The Effect of Combined Herbal Capsule on Glycemic Indices and Lipid Profile in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial

Objectives: The present study aimed to investigate the potential effects of the combined herbal capsule (CHC), as a nutritional supplement, on glycemic indices (GIs) and lipid profile (LP) of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods: Following a randomized, single-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial, the current study was conducted on 80 cases with T2DM who were randomly assigned into two groups of treatment (CHCs; n = 40) and control (placebo; n = 40). Both groups received the intervention (500 mg capsules) twice a day for three months, without changes in the previous dose of oral anti-hyperglycemic drugs. The GI and LP levels were measured before the intervention and three months later to investigate the potential efficacy of the interventions. Results: For those in the intervention group, the mean GI i.e., fasting blood sugar, two hours postprandial (2hpp), and HbAlc] was significantly different after 3 months (P 0.05). The HDL-C level was also significantly improved in the intervention group compared to the control group (P < 0.05). Conclusions: This study demonstrated that receiving CHCs could improve GI and LP levels (TG, LDL-C, and HDL-C, except for TC), which indicates its potential to control T2DM. Moreover, no significant side effect was observed in the intervention group. It can be argued that the use of CHCs, as adjuvant therapy, in combination with conventional hypoglycemic and lipid-lowering drugs, as well as following a modified lifestyle, not only can significantly enhance glycemic control but also may prevent T2DM complications

Clinical Relevance of HER-2/neu Overexpression in Patients With Testicular Nonseminomatous Germ Cell Tumor

Introduction: Recent scientific attention has focused on the role of growth factors in the progression of cancer. HER-2/neu is an epidermal growth factor receptor that is demonstrated to have correlation with poor prognosis of many cancers. This study evaluated the overexpression of HER-2/neu protein and its clinical importance in nonseminomatous germ cell tumors of the testis. Materials and Methods: Testis specimens of 54 patients with testicular nonseminomatous germ cell tumors, referred to Omid Hospital from 2001 to 2007, were re-evaluated and the patients’ records were reviewed. Patients’ age, tumor subtype, tumor stage, tumor markers, therapeutic response, and disease-free survival were assessed and the specimens were evaluated for the degree of HER-2/neu expression using an immunohistochemistry method. Results: Immunohistochemical staining was performed for 54 specimens. Overexpression of HER-2/neu was seen in 33.3% of the patients with nonseminomatous germ cell tumors, especially in those with teratocarcinoma subtype compared to those with mixed germ cell tumors or embryonal cell carcinoma. However, HER-2/neu overexpression did not show any correlation with tumor stage, therapeutic response, disease-free survival, age, beta-human chorionic gonadotropin, or ?-fetoprotein. Conclusion: We observed overexpression of HER-2/neu receptor in teratocarcinoma subtype of germ cell tumor. We suggest further studies to evaluate the clinical importance of this finding

Impact of short‐term, repeated water fasting on the weight of mice

Introduction: Caloric restriction is a strategy applied for weight loss. Water fasting is a popular way for obesity treatment. However, little is known about the impact of water fasting on weight. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the effect of short-term, repeated water fasting on the weight of mice. Methods: In this study, the physiological effect of short-term, repeated water fasting on the weight of female mice was evaluated. At 6 weeks of age, mice were randomly assigned to either repeated-fasting or control group (fed ad libitum). Each group consisted of twenty mice. As the fasting period started, the repeated-fasting group had access to only water; animals had free access to food and water on non-fasting days. Body weight of each group before, during, and after the fasting period was recorded. Results: Body weight of the fasting group significantly decreased, unlike the control group. However, the fasting group gained weight rapidly after being re-fed and became significantly heavier than mice in the control group (

Primary gastrointestinal lymphoma

Background: Extranodal lymphoma may arise anywhere outside lymph nodes mostly in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract as non-Hodgkin′s disease. We reviewed the clinicopathological features and treatment results of patients with primary GI lymphoma. Materials and Methods : A total number of 30 cases with primary GI lymphoma were included in this study. Patients referred to the Radiation Oncology Department of Omid Hospital (Mashhad, Iran) during a 5-year period (2006-11). Clinical, paraclinical, and radiological data was collected from medical records of the patients. Results: Out of the 30 patients with primary GI lymphoma in the study, 12 were female (40%) and 18 were male (60%) (male to female ratio: 3/2). B symptoms were present in 27 patients (90%). Antidiuretic hormone (LDH) levels were elevated in 9 patients (32.1%). The most common primary site was stomach in 14 cases (46.7%). Other common sites included small intestine and colon each in 8 patients (26.7%). All patients had histopathologically proven non-Hodgkin′s lymphoma. The most common histologic subtype was diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBL) in 16 patients (53.3%). In addition, 28 patients (93.3%) received chemotherapy with cyclophosphamide, vincristine, doxorubicin, prednisolone (CHOP regimen). The median course of chemotherapy was 6 cources. Moreover, 8 patients (26.7%) received radiotherapy with cobalt 60. The median follow-up time was 26 months. The overall 5-year survival rate was 53% and the median survival time was 60 months. Conclusion : Primary GI lymphoma is commonly seen in stomach and small intestine and mostly is DLBCL or mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma

Clinicopathological significance of E-cadherin, !-catenin and p53 expression in gastric adenocarinoma

