88.9% positive predictive value (PPV) and 100% negative predictive value (NPV). Sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV of the procedure for endometrial polyp were 93%, 100%, 100%, and 95.4%, respectively. These results were respectively 100%, 96.4%, 88% and 100% for submucosal myoma, and 25%, 89.7%, 12.5% and 93.3% for endometrial hyperplasia. Conclusion: The results of this study show that hysteroscopy is a reliable method for evaluation of AUB, especially in benign lesions such as endometrial polyp and submucosal myoma and it can be used as the first line diagnostic method for these abnormalities. However hysteroscopy without directed biopsy has insufficient value for diagnosing endometrial hyperplasia

Giant cell tumor of soft tissue in groin region, clinically diagnosed as inguinal lymphadenopathy

Giant cell tumor of soft tissue is a rare primary soft tissue neoplasm with clinical and histological similarities to giant cell tumor of bone. Most cases arise from superficial soft tissue of extremities and present as painless and well circumscribed masses. &#13; Adequate surgical treatment by complete excision is associated with a benign clinical course in most cases. We report a case of primary giant cell tumor of soft tissue in groin region of a young man which was thought to be an inguinal lymphadenopathy in clinical examination. &#13; KEY WORDS: Giant cell tumor, soft tissue, inguinal lymphadenopathy, groin

Association of Epstein-Barr virus with invasive breast carcinoma and its impact on well-known clinicopathologic parameters in Iranian women

Background: The association between Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and breast carcinoma in Iranian women is uncertain. We examined EBV latent membrane protein-1 (LMP-1) antigen expression in breast carcinoma and its relationship with clinicopathologic parameters among a population of Iranian patients. Materials and Methods: This study was performed on formalin fixed and paraffin embedded tissue specimens with a diagnosis of invasive breast carcinoma archived at one university hospital in Isfahan city, Iran. We used immunohistochemistry to detect LMP-1 of EBV in carcinoma and its adjacent normal tissue. The frequency of LMP-1 expression in breast carcinoma and its relationship with age, tumor size, tumor type, tumor grade and lymph node status were then determined. Results: A total of 80 cases were evaluated including 77 (96.3%) ductal, 1 (1.3%) lobular, 1 (1.3%) medullary and 1 (1.3%) mucinous carcinoma. LMP-1 expression was seen in 6 cases (7.5%) of breast carcinoma whereas normal breast tissue adjacent to carcinoma was negative for LMP-1 in all of the cases. A statistically significant association was seen between EBV and invasive breast carcinoma (P = 0.03). No significant relationship was observed between LMP-1 expression on one hand and age, tumor size, tumor type, tumor grade and lymph node status on the other. Conclusion: EBV may play an etiological role in some of the cases of breast carcinoma in Iranian women. EBV expression does not seem to have a significant impact on the major clinicopathologic prognostic determinants of breast carcinoma