Total phenolic compounds and in vitro antioxidant potential of crude methanol extract and the correspond fractions of <em>Quercus brantii</em> L. acorn.

Introduction: Due to their roles in the maintenance of human health, phytochemicals and antioxidants in plants are raising interest. Phenolic and flavonoids are components with potential to protect against human diseases such as cardiovascular disease and cancers. Q. brantii is one of the traditional folk medicinal plants widely used in Iran. In this study, crude methanol extract and four correspond fractions of this plant were used to evaluate the total phenolic, total flavonoids, total flavonol, and antioxidant activities. Methods: The identification of phenolic, flavonoid, and flavonol components and assay of antioxidant activity were carried out using standard in vitro procedures. Results: The n-butanol fraction (376.2&plusmn;7.1) had the highest amount of total phenolic compounds and the n-butanol fraction exhibited the lowest IC50 value (6.5&plusmn;0.6 &mu;g ml). There was significant relationship between the total phenolic contents and the free radical scavenging property in the four fractions in this study (R= -0.768, P&lt; 0.01). Conclusion: The results indicate that at least, n-butanol fraction of this plant with high phytoconstituents and less toxicity could be a promising source of medicinally important natural compound.</p

Study of hydatid cyst in hospitalized patients with operation in Chaharmahal va Bakhtiary province (1988-2007)

زمینه و هدف: بیماری کیست هیداتید یکی از شایع ترین بیماری های مشترک انسان و دام است که ناشی از ابتلای انسان به مرحله لاروی انگل اکی نوکوکوس گرانولوزوس می باشد. شناخت جنبه های اپیدمیولوژیکی بیماری در کنترل و پیشگیری از بیماری ضروری است. این مطالعه با هدف بررسی ده ساله فراوانی بیماران مبتلا به کیست هیداتید جراحی شده در بیمارستان های استان چهارمحال و بختیاری انجام شد. روش بررسی: در این مطالعه توصیفی -تحلیلی، بیماران مبتلا به کیست هیداتید استان طی سالهای1386 -1377 که در بیمارستان های آیت اله کاشانی شهرکرد، سید الشهداء (ع)فارسان و ولی عصر بروجن (عج) بستری و جراحی شده بودند مورد بررسی قرار گرفتند. اطلاعات به کمک پرسشنامه جمع آوری و با استفاده از آمار توصیفی و تحلیلی (کای دو) تجزیه و تحلیل گردیدند. یافته ها: از مجموع 144 بیمار بررسی شده 98 نفر (68) زن، 93 نفر (65) ساکن روستاها و عشایر و 51 نفر (35) شهرنشین بودند. دامنه سنی بیماری بین 92-11 سال و بیشترین شیوع در گروه سنی 41-27 سال (44 مورد) و کمترین شیوع در گروه سنی بالای 72 سال بود (6 مورد) دیده شد. بیشترین فراوانی در بین زنان خانه دار (60) و کمترین میزان در افراد کارمند (3) دیده شد. از نظر چگونگی محل قرار گرفتن کیست، کیست ها به ترتیب در لوب راست کبد (67) و لوب چپ کبد (10)، قسمت های راست و چپ ریه (6) بودند. نتیجه گیری: با توجه به شیوع بالای این بیماری در بین روستاییان و عشایر و همچنین ارتباط نزدیک انسان، دام و سگ در این مناطق ضرورت آموزش جهت شناخت بهتر بیماری در آنان و شناسایی سگ های آلوده عشایر و درمان آنها جهت کنترل بیماری اجتناب ناپذیر است

High Prevalence of Symptomatic Hepatitis A Infection in Rural Area of Chaharmahal VA Bakhtiari Province, Iran.

INTRODUCTION Hepatitis A virus (HAV) is the most common cause of hepatitis during childhood and is an important public health problem. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate an outbreak of symptomatic viral hepatitis in children and in young adults in a rural area from Chaharmahal Va Bakhtiari Province, Iran. MATERIALS AND METHODS Serum samples from the 70 patients with icterus, who were suspected for HAV infection, referred to a therapeutic center in a central province of Iran from February to July, 2010 were tested for IgM specific antibody to HAV, using Enzyme linked Fluorscent assay (ELFA) Kit (General Biological Corp., Hsinchu, Taiwan). RESULTS All of the 70 children had jaundice. The ELFA results showed that 48 out of 70 (68.6%) tested positive for anti-HAV specific antibody (IgM). The mean age of the individuals were 12.81+12.2 and 23 of them (32.8%) were females. There was significant relationship between seropositivity for IgM anti-HAV antibody and age group in the patients studied (p<0.05). CONCLUSION The high number of cases identified, may indicate an outbreak of hepatitis A in this region with the children as the most susceptible age group to this symptomatic infection

In vitro antiproliferative and apoptosis-inducing activities of crude ethyle alcohole extract of Quercus brantii L. acorn and subsequent fractions