&lt;font face="TimesNewRoman,Bold" size="1"&gt;&lt;font face="TimesNewRoman,Bold" size="1"&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;BACKGROUND&lt;/strong&gt;: &lt;font face="TimesNewRoman" size="2"&gt;&lt;font face="TimesNewRoman" size="2"&gt;E-cadherin/catenin complexes exert a role in cell adhesion. &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font face="+TimesNewRoman" size="2"&gt;&lt;font face="+TimesNewRoman" size="2"&gt;'&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font face="TimesNewRoman" size="2"&gt;&lt;font face="TimesNewRoman" size="2"&gt;-catenin is a key player in Wnt signaling pathway in gastric cancer. P53 is a tumor suppressor gene which also regulates apoptosis. We assessed the expression of E-cadherin, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font face="+TimesNewRoman" size="2"&gt;&lt;font face="+TimesNewRoman" size="2"&gt;'&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font face="TimesNewRoman" size="2"&gt;&lt;font face="TimesNewRoman" size="2"&gt;-catenin and p53 in gastric adenocarcinoma, and their correlations with&amp;nbsp; linicopathological features.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;font face="TimesNewRoman,Bold" size="1"&gt;&lt;font face="TimesNewRoman,Bold" size="1"&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;METHODS&lt;/strong&gt;: &lt;font face="TimesNewRoman" size="2"&gt;&lt;font face="TimesNewRoman" size="2"&gt;Fifty six formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded archival specimens of gastric adenocarcinoma were&amp;nbsp; andomly included as cases. Adjacent tumor-free gastric mucosa of different premalignant stages was obtained from the cases. Immunohistochemical staining was performed to assess E-cadherin, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font face="+TimesNewRoman" size="2"&gt;&lt;font face="+TimesNewRoman" size="2"&gt;'&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font face="TimesNewRoman" size="2"&gt;&lt;font face="TimesNewRoman" size="2"&gt;-catenin and p53 expression.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font face="TimesNewRoman,Bold" size="1"&gt;&lt;font face="TimesNewRoman,Bold" size="1"&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;RESULTS&lt;/strong&gt;: &lt;font face="TimesNewRoman" size="2"&gt;&lt;font face="TimesNewRoman" size="2"&gt;All chronic atrophic gastritis and intestinal metaplasia revealed normal membranous staining. Only one patient with dysplasia had abnormal expression of E-cadherin and &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font face="+TimesNewRoman" size="2"&gt;&lt;font face="+TimesNewRoman" size="2"&gt;'&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font face="TimesNewRoman" size="2"&gt;&lt;font face="TimesNewRoman" size="2"&gt;-Catenin. Abnormal E-cadherin, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font face="+TimesNewRoman" size="2"&gt;&lt;font face="+TimesNewRoman" size="2"&gt;'&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font face="TimesNewRoman" size="2"&gt;&lt;font face="TimesNewRoman" size="2"&gt;-catenin and p53 expression was found in 50%, 48.2% and 76.8% of cancer specimens respectively. Abnormal expression of E-cadherin was significantly correlated with aberrant &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font face="+TimesNewRoman" size="2"&gt;&lt;font face="+TimesNewRoman" size="2"&gt;'&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font face="TimesNewRoman" size="2"&gt;&lt;font face="TimesNewRoman" size="2"&gt;-catenin expression. Abnormal E-cadherin and &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font face="+TimesNewRoman" size="2"&gt;&lt;font face="+TimesNewRoman" size="2"&gt;'&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font face="TimesNewRoman" size="2"&gt;&lt;font face="TimesNewRoman" size="2"&gt;-catenin expression were significantly correlated with depth of tumor invasion and advanced gastric cancer (p &lt; 0.05), lower degree of differentiation and diffused tumor type (p &lt; 0.001). Node metastasis was not influenced by abnormal expression of E-cadherin and &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font face="+TimesNewRoman" size="2"&gt;&lt;font face="+TimesNewRoman" size="2"&gt;'&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font face="TimesNewRoman" size="2"&gt;&lt;font face="TimesNewRoman" size="2"&gt;-catenin. P53 was not associated with clinicopathological variables.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font face="TimesNewRoman,Bold" size="1"&gt;&lt;font face="TimesNewRoman,Bold" size="1"&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;CONCLUSIONS&lt;/strong&gt;: &lt;font face="TimesNewRoman" size="2"&gt;&lt;font face="TimesNewRoman" size="2"&gt;Abnormal expression of the E-cadherin and &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font face="+TimesNewRoman" size="2"&gt;&lt;font face="+TimesNewRoman" size="2"&gt;'&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font face="TimesNewRoman" size="2"&gt;&lt;font face="TimesNewRoman" size="2"&gt;-catenin were associated with each other and influenced by histogenesis of gastric cancer and malignant behavior of tumor but not significant in premalignant lesions. They are more frequent in diffuse type and associated with advanced gastric cancer. P53 alterations are more frequent in the Iranian population compared with others.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font face="TimesNewRoman,Bold" size="1"&gt;&lt;font face="TimesNewRoman,Bold" size="1"&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;KEYWORDS&lt;/strong&gt;: &lt;font face="TimesNewRoman" size="2"&gt;&lt;font face="TimesNewRoman" size="2"&gt;Gastric Cancer, E-cadherin, &lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font face="+TimesNewRoman" size="2"&gt;&lt;font face="+TimesNewRoman" size="2"&gt;'&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;font face="TimesNewRoman" size="2"&gt;&lt;font face="TimesNewRoman" size="2"&gt;-catenin, p53, Immunohistochemistry.&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/font&gt

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p16 promoter hypermethylation: A useful serum marker for early detection of gastric cance