Cancer cell resistance to widely used chemotherapeutic agents is gradually developed. Natural products, mainly isolated from medicinal plants, have been considered as valuable sources for herbal anticancer drugs. The present study aimed to evaluate in vitro antiproliferative and apoptosis-inducing activities of crude ethyle alcohole extract and four fractions of Q. brantii acorn. Crude ethyle alcohole extract of Q. brantii acorn was prepared and subjected to fractionation with different polarity. Subsequently, the extract and the fractions wereevaluated for their in vitro antiproliferative activity in two cancerous (Hela and AGS) and one normal (HDFs) cell lines using MTT 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2ol) 2, 5 diphenyltetrazoliumbromide] assay. To determine whether the cytotoxicity of these compounds involved the induction of apoptosis, Hela cells were treated with IC50 concentrations of test compounds, stained with both propidium iodide (PI) and Annexin V-fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC), and analyzed by flow cytometry. In vitro cytotoxicity assay showed that the cell viability was significantly reduced in a dose-dependent manner following treatment with crude ethyle alcohole extract and Cholophorm and n-Butanol fractions. Based on the probit regression model, antiproliferative activities of crude ethyle alcohole extract, Cholophorm fraction, and n-Butanol fraction on Hela and AGS cells and HDFs cells were significantly different (P < 0.001). The results of flow cytometric analysis showed that crude ethyle alcohole extract and two fractions of Q. brantii acorn induced early apoptotic cell death. These findings suggest that crude ethyle alcohole extract and Cholophorm and n-Butanol fractions of Q. brantii acorn suppress the proliferation of cancer cells through induction of early apoptosis

A review study on the effect of Iranian herbal medicines against in vitro replication of herpes simplex virus

Objective: There are a number of published data indicating in vitro anti-HSV activity of some of Iranian herbal extracts with no systematic review to discuss these results. Therefore, this article was aimed to review and discuss the methods carried out and the phytochemistry and bioactivity of the extracts used and also conclusions provided in these publications. Materials and Methods: Published articles both in English (from Medline, Science Direct, EMBASE, Scopus, Pro Quest, Google scholar, Cochrane Library) and in Persian (from SID, Iran Medex and Magiran) databases, from 1966 to October 2014 were incorporated in this review. The in vitro studies that lacked CC50, IC50, were excluded. Results: Only 42 published reports were found to examine Iranian herbs against HSV replication in vitro. Seventeen out of 42 studies in which 23 kinds of medicinal plants were subjected to crude extraction were included. The review of data showed that some of the herbal extracts including Hyssopus officinalis methanolic extract, Melissa officinalis aqueous extract, Quercus persica L. hydroalcoholic extract and Securigeras ecuridaca methanolic extract with selective index (SI) of 234, 877, >778 and 250, respectively were highly effective against HSV in vitro. Conclusion: More comprehensive studies using more advanced methods are needed to be done to achieve promising anti-HSV agents from the bioactive compounds isolated from these herbs

In vitro Anti-adenovirus activity of pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) peel extract

Background and aims: Human adenoviruses can cause a diversity of clinical diseases, but there is no antiviral therapy formally approved by adenovirus infections. Thus, antiviral agents derived from medicinal plants which are effective against adenoviruses infections are urgently required. Therefore, this research was aimed to evaluate in vitro antiadenovirus activity of pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) peel extract. Methods: In this research, crude ethanol extract of pomegranate peel was prepared. Anti-adenovirus activity of the extract was evaluated on Hela cell line using MTT (3-4,5-dimethylthiazol–2-yl-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay. The 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) and 50% Cytotoxicity Concentration (CC50) of the extract were determined using regression analysis. To determine antioxidant activity, total phenol content, and flavonoids content of the extract, the 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay; Folin-Ciocalteu method and aluminum chloride colorimetric method was used, respectively. Results: The CC50 and IC50 of the extract were 165±10.1 and 18.6±6.7µg/ml, respectively. The selectivity index (SI), the ratio of CC50 and IC50, was 8.89. The IC50 of DPPH radical was 7.7±1.21 μg/ml, compare with butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), with IC50 of 25.41±1.89 μg/ml. The total phenol and Flavonoid contents were 282.9 mgGAE/g and 136.6mg/g, respectively. This study revealed that the pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) Conclusion: peel extract exhibited Anti-adenovirus activity, with SI value of 8.9, suggesting its potential use as Anti-adenovirus agents. Also this extract with high phytoconstituents could be a promising source of medicinally important natural compound

Effect of Glycyrrhiza glabra (D-reglis tablet) on pain and defecation of patients with irritable bowel syndrome

Background and Aim: Glycyrrhiza glabra has a wide variety of therapeutic effects especially on gastrointestinal (GI) tract and its anti-spasmodic and anti-inflammatory effects have also been reported. This study was preformed to determine the effects of Glycyrrhiza glabra (D-reglis tablet) on the pain and defecation of patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Materials and Methods: In a randomized double blind clinical trial, 90 patients with IBS referred to gastrointestinal clinic of Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences were randomly selected into case and control groups. Patients in the case group received nortriptyline plus D-reglis (6 tablets in three divided doses for 8 weeks) and patients in the control group received nortriptyline and placebo. During the trial, patients were evaluated for pain severity (based on VAS grade) and defecation condition (with a questionnaire). Data were analyzed by means of SPSS, using relevant statistical tests at the significant level of P<0.05. Results: Although the pain severity showed a decreasing trend in both the case and control groups during the 8 weeks of trial (P0.05). Compared to the control group, patients in the case group spent less time having normal stool (P=0.02) and more time (P=0.02) having hard stool. Conclusion: It seems that Glycyrrhiza glabra has no significant effect on the pain of IBS patients; however, it may improve the diarrhea or exacerbate the constipation in these patients

Cytotoxicity and in vitro antioxidant potential of Quercus Brantii acorn extract and the corresponding fractions

The present study was mainly aimed to evaluate antioxidant activity and cytotoxicity of hydroalcoholic extract and three corresponding fractions of Quercus brantii acorn. A 70% ethyle alcohole extract of the plant were prepared and sequentially partitioned with n-hexane, chloroform, ethylacetate and n-butanol. The antioxidant potential of all these fractions was evaluated by the 2,2 diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging activity method. Cytotoxic activity was tested against two normal cell lines (African green monkey kidney [Vero] and human dermal fibroblasts [HDFs]) by MTT assay. The results revealed that the n-butanol fraction exhibited the lowest IC50value (6.5±0.6 μg/ml) with the highest antioxidant activity as compared to the other fractions. The IC50values of the chloroform fraction, the n-butanol fraction, the crude extract, and the n-hexane fraction were found to be significant (p<0.05) as compared with butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT). The results of cytotoxicity showed that the chloroform fraction exhibited the highest cytotoxicity toward Vero and HDFs cell lines at concentration of 60.6±23 and 287.8±38 μg/ml, respectively. We conclude that at least, n-butanol fraction of this plant with high phytoconstituents and less toxicity could be a promising source of medicinally important natural compound. Our findings, therefore, suggest that overall the studied extract/fractions exhibit low cytotoxicity on normal cell lines. © 2016, International Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemical Research. All Rights reserved

Purslane (Portulaca oleracea) effects on serum paraoxanase-1 activity

زمینه و هدف: گیاه خرفه یکی از غنی ترین منابع گیاهی دارای اسید های چرب امگا 3 می باشد و مواد آنتی اکسیدان و عناصر معدنی متعدد در بخش های مختلف این گیاه وجود دارد. این مطالعه با هدف بررسی تاثیر گیاه خرفه بر سطح لیپوپروتئین ها به ویژه لیپوپروتئین های با دانسیته پایین اکسیده (OxLDL) و فعالیت آنزیم پاراکسوناز1 و مقایسه آن با اثر لواستاتین انجام شد. روش بررسی: در این مطالعه کارآزمایی بالینی از بین بیماران مراجعه کننده به پزشک متخصص داخلی کلینیک تخصصی بیمارستان آیت اله کاشانی شهرکرد، 93 بیمار که دارای LDL بیشتر از mg/dl 100 بودند به روش در دسترس انتخاب و به دو گروه دریافت کننده روزانه 50 تا 60 گرم خرفه خام و گروه دریافت کننده روزانه mg/day20 لواستاتین تقسیم شدند. در شروع مطالعه و 45 روز پس از مصرف خرفه و لواستاتین از همه افراد دو گروه 5 میلی لیتر خون به صورت ناشتا گرفته و بر روی نمونه ها آزمایشات مربوط با روشهای استاندارد انجام شده و نتایج بدست آمده از طریق آزمون های آماری t و t زوجی مورد تجزیه و تحلیل قرار گرفت. یافته ها: مصرف خرفه و لواستاتین باعث کاهش در کلسترول تام، LDL-C و OxLDL شد (05/0

Study of -629C/A polymorphism of cholesteryl ester transfer protein gene in statin effects on plasma high density lipoprotein cholesterol level

Background and aim: Cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) plays in HDL metabolism and in reverse cholesterol transport (RCT) pivotal role pathway. CETP gene variants such as -629C/A that affect HDL cholesterol directly, modulates CETP gene transcriptional activity. This study was aimed to determine influence of -629C/A polymorphism of CETP in statin effects with regard to plasma HDL cholesterol levels. Methods: In this descriptive-analytical study, 196 adult patients with LDL-C more than 120mg/dL were divided into two groups base on lovastatin and atorvastatin using. Lipid profile was measured in all subjects before and after treatment and -629C/A polymorphism of CETP promoter was studied using polymerase chain reaction/restriction fragment length polymorphism method. Data were compared with paired t-test and ANOVA in SPSS software. Results: Cholesterol was decreased and HDL was increased in AA genotype more than other genotypes by lovastatin, but ApoA1 was increased in CC genotype. ApoA1 also was increased in CC genotype more than AA or AC genotypes by atorvastatin. Conclusion: In CC genotype, lovastatin and specially atorvastatin increased ApoA1 in HDL particles more than other genotypes. Therefore, treatment with lovastatin and atorvastatin is more effective in patients with CC genotype for raising HDL particles activity